Thursday, November 20, 2014

AP Author Spotlight: Shea McIntosh Ford




Shea McIntosh Ford
 
Website:
Blog: http://sheaford.wordpress.com/
Twitter ID: @SheaFord1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/SheaMcIntoshFord
Google +:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SheaMcIntoshFord
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/stringdancer/
 
Describe yourself in three words:
Christian, student, scribbler.
 
Tell us a little about your latest release:
The Stone of Kings
Twelve year old Ardan is hopelessly distracted because he wants to meet a real faerie. But when he gets his hands on a mysterious red book loaded with faerie spells and accidentally sends himself three hundred years into Ireland’s future, he soon learns that there are more important things on which to focus his attention. Throw in some immortal druids, fun storytelling, a touch of forbidden romance, along with the music and antics of the legendary Irish harper, Turlough O’Carolan, and you’ll become swept up in a very real Irish mythological adventure.
I have played harp from the time I was fifteen years old and play some O'Carolan tunes. I had a basic understanding of who he was; he traveled all over Ireland with a guide because he was blind and was highly respected for his music. So I thought, what if one of his guides gets stuck in some other time period and teaches everyone what it's like to play harp with Turlough O'Carolan? The research I did caused the idea to blossom into The Stone of Kings.
 
What is your earliest memory?
I was two. As soon as my mom had finished ironing the clothes, I secretly grabbed the iron, so that I could be just like Mommy. Yup. It was still hot and I burned my hand. Still have the scar. I even remember that the blanket I was trying to iron was blue.
 
What would you consider the greatest moment in your life?
The day I chose to be baptized to become a Christian.
 
What’s the hardest thing in in life you’ve done?
The hardest thing by far was to tell my Catholic family that I no longer held any faith in Catholicism. But this was a key experience to give me the perspective I needed to write much of The Stone of Kings, since Turlough O'Carolan was a devout Catholic.
 
What have you learned in life so far?
Find ways to be friends anyone. There may be things about the other person that I disagree with. I've learned not to focus on that, but to instead focus on what we have in common. As long as the other person is not oppressive or harmful to others, I focus on the positive. It makes for less drama. I'd rather save the drama for my books.
 
Everyone’s favourite question: if you could invite five people for dinner, who would it be?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that I can list living and deceased. So I'm going with:
1. Stephanie Taylor - For taking a chance on me.
2. Michael Scott - to pick his brain about Ireland and mythology.
3. J.K. Rowling - because I loved the themes in The Deathly Hallows and think that a conversation with her would be fascinating.
4. J.R.R. Tolkien - to pick his brain about Bilbo and Beowulf.
5. Grandma Caroline (who died last year) - to know if she appreciates they way I incorporated her Irish stories into my book.
I was tempted to say Turlough O'Carolan, because I would love his humor, but I think I'd be terrified that I got something in his character wrong and he would get mad at me.
 
 
Chance for our readers - what else would you like to know about Shea McIntosh Ford?

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