Title: A SCHOOL FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS
Author: Kathleen Baldwin
Pub. Date: May 19, 2015
Publisher: Tor Teen
Pages: 352
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Find it: Amazon, Barnes
& Noble, iBooks,
GoodreadsIt’s 1814. Napoleon is exiled on Elba. Europe is in shambles. Britain is at war on four fronts. And Stranje House, a School for Unusual Girls, has become one of Regency England’s dark little secrets. The daughters of the beau monde who don't fit high society’s constrictive mold are banished to Stranje House to be reformed into marriageable young ladies. Or so their parents think. In truth, Headmistress Emma Stranje, the original unusual girl, has plans for the young ladies—plans that entangle the girls in the dangerous world of spies, diplomacy, and war.
After accidentally setting her father’s stables on fire while performing a scientific experiment, Miss Georgiana Fitzwilliam is sent to Stranje House. But Georgie has no intention of being turned into a simpering, pudding-headed, marriageable miss. She plans to escape as soon as possible—until she meets Lord Sebastian Wyatt. Thrust together in a desperate mission to invent a new invisible ink for the English war effort, Georgie and Sebastian must find a way to work together without losing their heads—or their hearts...
Now on to the interview!
What about the sequel? Do we have a title yet?
Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?
Hi Kathleen! First I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on
Books! I am really looking forward to A SCHOOL FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS! I can’t wait
to read it!
For the readers: can you tell us a
little bit about A SCHOOL FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS and the characters?
Sebastian, Lord Wyatt, the
blue-eyed devil, is a flirt and a tease. But he is also brilliant, driven, and
loyal. He has a soldier’s heart with a diplomat’s charm. Perfect for a spy.
Behind those irresistible teasing
eyes and his biting wit, Lord Wyatt hides a gnawing pain. His father was
beheaded when Sebastian was a child, consequently he’s passionately devoted to
his work, impatient to chase down his enemies and make the world a safer place.
What about the sequel? Do we have a title yet?
Yes! In
fact book two is already in revisions: EXILE FOR DREAMERS (Tess’s story but
Georgie is still there)
Were any of the characters in the
book inspired by people from your real life?
Yes. I
think all writers always draw from the people they’ve known and their own life
experiences.
For
instance, I can’t help myself, I keep writing about heroines who’ve tried
flying. That’s probably because when I was in third grade I built an overgrown
windup airplane using some boards and a bicycle inner tube and a plastic fan
for the makeshift propeller. Then my brother and I climbed high up into in the
old elm and tried to take off from our tree fort.
EEeerrrr – crash. Luckily, we both had very
sturdy bones.
Flight
is a secret obsession of mine, so naturally it comes out in my stories. I tried
hang gliding in college, enjoyed diving from cliffs, and frequently dream of
soaring through the sky with only my arms for wings.
Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?
Georgie
was fun and easy to write. I identify with her so much. In fact, I adore all
the girls and women of Stranje House. It’s like getting together with the
sisters of my heart every time I sit down to write. I don’t really have any
trouble writing any of the characters. Even the villain, Lady Daneska, is
wonderful fun to write.
What I
have trouble with is setting. Which is a character in and of itself. I stumble
over setting and too often forget to put enough of it in.
What is your favorite
passage/scene in A SCHOOL FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS?
I love
the part when Georgie and Sebastian finally make peace and start working on the
invisible ink together. She’s never been respected for her mind and I love it
when this happens:
“He
leaned across the worktable; listening, considering my hypothesis.
Listening.
To me.
No one
had ever done that.
And all
the while, my skin tingled under the gentle breeze of our companionability. I
doubt any lover’s poem would have teased my ears more sweetly than our
discussion of iron oxides and magnesium.”
What kind of research did you have
to do for the story?
Research.
Uh-oh! I
do tons of research. I love history. I can disappear down a deep dark research
rabbit hole and it might be days before I crawl out the other side. Point in
case: I have an accidental minor in history. Accidental, because I never intended to get it, I just couldn’t
stop taking all those interesting classes. My research files and historical
book collection would sink a small battleship – at least that’s what my
long-suffering husband says.
The Regency era fascinates me -
it’s full of such odd contradictions. There are so many sad aspects, the war,
poverty, disease, and yet the whole high society, the Beau Monde, is
hilariously ridiculous in other ways. I crave humor, but I also relish a good
cry now and then. So hey, Regency England is the perfect time period for me to
write about.
What are you reading right now? Or
what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine.
Who is your ultimate Book
Boyfriend?
Ultimate?
That’s a tough question. Don’t we always fall in love with the hero? If not,
the writer hasn’t done her job. And for those few short days of the book he is
the ultimate hero.
How
about this; I’ll tell you my very first ‘book boyfriend’ crush was on Almanzo
Wilder in Farmer Boy, from there it was a downhill slope through Tom Sawyer,
Legolas in Lord of the Rings, the proud but loveable Mr. Darcy, all the way to
Four in Divergent, and still sliding.
What inspired you to write YA?
Several
reviewers and even my brother-in-law who is a YA author and English professor,
told me I ought to write YA because even my adult voice sounded YA. I tried it
and loved it. I never really grew up inside. Sometimes I wonder if I’m
emotionally stuck as a teenager because my mother died a month before my
fourteenth birthday.
Lightening
Round Questions
Twitter or
Facebook? Twitter
Favorite
Superhero? Thor
Favorite
TV show? Big Bang Theory
Sweet or
Salty? Sweet AND salty. Salted caramel – mmmm
Any Phobias?
Yep, a weird
one. I’m not afraid of heights or blood at all, but certain kinds of wet paper
gross me out and can even make me faint. It comes from a terrifying incident
with a fire when I was four years old.
Song you can’t get enough of right
now?
Kings of
Convenience – Boat Behind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df2K91QSqJE I
love their harmony
Fall Movie you’re most looking
forward to?
This pains me to say, because I was going to skip anything that
had to do with Jurassic Park until I saw a trailer with Chris Pratt training
three Raptors. In my defense, Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy) is just
straight up entertaining to watch. So, yeah, I confess I’m looking forward to
Jurassic World.
Thanks so
much Kathleen for answering my questions!
My pleasure! This was fun. Thank
you for hosting me.—Kathleen
Baldwin
About Kathleen:
"I love adventure in books and
in real life. I've roamed the Rocky Mountains, wandered the desert, enjoyed way
too many classes in college, was stalked by a mountain lion, lost an argument
with a rattlesnake, fell in love at least a dozen times, finally met and
married my very own hero, and together we've raised four free-spirited
children."
Award-winning author - Kensington published four of Kathleen's Regency romantic comedies, including MISTAKEN KISS, a Holt Medallion finalist. DIARY OF A TEENAGE FAIRY GODMOTHER, was a Golden Quill finalist. Her upcoming Historical YA series with TorTeen, A SCHOOL FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS, is a Junior Library Guild Selection and won a Marlene.
News and more at: www.Kathleenbaldwin.com
Award-winning author - Kensington published four of Kathleen's Regency romantic comedies, including MISTAKEN KISS, a Holt Medallion finalist. DIARY OF A TEENAGE FAIRY GODMOTHER, was a Golden Quill finalist. Her upcoming Historical YA series with TorTeen, A SCHOOL FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS, is a Junior Library Guild Selection and won a Marlene.
News and more at: www.Kathleenbaldwin.com
Giveaway Details:
10 winners will receive a finished copy of A SCHOOL
FOR UNUSUAL GIRLS. US Only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Check out the Tour Schedule!
Week One:
5/11/2015- Two Chicks on Books- Interview
5/12/2015- Pandora's Books- Review
5/13/2015- Her
Book Thoughts- Guest
Post
5/14/2015- Pretty
Little Pages- Review
5/15/2015- Chapter
by Chapter- Interview
Week Two:
5/18/2015- The
Book Belles- Review
5/19/2015- Alice Marvels- Guest Post
5/20/2015- Bumbles
and Fairy-Tales- Review
5/21/2015- Bookish
Things & More- Interview
5/22/2015- Wishful Endings- Review
