CE Bookania - Q&A

Today's the last day of my Blog tour, which has been fairly successful. I haven't seen as great of sales as I would have liked, but I think I've gained a few more readers, and those are always great to collect.

I have three stops for today:
The Splendor Falls on Castle Walls: Author Interview - This is the most unique interview I've ever had, since instead of asking the regular questions, she asked for insight into the details that have been hazy in Bookania. Gotta love Miss Melody.
Spiral-Bound: Book Review: My Kingdom for a Quest - Which was short, sweet, and to the point
Eagle Nest Mom: Guest Post - Favorite Fairy Tale Retellings - Pretty self-explanitory. Basically, I like high-concept retellings.

Also, today's your last chance to get Saffron's Big Plan for free, and Kingdom itself for just 99 cents! 

And now for the Q&A. I'm going to steal like an artist and use Jaye's idea of writing the Q&A in story format, which means that I can call it my Character encounter of the month. And so, let's begin:

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I walk down the forest road, my purple cape billowing about me as I approach an old, dilapidated building that seems about to fall apart. Pausing at the doorway, I check to make sure my pen is still clipped securely to my belt. There are a few characters within who are willing to question my authority as the Arista, and it's always better to be safe than sorry in this situation.

Taking a deep breath, I push the door open and walk inside to be confronted by the smell of delicious food and Sal's cry of "CUSTOMERS!!" I glance about the cafeteria to find that almost every table is filled with people. 

"Greetings," I announce. "I have arrived. Sorry about running a bit late, I was waiting until the last second to see if anyone else had any questions for you guys."

"Did they?" This question comes from Robin, who is seated between her brother and husband, chin resting on her hand as she glares at me.

"Sadly, no. Well, Abbey says she had one, but couldn't remember it. I guess I'll leave the comment section open on this blog post to see if anyone else has one."

"Well then, no questions, let's call off the party," says Robin.

"Not so fast," I say, whipping out a pad of paper and my pen, watching her eyes widen, as she knows the power of the Arista's Pen. "I said anyone else, there have been five questions submitted previously, two of them directed at least partly to you."

She mumbles something I can't quite hear from my position in the room, then squeaks as Eric kicks her under the table.

"But I'll start with Madeleine, since I know that she's actually the one dreading this the most. Best get it over with, right?"

Madeleine glances up from her paintbox which has been receiving yet another layer of paint. "Indeed, Arista. What would your readers like to know about me?"

"The questions are from my sister, she'd like to know how young you were when you started painting."

She nods slowly as she regards her box. "I don't think I'd had my second birthday yet when I first found my paintbox and decided that I wanted to paint my puppy, Mopsey. It wasn't very good, and I can assure you that if you search Locksley castle, you won't find it, since I painted over it when I was five, but still, it was my first painting."

"I remember Mopsey," Samson speaks up. "That black mess of hair thou called a dog."

"She was a dog," Madeleine protests. "Anyways, I continued to paint animals and flowers until my parents hired me three leading tutors when for my fourth birthday. So yes, I've had official training."

"Interesting," I say, nodding. "She'd also like to know what was your favorite painting you ever did."

"The one I put in Samson's room when I was six," she answers, without a moment of hesitation. "I put several day's work into it, not that he appreciated it."

"You painted roses," he mentions.

"Well, I'll leave the two of you to that argument," I say, turning back to Robin's table. "Now, the rest of the questions are for you four. First of all, my mom would like to know what you guys did on your honeymoons."

Robin stiffens, glancing towards Eric. "Uh ..."

"Well, as you stated in the final chapter of Do You Take This Quest?" Eric speaks up, "we went to the mountains where there were a collection of lakes and I taught her how nice adventuring could be."

"Indeed," she agrees, relaxing. "He also took me mudriding, which was lots of fun."

"Sounds like it. Oh, that reminds me, a year or so ago, a Miss Melody asked me what Mudriding was, and I answered her in an email, but if you two would like to answer now, I'm sure my other readers would appreciate it."

"Uh, we ride our horses through the mud and get dirty. Mother would never approve."

"What your mother doesn't know can't hurt her," Eric mentions.

"Indeed." I turn my attention to Robert and Rosamond. "And how about the two of you? What did you do on your honeymoon?"

"Well, we spent the first week travelling from village to village until we reached Skewwood forest, so we decided to spend the rest of it at Robin Hood's camp," explains Robert.

"We did a good deal of sewing," Rosamond adds. "And Robert taught his cousin Arthur archery."

"He's not doing bad at it, but I think he's more of a swordsman," said Robert.

"He is," said Robin, nodding firmly.

"The next question's for Eric," I continue. "I know you already answered it on Abbey's blog, but Morgan would also like to know: When did you realize you loved Robin."

Eric laughs. "About five seconds after she accepted the proposal I still don't remember giving her."

"I think it took me ten seconds," Robin admitted. "It was just the heat of the moment and all that. And ... yeah. Not that there ever was anyone else for either of us. I mean, I had my suitors, and he had his enchanted princess obsession, but we never actually seriously considered anyone."

"I believe this last question leads fairly naturally off of that, then," I say. "Robin, Morgan would also like to know who your favorite sword opponent is."

She casts Eric a sidelong glance, as she leans forward mischievously. "That's a complicated answer," she admits. "I mean, I don't like it when my opponents aren't very good, since I like the battle to last a little while. However, I don't like it when they're cocky, because we all know who's the best swordsman in the world, and it isn't them. And of course-"

"It's me," Eric cuts in.

She flicks him an annoyed glance. "Look who's so sure of himself."

"Well, you only spent how much of your childhood swordfighting him?" I ask, "And even now that you're married, you still cross blades with him quite frequently."

She shrugs. "Can't let him get out of shape, now can I?"

I laugh. "Well, that's it for the questions," I announce. "However, I am going to leave the door open, and if anyone wants to come in and ask a question or two more, I'm going to let you guys answer it, understand."

"I think that translates into make," said Robin.

"In your case, yes."

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And there we go, and the party's officially over. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and as I mentioned, I'm going to leave the comment section open - and you can ask a question of any Bookania character, including myself, because as Arista, I am part of the Bookania world. I haven't reached the book where that element is introduced, but I'm looking forward to it.