Blog Tour: Angela Morrison (plus a contest)

Angela Morrison stops here at Serenehours for her blog tour today ^^ *greets and applauds*. As you know, her second book has just been released this March and if you've not read it yet, I suggest you snatch a copy somewhere soon. It's beautiful and heartbreaking just like the title indicates.


Anyway, I have a change to ask Angela some questions about the book as well as her upcoming project today. Check out the interview : )


1. Hi Angela. Welcome to Serenhours, again. Hope you have a nice chat with us. First of all, can you tell us about your inspiration to write Sing Me To Sleep?

My daughter sang with a competitive girls' choir when we lived in London, Ontario, Canada. When we traveled to international festivals, the choirs of older teen age girls would attack us as soon as they saw, "Amabile," on the back of our jackets.

"Are the guys here? Where are the guys? Can we meet the guys?"

The Amabile Young Men's Ensemble is one of the few all male youth choirs. The sound is to die for. Makes you totally weak in the knees. And all those thousands of choirs full of teen girls all over the world love them. Great concept for a novel. But I didn't have a story, so I put the idea on the back burner and worked on other things. But when I need a brand new concept for Razorbill, something had happened to one of my daughter's best friends in that choir that showed the love and grace and heart of the entire Amabile choir family. It gave me a story that took hold of me and wouldn't let go.

2. Uhm...interesing. So both of your books were based on real life experience. Is there any difference between Taken By Storm & Sing Me To Sleep?

Huge differences--especially in the writing process. I wrote TAKEN BY STORM as my creative thesis for my MFA at Vermont College (if you want to write for children or young adults, VC is the best program in the world). I revised and marketed, got rejected TONS, and revised and marketed and revised it until I came up with the collage format--Leesie's poems, Michael's dive logs, and their online chat logs. I met my editor, Lexa Hillyer, then at Razorbill, and she loved it, but I still had a lot of work to do to get the manuscript in shape for their target audience.

I wrote SING ME TO SLEEP under contract. Lexa and I batted a summary back and forth until we liked it, and then she got it approved. I wrote the first draft in a month. It is entirely in Beth's voice. She spilled out of my black gel pen, and I tried not to get in her way. After that marathon month, I researched, revised, got critiques, revised some more, and then sent it off to Lexa. She loved it. We made very few changes. I know SING ME TO SLEEP was a gift. I had a lot of help from unseen hands.

How are they alike? Both Michael and Derek are really good kissers. So be prepared for romantic kissing scenes. Both novels are about love and how it changes you. They are both about young people facing the ultimate in life's challenges.

3. I agree. Both Michael and Derek are real romantics. So what's your favorite character from the book?

I am closest to Beth. She pulled me through the story and didn't hold anything back. She is honest, up front, and so confused.

4. I'm curious. What's your most/least favorite part to write in the book?

The ending was the most emotionally difficult thing I've ever attempted. I was a total wreck while I worked on it. I kept having to stop and dry off my keyboard. But the process of writing those chapters was an amazing experience. I wasn't alone. You'll sense the same thing when you read them.

The toughest part for me was the lyrics. I had to teach myself how to do it. Some are better than others. "Beth's Song" is the best. I'm so excited that Amabile's recording of it will be available soon on iTunes. I'll let you know when it comes out!!

5. Woohoo~ I'll be sure to check it out. Anyway, anything you can let us know about your next book?

My poor next project. I'm kind of in shock over that these days, but it's going to work out. Last fall I wrote the sequel to TAKEN BY STORM. It's called UNBROKEN CONNECTION, and I love how it turned out. So does my agent. Unfortunately, my editor left Razorbill just recently, and they decided not to publish UNBROKEN CONNECTION, so I'm taking stock and conferencing with my agent, and we'll try to figure out a way to bring it to readers as soon as possible. I've got a lot of great support from bloggers--that helps believe me. There's a Facebook page up and another blogger is working on an "Don't break the CONNECTION" icon in support of Michael and Leesie. I'll send out an update as soon as I know anything definite. And then I'll get on with writing book three in their saga, CAYMAN SUMMER.

Aww what a pity. I hope the readers will show great support and somehow we'll get to miss Lessie and Michael again soon in the future. In the meantime, good luck with Sing Me To Sleep and Cayman Summer.



So guys, here's the most important part of today: GIVEAWAY~~~Angela has offered a copy of Sing Me To Sleep. If you want to be entered, just leave a comment telling us why you want to read this book.

Extra entries:

+5 for any type of spreading the word.

Contest open to everyone. Ends on March 31st.


Good luck~!!! And if you're a fan of Leesie and Michael, don't forget to show some love to Unbreakable Connection.