Bog Tour: Thin Air by Lynn Seresin Interview + Scavenger Hunt

Today we have the lovely Lynn Seresin here to answer a few questions about her novel, Thin Air. I want to give a huge thank you to Bree at The Magic Attic for setting this tour up and to Ms. Seresin for answering all of my questions and writing such a lovely story. :)

 

How would you describe yourself in ten words or less?

Mother. Wife. Writer. Passionate. Determined. Disciplined. Hard-working. Animal lover.

How did you start writing?

I’ve been writing all my life. I began writing professionally when I was a children’s book editor at Simon

& Schuster a number of years ago. Editors on staff frequently wrote manuscripts for shorter formats like

board books rather than farming them out to authors as a way to cut cost. After the birth of my first child,

I began writing children’s books on a freelance basis since I could basically do it anywhere, at any time

of the day or night. I can’t tell you how many books I wrote in the lounge of my daughter’s preschool. I

continued freelancing until a year or so after my son was born. Things started to get hectic and I wanted

to devote more time to my family.

At the beginning of Thin Air there are several parallels as well as a reference to The Little

Mermaid. What is it that drew you to that particular fairytale? And what are some others

that you enjoy?

I’ve always been a huge fan of fairytales. I think they address very basic, deep-seated fears, anxieties,

hopes, and dreams within us all, which is probably why they’ve lasted all these years and continue to

appeal to each new generation of readers. The Little Mermaid was always a favorite. I suspect I was

drawn to the romance at the heart of the story. I think we can all identify with the little mermaid’s longing,

and her undying optimism even when faced with very long odds. Of course, the original fairytale doesn’t

have the happy ending we would all hope for; the mermaid doesn’t get her prince. In fact, she turns into

an air spirit, though I don’t believe she’s actually referred to as a sylphid. So, THIN AIR takes us full-circle,

in a sense.

If you could be an elemental spirit, what kind would you like to be?

Without a doubt, a sylphid. Beauty, grace, and the power of flight—what could be better?

If you could spend a day with any one of your characters, who would it be?

I’d definitely hang out with Dante. I’d love to go shopping with him and then check out one of his

performances at Delirium.

Aeris/Alice is an incredibly innocent heroine with little knowledge of the world. Was it

difficult to write her because of that? Or did it make it easier?

That’s hard to answer. I definitely had to try to get into her skin and see the world through uninformed

eyes, which was challenging. In the end, I found it a sort of balancing act; if I described everything she

encountered as unfamiliar, readers would find it tedious. So, I tried to isolate details in her environment

that would be new to someone only familiar with the natural world—large things like buildings and

statues, and smaller things like mannequins in store windows, hot dog vendors, and traffic lights.

 

Random Questions:

What is your favorite color?

I like different colors for different things. I’m probably most fond of earth tones, but I also love the color

purple. There’s something magical about it.

Favorite drink?

That’s easy—Coca Cola. It happens to also be Alice’s first drink as a human (and her favorite, too).

Favorite word?

I love words! In fact, “Hanging with Friends” is my favorite app. I’m addicted to the game! I’d have to

say, at this time, my favorite word is “sylph”. I love the sound of it. I also think it’s one of those words that

conjures up what it describes pretty nicely. When I hear the word, I think of something (or someone) light,

airy, silvery, sparkly, diaphanous.

 

About the Book:

 

Alice Ayre is no ordinary teenager. She took her first name from a statue in Central Park, pulled her last name out of the air (literally), and she’s actually almost a thousand years old. In fact, the only “ordinary” thing about Alice is that she’s in love.

Alice was a sylphid—a winged air spirit—when she spotted Daniel Field camping in the Adirondacks and lost her heart to the handsome NYU student. Intangible to the human senses, her only hope of winning his heart resides in becoming mortal, even though transmutation is forbidden by Paralda, ruler of the air. Risking punishment, however, seems a small price to pay for a chance at true happiness.

Tracking down Daniel in New York City ends up being surprisingly easy. Getting noticed by him for all the right reasons is another story, especially when the human world keeps tossing challenges in Alice’s path. Just when she’s mastered zippers and buttons, she catches herself dropping a sugar packet into her coffee and mistaking a photo of John Lennon for one of Daniel’s relatives.

Her eccentricities raise the occasional eyebrow with Daniel and his friends, but her quirky charm, sweetness, and sincerity win out. Before long, she lands a job, begins a relationship with Daniel, and starts settling into her new life—until her past comes after her.

You can find Thin Air on: Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Goodreads

****Scavenger Hunt!****

Scattered through the tour are letters that make a secret phrase. If you collect all the letters and unscramble the phrase, you can be entered to win a signed copy of Thin Air and an earring similar to the kind Alice would wear. These letters can be found high-lighted in red. Read this post carefully to find one. :) Once you figure it out, enter your answer in this FORM. Good Luck!

The next post is at Bittersweet Enchantment where you can read a review! You can see the full list of posts and participating blogs here.