May Book Portrait: Of Poseidon by Anna Banks

I'm so excited to bring you another month of this feature! Book Portrait of the Month will showcase one book that has a cover/synopsis/etc. that I find particularly striking. In each post I hope to include teasers and author interviews or guest posts (when possible), as well as a giveaway. Hopefully this feature will bring more attention to some very deserving books!

So without further ado I present May's feature:



OF POSEIDON by Anna Banks
Reason for Feature: Cover

About the Book:
Published By: Feiwel & Friends | Release Date: May 22, 2012
Reading Level: Young Adult | Genre: Fantasy

Galen is the prince of the Syrena, sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish. Emma is on vacation at the beach. When she runs into Galen—literally, ouch!—both teens sense a connection. But it will take several encounters, including a deadly one with a shark, for Galen to be convinced of Emma’s gifts. Now, if he can only convince Emma that she holds the key to his kingdom . . .

Told from both Emma and Galen’s points of view, here is a fish-out-of-water story that sparkles with intrigue, humor, and waves of romance.

"'Hold my breath?' she gasps, peering down at the water.

He nods against her cheek, appreciating the silkiness of her skin, almost iridescent in the storm. 'For now. But not always. Are you holding it?'

She nods. He catapults backward -- and under."

You can read my review of OF POSEIDON here.



~INTERVIEW~


I'm very excited that Anna Banks was kind enough to participate in this new feature! Please take a few minutes to learn more about this author and her book.

If this were twitter, how would you pitch OF POSEIDON in 140 characters or less?

First of all, this was hard! Why would you do this to me? Are we enemies???

Second of all, here is what I came up with:

To unite two kingdoms, Galen teaches Emma to use her Gift. Too bad he’s falling for her; her Gift destines her to be w/his older brother.

From where did you draw your inspiration from the story? Have mermaid tales always appealed to you?

Okay, so I never actually read a mermaid book before I started to write one. I was looking for something to write besides vampires, weres, etc. Then I watched this documentary about how they’d found a giant squid—something scientists had long written off as myth, fishermen’s lore. Then I wondered what else could be out there that we don’t know about? Could mermaids exist? (After doing so much research for the book, I decided that mermaids *could* actually exist. But don’t tell anyone I said that).

What are your favorite quotes from Emma and Galen?

Emma: Even more than terror, I feel the insanity of the situation. I’m about to ask a fish the size of my house to make a U-turn. Because Galen, the man-fish behind me, doesn’t speak humpback.

Galen: “She didn’t shove me, she tripped into me,” he says. “And I didn’t knock her out on purpose. She ran from me and I chased her and—”

From the characters in OF POSEIDON, which do you connect with the most? Which did you enjoy writing the most?

I connect the most with Emma. I always feel awkward and uncomfortable in my own skin, and I’m pretty pale…I really LOVE to write Toraf. He’s so fun and outrageous. (You’ll see!)

I’m sure most people would agree that this cover isbeautiful. Was this the originalcover, or were there other drafts? What did you think when you first saw the proofs?

This was the first and final draft. Well, a little tweaking to the font, but not the image, and I think it’s obvious why. When I got the email from my editor and saw my cover for the first time…I felt like the luckiest author on the planet. It was breakthaking, alluring, exactly what a cover should be.

A lot of people don’t realize that the author really doesn’t have a say in the cover. Sure, the publisher wants to make the author happy, but the ultimate cover decision lies with the publisher. It could have been bad. Very much bad. But it wasn’t. It’s so beautimous! ☺

What surprised you most while writing this book?

I was surprised how quickly I wrote it. It went very fast and painlessly, because I knew where I wanted it to go. It just kind of spewed out onto the page. I was also surprised how difficult it was to keep Galen and Emma apart because I really wanted them to get. Together. Already.

Now that OF POSEIDON is finished and you are looking back, are there things about your writing process or the finished product that you wish you could change?

Because I’m obsessive-compulsive, there are millions of tiny little things I could change. You can’t imagine how I felt to turn in edits for the last time, to know that THERE WILL BE NO CHANGES AFTER THIS. But because I shouldn’t dwell on it, I won’t be too specific and tell you what I would change, because that would lead to MORE things I would change, which would lead to even MORE things I would change, which would…



~GIVEAWAY~
I am very excited to offer one copy of OF POSEIDON for a giveaway!

This contest is open internationally as long as The Book Depository ships to your country. Must be 13 to enter. Please see my Contest Policy for more information.

This contest will close on Friday, June 1 at 12:00 AM CST.