AUTHOR INTERVIEW with Selina Eckert!

Hey everyone - I hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday! 

Today's post is for a blog tour: an author interview with Selina Eckert, the author of the upcoming release This Cursed Flame.  Make sure to check out her blog post HERE for the blog tour's schedule, and stay tuned right here for a book spotlight for This Cursed Flame on the 24th! But without further ado, here's the interview!

About the Author 

 Selina is a biologist-by-day, writer-by-night native of Pennsylvania. She lives with her husband, dog, and two cats and spends her time writing, reading, creating art, and dreaming about fictional worlds. Besides writing and sciencing, Selina also runs an author support business, Paper Cranes, LLC, that provides editing, consulting, and mapmaking services to authors, writers, and students. She has written two fairy-tale retelling short stories that were both finalists in Rooglewood Press short story contests and an exclusive fantasy short story, “Queen of Mist and Fog,” available through her newsletter. This Cursed Flame is her first novel. Selina can be found online on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, her blog, and through her email newsletter.


1)  What was your inspiration for writing This Cursed Flame?
I first had the idea for this story in 2011. I have been a classic sitcom fan for years, since I was in middle school, maybe even earlier, and I was thinking about I Dream of Jeannie. I had always loved that one, despite its flaws, partly because the human characters are astronauts and partly because I loved Jeannie and the magic and the mythology. It might have been my first foray into a version of contemporary fantasy, which is a genre I adore. But I especially loved Jeannie, and I started thinking about how cool it could be to tell a story from the perspective of a genie. To really give her a voice, to give her a chance to tell her story, rather than revolving around Tony and trying to keep Jeannie a secret from his life. So I started thinking about it, and the first (very different) iteration of the story was born. It's gone through tons of changes since then and really became its own thing, but it still has the I Dream of Jeannie bottle. Plus two sitcom-loving main characters!

2)  In the blurb, you mention one of the characters wanting to be accepted into a chemistry program.  Were you able to weave your own background with the sciences into your book?
Absolutely! I loved science classes in high school and participated in some extracurricular programs, but I really wanted to reflect bits of my own journey through grad school, as well as giving high school (and younger) girls a chance to see science dreams are possible for them. Grad school put me through a lot of the same questions and personal crises of identity that Laurelin faces in the book, and ultimately, I learned who I was as a person and a scientist. In the same way, Laurelin learns more about herself, what she really wants, and the lies she tells herself about her value. And we all tell ourselves lies about what we need to be successful. But eventually we learn from it and become stronger for the troubles we face.  

3)   Is there a certain scene that you especially enjoyed writing, and why - an intense scene, a plot twist, or maybe a scene that surprised you?
I really enjoyed some of the newer scenes I added during the last draft, particularly the ones where Laurelin and Janan start to really talk and know each other. I think there aren't enough solid female friendships in fiction, so I loved creating this relationship from the ground up. But I think my favorite was Safiyya, Janan's shapeshifting djinn friend stuck in an ocelot form, finally telling her story. It was a piece of the story that had been missing for so long, and to see it come into play in such a meaningful way warmed my author's heart! But I can't say more without spoiling it. ;)

 4)  What age range do you think will most enjoy your book?

This book is written for teens, but I really think anyone from middle school on up would enjoy it. It has a story all its own and themes that most people can relate to, regardless of age.

 5)  What's one thing that you hope readers can gain from reading This Cursed Flame?  
  If nothing else, I hope readers will see the importance of accepting who we are and the circumstances we get stuck in, and especially that these things don't define us. We can rise to the situation, take control, and use the hand we're dealt to influence the world in positive ways. In fact, tSometimes we put ourselves in the bottle... Six years ago, Janan was transformed into a genie by an evil djinn, ripping her away from her home, her life, and her humanity. She has been on the run from him ever since. Worlds away, high school honors student Laurelin just wants to get into the chemistry program of her dreams. When Laurelin discovers a crystal bottle that sucks her into the djinn realm, the girls find themselves working together to escape Janan's creator and get Laurelin back home. But war is brewing in the djinn realm-a rebellion led by the same evil djinn they've been trying to escape. And he is determined to rule both the djinn and the human realms. As his creation, Janan is the one person standing in his way. But to stop him, Janan must learn to overcome the fears he instilled in her and embrace her own dark magic while Laurelin must accept that some things are more important than an A+. Now, they will have to trust each other, and themselves, to stop the encroaching evil. Otherwise, both the human and djinn realms will fall to the tide of death and dark magic this war will unleash. he tagline says it pretty well: "Sometimes we put ourselves in the bottle." For years, Janan has limited her own ability to do great things by her own fears and lack of acceptance, just like Laurelin limits herself based on subjective scales of success. But when we take control of these things, when we accept the hard truths and are ready to move forward, we can do such great things!

This Cursed Flame blurb:

 

Sometimes we put ourselves in the bottle...

Six years ago, Janan was transformed into a genie by an evil djinn, ripping her away from her home, her life, and her humanity. She has been on the run from him ever since. Worlds away, high school honors student Laurelin just wants to get into the chemistry program of her dreams.

When Laurelin discovers a crystal bottle that sucks her into the djinn realm, the girls find themselves working together to escape Janan's creator and get Laurelin back home. But war is brewing in the djinn realm-a rebellion led by the same evil djinn they've been trying to escape. And he is determined to rule both the djinn and the human realms. As his creation, Janan is the one person standing in his way. 

But to stop him, Janan must learn to overcome the fears he instilled in her and embrace her own dark magic while Laurelin must accept that some things are more important than an A+. Now, they will have to trust each other, and themselves, to stop the encroaching evil. Otherwise, both the human and djinn realms will fall to the tide of death and dark magic this war will unleash.


Make sure to preorder  This Cursed Flame from Amazon HERE.  You can check out other retailers HERE, and shelf it on Goodreads HERE!

Join the Facebook party on April 27th HERE - games and giveaways are super fun, right?!