INTERVIEW and GIVEAWAY: Holly Schindler!!

Today I have with me the very wonderful HOLLY SCHINDLER,the author of A BLUE SO DARK and the recent PLAYING HURT(the excerpts of which have been provided below) for an interview! I am so excited! Yay! She is such a lovely author(I am a B.I.G. fan!). OK. I will stop gushing now. The interview follows after brief blurbs of her books.

PLAYING HURT Jacket Copy:

Star basketball player Chelsea “Nitro” Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college—and everyone’s admiration in her hometown. But everything changed senior year, when she took a horrible fall during a game. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family.

As a graduation present, Chelsea’s dad springs for a three-week summer “boot camp” program at a northern Minnesota lake resort. There, she’s immediately drawn to her trainer, Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player who’s haunted by his own traumatic past. As they grow close, Chelsea is torn between her feelings for Clint and her loyalty to her devoted boyfriend back home. Will an unexpected romance just end up causing Chelsea and Clint more pain—or finally heal their heartbreak?

A BLUE SO DARK Jacket Copy:

Fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose has been hiding a secret. Her mother, a talented artist and art teacher, is slowly being consumed by schizophrenia, and Aura has been her sole caretaker ever since Aura’s dad left them. Convinced that “creative” equals crazy, Aura shuns her own artistic talent. But as her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet draws Aura toward the depths of her imagination. Just as desperation threatens to swallow her whole, Aura discovers that art, love, and family are profoundly linked—and together may offer an escape from her fears.

1. What set off the idea for PLAYING HURT?

Initially, I wanted to write a book about learning the difference between loving someone and being IN love. In the earliest draft, Chelsea went on vacation and learned the difference between loving someone as a friend (which is really how she feels about her boyfriend Gabe) and really being passionately IN love with someone (how she feels about Clint, whom she meets on her vacation).

After I sold my debut, A BLUE SO DARK, to Flux, I figured PLAYING HURT (then called SUMMER FLING) was the closest to any of my drafted manuscripts to being publishable. So I trolled the manuscript in search of the still-missing piece. As I read, I realized just how athletic Chelsea seemed—fishing, hiking, bowling, all that existed in the original manuscript. So I started playing with the idea that she was an athlete…I got about a quarter of the way through the book when I decided I needed backstory for Clint, as well…which was when I began writing chapters from Clint’s POV…during the very last rewrite!

2. Personally, who is your most favorite character from the book and why?

I really love Brandon. He's just so sweet and funny, and was so much fun to write.

3. PLAYING HURT is a lot about sports. Which leads me to ask, were you athletic when in school?

Not at all! I have zero athletic ability. The decision to make my characters athletes happened because I was listening to them, letting them tell me who they wanted to be (instead of me forcing on them who I thought they needed to be).

4. OK, I know it’s impossible to distinguish between one’s children, still I’d like to ask: PLAYING HURT or A BLUE SO DARK?

I love them both for different reasons—I love A BLUE SO DARK (and WILL always love it) because it was my first. PLAYING HURT has spurred so much discussion online—especially about the cheating aspect—and I’ve really loved that my work has been the subject of so much online debate.

5. Finally, anything new you are working on that you’d like to share with us?

My first MG will release in 2012! Additional breaking news is always shared at my blog: hollyschindler.blogspot.com, and on Twitter: @holly_schindler. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Now,time for the GIVEAWAY! Yes! You heard me right! GIVEAWAY!! Scream out loud guys! Holly has promised a gorgeous swag pack consisting of one signed bookplate, one signed bookmark, and one PLAYING HURT pinback button!

The rules are simple-

+1 You have to be a follower of the blog

+1 each place you spread the love(I would be very grateful)-leave links please

Leave your email id please

So run along guys!