Saturday, September 28, 2013

J.L. Mulvihill - The Boxcar Baby- Blog Tour


I am absolutly thrilling to host JL Mulvihill on the blog today for The Boxcar Baby Tour. I reviewed this book and you can read the review Here. I really enjoyed this book and can not wait for the next book. Please welcome JL Mulvihill!!!!!! 

The Elements of a Good Book
The room is dark except for the thin beam of moonlight peeking through the blinds.  In the distance a train whistle echoes like a sorrowful Piper bird calling for its mate.  I can just barely here the cluckunk sound as the train travels over the steel tracks.  This is truly a childhood memory of mine and incorporated into my new novel The Boxcar Baby.  In fact, I can honestly say that there are a lot of real childhood memories that I drew upon when writing this series.  Of course I also did some extensive research into the age of steam so that even though the story is set in an alternative American history, it feels real.  I believe that is a very important part of creating a story.  Not to just pull from experience but to pull from the World’s experience or in this case, America’s experiences. 
I think another important element for a reader to enjoy a good story is for the reader to have confidence that the author will take them on a fulfilling journey and leave them wanting for not but for what will happen next.  I personally like fast pace and short chapters to keep my readers intrigued and saying, “Oh, maybe just one more chapter.”  I love a good page turner and when a reader finds an author who keeps them turning those pages they will continue to follow that author wherever they may go, well at least until they jump the proverbial shark. 
For me the absolute Bees Knees of The Boxcar Baby is the cover of the book which really portrays all the important elements of the story.  The background is a map and a clock which represents the journey and the fact that there is a time factor involved with this journey.  In front of that you can see a factory representing the workers and the “workinhouse” which is a key plot.  Then there is the steam train winding the tracks which is the base of the story.  If you look closely you will see a name on the side of one of the boxcars which is a really cool Easter egg on the book cover.  Then we have the huge tree with the full lush red leaves and the twisting trunk and roots spreading out at the bottom; another beautiful symbolism of a key element to the story.
When a people say “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” that is not always true.  I believe in this case you can because everything you see on the cover is in the book.  On the other hand I have so often picked up a book simply by the cover and found nothing of the cover in the book so maybe that is the point of the phrase.  I have been determined with my novel covers in making sure that they match the story.  I have also been very lucky in getting amazing artists for my covers, in the case Matt Perry, who I cannot say enough praise for his work on the cover of The Boxcar Baby.  Matt took everything I conveyed to him and created this amazingly accurate artwork; it was as if he could see the picture in my mind and he just took it out of my head and put it on my book.
I hope that you enjoy reading The Boxcar Baby and when you have finished feel free to let me know your thoughts on the Steel Roots Facebook page.  If you are interested in obtaining a signed copy of the book my next event will be taking place in Louisville, MS at the Backwoods Comic Festival.  I am working on getting the local food vendor to name their bacon wrapped hotdog the “Hobo Dog” in honor of the novel, but either way I’m sure you can still get one.  After that event I am scheduled for CONtraflow in New Orleans October 18-20 and then November 15-17 I will be attending the Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention.
Thank you for having me on The Bees Knees Review and until next time remember, “No matter where you go, there you are,” Confucius.
J L Mulvihill


Book Synopsis: Born in a boxcar on a train bound for Georgia. At least that is what Papa Steel always told AB'Gale. But now, fifteen years later, the man who adopted and raised her as his own is missing and it's up to AB'Gale to find him. Aided only by a motley gang of friends, AB'Gale train hops her way across the United States in a desperate attempt to find her papa and put her life and family back the way it was. Her only guide is a map given to her by a mysterious hobo, with hand written clues she found hidden in her papa's spyglass. Here is the Great American Adventure in an alternate steampunk dystopian world, where fifteen-year-old AB'Gale Steel learns that nothing is as it seems, but instead is shrouded in secrets and mysteries ... and that monsters come in all shapes and forms.
The Boxcar Baby is the first book of the Steel Roots series.

Art from the interior of the book. 



 
About J.L. Mulvihill:  Born in Hollywood and raised in San Diego, CA, J.L. Mulvihill has made Mississippi her home for the past fifteen years. Her debut novel was the young adult title The Lost Daughter of Easa, an engaing fantasy novel bordering on science-fiction with a dash of steampunk, published through Kerlak Publishing.  The Boxcar Baby, the first novel of her Steel Roots Series, was released by Seventh Star Press in the summer of 2013.
J.L. also has several short fiction pieces in publication, among them "Chilled Meat", a steampunk thriller found in the Dreams of Steam II-Of Bolts and Brass, anthology (Kerlak Publishing) and "The Leprechaun’s Story", a steampunk urban Fantasy found in the anthology, Clockwork, Spells, & Magical Bells (Kerlak Publishing)
J.L. is very active with the writing community, and is the events coordinator for the Mississippi Chapter of Imagicopter known as the Magnolia-Tower.  She is also a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Gulf Coast Writers Association (GCWA), The Mississippi Writers Guild (MWG), as well as the Arts Council of Clinton, and the Clinton Ink-Slingers Writing Group.

Author Links:



Follow along The Boxcar Baby blog tour...

Tour Schedule and Activities
9/23    Come Selahway With Me                                                     Contest
9/23    Fantastical Adventures Through the Paper Realm                        Review
9/23    The Flipside of Julianne                                                         Top Ten List
9/24    Jess Resides Here                                                                   Guest Post
9/24    Beagle Book Space                                                                Promo Spotlight
9/25    Sheila Deeth                                                                           Guest Post
9/25    Spellbindings                                                                         Promo Spotlight
9/25    Lost Inside the Covers                                                           Review
9/26    A TiffyFit’s Reading Corner                                                   Review
9/26    Azure Dwarf                                                                           Promo Spotlight
9/26    Rachel Tsoumbakos                                                               Character Interview & Review
9/26    A Daydreamer’s Thought                                                      Author Interview
9/27    Armand Rosamilia, Author                                                   Guest Post
9/27    Kayla’s Reads and Reviews                                                   Promo Spotlight
9/28    WTF Are You Reading?                                                          Review
9/28    Bee’s Knees Reviews                                                              Guest Post
9/28    Word to Dreams                                                                    Promo Spotlight
9/29    The Cabin Goddess                                                                Interview
9/29    Illuminite Calginosus                                                             Promo Spotlight
9/29    Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews                                            Character Interview
9/29    JeanzBookReadNReview                                                       Guest Post
9/29    Book and Movie Dimension                                                 Review


Tour Page URL:








 

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