Q and A with MG author Gail Nall

Fearless Fifteeners are really excited to announce the start of a weekly Q&A post involving ogres, dragons, unicorns, embarrassing moments and random historical events. And to kick this feature off, we’ve got MG author, Gail Nall, whose debut, BREAKING THE ICE, is out January 13th. We’ve got a bio and book blurb at the end of the post but right now we’re skipping straight to ogres. Fearless or what?!

1. You wake up to find a massive ogre in your bedroom. If you had to choose one MG character to fight him off who would you choose and why?

Harry Potter’s the obvious choice, what with his troll-fighting experience. But I think I’d pick Anne from Anne of Green Gables, because she could probably talk him to death.

 

2. Having defeated the ogre, you find that your car doesn’t start. Bummer. Would you rather ride a dragon or a unicorn to work? Why?

Unicorn! A ride on a unicorn looks a lot less bumpy than one on a dragon, plus unicorns don’t breathe fire and singe your favorite pair of boots. And my three-year-old daughter would never forgive me if I chose a dragon over a unicorn.

 

3. After arriving at work late, your boss asks you what your most embarrassing childhood memory was. You have to tell him. 

I arrive on a unicorn, and this is what he asks? All right then. When I was little, I skated a competition program with my underwear peeking out from under my dress. It’s preserved on grainy VHS for all posterity — or at least until the tape disintegrates.

 

4. You’re pretty fed up now so when a time machine appears offering to take you to any historical event, you agree. Where do you go and why?

All of them! I have a couple of history degrees in my pocket, so I deem this question highly unfair. 😉  Okay, picking one . . . it’s not an event, but I’d love a day to just hang around late nineteenth century New York City. I’d need a few changes of clothes so I could blend in everywhere from uptown to Five Points. I’d just walk around, see what people were doing, what they were wearing, what they ate, how they talked.

 

5. There is light at the end of the tunnel. As a Fearless Fifteener, your debut is out this year. Tell us about your book in 15 words or less.

Skater Kaitlin stumbles and has to find a new way to climb to the top.

 

BREAKING THE ICE

Kaitlin has always dreamed of being a champion figure skater, and she’s given up a lot to pursue her passion. But after having a totally uncharacteristic and decidedly NOT figure-skating-approved tantrum after getting her scores at a major competition she’s dropped by her coach and prestigious skating club. When no other club in town will have her, she’s forced to join the ridiculed and rundown Fallton Club, jokingly referred to as the Fall Down Club. At first Kaitlin thinks this is a disaster, but after meeting some of the other skaters, she thinks it might actually not be so bad. But when she’s tasked with learning a whole new program right before Regionals and figures out that almost all the other skaters target Fallton, she thinks joining the Fall Down Club may just be the second biggest mistake she’s ever made. In this figure skating themed debut, Kaitlin learns that when you fall down, you have to pick yourself up – even if it’s in front of judges and a crowd.

 

AUTHOR BIO

Gail Nall lives in Louisville, Kentucky with her family and more cats than necessary. When she’s not writing books, she manages grants for a homeless shelter and chases her toddler. She once drove a Zamboni, has camped in the snow in June, and almost got trampled in Paris. Gail’s middle grade debut, BREAKING THE ICE, will be out from Aladdin/S&S on January 13, 2015. She is also the co-author of the upcoming YOU’RE INVITED books with Jen Malone (Aladdin/S&S, May 19, 2015 and Spring 2016). You can find her online at gailnall.com and on Twitter