The Perfect Presents For ... All About Mia

As part of the All About Mia blog tour, I'm so pleased to welcome author, Lisa Williamson, onto the blog to tell us which what would be the perfect presents for the characters in her latest book, All About Mia. 

I love buying presents so when I was tasked with doing a spot of fantasy shopping for the characters in my latest novel All About Mia, I was raring to go. 

All About Mia tells the story of sixteen year-old Mia and her sisters. There may be a family resemblance but stuck in the middle of academically gifted Grace and talented swimmer Audrey, Mia constantly feels like the odd one out. As you might be able to tell from the gift selections below, here are three sisters with not a whole lot in common…

MIA

These trainers are totally bonkers but I have the feeling Mia might be just the girl to pull them off. They’re her in signature hot pink and would look amazing with bare legs, denim shorts, slogan t-shirt and slouchy bomber jacket: 

I like to think she’d team them with these socks:

Mia doesn’t apologise if she help it. This cap should help get the message across:

Mia isn’t much of a reader but I reckon she’d love Girl Up by Everyday Sexism founder Laura Bates. Frank, funny and bold, this myth-busting manifesto has been described as ‘a bracing love letter to teenage girls’. I can picture Mia quoting it to the boys at school:

GRACE

Grace has dreamed of attending Cambridge University since she was tiny. Now she has a place to study Classics in the autumn, this official hoodie is a must-have:

Grace is incredibly neat and organised so a bullet journal would be right up her street. I imagine Grace’s would be utterly immaculate and have a very complicated colour-coding system:

Grace adores books and reading. With dominant notes of paper, vanilla and leather, this candle apparently captures the smell of aged books (a vital component of Grace’s ‘signature scent’ ­- ­­see page 1 of All About Mia!):

Grace is hugely ambitious and has her life carefully mapped out. She desperately wants to make a difference one day so I think What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20:

A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World by Tina Seelig should be top of her reading list. It covers the tricky transition from academic environment to professional world, complete with fascinating examples, inspiring advice and lots of humour. Grace’s copy would be highlighted and expertly annotated in no time:

AUDREY

Every morning Audrey gets up at the crack of dawn for swimming practice, throwing her dinosaur onesie over her swimsuit. I think it might just be time for a snazzy update:

Audrey is devoted to her guinea pig Beyoncé, so what better gift than this super cute cushion:

Audrey’s favourite film of all-time is Mary Poppins so I was really excited to find this drawstring bag for her keep her swimming gear in:

With school and her full-on swimming schedule, Audrey doesn’t get much time to read. Her dream is the 2020 Olympics so I reckon she’d perhaps carve out the time to read Relentless Spirit: The Unconventional Raising of a Champion, a memoir by US gold medalist Missy Franklin. Co-written with Missy’s parents, it describes the highs and lows of the life of a teenage athlete, something Audrey can definitely relate to: 

*****

All About Mia is published by David Fickling Books in February 2017

Summary

One family, three sisters.

GRACE, the oldest: straight-A student. 

AUDREY, the youngest: future Olympic swimming champion. 

And MIA, the mess in the middle. 

Mia is wild and daring, great with hair and selfies, and the undisputed leader of her friends - not attributes appreciated by her parents or teachers. 

When Grace makes a shock announcement, Mia hopes that her now-not-so-perfect sister will get into the trouble she deserves. 

But instead, it is Mia whose life spirals out of control - boozing, boys and bad behaviour - and she starts to realise that her attempts to make it All About Mia might put at risk the very things she loves the most.

 

To find out more about Lisa Williamson: 

Twitter / Website

To check out all the stops on the blog tour:

The Perfect Present For ... by Maz Evans

As part of the Who Let the Gods Out blog tour, I am so please to welcome author Maz Evans onto the blog. Maz is taking part in my brand new feature Perfect Presents For... where she has to pick the perfect presents for the characters in her book, Who Let the Gods Out. 

Elliot Hooper - Elliot is a 12-year-old boy, so the first thing that springs to mind is some kind of digital device. That said, I need him to save the world, so if my parental insight is any judge, Minecraft could prove a fatal distraction for mortalkind. Like his creator, Elliot is chronically averse to early mornings, so an alarm clock - preferably one of those cartoon ones containing a mallet - would be handy. 

Virgo - Virgo, a constellation from the Zodiac Council, is struggling to get her head around mortal existence, so perhaps some guidance from a great philosopher? A Complete Collection of Winnie the Pooh could offer her some much-needed wisdom. I shall ignore Elliot’s suggestion of “a muzzle”. 

Zeus - What do you buy the God who has everything? Zeus is an omnipotent ruler with mighty powers… but after several hundred divorces, perhaps Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus could provide the insight that several millennia haven’t given him into women. Unless there’s a divorce lawyer who does gift vouchers? 

Athene & Aphrodite - These bickering sisters can’t agree on anything, so it would make sense to get them the same gift. A Frozen DVD might remind them of the importance of sisterly love. Although condemning someone with immortality to Let it Go for the rest of their endless days doesn’t feel like much of a present…

Hermes - The self-confessed God of Fashion likes to stay in shape, so I’d sign him up to The Body Coach’s Lean in 15 plan. Is it cheating to lift weights when you can fly?

Thanatos - The Daemon of Death has been imprisoned beneath Stonehenge for 2000 years, so he’s missed out on a great deal. A boxed set of The Gilmore Girls would not only catch him up on millennial pop culture, but the hours spent in Stars Hollow might chill his maniacal ambitions out a bit. So long as he doesn’t watch A Year in the Life…

Summary

Elliot's mum is ill and his home is under threat, but a shooting star crashes to earth and changes his life forever. The star is Virgo - a young Zodiac goddess on a mission. But the pair accidentally release Thanatos, a wicked death daemon imprisoned beneath Stonehenge, and must then turn to the old Olympian gods for help. After centuries of cushy retirement on earth, are Zeus and his crew up to the task of saving the world - and solving Elliot's problems too?

Published by Chicken House in January 2017

Waterstones Children's Book of the Month. 

To find out more about Maz Evans: 

Twitter / Website

#YAXmasTour - The Perfect Present For...

I had to think really hard to come up with a post for this blog tour, but when it finally hit, it was like a lightning bolt. At the time I was trawling the internet. You know what it's like - no time for actually present shopping in the high street and the Christmas hour glass losing sand much quicker than expected. So as usual, I turn to the internet, in the hope of finding that perfect present without leaving the house. While I was searching, I came across this. 

And I couldn't help but think that it would make a perfect present for debut author, Katherine Webber. It has a sneaker  and could easily have the two stones in the cook cover colours on it, as well as a K for Katherine. Do you think it would be a good match?

That got me thinking. What if I could give virtual gifts to some of this year's published authors, what would I give them? And then it came easily!!! 

So here is a list of the gifts I would virtually give to some of my favourite authors. 

1) The Eagles - Hotel California - Song Lyric Art Poster Print

This of course, would go to Sophia Bennet. After listening to her talk at #YAShot, it became very clear she has a lot of love for The Eagles. Hotel California is subtly mentioned in her latest book, Love Song, so I really think she would love this gift. 

2) 9ct Gold Diamond Entwined Heart Pendant And Chain

I would give this entwined heart necklace to Katherine Evans. In her debut novel, More of Me, Teva is fully aware that the next Teva is waiting to appear, so there is always a smaller, weaker heartbeat inside her, entwined with her own. 

3) Digital Dudz scary doll t-shirt

This would be perfect for Alex Bell! If you haven't read Frozen Charlotte, then I really urge you to do so! It's super creepy and vintage dolls play a huge part. This T-shirt allows you to insert your phone so that you can change the eyes on the doll!!!

4) Silver wasp / bee earrings with amber

For Jo Cotterill and Cathy Brett, I really think these earrings would be amazing. They might just warn off any deadly swarms that are heading their way. 

5) 3D Butterfly heart

My final present would go to Lisa Heathfield, who literally broke my heart with Paper Butterflies. There is no better way to remind her of how much she upset me, than by presenting her with this heart breaking 3D butterfly picture. 

I've loved doing  writing this post! So much so, that I want to make it a regular feature. I'm thinking a lot of authors would get great pleasure out of picking gifts for their characters and I'm happy to showcase them on the blog.  Any authors out there who would like to take part in this new feature, please let me know.