INTERVIEW AND GIVEAWAY CONTEST!! " Wings of Light " by Laura Bingham

WE ARE EXTENDING THE CONTEST UNTIL 12:01am on Sept 12, 2011!




Hello all! Well, you all know our great friend and wonderful author of the Alvor series, Laura Bingham.  Not too long ago, I reviewed "Wings of Light".  What would a review be without the rest of the TLGBRS "triple threat"components???  Exactly- that's why we are bringing you the other 2 parts.  First the interview, and then we will get to the giveaway.

TLGBRS: Laura, What are your websites where people can go learn more about you and your books?

http://www.laurabingham.com/

http://alvor-daretodream.blogspot.com/

TLGBRS: Tell us who you are and what you do.

I'm an author of young adult books.  Right now I have ALVOR and WINGS OF LIGHT out there as published works.  Think teen fantasy.  

I love writing, reading, clogging, Irish dancing and eating dark chocolate.  Which doesn't make me a typical mom, but I'm that too.  I have five kids, all adorable, destructive tendencies notwithstanding.

Besides writing, which I like to think of as my dream career, I teach clogging and Irish dance.  Once upon a time I taught Earth Science, Biology and Physical Science, but I hung my science teacher hat on the wall after we adopted my first son.  I haven't looked back.

I still love teaching.  These days I end up in schools as an author doing presentations- and that too is one of my dream jobs.

TLGBRS: What type of writer are you? Do you plan ahead/plot or do you simply fly by the seat of your pants?

I have a general idea of what the story line is, and then I write in the rest.  I love finding out new dimensions of the characters and stories as I write.  Always, something unexpected turns up as I go.

TLGBRS: Do you write best at a certain time of the day?

Whenever it’s quiet.  I’m not picky.

TLGBRS: What food or snack keeps the words flowing?

Dark chocolate is the food of life.  I don’t really snack while I write, but every morning I bring hot chocolate to the computer.

TLGBRS: What sparks a story?

Alvor was the first novel I wrote and it comes with its own story.  Wings of Light was planned since the day Alvor was created.  There’s three books to this series, so hold on to your seats!

TLGBRS: What was it about your genre that interested you enough to choose to write in it and not in another genre?

I guess I never grew up.  I love reading young adult and middle grade, but even more, I love teaching kids.  Writing in the genre is the most natural place for me to be.


TLGBRS: What's the best advice you ever received?

There is more than one story.  You have as many opportunities as you create for yourself.  I believe good writers read a lot.

 TLGBRS: What do you use to mark your page when reading?

That depends on where in the house the book is located.  I read while I work out (a perfect motivator) and I have a book holder on my elliptical fitness trainer where I use binder clips to hold the pages down while I work out.  Then there’s always a book behind the sofa.  Post-it notes rule- and it was the first thing they were used for I’m told. 

TLGBRS: What one thing do you like most about writing? Least?

I love losing myself in the story and feeling like time has no meaning.  It gives me such a happy boost to write several pages in one sitting.  What I like least- not getting enough uninterrupted time.  I can’t write if I don’t have enough time to get my head back into the story.

TLGBRS: Tell us what inspired the Alvor series.

  For years I have visited my grandparents who live in the Pennsylvania hills.  I’ve walked through the dense forest where bushes and thick vegetation fill the gaps between the tall oak trees.  It isn’t hard to imagine that fairies could live in a place where fireflies bounce off the lawns in the evening.  This is the world where Erin and her twin brother have lived most all of their lives

    She is an average fifteen year old whose twin brother is everything she’s not.  He’s athletic and charismatic.  She feels about as coordinated as a four year old on roller skates, and with her unruly red hair and extremely fair skin, she doesn’t find herself compellingly attractive.

   Living in a quiet village there isn’t much to do, and most of their summers are spent exploring the hills.  It was only a matter of time before they found the cabin.  A world of fairies, elves, and magic is opened up and disbelief is not an option.  They can see them, talk to them and then they find out that if they choose, they can become elves.  

         I wrote this story because I believe that we all have power inside of us.  Power to change who we are, who we become and to influence the world around us.  If I could reach out to readers and inspire them to see the infinite potential that lies there, I will have succeeded in the purpose of this story.

TLGBRS: Why should anyone part with their hard earned cash and precious time to read your book? Sell it to us!

  Take a journey into the world where you can use magic, talk to butterfly winged fairies and learn to use an eternal blade.  Fall in love, but be prepared for the evil that stands in the way between you and all you hoped to achieve.

  

TLGBRS: What advice would you pass along at this point in your career?

Don’t stop writing.  Always move forward.  Don’t give up in the face of rejection.  Seek help through writers groups, writers conferences and the internet.  Find other authors and read their stories of how they got published. 

AND OUR FAVORITE ONE, AS USUAL....

TLGBRS: 

What would you do for a Klondike Bar? (in this case, a second Klondike Bar!)

Oooh, it is hot this summer and my air conditioner broke.  I think I would fly all the way to New Jersey for a Klondike Bar.  What do you say Dave?

CONTEST TIME!!!!

HA! LOVE IT! Fly all the way to NJ for a Klondike bar??  Who would do such a thing?? As a matter of fact, Laura is doing just that!  Yup, Bingham and her #1 fan (Hubby "P") are flying out to hang with the gang!  So what we are going to do is have a special contest and have it end on August 12th, the day we will be hangin with the Binghams.  So lets say at.... 12:01am on Friday August 12th, we will pick a winner together using random.org.  Sound good? 

So what are we giving away and what do you have to do to get it?  Laura is going to be giving away 2 copies of Alvor and 2 copies of Wings of Light.  That's right, 4 in total.  So we are going to have 4 winners.  That means if you win Alvor, you will definitely want to go out and read Wings, and if you win Wings, well, you will just have to trust us here that it's worth it and go grab a copy of Alvor.  Sound good? Now how???

MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL!!!!!!  YOU MUST AND I REPEAT MUST BE A " FOLLOWER " of our site.  That little box on the right side of the site that has the pictures of some of our followers..... Go there and sign up if you are already not a follower.  As you may know from the past, we absolutely, positively, without a doubt will check to make sure you follow our site before we confirm you as a winner.  If you are not a follower, you are not a winner. (well, at least not for the contest anyway)

Now that we got that out of the way, there will be a few ways to gain entries.  Here is how:

+2 For being an EXISTING follower of our site and post a comment here with your email address (membership has its privileges!)

+1 For being a NEW follower and posting a comment here with your email address

+2 For posting a link to this contest on your site AND linking back to it in your comment

+1 For Tweeting, FB'ing, etc. You can add +1 for each different thing you do (only 1x per tweet, etc. tho)

+2 For EACH person that enters the contest and states they entered because of you in their comment here

So that's it.  Pretty simple.  You can earn a bunch of entries.  How many you get depends on how hard you want to win a copy :o)

As usual, any questions, feel free to email me at tlgbrs@gmail.com

Just a friendly reminder (I know, I know.....YOU know) please make sure you are a follower of our site.  Not being a follower can AND will be held against you in the court of TLGBRS!

GOOD LUCK ALL!

DAVE