Blog Tour Interview & Giveaway: TRAVELER by L.E. DeLano!

Traveler by L.E. DeLano

Genre: YA, Fantasy

Publication: February 7, 2017 by Swoon Reads

Jessa has spent her life dreaming of other worlds and writing down stories more interesting than her own, until the day her favorite character, Finn, suddenly shows up and invites her out for coffee. After the requisite nervous breakdown, Jessa learns that she and Finn are Travelers, born with the ability to slide through reflections and dreams into alternate realities. But it’s not all steampunk pirates and fantasy lifestyles…Jessa is dying over and over again, in every reality, and Finn is determined that this time, he’s going to stop it… this Jessa is going to live.

Purchase

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About the Author

L.E. DeLano is a YA novelist rep’d by Barry Goldblatt Literary, author of the upcoming Traveler (Swoon Reads/MacMillan 2017) and lifelong writer.

Probably best known under her alternate moniker, Ellie DeLano, she has blogged for both Woman’s Day and Mom’s Magazine, and runs her own blog on parenting and autism at SingleMomtism.com.

She lives in Pennsylvania with two very adventurous kids and two very ridiculous cats. In her spare time, she writes (of course) and binge-watches way too much Netflix.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr

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Interview with the Author

1.       Tell us a little about yourself and your latest/upcoming release.

I’m a lifelong writer and nerdgirl, an autism advocate, mother of two hilarious kids and I binge watch Netflix wayyyy too much. My debut YA fantasy novel is TRAVELER, the story of a girl who can step through mirrors into alternate realities, and into alternate versions of herself.

2.       When did you realize that you wanted to become a writer? What was the very first thing you ever wrote?

Whenever someone asks me how long I’ve been writing I always answer “I’ve never not.” That’s the truth – I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing. As for the first thing I wrote – I do recall writing plays for my stuffed animals to act in, and I even wrote Star Trek fanfiction before fanfiction was even a thing.

3.      Do you read reviews of your books? What do you do when you read a not-so-nice one?

Of course I read my reviews! And everyone gets a bad review every now and then. I’ve been lucky so far – nothing really scathing – but I always try to see where my readers are coming from and learn what I can from every bit of criticism in a review. It’s really easy to get blind to your own writer faults and miss the common traps you’re falling into. Reading your criticism helps you see a broader picture.

4.      Do you have a book in your house that's just destroyed because you've read it so much?

For me, that would be a paperback copy of The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury. I’ve had it since I was eight (I stole it from my older brother) and I still love it and reread it to this day. No one could paint with words like Ray Bradbury.

5.      What was your inspiration for the book?

I once watched an old version of “Alice Through The Looking Glass” on TV as a kid (it was the 1974 version, which was really creepy). I happened to pass a mirror afterward and thought it would be cool if there was another ‘me’ on the other side. I stared at my reflection for a long time until - I swear to you - I saw the other me blink. Scared me a lot to the point that I still get the creeps if I catch my reflection out of the corner of my eye.

6.      What do you normally like to read when not writing?

Young adult, Sci-Fi and steamy romance. I am a sucker for flirting and attraction and any kind of magical element or world.

7.      How much of the characters are based on your traits or someone you know personally?

Jessa (my protagonist) is an odd mix of me and my daughter. She’s nerdy and a writer like me, but fierce as hell and protective of her sibling like my daughter. She’s like the best of us both. Danny (Jessa’s brother) is my son, all grown up. Every bit of him, including his autism. Finn is a conglomeration of lots of people, but Pirate Finn (from another reality) was somewhat influenced by a certain TV pirate on a certain primetime fairytale show that I’ve been obsessing over. He’s a real chip off the old block.

8.      What scene was your favorite to write?

The steampunk ball that Jessa attends in another reality. It was such fun to write, and involved one of the more intense romantic scenes – I just love how it came out.

9.      How different would you say the final version of TRAVELER is from the first draft?

Hmmm. Very. And not. There were a lot of changes – the removal of two major subplots and one smaller, but very hard to relinquish subplot, and an overall change to how the entire series would end that had some ramifications on the rewrites of TRAVELER. But all in all, the characters stayed true to who they were, almost all my dialogue survived intact, and all the major scenes that were the “meat” of the story stayed. My book emerged as a much more cohesive, much more dynamic story for it, too.

10.   If you could bring one of your characters to life, who would it be? And why?

Pirate Finn, in a heartbeat. Who doesn’t love a dashing, flirty pirate with an Irish accent?

This is or That 

Cat or Dog?  Grew up with dogs, now have cats, so both.

Ice cream or Sorbet?  Both!

Heels or flats?  Flats. Life’s too short to walk in painful shoes.

Knives or sword?  Sword.

Coffee or Tea?  Tea. Most definitely.

Iced tea or hot tea? Yes to both!

Snow or rain? You don’t have to shovel rain. And it’s romantic.

Movies at home or Movie Theater? Both! And in the same day!

Soda or Juice? I am a Diet Dr. Pepper addict.

Twitter or Facebook? I do both but I love Twitter.

Actual book or eReader? Both.

Actual book or Audiobook? Actual book.

Spring or Summer? Summer! Get me to a beach!

Fall or winter? Fall – my favorite season of all!

Long Sleeves or Short Sleeves? Depends on the season

Young Adult or New Adult? Both!

Vampires or Werewolves? Werewolves

Ghost or Zombies? Ghosts. History is always romantic.

Action movies or Chick flicks? Action.

Horror movies or Mystery movies? Horror.

Mountain views or Ocean views? Ocean views – for the rest of my life, if I could work it.

We would like to thank L.E. for stopping by an answering our questions! :)

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Giveaway

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