About Kailin Gow
Kailin Gow is the author of over 30 books for all generations, but her specialty is the young adult/teen genre. Her books have been recommended by PBS Kids, the PTA, homeschooling organizations, and on the Best Teens Books list. She is a mentor for young women, has founded 3A for Autism (Actors, Artists, and Authors for Autism), and runs a publishing and production company known as Sparklesoup, a mid-size publisher and production company.
Her latest young adult fiction novel is Rise of the Fire Tamer.
You can visit her website at www.sparklesoup.com or join her Facebook Author page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/YA-Books-from-Kailin-Gow/104549539596369.
The Interview
Could you please tell us a little about your book?
The series is about five teenage gamers who wins a contest to visit the inventor of their favorite game, The Wordwick Games, and to stay in his castle, Word Castle, for a week. When they get there, they learn they are the first to play the 10th level of the game and enter a new virtual world in this game, called Anachronia. Little do they know, Word Castle is a portal to actual worlds, and soon they are caught in a story and game that seem more than just a game. Everything they know as real and everything they know about themselves will be challenged as they make their way to become the ultimate ruler of Anachronia.
Who or what is the inspiration behind this book?
My books are character-driven so I picture characters first and then see them in a situation or world. I’ve started writing more fantasy and paranormal fiction because I read a lot of fairy tales and “spooky” books with my preschool daughter, and I love how these stories build her imagination and creativity.
My 4-year-old daughter London inspired me to write a book about gamer teens. She loves video games (and hanging out with her teen and young adult sitters LOL), and I wanted to write a series that would help girls (and boys) develop a sense of good sportsmanship, leadership principles, self-esteem, and teamwork with this series. At the same time, I wanted to break stereotypes (especially among teens) with the characters in this series.
The story came about from my own experience having played video games and even having scripted and produced a video game before. However, this isn’t a video game, but a novel much like The Chronicles of Narnia and other fantasy adventure young adult novels.
The Wordwick Games is also a way of introducing SAT words into everyday vocabulary. Incorporating SAT words into the novel as Ruler Words, their meaning and usage are reinforced over and over again in the story.
Who is your biggest supporter?
My family and friends, of course. And my awesome readers! It is for my readers that I write what I write.
Your biggest critic?
My husband, my editor, and I.
What is the most important thing in your life right now?
Being able to achieve balance. As a writer, it’s important for me to have that so I can draw from everything in experience and to provide that for my readers – the emotions, the experience, the senses, and thoughts.
What are you currently working on?
The Ascension (The Wordwick Games, #2) is in the editing/print process and will be out October 2010. The Return, Book 3 is already outlined and slated for a 2011 release.
Bitter Frost, a heart-wrenching love story between two lovers whose kingdoms are at war with each other, was just released. The Phantom Diaries, a paranormal romance for older teens to young adults, was just released as well. I’m finalizing the second books to these series to be released this Fall/Winter.
The Stoker Sisters, a series about vampire sisters, is set for a late summer, early Fall release as well.
What do you feel sets this book apart from others in the same genre?
Rise of the Fire Tamer (The Wordwick Games, #1) can be compared to the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Adventures of Sinbad, and even The Maximum Ride books by James Patterson.
It is different in that it incorporates the world of words into the games so that The Wordwick Games series is also educational and an SAT prep book (but don’t tell teenagers that!)
Parents and teachers will love this aspect of the book, but at the same time, the story is fast-paced and compelling so that readers will keep on reading.
This book series is packed with a myriad of reasons it should be on your must-read list –
1) The Wordwick Games is the kind of popular fiction series you find on the bestseller list, but is educational at the same time. Your teen and young adult would not only read the kind of book they love reading, but will be absorbing SAT words at the same time.
2) Lessons on relationships, leadership, and good sportsmanship.
Groups like the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts, and Leadership Training Workshops would find the book full of examples (played out in the plots and subplots of this book) portraying circumstances where these issues are brought up and examined.
3) Read it and see if you’re not drawn into the story at least. The pacing, the characters, and the plot will help readers, even reluctant readers, to keep reading.
4) Although there is a lot of romance in this book series (clean though), this series will appeal to girls and boys, age 13 and up.
5) There is a discussion sheet for this book for groups that will examine issues of leadership, choices, relationships and friendships, and historic lessons in this book. The discussion sheet is available on the publisher’s site, http://www.theEDGEbooks.com.
About Rise of the Fire Tamer
After winning a contest for a popular game called Wordwick Games, five teens Gemma, Sparks, Rio, Kat, and Jack, are invited to stay at Wordwick Games inventor Henry Word’s mysterious castle and play the newest level of Workwick Games. Little do they know, the castle is the doorway to a wondrous world call Anachronia where words can be used as weapons, power, and commodity. There is unrest in Anachronia, and if the five teens can follow the rules of Wordwick Games and prove to be the best player, one of them will be crowned Ruler of Anachronia.
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