Wendy Spinale: Everland Mini Q&A + Blog Tour Contest

Today, we are pleased to be hosting a stop on the official blog tour for Everland by Wendy Spinale, a funky and cool re-imagining of the Peter Pan story. We have a fantastic mini Q&A session with Wendy, plus your chance to win a copy of the book — as well as some other fun goodies and tid-bits! So without further ado, let’s dive in:

An educator who made an impact on your life:

I actually went to seven different schools by the time I graduated high school and three different colleges by the time I got my degree. Because of that I can’t recall many of my teachers or administrators. However, my cheer and drill team coach inspired me in middle school to dream big. She eventually left to become the head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers cheer squad.

Where you write:

I actually have a few places I love to write. Eddie Papa’s is a locally owned restaurant that tolerates me taking up their only table with a plug next to it. The owner, Ed Westmoreland has been very generous and accommodating. I also write at another locally owned place called Café Main. Their breakfasts are amazing!

Your experience seeing your book cover for the first time:

When I first saw the cover for EVERLAND I cried. It made this whole experience real and I couldn’t believe how beautiful of a job Scholastic did. I still get giddy when I look at the cover.

Forget the story of Peter Pan you know. Because in Everland, the only way to grow up is to survive.

London has been destroyed in a blitz of bombs and disease. The only ones who have survived are children, among them Gwen Darling and her siblings, Joanna and Mikey. They spend their nights scavenging and their days avoiding the ruthless Marauders — the German Army led by Captain Hanz Otto Oswald Kretschmer.

Unsure if the virus has spread past England’s borders but desperate to leave, Captain Hook hunts for a cure, which he thinks can be found in one of the survivors. He and his Marauders stalk the streets snatching children for experimentation. None ever return. Until the day they grab Joanna. As Gwen sets out to save her, she meets a mysterious boy named Pete. Pete offers the assistance of his gang of Lost Boys and the fierce sharpshooter Bella, who have all been living in a city hidden underground. But in a place where help has a steep price and every promise is bound by blood, it will cost Gwen. And are she, Pete, the Lost Boys, and Bella enough to outsmart Captain Hook?

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I must admit, I have lived an extraordinary life and will forever be grateful for the opportunities I have had.

I was the middle of three kids, my older brother being deaf for as far back as I can remember. At the time, I didn’t realize how much that would later impact my life. I was a sign language interpreter for a short time (although I’m extremely rusty now), taught my kids to sign as infants, and now am using that experience in my current manuscript.

During college I was living in southern California working for Disneyland as a Cast Member in the Entertainment Department. I met my husband there who was also a performer. After four incredible years working with the Mouse, we moved to his hometown in the Bay Area.

I eventually got my Bachelor’s in Kinesiology and worked in the fitness industry for ten years before a knee injury ended my career. Not sure what to do with my time, I applied to job posting to be an online journalist. I loved writing, but had no experience. I didn’t hear back so I wrote up a review about a local restaurant and sent it to them to prove I could do the job. Twenty-four hours later, I was a journalist with AOL Media/Pleasanton Patch.

I spent three great years with them before cut backs forced me without a job again. That’s when I started writing my first novel, which went nowhere. Dozens of rejection letters later. I started a second book. A year later I was offered representation by Thao Le from Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency and within another six months I was offered a book deal. EVERLAND (Scholastic) is scheduled to debut Summer of 2016!

Today I live in the Bay Area with my husband and three sons who are my biggest fans. While they’re off at work and school, I bounce ideas off my four-legged, furry family members, Odie and Sammy.

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3 winners will receive a finished copy of EVERLAND, US Only.