Interview with YA author Susan Badaracco

Author Susan Badaracco is here today and we’re talking about her new young adult fantasy adventure, The Oath: Maddy and Silenus.

During her virtual book tour, Susan will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:
Susan Badaracco is the author and independent publisher of “The Oath: Maddy and Silenus”.

In her real life, she is a pediatrician at Kids First Pediatrics where she routinely consoles anxious moms, retrieves interesting objects hidden in ears and laughs at made up knock-knock jokes.

She lives with her husband, a dog (ADHD is not limited to humans) and a cat. Her daughter and son both made the unfortunate decision to grow up which means she travels more than she used to.

Welcome, Susan. Please share a little bit about your current release.

When her past merges with her present, Maddy is not sure what to think. Was that really an abduction she witnessed? Does she have the courage to find out?

Silenus is a unicorn haunted by his past failure to protect his charge. He trains relentlessly but is he fierce enough to protect this innocent? Will she even trust him?

Can a mortal and immortal pursue the truth together or will Maddy pay the ultimate price?

Set in midtown Tulsa, “The Oath: Maddy and Silenus” explores the love that wraps around a family, the fear that often comes with doing the right thing and the fantasy that all children should have a fearless protector.

What inspired you to write this book?
I grew up watching Little House on the Prairie, Touched by an Angel and The Walton’s. I read Nancy Drew mysteries and The Chronicles of Narnia series.

The common thread among these stories is that they were all promoting wonderful virtues. They demonstrated the power of kindness, honor, responsibility and courage.

If we can gently nudge children, through reading, towards having traits that build character…all while getting wrapped up in a magical fantasy….that would be extraordinary.

Excerpt from The Oath: Maddy and Silenus:
Searing pain spread across her belly and she caught her breath. Her vision darkened on the edges, advancing to where it shimmered in the center. She tightened her hand against her side and the pain elevated another notch. Maddy looked up at Silenus, her tears collecting and then trailing down her cheeks.

He met her gaze and held it.

Maddy’s back crashed into the steel door behind her when her legs gave out.

Silenus’ soft brown eyes were like beacons and she locked onto his gaze with the desperation of a swimmer going under for the last time.

Save me.

What exciting story are you working on next?
“The Oath” series continues with a new girl, a younger unicorn… and a world of trouble.

Ashton thought life would be perfect once she got that new handbag.

Fashionable clothes, trendy shoes…she had everything a girl could dream about. Until that morning…when she has lost everything.

Now, Ashton desires only one thing….Revenge.

Egorn had his own reasons for vengeance.

He wants to punish those responsible for the annihilation of his family.

Orphaned when he was young, he trains relentlessly to become a unicorn warrior. Nothing else matters. Until that morning….when he realized that protecting her was more important than anything else.

Can a unicorn who has no fighting experience protect an innocent who has no concern for her own safety?

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I believe that if you write, you are allowed to call yourself a writer. The problem is that we don’t have a term for what you mean. We can describe different writers… biographer, blogger, reporter, and poet. But what I think you mean is when did you really feel like you ‘arrived’? That you had become a master of the written word. I’m not there yet- but what a beautiful adventure it has been so far.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I’m a pediatrician so I don’t write full time. I get up early, as this seems to be the best time for a lot of writers, and do my best to put some words down. I used to set a goal of an hour per day. Now I find I crave the escape of it and there’s no sense putting pressure on yourself to be creative.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I suppose I drank more tea than normal when I started writing, it was those early mornings! It turns out that my characters suffered the same problem. My editor ran a program that pointed out how many times I used the word ‘tea’ in writing my novel. Good heavens. Some of those characters had to quit drinking…but not me.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A doctor, always. And I love my career but after years and years of exercising my left brain, it has been fascinating to see my right brain kick into gear.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

Explore different genres. Develop your own bucket list of different books. Grow.

Links:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Amazon

NOTE: The book will be FREE during the tour.

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