Author Interview with Artist Arthur

I read Manifest a couple of weeks ago and loved it! (see my review here). Today I have the priveldge of posting an interview with the author, Artist Arthur. Manifest is her debut YA novel.


Author Bio:
I am the first born and only girl in my family, and six and nine years separate me and my two brothers. Needless to say, I was alone quite a bit. But being alone gave me plenty of time to indulge my imagination in the world of books. One of the first novels I read was a young adult series that traced the lives of two teenagers in high school, Sweet Valley High. Reading those novels I thought I could do better, and so my quest to write entertaining stories began.

Being an introvert, it took me a long time to feel comfortable enough to let others read my work. How long? Well, the first person to read a story I wrote was my husband. Since then, I’ve been writing professionally for almost nine years now. But it was my daughter who encouraged me to write a book for teens—just one of the reasons I love her so dearly.

I live in Maryland with my husband and three children. If you take away the opinionated teenagers, family drama, overflowing bookshelves and DVDs, my life is pretty boring. But don’t take those things away, since they’re my inspiration.

Manifest Goodreads Summary:
When fifteen-year-old Krystal Bentley moves to Lincoln, Connecticut, her mom's hometown, she assumes her biggest drama will be adjusting to the burbs after living in New York City.

But Lincoln is nothing like Krystal imagined. The weirdness begins when Ricky Watson starts confiding in her. He's cute, funny, a good listener—and everything she'd ever want—except that he was killed nearly a year ago. Krystal's ghost-whispering talents soon lead other "freaks" to her door—Sasha, a rich girl who can literally disappear, and Jake, who moves objects with his mind. All three share a distinctive birthmark in the shape of an M and, fittingly, call themselves the Mystyx. They set out to learn what really happened to Ricky, only to realize that they aren't the only ones with mysterious powers. But if Krystal succeeds in finding out the truth about Ricky's death, will she lose him for good?

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Interview

Bold=Ava Regular= Artist Arthur

I love the cover for Manifest and I think it really fits the book. Did you have any say in it?
No, unfortunately I didn't. I just sent a description of Krystal and this is what they came up with. I love it too!


What kind of research did you have to do in order to get a background for the mythology in the Mystyx series?
I've always loved Greek Mythology so I have tons of books on the subject. When I started to plan this series I knew I wanted the mythology elements to play a big role.

What made you chose the setting be the town of Lincoln, Connecticut?
My thought was for a small coastal town that was all but forgotten until these strange things begin to happen. I'm always trying to take readers to a place they've never been so I finally decided a fictitional town would be a great option.

If you could have any Mystyx power what would it be?
Telepathy. There's so much dishonesty in the world I think, for at least a day, I'd like to know what people are truly thinking.

Describe your writing process- do you have a special place and time you write?
My preference is to write early in the morning, when hubby and kids are asleep because its so quiet and my creativity can really flow. However, I usually end up writing throughout the day either typing or handwriting scenes. If I'm in a deadline crunch I'll write in the evenings but that's usually family time.

If you could have one of your characters from Manifest over for dinner, who would it be?
Wow, three months ago the answer would have come quickly...Jake. Today, there's a few of them I'd like to sit down and chat with. LOL So, I guess I'd have to say Lindsey, because I'm dying to know how her story unravels.

Where did you get your inspiration for this paticular story?
A couple of places or things -- my daughter is an avid reader of YA paranormal so she had plenty of ideas and at one time during my teen years I felt like the outsider so I kind of wanted to explore a world where outsiders could save the day.

Favorite book(s)? Movie(s)? TV show(s)?
I love books, romance & young adult, so I have too many favorites to list. Grease is my all-time favorite muiscal, but Love Jones is my favorite movie. I'm so behind on TV shows, but I Love Lucy, Charmed and Bones are at the top of my list.

What is one thing your readers would be surprised to learn about you?
That I'm really shy. I know, I say that now and people are like, "Nah, no way." But it's true, an introvert I am.

Thanks so much for stopping by!