Welcome to the Saturday Spotlight, a weekly feature that shines the light on Indie and Debut authors. This week I have the pleasure introducing readers to:
AUGUSTA BLYTHE
~Author of Public School Princess~
**Today Im thrilled to welcome back author Augusta Blythe to the blog. I featured her a few years ago with her wonderful Indie Winterborne, its time to catch up and hear about her latest adventures.
Hi Tina. Thanks for having me back in the Saturday Spotlight.
Today I’m writing about fish out of water, a theme in my latest book. Public School Princess revolves around Her Royal Highness Hollister Bucksey-Breiten, an entitled celebutante who finds herself far out of her privileged L.A. comfort zone and smack dab in the backwoods of New Jersey (yes, there are backwoods in New Jersey. Despite popular belief, the entire state isn’t a New York suburb full of people who act like Real Housewives). Hollister is accustomed to people literally rolling out the red carpet for her. When family circumstances force her to move in with her half-brother and his father, Hollister expects the usual special treatment from her fellow students and teachers. Her world is turned upside down when she finds she can no longer rely on her name and status to get her way. People in Franklin High are more concerned with part-time jobs and saving for college than New York Fashion Week. Slowly Hollister starts to see herself as well as those around her in a new light.
The fish out of water theme transcends genres. Although Public School Princess is a YA contemporary story, we’ve seen this theme play out in: fantasy novels like Harry Potter (Harry’s sad life with his aunt and uncle as well as Harry’s introduction to Hogwarts); classic novels such as Pride & Prejudice (where the Bennetts are arguably out of their depth among the wealthy and fashionable Darcys and Bingleys), Anne of Green Gables(plucky orphan Anne Shirley goes to live with a spinster and her brother), and Alice in Wonderland (self explanatory); and YA urban fantasy novels like Wicked Lovely (Aislinn’s induction into the faerie world and her role within it).
It is her experience in an unfamiliar and unwelcome environment that allows Hollister to transform. Had she stayed in her comfort zone, she would have had no impetus to view her world differently and to change. Like the indomitable Anne Shirley, Hollister not only learns to adapt to her new surroundings, but she manages to change the people around her as well.
Public School Princess is currently available for $2.99 on Amazon and Barnes & Noble and will soon be released on iBooks.
Augusta Blythe is a writer, mother, aunt, friend, lawyer, and wife (not necessarily in that order). Her other books include Winterborne, Ravenstoke, and In the Land of the Sapphire Sea.
She’s an American living in England who underestimated the amount of annual rainfall. She is also left-handed, a Leo, and can bend her fingers back to a disturbing angle. Find out more at http://keeleybates.com (my Augusta Blythe books are there too). twitter.com/AugustaBlythe facebook.com/Augusta
GIVEAWAY
Today Augusta is giving away three ebook copies of her book Public School Princess. To enter please just fill in the copter.
In the world of Hollister Bucksey-Breiten fame, money and power are as prevalent as plastic surgery. Sixteen-year-old Hollister is heiress to the Bucksey real estate empire on her mother’s side, as well as a bonafide princess thanks to her deceased royal father. After her troubled mother heads yet again to rehab, the celebutante suddenly finds herself shipped from the privileged halls of Shotley Academy in Los Angeles to a backwoods New Jersey high school.
Life at Franklin High isn’t what Hollister expects. Instead of being worshipped by her lesser-blessed peers for the usual superficial reasons, Hollister feels ostracized because of them. With the help of her estranged brother and a few new friends, she discovers what’s really important not only to her but about her, and that a good heart is her most valuable asset.
SOURCE: TinasBookReviews – Read entire story here.
