All About Middle Grade Interview: Victoria Forester [blog tour]

I am so excited to welcome Victoria Forester, author of The Girl Who Could Fly and The Boy Who Knew Everything, to the blog to discuss her latest book. I was hoping to have a review to go with this post, but, I can't read book two until my library copy of book one comes in...so...

About the author:

Victoria grew up on a remote farm in Ontario, Canada.  After graduating from the University of Toronto, her passion for storytelling led her to write and direct a short film for the CBC.  When her next film was completed (The Pony’s Tale which aired on Global Television) she eagerly, and perhaps rashly, set off to Los Angeles.

The famous independent film producer, Roger Corman, mentored Victoria and gave her the opportunity to write and direct her first feature film, Circuit Breaker for Showtime starring Richard Grieco and Corben Bernsen.

You can haunt Victoria Forester at-
Website | Goodreads |

Can you tell us a little about The Boy Who Knew Everything? 

Conrad Harrington III is a super genius, the son of the newly elected President of the United States and the only person on the planet who can uncover the truth of a long guarded secret.  With his best friend Piper McCloud at his side, Conrad has his hands and his mind full!

 

 Three things about Conrad? Are he and Piper ready to embrace their powers and save the world? 

At the beginning of The Boy Who Knew Everything there is a lot of tension between Conrad and Piper because Conrad is perfectly happy to embrace his abilities but only in secret while Piper wants to stop hiding.  By the end of the book this thorny issue in their friendship is finally resolved. 

 

Victoria, can you share a two sentence (non-spoiler) teaser from your favorite chapter? What is it about this teaser or chapter that you enjoyed?

Chapter 44 is my favorite because it is the chapter when Conrad finally achieves his goal. I like this chapter for two reason – the first being that I love it when people or characters finally get what they have been struggling for. In my life I have know both failure and success and in my experience success is much, much better. The second reason I like this chapter is that it contains my favorite line in the book when Conrad turns to Piper and says;

“It was a terrible secret and it is a terrible truth but it no longer has any power over me and that is freedom.”

Before your first book, The Girl Who Could Fly, debuted what was the most interesting (or weird) job you've held?

   Great question. I used to direct films and while that wasn’t in itself weird the things I had to do while I was directing were weird. Once when I was working with a young actress in the wilderness I ate a worm to show her how to do it.  (Tip – swallow but don’t chew worms.  The minute you chew a worm you’re in for a whole new level of disgusting.)  Another time I was walking in the bushes with my crew and a bee climbed up my pants and stung me in a place that a lady should not be stung.  Let me tell you that particular bee had a mighty sting on it. Holy Moly but it hurt!  I had to strip my pants off in front of the entire crew so that the bee could be removed from my, ahem, from my private regions. 

 

If you could have tea with any author living or dead, who would it be?  What would be the first question you would ask him?

I wish that I could have met Joseph Campbell. Joseph Campbell was a fascinating man who dedicated his life to studying and understanding story.  To this end he traveled around the world collecting stories from every culture.  He studied the stories and identified common themes and archetypes that he then wrote about in a book called The Hero with a Thousand Faces.  I am greatly inspired by his work and if I could sit down with him I would instantly want story advice!  What writer wouldn’t want some good tips from the story master himself? 

 

 

The world has fallen into robot invasion, and only one heroin/hero can save the day, who would you choose? 

Wonder Woman would have to save the day.  I have a need for a ride in her invisible jet!

 

 

Last middle grade book that kept you reading late into the night?  

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan.  It is an amazingly emotional book. 

Victoria, that is such a great quote from the book!!! Thank you so much for stopping by and answering a few questions!!

Readers, I don't know about you, but I'm super excited to read Victoria Forester's newest book...okay, I'm excited to read both of her books!! *hurry up library*

The Boy Who Knew Everything by Victoria Forester, October 27, 2015. Published by Feiwel & Friends.

Conrad Harrington III doesn't want to be a super genius; he just wants to live a normal life. But with Conrad's father the newly-elected President of the United States, he knows being normal isn't really an option. When suspicious disasters suddenly start happening all over the globe, his best friend Piper McCloud knows the world needs Conrad's gifts--and that all of the exceptional children need him to lead them in order to put a stop to it.
Can they work together to save themselves. . . . and the world?

Find out in this action-packed sequel to The Girl Who Could Fly.

You can add The Boy Who Knew Everything to your Goodreads shelves.