Coffee Chat with YA Author Andrea Buginsky

Welcome, everyone!

Grab your coffee, tea or other libation and spend a few minutes with us. Andrea Buginsky has joined me this morning. She had a very interesting request for coffee, but since our pot is magical, requests are never a problem. "Green Mountain Coffee Wild Mountain Blueberry with a little French Vanilla Coffee Mate creamer mixed in" is coming right up! While Andrea is getting settled, let's read her bio.

BIO: I have enjoyed writing since I was a kid. When I got to college, I decided to turn it into a career, and earned my BA in Journalism. I have been freelance writing for several years now.

I have always wanted to write a book, and decided I wanted to write for children. I love fantasy movies like "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter," so I decided to try my hand at writing one of my own.
My first publication was "The Chosen," a young adult fantasy I worked on for about three years. It was published by Solstice Publishing on December 14, 2010. The second book in THE CHOSEN series, "Nature's Unbalance," was published on July 17, 2012. I am currently editing the third book in the series, and have a concept for the fourth.

Ally: I know you've written a very personal non-fiction book, too. Can you tell us a little about that book, why you wrote it, and where our readers could find it?

ANDREA: Thanks for asking. I'm a 37-year-old living with a congenital heart defect. "My Open Heart," is my published autobiography about growing up with heart disease. My hope is that it will give encouragement to young adults growing up with heart disease or other chronic illnesses, as well as parents of children growing up with heart disease. (Amazon link:  http://amzn.to/WujlYy)

Ally: We've seen your writer bio and heard about the serious side of your childhood, tell us some frivolous or personal that would never appear in a regular bio.

ANDREA: I was about 2-3 years old when I first saw "Star Wars" in the movies with my family. Legend has it, I began singing "The Sound of Music" during the battle scenes. :) Now, when I watch either movie, I can't help but think of the other. And I love them both!

Ally: Now you have me picturing Darth Vader dancing to the music of "My Favorite Things!" :) Okay, moving on to our chat questions . . . January and February can be dreary months here in the Midwest, how do you make it interesting and productive?
 
ANDREA: Well, where I live in Tampa, Florida, it doesn't really get that dreary. If anything, it's the opposite: We're wishing for the cold. But on dreary days when it does get cold and rainy, I like to curl up in front of the TV with hot cocoa and watch movies. I'll also read a lot, and play on the computer. I have a lot of fun posting and reading posts on Facebook. I also have an online role-playing game my husband and I like to play together. It's where the idea for "The Chosen" came from.
 
As for working, I park myself in front of the computer and get lost in cyberspace for a while. Then I look to see if I have any writing assignments from my freelance business. If not, I'll try to work on editing current manuscripts, or writing and adding pages to a new one.

Ally: What secret hobby or down-time activity of yours might surprise your readers?
 
ANDREA: The only thing I can think of is scrapbooking, although I don't do it that often. But once in a while, I love to pull pictures out and start creating pages. I'll use color paper, glue sticks, stickers, banners, everything I can to make the page. And I always do themes, such as family get-togethers, friendship, love, or pets. 

Ally: Thanks for taking time to chat, Andrea. I feel like I know you much better than I did. Before you go, please tell us about your YA fantasy.
Book Blurb:

 Halli is a shy, young dwarf who has no idea of her true calling. When the evil Prince Gastle sets out to detroy the world of Phantasma, Queen Laurali of the Elves comes to tell Halli she's a Holy Paladin with the power to heal, and will join The Chosen, a group of brave warriors being sent to defeat the evil beast and save Phantasma. Will Halli be accepted by her group, and be able to keep them alive through their adventures? Will the evil Prince Gastle be defeated, freeing Phantasma from his destruction? Only time will tell.

Buy links:

Amazon 
Barnes & Noble
Smashwords

YouTube Book trailer
 
You can reach Andrea through any of the following links:

Facebook
Website/blog
Google +
Twitter


                                        That you for stopping today. I hope you'll come back!