Author Interview: Penny Blubaugh

Hello everyone! Today I'd like to introduce you all to Penny Blubaugh, author of the wonderful upcoming YA novel, Blood and Flowers, which releases March 1st.

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TBP: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

PB: I’m an author of YA fantasy and a young adult librarian (that’s the day job!) I was born in Chicago, raised in Colorado, was a flight instructor in Texas and now I’m back in Chicago doing the librarian/writer thing. I have a BA in Communications from the University of Colorado, Boulder, a library degree (MLS) from Dominican University in River Forest, IL, and an MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier, VT. One of the more interesting things about me isn’t really about me at all. My brother and sister-in-law live in Brittany, France where they run a lovely little bed and breakfast. I keep trying to get my French past the Je voudrais point.

TBP: Describe your newest YA novel, Blood and Flowers, in nine words. (Can be stand alone words or a full sentence.)

PB: Puppets. Bound books. Mexican-Welsh cooking. Family. Friendship. Faeries.

TBP: Tell us some about your previous YA novel, Serendipity Market.

PB: When the world falls apart (as it so often does!) Mama Inez and her big dog Toby gather storytellers. They come to the Serendipity Market at the end of the world and, by sharing their experiences and humanity they set the world back on its proper track. All the stories are fairy tale retellings from alternate perspectives.

TBP: According to your Bio, you've held a variety of different jobs. Which would you say was your least favorite and why?

PB: It’d have to be a tie between working in a department store across from a perfume counter and grocery store clerk. The perfume gave me headaches every day, and I’d cry before going in to work my cash register shift at the grocery store. But I pack one great grocery bag!

TBP: Who is another YA author that you would like to write a book with and why?

PB: Ron Koertge. He’s funny and off-beat. I love the way he uses language. And whatever we came up with together would be very strange in the best possible way.

TBP: Blood and Flowers is quite the theatricial story. What would you say is your favorite play of all time?

PB: For, “Oh my God – would you take this deal?”: Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.

For sheer atmosphere: Winterset by Maxwell Anderson

For wordplay: The Lady’s Not For Burning by Christopher Fry

And because there should always be some Shakespeare: Midsummer Night’s Dream

TBP: In Blood and Flowers, Floss lists a plethora of famous people that she says are really faeries, not humans. I found this part extremely amusing and wonder what inspired you to write this portion and mention some of the people you did.

PB: You know the people that just do so much in such an extraordinary fashion, for so long, with such flair? Shakespeare. The Beatles. Cheap Trick. Neil Gaiman. Abraham Lincoln. Think of your favorites. Don’t they shine just a little bit brighter than everyone else? Maybe that’s a fae shine hanging over them.

TBP: What are a couple of your favorite fairytales?

PB: Mr. Fox and Tam Lin.

TBP: If you could transform into any mythical being or creature, what would it be and why?

PB: I’d probably be Peter Pan. There’s something so world-weary about him under that boy exterior. It’s heartbreaking and dazzling at the same time. If it was a creature – a shape-shifting black dog because . . .well, how cool!

TBP: Anything else you'd like to add before you go?

PB: Thanks for the opportunity to do this. I’m so pleased you enjoyed Blood and Flowers.

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I hope you all enjoyed the interview and a huge thanks to Penny for allowing me to interview her. Blood and Flowers was a lovely book and you can find out more on my thoughts about it by reading my Review and Noteworthy Passages posts.

As always, thanks for stopping by. Comments are love, love, loved! :P