The New Enchantress by Sunayna Prasad

 Please welcome Sunayna Prasad author of The New Enchantress

Sunayna Prasad will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

The New Enchantress

by Sunayna Prasad

 

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GENRE: Middle Grade Fantasy

 

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INTERVIEW:

1. What or who inspired you to start writing?

 

I have been writing since I was 6. I’ve always been creative. Mainly, it was with art my whole life. But writing also played a role.

2. What elements are necessary components for this genre?

 

Besides magic, believability, originality, and of course, entertaining writing.

3. How did you come up with your idea for your novel?

 

It took me 2 years to figure out the plot. Once January 2018 hit, I knew what to write.

4. What expertise did you bring to your writing?

 

Some of them were lessons taught in my high school creative writing class (i.e.: use “was” sparingly since it can be a form of telling rather than showing). But my writing craft improved throughout the years, around 7 years.

5. What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

 

I do more than just write stories. I also write blogs in different topics.

6. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

 

I have been working on my 4^thbook for more than a year. I just finishing outline my first good plot idea. However, due to the very heavy load of grad school work since January, I haven’t been too involved with the story. But I will keep at it.

7. If you could be one of the characters from this book, who would it be and why?

 

Probably my MC’s friend, Lily. She is sweet, enthusiastic, and empathetic. 

8. Can you give us a sneak peek into this book?

 

Alyssa played the video she’d made for the upcoming teen film festival. If she submitted it, she would earn five extra points to add to her 70 in math. That would allow her to drop the mandatory extra-help class for students with final scores less than a 75.

She watched the clip, experiencing watery eyes when she heard herself discussing losing her parents in a car crash when she was seven and other tragic events in her life. It concluded with how those times had shaped her into the person she was today, Friday, June 10th, 2011. She exported the project and would upload it to the festival’s site later. The deadline was not until Monday, 7 P.M. So, after this, she could focus on the end-of-middle-school sleepover that would happen today.

But the screen froze, and a small popup stated, “Cannot export file.”

“Huh?” 

 

9. Do you belong to a critique group? If so, how does this help or hinder your writing?

 

I do not. However, I used to take writing critique classes at a continuing ed program near me years ago. It also taught me some writing craft rules.

10. When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

 

It took nearly 5 years to complete the story. Once I felt that it was as best as it could be (as well as wanted to consider it finished, already), I pre-tested it to see if it would satisfy people. I got mostly positive feedback. So, I submitted it to Amazon KDP for pre-order in either late 2020 or early 2021).

11. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)

 

Best advice: Avoid vanity presses. I used to use them to publish books since I thought they were self-publishing companies. But due to the poor experiences with them, as well as being discouraged to use them, I won’t work with them ever again.

 

Worst advice: Use social media posts to promote your books. I’ve learned that unless you are a big name, few people will purchase, or even be interested in, reading your stories just because of your tweet or Facebook post. That being said, many people say that Facebook posts can help authors sell more books and gain more fans. Maybe I’ll try it.

12. Do you outline your books or just start writing?

 

I have to outline. Otherwise, I get writer’s block.

13. How do you maintain your creativity?

 

I have to be passionate about it. I also have to have the time for it, but take breaks at times.

14. Who is your favorite character in the book? Can you tell us why?

 

My MC’s godfather, Alex, who is also her legal guardian. He is very sweet and ideal for what many children would like.

15. Are your plotting bunnies, angels or demons?

 

I don’t know. Probably bunnies.

BLURB:

 

Cursed by a sorcerer’s hex, Alyssa McCarthy finds herself in a fight she can’t afford to lose, or everything she knows will be lost!

 

After she finishes her final year of junior high, fourteen-year-old Alyssa faces an uncertain future in more ways than one when a sorcerer casts a hex that leaves her with involuntary magical powers that are too dangerous to remove.

 

Unable to control her newly gained abilities Alyssa’s end-of-middle-school sleepover ends in disaster when she knocks her friends unconscious when her powers go out of control. If Alyssa can’t learn to master her magic soon, she will be cursed to forget her loved ones and serve as the warlock’s slave for all of eternity.

 

Her only hope is to focus on controlling her emotions if she is to break the curse. However, the difficulties of adolescence, along with the perils and growing disasters she faces, make Alyssa struggle even more. From putting her friends’ lives at risk to losing their trust, she continues to fear what will become of her if she fails.

 

Will Alyssa be able to break the hex and become the enchantress that she was meant to be, or will she become enslaved to the sorcerer forever?

 

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EXCERPT:

 

Alyssa played the video she’d made for the upcoming teen film festival. If she submitted it, she would earn five extra points to add to her 70 in math. That would allow her to drop the mandatory extra-help class for students with final scores less than a 75.

 

She watched the clip, experiencing watery eyes when she heard herself discussing losing her parents in a car crash when she was seven and other tragic events in her life. It concluded with how those times had shaped her into the person she was today, Friday, June 10th, 2011. She exported the project and would upload it to the festival’s site later. The deadline was not until Monday, 7 P.M. So, after this, she could focus on the end-of-middle-school sleepover that would happen today.

 

But the screen froze, and a small popup stated, “Cannot export file.”

 

“Huh?”

 

How could a two-month-old device encounter issues already? Alyssa had had to wait until her last birthday, in April, and needed to maintain good grades at school to get her own computer. She recalled what her godfather, Alex, had told her in February after her math substitute had informed him about her scores dropping. “Alyssa, if you don’t get your grades up in math, you might not earn that laptop.” He loved and cared for her like a daughter yet shared no blood relation to her family members. She’d lived with him since turning thirteen last year.

 

Her breathing caught at the popup—a new model should not have a virus already. But she told herself,I’m fourteen and am going to start high school this fall. I can fix this.

 

The computer turned itself off, closed itself, and crushed Alyssa’s fingers.

 

“Ow!” she cried.

 

The device slid off her lap and under her bed. She looked underneath it—without warning, dust blew onto her, covering her petite body.

 

She coughed as the soot settled. Then she brushed the dirt off her black shirt and its straps on her narrow shoulders, followed by her short shorts and skin. She shook bits out of her straight, pale-blonde hair, which fell a few inches below her hips.

 

She’d dealt with enough sorcery already, once last year in March and again this past fall. However, neither she nor anybody in her life possessed magic in their blood. From age eight until two springs ago, she’d believed that magic hadn’t existed.

 

She had interacted with a few magicians when dealing with supernatural situations that no one as young as she should have to experience.

 

She planned to find that idiot who just ruined her summer by stealing her laptop. A folded piece of paper appeared on her bed and seemed to include the word, laptop, so she read it.

 

Alyssa,

 

Your laptop is going to become a new brain-domination computer. The International Magic Control has disabled all the existing ones and has banned any magic from transforming enchanted technology into mind-managing devices. But your laptop is needed exclusively for my particular process.

Also, don’t remove your new magic powers. If you try, you might die.

 

Anonymous

 

The note vanished into thin air. Alyssa touched her forehead and breathed since wizardry shouldn’t work on standard technology. Possibilities advanced over time, but they still had numerous everlasting limits.

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Sunayna Prasad enjoys writing fantasy books for children, as well as cooking, creating artwork, watching online videos, and blogging. She has also written The Frights of Fiji and A Curse of Mayhem. She is passionate about modern-day life in fantasy stories, worldbuilding, and even humor. She is constantly brainstorming new ideas and using her creativity.

 

Sunayna graduated from college in 2017 and lives in New York.

 

https://www.sunaynaprasadbooks.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Sunayna-Prasad-468868846787369/

https://twitter.com/sunaynaprasad

https://www.amazon.com/Sunayna-Prasad/e/B00F21NN38

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08R5L55TG

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

 

Sunayna Prasad will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

RAFFLECOPTER:

 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f4185