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Sunday, July 25, 2021

Silver Dagger Book Tours presents... THE LOST PRINCESS OF STORY by Suzanne de Planque - GUEST POST + GIVEAWAY!

Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
 

Today, we've teamed up with Silver Dagger Book Tours for a stop along their current promotion featuring a curious title that begs to be read!  Don't believe me?  Well, you'll have your chance to find out why in a moment, but after the formal introduction, we also get to talk with the author about some bookish journeys and a little bit a nonsense (in the best way possible!).  So read it, but don't linger because there is OH SO MUCH to discover ahead!

The Lost Princess of Story
The Chronicles of Story Book 1
by Suzanne de Planque
Genre: Middle-Grade, YA Fantasy


"The magical land of Story meets Brooklyn in this unconventional fairytale reminiscent of Narnia...a masterpiece..." San Francisco Book Review

"...an epic, imaginative portal fantasy touched with welcoming whimsy..." 
Publisher's Weekly BookLife Reviews


Prince Charming grew up, became King, and married and murdered his way through six of the most famous fairytale princesses. Now the World of Story is torn by civil war, the Wall has been built, and the Doors closed.

Knights and princesses, heroes and magical creatures are refugees in Brooklyn, the place in this world most hospitable to magic. They thought they would be home soon.

Fifteen years later, Brooklyn girl Lilla is chafing at her guardian Gus's strict rules. Why home school? Why can't she walk two blocks without a chaperone? And why won't Gus answer questions about her parents?

Lilla escapes the rules in her beloved books. She is convinced she can find a way to the worlds between the pages.

She is right. Everyone around her has kept one giant secret. Magic is real. On both sides of the Wall, in Story and in Brooklyn.

Can Lilla find the Door that will take her to Story, the World that knows her wildest wishes and her deepest hidden damage, where reward is limitless and danger is beyond all she can dream?

MAGIC IS NOT BIRTHDAY CAKE WISHES. MAGIC IS POWER AND TRANSFORMATION.

FIND THE DOOR.

The Lost Princess of story is YA crossover. All ages book of multigenerational urban fantasy/portal fiction/ retold fairy tale with a Tudor twist. LGBT+ characters.

Recommended for readers of Seanan McGuire's Wandering Children series, Lev Grossman's The Magicians series,  Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood, Hafsah Faizal's We Hunt the Flame, and books by Gregory Maguire and Terry Pratchett.

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Reviews

"The magical land of Story meets Brooklyn in this unconventional fairy tale reminiscent of Narnia. Exciting action, fun (and sometimes messy) adventures, and of course, wondrous magic awaits readers as the fine line between fantasy and reality is explored.  An homage to refugees who find themselves in a world harsher than what they have left behind, The Lost Princess of Story is a masterpiece that is representative of the real-world issues we face today." 
-San Francisco Book Review

"The sweeping first volume of de Planque's Chronicles of Story, created as a 'valentine to children's literature and fantasy', invites readers to sink into an epic, imaginative portal fantasy touched with welcoming whimsy...There's amusing banter, an adorable and hungry teacup-sized dragon, and an enthusiastic narrator given to wordplay and allegory... Lovers of fairytales and epic adventures will enjoy this dangerous quest filled with loveable heroes and magical creatures." grade. 
-Publisher's Weekly BookLife Reviews

"Author Suzanne de Planque weaves a marvelous new world for fairy tale and high-fantasy lovers alike.  This endlessly creative novel is an immersive new chapter to the fairy tales we've known for generations. The narrative voice is charming, and there are continuously smart turns of phrase and plays on words. A tremendous creative achievement, The Lost Princess of Story will thrill anyone who has ever fallen in love with a story." ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
-Self Publishing Review

"... a great read, with subtle nods to fairy tales and more current fantasy fiction... carefully skewers and pays tribute to how fantasy tales work... Recommended for readers who prefer works by Gregory Maguire, Terry Pratchett, and works such as Ella Enchanted."⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
-LibraryThing







Now, let's chat a moment with author Suzanne de Planque...

What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?

I love literary tourism! I have made quite a few pilgrimages. I live in New York, which has plenty of literary high spots. High on the list are my many visits with my son to visit the real Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, and Tigger at the New York Public Library. There is the Strand bookstore, immortalized (as if it wasn’t already) in the Dash and Lily books.

My son and I love to visit Eloise at the Plaza and check out her store downstairs. We have done the Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler tour at the Met, of course, and like the characters in my book, we have visited the Lower East Side to see sites from the Pushcart Wars. The Upper West side is famous for Judy Blume books, the upper East for Harriet the Spy. We spent countless hours at Books of Wonder and look forward to going there again as the city reopens. Went to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. My husband is in entertainment engineering, and a colleague on the show got us great tickets in the director’s box, and a little extra magic for my kid. My lips are totally sealed.

The Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park is a favorite, and features in my Professional Children series, which I hope to launch once The Chronicles of Story is well underway. Also, a visit to Alice’s Tea Cup carries the Alice in Wonderland theme along. There are so many literary spots in New York City that I could go on forever, but I want to talk about my best literary pilgrimage.

When my son was seven, we took a month-long trip to the UK (England, Scotland and Wales, plus a little trip to Paris on the side) that we called the Great Children’s Book Trip. We had planned another on his thirteenth birthday (which is this year, but we are holding off a little bit, what with the pandemic). So many great kid’s books come from the UK, and we made the rounds. The Harry Potter content alone could have taken a month, if we had the time.

We stayed at the Harry Potter hotel, rode the steam train in Scotland, took the Harry Potter tour in Edinburgh, went to the Elephant House, did the WB studio tour, and so many other Harry Potter sites. We went all over London. Peter Pan, Bastables, Fossils, Paddington, Sherlock Holmes, Mary Poppins—the list is endless. Out to Oxford, for Narnia and Alice in Wonderland and Lord of the Rings. Went to the Roald Dahl museum in Great Mittenden, where his writing hut is preserved. I found it very empowering to sit in a replica of his writing chair, which he rigged with a lap desk and customized to make more comfortable for his war injuries. It inspired me to do the same and having a writing chair that caters to my wonky spine has been a huge help.

We saw shows—Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Railway Children. Winnie the Pooh, the Twilight Barking, the Borrowers—you name it, we visited. We slept in a castle, and a grand five- star hotel we booked cheap online that upgraded us to a suite, and on a sleeper train, and wound it all up at Hay-on-Wye, the Book Town in Wales, which is the home of my heart. It was one of the most wonderful things I’ve ever done, and I hope someday to have another grand tour like it.

On my to do list of literary travel, the top must visit places for me right now are Prince Edward Island (Anne of Green Gables, Emily), Chincoteague for Pony Penning (Misty of Chincoteague) and Concord MA, for Little Women and the Hall Family books. I recently discovered the Hall Family house shown in the book is real. I must visit it in person and see if it really has a summerhouse with a swing and a diamond in its window.



As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

I think my mascot would have to be Tickey-Ding, the teacup size banzai dragon (the “z” is for “zazz”, according to him) who is a character in The Chronicles of Story. Tickey came into my mind years and years ago, a combination of a love for magical creatures and a bout of aphasia.

Sometimes I am briefly aphasic and lose words. On one of these occasions, I was asking my husband to pass me the kitchen timer but could not find the words I needed. I called it a Tickey Ding. (Because it goes tick… tick…tick… ding!) I had been toying with the idea of a little dragon, and Tickey Ding became his name. Shortly after that I imagined a dragon small enough to sleep in a sneaker, and Tickey has been with me ever since, through many years and partially written versions of this book.

Tickey-Ding is a spiritual descendent of Peter Pan’s crocodile. But Tickey ate a kitchen timer. Tickey is magical, curious, lovable, and funny. And always hungry. I hope that my book is all those things, too. (Well, not always hungry. Though it may make you hungry. When I was a kid, I loved books that talked about food and feasts, especially ones with recipes in the back so I could eat the same things as the characters. The Lost Princess of Story is chock-full of favorite food, and there is a mini cookbook at the back so you can make your own Story-style feast.)







Suzanne de Planque is a writer, actor, and a stay-at-home mom.
Theatrical credits include off-Broadway and other New York, regional, and tours; everything from Shakespeare to Sondheim. A few highlights from her years in the theatre include enacting what must be
every Grimm's fairytale in her years as the self-proclaimed Queen of Children's Theater, playing cut-rate Disney princesses at birthday parties, inspiring a generation of high school students as the DON'T examples in a series of job-seeking educational videos, and breaking her neck falling out of a giant teapot dressed as the Dormouse.

The latter resulted in a career change to playwriting, and a healthy respect for teacups. Her plays have been commissioned and performed in New York and regionally. This is her first novel.

She lives in a little white house in Brooklyn with her husband and son, an impressive array of costumes, swords, and Original Broadway Cast albums, and a world-class collection of children's books. She is an avid collector of antique and vintage children's literature and a fan of literary tourism in person and on Pinterest. She has never passed a wardrobe without checking, just in case.






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Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!


Win one of three Swag Packs!


LILLA—THE READER
$100 Amazon gift card
Lost Princess of Story t shirt
Lilla t shirt (Book theme)
Large stuffed Tickey Ding (the mini dragon character in Story)
Coat of arms personally created for you by the Royal Designer of Story (book illustrator), suitable for framing
More reader and Story swag

SOPHIE—THE PRINCESS
$50 Amazon gift card
Lost Princess of Story t shirt
Sophie t shirt (This Princess Saves Herself) I
Medium stuffed Tickey Ding
Coat of arms personally created for you by the Royal Designer of Story (book illustrator), suitable for framing
More princess and Story swag


JAMIE—THE KNIGHT
$25 Amazon gift card
Lost Princess of Story t shirt
Jamie t shirt (Knight in Shining T Shirt)
Small stuffed Tickey Ding
Coat of arms personally created for you by the Royal Designer of Story (book designer), suitable for framing
More knight and Story swag 




1 comment:

Suzanne de Planque said...

Thanks for hosting The Lost Princess of Story and the giveaway! Lost Princess is a #1 Hot Release on Amazon today in Teen and YA Family. It’s also on two Top 100 charts! Get your copy today. Just 2.99 in e book, special series launch price. FREE on Kindle Unlimited. 15.99 paperback.

Check out this modern Brooklyn-based Narnia-style adventure. Perfect for the whole family. Moms, you can read this with your tweens and teens. But you may want to save it for yourself! The kids aren’t the only heroes in the book. Moms and Dads were heroes once.. and they might be again!

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