The Epic Ticker Giveaway and Interview!
A girl with a clockwork heart must make every second count.
When Penny Farthing nearly dies, brilliant surgeon Calvin Warwick manages to implant a brass “Ticker” in her chest, transforming her into the first of the Augmented. But soon it’s discovered that Warwick killed dozens of people as he strove to perfect another improved Ticker for Penny, and he’s put on trial for mass murder.
On the last day of Warwick’s trial, the Farthings’ factory is bombed, Penny’s parents disappear, and Penny and her brother, Nic, receive a ransom note demanding all of their Augmentation research if they want to see their parents again. Is someone trying to destroy the Farthings…or is the motive more sinister?
Desperate to reunite their family and rescue their research, Penny and her brother recruit fiery baker Violet Nesselrode, gentleman-about-town Sebastian Stirling, and Marcus Kingsley, a young army general who has his own reasons for wanting to lift the veil between this world and the next. Wagers are placed, friends are lost, romance stages an ambush, and time is running out for the girl with the clockwork heart.
Lisa Mantchev is a temporally-displaced Capricorn who casts her spells from an ancient tree in the Pacific Northwest . She is best known as the author of the young adult fantasy trilogy, The Théâtre Illuminata. Published by Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan,) the series includes the Andre Norton and Mythopoeic awards-nominated EYES LIKE STARS (2009), PERCHANCE TO DREAM (2010), and SO SILVER BRIGHT (2011.)
What would you like for readers to take away from Ticker?
I want them to have had fun, because it’s a romping sort of book with this Scooby Doo gang of friends who are loving and loyal and can be merry as often as they are serious. And I want them to have been touched by the tender moments. For as many times as I have read the manuscript, there are specific scenes that still resonate.
What is something we wouldn’t know about Ticker just from the summary?
I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say there is NO LOVE TRIANGLE in this novel. (cough)
What’s your favorite way to procrastinate?
Pinterest. I can spend HOURS there, although it’s not really procrastinating given that I use the boards to brainstorm projects. I have actually plotted entire short stories using inspiration photos. That doesn’t account for all the recipes and clothes and shiny things I pin, but if I call it research, it appeases the head monkeys.
Is there one book that has had an impact on not only your writing, but on you personally?
Tanith Lee’s novellas BITING THE SUN and DRINKING SAPPHIRE WINE were utterly transformative in that I’d never considered that science fiction could be lush and gorgeous and theatrical. Up until then, I’d believed there was a checklist—aliens, space ships, etc.—and after that… well, let’s just say that I came to the conclusion that genres were more a suggestion. “Guidelines, as it were,” in the words of Captain Barbosa. After that, I started writing (and, really, living) in a manner that was less bound by what I thought I should do and more of what I wanted to do.
If you could have any extraordinary gift or super power what would it be and why?
The ability to teleport. So many people I would like to have coffee and cake with, but they live too dang far away!
Tell us something most people don’t know about you!
I have a long list of things I wish I could do, like shoot pool well and play a musical instrument or be really fluent in a second language, but they will have to wait for a different lifetime when I am less busy (and less lazy.)
I’m not sure if any future incarnation of me will be able to draw, though!
To celebrate the Kindle First digital launch of TICKER by Lisa Mantchev, the Farthing family would like to loan you your very own Vitesse motorized high-wheeled bicycle and messenger bag. Venture out into the city of Bazalgate to see the sights and retrieve six items necessary to celebrate with Penny and her friends. When you are done, remit the list for a chance to win your very own Kindle Paperwhite customized with the TICKER cover!
Contest open to US residents. Email entries to lisa@lisamantchev.com with the subject line “TICKER Paperwhite Giveaway”. Deadline for entry is midnight PST on November 15th. Winner will be announced here on November 16th.
PENNY’S BEDROOM
I stepped into the room, turning up the lamps and taking a mental inventory of the contents, starting with the chocolate-brown velvet eiderdown and the Bhaskarian rug in shades of coffee and cream. A warm glow danced over walls that shimmered with the movement of dozens of mechanical Butterflies. I’d dusted their shadow boxes that very morning, all the better to see the diamanté stickpins that held each specimen against black velvet. The constant tick-tick-tick of infinitesimal inner workings caused their wings to flutter up and down, and I automatically sought out my favorites: the Silver-studded Blue (Plebeius argus) winking next to the Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli).
Item to retrieve : Party frock and dancing shoes
ONWARD to adventure, glory and teatime!
BIBLIOTHÈCA – E. Catherine Tobler
THE FLYING FORTRESS – Fantasy Book Critic
SUGARWERKS FULLY AUTOMATED BAKERY – Lisa Mantchev
FARTHING COGS & RIVETS FACTORY – Team Nerd Reviews
GLASSHOUSE – Fangirlish
About Emma Michaels
Emma Michaels is a cover artist, blogger, author, and director at Hallowed Ink Press. Growing up her library card was her best friend and books were her home. Her love of blogging started when she created a book blog in 2009 which gave her the courage to submit her own novels to publishers and the rest, as they say, is history.
