Interview + Giveaway || Jubilee Manor by Bethany Hagen

Jubilee Manor

by Bethany Hagen
Series: Landry Park (#2)
Release date: August 11th 2015

Publisher: Dial/Penguin

Genres: Romance, dystopian, sci-fi

Age category: Young Adult
No. of pages:  387 pages (hardcover)
ISBN/ASIN: N/A

Synopsis:

The thrilling conclusion to Landry Park is full of love, betrayal, and murder--perfect for fans of Divergent, The Selection, and Pride and Prejudice

In Landry Park, Madeline turned her back on her elite family, friends, and estate to help the Rootless. Now, in Jubilee Manor, she struggles to bring the Gentry and the Rootless together. But when Gentry heirs—Madeline’s old friends—are murdered, even she begins to think a Rootless is behind it, putting her at odds with the boy she loves and the very people she is trying to lead. If she can’t figure out who is killing her friends and bring them to justice, a violent war will erupt and even more will die—and Madeline’s name, her estate, and all the bonds she’s forged won’t make any difference.

This conclusion to Landry Park, which VOYA dubbed "Gone with the Wind meets The Hunger Games,” is a richly satisfying, addictive read.

Landry Park

Series: Landry Park (#1)

Release date: February 4th 2014

Synopsis:

Downton Abbey meets The Selection in this dystopian tale of love and betrayal

In a fragmented future United States ruled by the lavish gentry, seventeen-year-old Madeline Landry dreams of going to the university. Unfortunately, gentry decorum and her domineering father won't allow that. Madeline must marry, like a good Landry woman, and run the family estate. But her world is turned upside down when she discovers the devastating consequences her lifestyle is having on those less fortunate. As Madeline begins to question everything she has ever learned, she finds herself increasingly drawn to handsome, beguiling David Dana. Soon, rumors of war and rebellion start to spread, and Madeline finds herself and David at the center of it all. Ultimately, she must make a choice between duty - her family and the estate she loves dearly - and desire.

Interview

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

          I think I’ve always wanted to be a writer, in some sense! I started writing stories when I was very young, in elementary school, small stories at first. And then in high school, I wrote my first novel (it was a very overwrought retelling of the King Arthur legend.) That was the first time I really seriously considered that I wanted to write novels professionally, and so when I went to college, I decided to major in creative writing.

How long does it take you to write a book?

          It really depends on the book! Some books only need two or three months. But other books want longer—the first version of Landry Park took me eighteen months to write, and Jubilee Manor took me a year to write. But the book I just finished, I was able to write the first draft in about nine weeks. Generally, my rule of thumb is to write two thousand words a day five days a week. Sometimes those words get deleted, sometimes they don’t, but I find that if I stick to that pace, I generally get done on time.

Where do you get ideas for your books?

          My ideas come from all over the place! I think writers—and all artists, really—are able to hold on to little threads of life—a music note here, a fluttering dead leaf there, a tragic news story, etc etc. And for artists, those little threads weave themselves together over time, often unconsciously, so that when a setting or a character starts coming to life in my mind, I can see that they come from all sorts of composite parts. My advice for beginning writers is to pay attention to what captures you. Pay attention to things that make you smile or cry or think. Those are the things that will birth stories later.

What do you do when you're not writing?

          One of my favorite hobbies is martial arts. I’ve been doing kenpo karate since I was twelve, and I’m about to test for my fourth degree black belt in less than a year!

Is there anything you would like to change in your latest book?

          Like any writer, whenever I read back through my latest project, I find a thousand things I would do differently! I think, if there’s one thing I could pinpoint directly, it’s that I wish I would have written in more about Cara and Ewan, and their relationship. People have written me, wanting more of them, and I want more of them too!

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Excerpt

Giveaway