Blog Tour, Author Interview, and GIVEAWAY: The Girl from Everywhere

Posted by Paula@Reading Lark February 16, 2016

Blog Tour, Author Interview, and GIVEAWAY: The Girl from Everywhere

We are excited to help celebrate the release of Heidi Heilig's YA fantasy adventure, THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE!

Title: THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE

Author: Heidi Heilig

Pub. Date: February 16, 2016

Publisher: Greenwillow Books

Format: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Find it: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Goodreads

Heidi Heilig’s debut teen fantasy sweeps from modern-day New York City to nineteenth-century Hawaii to places of myth and legend. Sixteen-year-old Nix has sailed across the globe and through centuries aboard her time-traveling father’s ship. But when he gambles with her very existence, it all may be about to end. The Girl from Everywhere, the first of two books, will dazzle readers of Sabaa Tahir, Rae Carson, and Rachel Hartman.

Nix’s life began in Honolulu in 1868. Since then she has traveled to mythic Scandinavia, a land from the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, modern-day New York City, and many more places both real and imagined. As long as he has a map, Nix’s father can sail his ship, The Temptation, to any place, any time. But now he’s uncovered the one map he’s always sought—1868 Honolulu, before Nix’s mother died in childbirth. Nix’s life—her entire existence—is at stake. No one knows what will happen if her father changes the past. It could erase Nix’s future, her dreams, her adventures . . . her connection with the charming Persian thief, Kash, who’s been part of their crew for two years. If Nix helps her father reunite with the love of his life, it will cost her her own.

In The Girl from Everywhere, Heidi Heilig blends fantasy, history, and a modern sensibility with witty, fast-paced dialogue, breathless adventure, and enchanting romance.

I always wonder what authors were like as children. Were you the kid in school who was always telling stories, or did writing come to you later?

I was a bit of a wild child, who smelled like the ocean and ran around barefoot with long tangled hair. Because of that, I didn’t make friends easily, so when I told stories, I told them in my head. I would go on grand adventures in the backyard—we lived on a farm, so we had a big place to roam—finding treasure and fighting dragons shaped suspiciously like shrubs or buckets or bales of hay. Despite my overactive imagination, I didn’t know I wanted to be a novelist until very recently—I was a theatre writer before I wrote THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE. But I always loved story-telling.

What's the last book you read and loved?

I’ve been devouring books by my fellow debut authors, so a very recent fav is SEVEN WAYS WE LIE by Riley Redgate (March 8, Abrams/Amulet). I really enjoyed the seven points of view—each distinct, with its own arc and voice—from both a writing craft perspective and the perspective of a reader who loves drama and uncovering stories piece by piece.

If THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE was a dessert, what would it be?

Coconut flavored shave ice with azuki beans! “Shave ice” is a Hawaiian treat—shaved iced that’s powdery as snow, packed into a paper cone and sweetened with syrup. At the bottom of the cone you can put sweet red beans or ice cream and it is delicious. It’s a real melting pot dessert—the kind of mixed food cultures you can only get in Hawaii.

Which scene from the book was most fun to write?

Every scene with Auntie Joss! Joss—the opium dealer who once introduced Nix’s parents—is a complex woman with a mysterious past, a strong will, and an agenda. She was definitely one of those characters who starts to write themselves, and I loved discovering her secrets and watching her machinations unfold across the page, right before my eyes.

What part of the publishing business is different than you thought it would be?

Everything, to be honest! I came into this with no expectations. I’ve always been a huge reader, but before writing THE GIRL FROM EVERYWHERE, I was sadly unaware of this beautiful book community, and I’d done no research on what it was like to be a published author. I’m particularly (and pleasantly) surprised by how much interaction we as authors get to have with readers. Coming from a theatre background, I always loved hearing the reactions of a live audience, and so getting to enjoy the reactions of readers is special to me.

It's tradition for us to ask: what is your favorite bird?

I’ve always loved peacocks. We had a little family of them, growing up, and as beautiful and graceful as the adults were, the chicks were just fuzzy floofs that could fit in the palm of your hand. They remind me of the potential for flamboyant greatness in all of us.

About Heidi:

Heidi grew up in Hawaii where she rode horses and raised peacocks, and then she moved to New York City and grew up even more, as one tends to do. Her favorite thing, outside of writing, is travel, and she has haggled for rugs in Morocco, hiked the trails of the Ko’olau Valley, and huddled in a tent in Africa while lions roared in the dark.

She holds an MFA from New York University in Musical Theatre Writing, of all things, and she’s written books and lyrics for shows including The Time Travelers Convention, Under Construction, and The Hole. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and their pet snake. They do not own a cat.

Photo by Adrian Buckmaster

Where you can find Heidi: