It’s been a while since I did an interview, Gentle Reader, so I hope you will join me in welcoming the lovely Sarah Raughley to the blog today!
About Sarah Raughley, the Author!
Tea or coffee and how do you take it?
Tea, black, with a bit of honey.
Please describe your personal style for author appearances.
I dress preppy, and love to tie my braids in a high bun or if I’m feeling fun I let my braids flow.
If I were to observe the writer beast in its native environment, what surprising thing might I see? What does the environment look like?
Messy, with an empty Kleenex box and a full clothes hamper in drastic need of washing and some Halls wrappers everywhere for some reason. Actually, this reminds me I really need to clean my room.
If you could travel in any type of conveyance, what would it be?
I’ve always wanted to try a unicycle and I admire those who can do it. It takes great physical strength and a sense of inner-ear balance. Who needs leg day when you can travel to work in style?
No deviating: vanilla or chocolate ice cream on a plain or a sugar cone?
(Gail will use this to determine your level of sanity.)
Vanilla on plain only because you did not make a waffle cone available as a choice.
(Gail pronounces madness!)
What’s most likely to make you laugh?
The Simpsons Season 4 episodes.
Since writers inevitably end up in the bar, what’s your poison?
Port wine tastes as sweet as victory.
Sarah Raughley grew up in Southern Ontario writing stories about freakish little girls with powers because she secretly wanted to be one. She is a huge fangirl of anything from manga to scifi/fantasy TV to Japanese role-playing games, but she will swear up and down at book signings that she was inspired by Jane Austen.
Sarah has been nominated for the Aurora Award for Best Young Adult novel and works in the community doing writing workshops for youths and adults. On top of being a YA writer, Sarah has a PhD in English, which makes her doctor, so it turns out she didn’t have to go to medical school after all.
As an academic, Sarah has taught at McMaster University and acted as a postdoctoral fellow at The University of Ottawa. Her research concerns representations of race and gender in popular media culture, youth culture and postcolonialism.
About the book, The Bones of Ruin!
What should readers eat while consuming your novel?
Cheese and crackers, or sugar cookies, with a slightly warm beverage (as stated before, I’m a tea drinker).
What form does evil take within its pages?
Apparently a girl with many love interests, depending on one’s level of conservativism.
Which one of your characters would you most want to kiss and why?
Maximo is a street fighter and, if we’re talking kisses, is ready to go at all times.
What’s your favorite period in history and does it influence your world building?
As a card-carrying magical Black girl, it’s tough to talk favorite periods in history since none were particularly kind to us. I will be selfish and say the 90s, because as a small child I remember lots of Black representation on TV and music that helped let me know that folks like me can indeed be special and involved in things as lead characters. That is the biggest influence in my world building.
Which one of your characters would you most like to slap and why?
I would love to slap all of them for a number of reasons, but largely I would most like to slap Iris, tell her to take her pet goose and flee from London immediately!
Without spoilers, what’s the funnest (or funniest) part of the book?
It’s a moody book, but I particularly enjoy the part where my characters steal toys (not from children!)
If your story smelled of something, what would that be?
The Thames at the peak of the Industrial Revolution. Take that for what you will!
The Bones of Ruin
An African tightrope walker who can’t die gets embroiled in a secret society’s deadly gladiatorial tournament in this thrilling historical fantasy set in an alternate 1880s London.
Right? Doesn’t it sound amazing?
I do hope you will check out her book and that you have enjoyed her visit to the blog!
Take care and happy reading!
Miss Gail
- Vixen Ecology ~ Interstitial short story featuring Mana and Lovejoy, follow up to The Enforcer Enigma, is available to Chirrup members as a digital exclusive. That’s Gail’s newsletter. If you sign up you will get a link to buy and download after you’re through the confirmation process. It’s a short story, digital ONLY. Why?
- Did you miss my latest release announcement? Want more sneak peeks, free goodies, gossip, behind the scenes info? This stuff goes to my Chirrup members, because I love them bestest. Sign up here.
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BOOK DE JOUR!
Ambush or Adore: Delightfully Deadly #2 – AGATHA’S BOOK
PICK YOUR VENDOR!
Direct from me? .mobi or .epub
London’s best and most covert spy tries to escape the man who has always adored her. Out October 1, 2021
Upcoming Scribbles?
- I have a fun techno-fantasy in production, about a world where magic only works when you’re dating someone, and the boy who falls in love with the wrong person.
- Need to know what else Gail is working on right now? That’s in the Chirrup.
Gail’s Daily Tea Party
Tisanes of Nifty
- The Virtual Victorian: Railways – History in Drawings
- A gasless, motorless dirigible
- What is Victorian hair jewelry anyway?
Writerly Tincture
Book Nibble
10 Common English Idioms and Their Weird Historical Origins
Quote to Sip
“If a book is well written, I always find it too short.”
~ Jane Austen
Tags: Interview