Interview and Giveaway with Melissa Lemon, Author of Cinder and Ella

This week on the Writer's Block I have Melissa Lemon, author of Cinder and Ella, a retelling of Cinderella with a supernatural twist. She's hydrophobic, addicted to chocolate (me too!) and peanut butter and her craziest dream involved a group of nuns (hmm...I'm sensing the beginning of a great joke here).


Melissa Lemon and her cat Matilda (such a cute name!)
BlogWebsiteFacebookGoodReads

Whatwas your favorite book as a kid? Iremember liking The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary and TheEducation of Little Tree by Forrest Carter.
Tellus your favorite quote. "Thelonger I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, tome, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, theeducation, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, thanwhat other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance,giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. Theremarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we willembrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the factthat people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. Theonly thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is ourattitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how Ireact to it." Charles R. Swindoll
Whatis your favorite genre to read and what makes it so awesome? Actually,I like a wide variety of books.  I almostnever read the same genre twice in a row. 
Tellus your favorite author. Which book is your total fave from that author? Myfavorite authors are Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.  My favorite books of theirs are Pride andPrejudice and A Tale of Two Cities.
Anypet peeves you'd be willing to share? Ofcourse!  I hate it when people leave flyswatters on surfaces that are used for preparing food or eating.  I have issues with things like bug guts andgerms.
Ifthe Earth suddenly became uninhabitable, would you rather live under the sea orin space?   Um,definitely space, because I'm hydrophobic as well.  I actually have panic attacks when I seelarge bodies of water.
Whatwas your most favorite past time as a kid? Playingsoftball.  If there wasn't anybody aroundto play with, I'd put on my mitt and throw a ball up against the foundation ofthe house so it came rolling back to me; or I'd throw the ball high up in theair so it was almost out of reach behind me and I'd have to jump backward toget it.  We didn't live close to anybodyelse, so I had to keep myself entertained a lot. 
Ifyou could live in any time period other than the present, which would youchoose and why? I'dlove to be on Prince Edward Island with Anne Shirley.  I love the idea of living in simpler times.
Takeus through a typical writing day for you. Do you have anything quirky - likeyou have to have a certain pen to write with, or the desk laid out in aparticular manner, does it need to be raining, do you require a certainfood/drink/candy to work by? Will you have an absolute meltdown ifthe atmosphere isn't what you like? I'mpretty easy going with no set schedule. I just have to be ALONE, and it has to be QUIET.
Whatdo you do when you experience that lovely problem called writer's block? Oneof three things:  I write through it,work on something else for a while or take a break from writing completely evenfor a day or two.  All of these haveworked for me at one time or another, but taking a break seems to ALWAYSwork.  I think that's why we get writer'sblock sometimes, because our brains need a break.  When I come back to look at something afterleaving it alone for a while, I am usually able to see the problem, fix it andmove on.
Whatis the craziest dream you've ever had? Youdon't want to know, but I'll tell you that it involved nuns, water, and adobehouses.
Ifyou could live anywhere in the world you'd like, where would that be and why? I'dlove to live in several places in Europe, including the UK, Italy, andGermany.  There is just somethinghopelessly romantic about those places in my eyes.  I've always loved the German language andcustoms, so that would be my first pick.   
Doyou have a secret obsession you'd be willing to share? <wink, wink> Chocolate,but it's really not a secret, especially if you see my hips.
Whatfood/drink would absolutely devastate you if they stopped production on? Peanutbutter and chocolate.
Ifyou could step into the shoes of any fictional character for one day, who wouldit be and why? DidI mention I really like Anne Shirley?  Ithink I'd rather be Marilla or Diana so I could spend time with Anne.
Whichdo you prefer: ebook, hardback or paperback? Ithink all three have their uses.  I lovehardbacks for my favorite, favorite books. I like to get paperbacks when I'm getting books from the library orpurchasing a book that maybe isn't as much of a favorite.  E-books are great for traveling.  I think they'll all continue to haveimportant places in the literary world.
Thisor ThatUnderworldor TwilightOriginalor Remake: DependsSweetor SaltyDramaor Comedy: BothFantasyor Romance: Both Springor AutumnMichaelJackson or Whitney HoustonWalterMathau or Jack Lemmon: Hello, we're probably relatedDirtyDancing or FootlooseAmerican Idol or X-Factor or The VoiceMovieTheatre or Loveseat: because I can't seem to get overthe fear of contracting lice.Teaor Coffee: I'm a water girl. Boring, I know.Rain or SunshineSkiing or SurfingTreehouse or Man Cave

Choosea challenge...if you dare!Writea sentence using all these words: joker, fireball, backpack, sticker, hulahoop: Withthe joker suffering from mild distraction thanks to a fireball that came out ofnowhere, I yanked the hula hoop into place, resting it on my large hips while Istrapped the activation sticker around it—the backpack still tight on myback—and WHOOSH, up I went, higher and higher above the sidewalk.   Hey! That's actually pretty darn good! :)
You can pick up Cinder and Ella lots of places but here's the Amazon and Barnes and Noble links. And if you'd like, check out my 5 STAR review too, which (*coughs*) happened to make the back of the cover!
And now for the giveaway! Melissa is graciously offering a hardback of Cinder and Ella for you guys! Just fill in the rafflecopter below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway<a href="http://rafl.es/enable-js">You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway</a>.