Author Interview & Giveaway: Molly Ringle

We are excited to welcome back author, Molly Ringle, to the nest today. She's here to discuss her novel, Persephone's Orchard. Be sure to check out the giveaway details at the end of this post.

Andrea @ Reading Lark: I am a huge fan of What Scotland Taught Me and Relatively Honest. This novel seems like a detour from your contemporary fiction. Why did you choose to switch genres?

Molly: Thank you! True, I've written YA (or NA, more specifically), and I've written paranormal, but I hadn't written a book that was both yet. Even in The Ghost Downstairs, the ghosts are real but are still part of an otherwise ordinary world. So certainly Persephone's Orchard is much farther into the fantasy realm than my usual. Basically I wrote it because I've loved Greek mythology since I was a kid, and the myth of Persephone and Hades in particular seemed tailor-made for a paranormal romance. I'm not the first to think of that, nor the last. But I wrote an early version of this book years and years ago, and it's the one that really captivated my family and friends. They still asked me about it even as I wrote other books and got them published. So finally I came back to Persephone and Hades, and gave it a complete rewrite, and ended up loving the whole exercise far more than I expected to.

Andrea @ Reading Lark: One thing I love about your stories is the amount of humor. Can I expect to see that in Persephone's Orchard?

Molly: Yes, I made sure of that. The Persephone myth is dark and angst-filled--actually, most of Greek mythology is that way--but other novel versions of the myth had already covered the gloomy and angsty angle. So I went more for a magical and adventurous approach, though of course there is darkness and angst on the way. That's unavoidable when you're writing about gods of the dead. But I also included, for instance, the god Hermes, who is surely one of the funniest and most fun-loving people in Greek mythology. He provides a lot of humor, as does Aphrodite; and even my Persephone and Hades characters are cleverer and better-humored than people might expect.

Andrea @ Reading Lark: I know at one point we discussed the cover of this one and you were adamant that it not have a girl in a pretty dress. Are you happy with the cover the publisher chose?

Molly: LOL - ah yes, well, my main issue with "girl in a pretty dress" covers is when you read the book and there's never a scene when the girl actually wears a dress like that; so why is it on the cover? It seems to be a trend. But my publisher found a photo of a model in a red sheet that could easily be a falling-off Greek-style tunic, and she's holding a pomegranate. Too perfect. Pomegranates are highly significant both in the Persephone myth and in my book. Even the color is appropriate, since in the story I have the heroine wearing red at key times.

Andrea @ Reading Lark: I'm also drawn to your female characters. What are Sophie's best qualities?

Molly: She's quite brave. She manages to hold it together and be a somewhat sensible person in situations that would freak most of us right out. (Being shown around the Underworld, being stalked by crazy people, that kind of thing.) She's also a very loyal friend, and tends to give people the benefit of the doubt, though that sometimes leads her into trouble.

Andrea @ Reading Lark: Who is your current book boyfriend?

Molly: I just read Amy Harmon's A Different Blue, and will happily claim Wilson from that story as this month's book boyfriend. A cute, smart, young teacher with an English accent - he's pretty much a shoo-in for making it onto my adoration list.

Andrea @ Reading Lark: Are you working on something new? If so, can you share any details about it?

Molly: I'm working on book 2 of this series - the sequel to Persephone's Orchard. I have plans for new gods and goddesses that we haven't properly met in the first book, and, it must be admitted, there will be deeper angst and emotion. Guess it's a dark legend after all.

About the Author

Molly Ringle has been writing fiction for over twenty years. With her intense devotion to silly humor, she was especially proud to win the grand prize in the 2010 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest with one (intentionally) terrible sentence. Molly grew up in the Pacific Northwest, and lives in Seattle with her husband and children. Her studies include a bachelor of arts in anthropology and a master of arts in linguistics. She was a Tri-Delta in college, in an old sorority house that was supposedly haunted, which inspired some of the central ideas for 'The Ghost Downstairs.' She also loves folklore and mythology, and is working on new novels about the Greek myths. 'Persephone's Orchard' is the first in the series. When not writing, she can often be found experimenting with fragrances, chocolate, and gardening.

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About the Novel

The Greek gods never actually existed. Did they? Sophie Darrow finds she was wrong about that assumption when she's pulled into the spirit realm, complete with an Underworld, on her first day at college. Adrian, the mysterious young man who brought her there, simply wants her to taste a pomegranate. 

Soon, though she returns to her regular life, her mind begins exploding with dreams and memories of ancient times; of a love between two Greeks named Persephone and Hades. But lethal danger has always surrounded the immortals, and now that she's tainted with the Underworld's magic, that danger is drawing closer to Sophie.

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We have TWO SIGNED eBook copies of Persephone's Orchard up for grabs. Thank you, Central Avenue Publishing, for providing the books for the giveaway. The giveaway is open internationally. In order to win you must:

* Be 18+ years old

* Fill out the Rafflecopter below

The giveaway runs from July 5-12. The winners will be contacted via email on July 13. Reading Lark is not responsible for prize delivery.

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