Sunrise Blog Tour: Interview with Mike Mullin + Giveaway

Today I'm a part of the Sunrise by Mike Mullin blog tour :D And I'm so excited! It's been a while since I read Ashfall and Ashen Winter, but I really enjoyed them both. And I cannot wait to read Sunrise, the final book in this trilogy. I'm very excited for it. And really hoping I will love it :) Anyway. For this blog tour I'm having an interview with Mike Mullin :D Which I'm loving, to be honest. Hih. Thank you so much Mike :) You are awesome. And huge thank you to Books With Bite for the chance to be a part of this blog tour. Hope you all enjoy the interview :D International giveaway at the end. <3 Good luck everyone :)

Interview with Mike Mullin :) 

1. His biggest book inspiration for the Ashfall trilogy.

The idea for Ashfall started with another book—Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything. I found it on a display at Central Library in downtown Indianapolis. Dozens of novel ideas lurk within its pages, but the one that stuck with me was the idea of a supervolcano eruption at Yellowstone. A few weeks after I read it, I woke at 3:30 am with a scene occupying my head so completely I was afraid it would start spilling out my nostrils and ears. I typed 5,500 words, finishing just before dawn. Then I put the project away and let it gestate for eight months. When I returned to it after researching volcanoes and volcanic ash, I realized the inspired scene I wrote in the middle of the night wouldn’t work, and ultimately that whole section had to be scrapped. The only word that remains from that draft? Ashfall.

2. His best experiences with his bookish fans.
There have been so many! During my library talks I read a bit of page 4 and 5 of ASHFALL. I try to make a big dramatic performance out of it to make it more fun to listen to. During a talk in De Motte, Indiana, the whole front row (mostly teenage girls) started holding hands, rocking back and forth, and moaning like they were in religious ecstasy or something. It was so funny that I stopped to ask them what they were doing. Evidently, it’s what they do every time they’re super-excited about something. They were a fabulous audience!
 
3. A moment where/if he fanboyed over a book or author.
When I got the handwritten letter on hotel stationary from Richard Peck with his blurb for ASHFALL, I jumped and danced and screamed like the most joyous four-year-old you’ve ever met.

4. His feelings about finishing the trilogy.
Mixed. I’m excited to be writing something new, but I already miss Alex and Darla.

5. What he wishes the fans will take away from the series. (What they will be feeling after finishing all three books.)
I’d like to give my readers the gift that Heinlein, Asimov, Cormier, Blume, and Peck gave me: A few hours of diversion in a childhood that was sometimes kind of crappy. The opportunity to live other lives vicariously through their writing. A few new thoughts, and lots of familiar feelings.

6. What he will be writing about next, and if he could share more about it :)
I’m about 30,000 words into the first draft of SURFACE TENSION, a young adult thriller. It’s about a teen who sees a group of terrorists crashing an airplane from the ground. He’s the only one who knows how they’re doing it, and they want him dead.

The Yellowstone supervolcano nearly wiped out the human race. Now, almost a year after the eruption, the survivors seem determined to finish the job. Communities wage war on each other, gangs of cannibals roam the countryside, and what little government survived the eruption has collapsed completely. The ham radio has gone silent. Sickness, cold, and starvation are the survivors’ constant companions.

When it becomes apparent that their home is no longer safe and adults are not facing the stark realities, Alex and Darla must create a community that can survive the ongoing disaster, an almost impossible task requiring even more guts and more smarts than ever—and unthinkable sacrifice. If they fail . . . they, their loved ones, and the few remaining survivors will perish.

This epic finale has the heart of Ashfall, the action of Ashen Winter, and a depth all its own, examining questions of responsibility and bravery, civilization and society, illuminated by the story of an unshakable love that transcends a post-apocalyptic world and even life itself.

Buy Sunrise: Amazon - B&N - The Book Depository - IndieBound

Ashfall. Ashen Winter. Sunrise. Darla's Story.

Mike Mullin’s first job was scraping the gum off the undersides of desks at his high school. From there, things went steadily downhill. He almost got fired by the owner of a bookstore due to his poor taste in earrings. He worked at a place that showed slides of poopy diapers during lunch (it did cut down on the cafeteria budget). The hazing process at the next company included eating live termites raised by the resident entomologist, so that didn’t last long either. For a while Mike juggled bottles at a wine shop, sometimes to disastrous effect. Oh, and then there was the job where swarms of wasps occasionally tried to chase him off ladders. So he’s really glad this writing thing seems to be working out. Mike holds a black belt in Songahm Taekwondo. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and her three cats. Ashen Winter is his second novel. His debut, Ashfall, was named one of the top five young adult novels of 2011 by National Public Radio, a Best Teen Book of 2011 by Kirkus Reviews, and a New Voices selection by the American Booksellers Association

Where to find Mike Mullin: Website - Twitter - Facebook

a Rafflecopter giveaway
This giveaway is sponsored by Books With Bite. It is one complete set of The Ashfall Series
(Ashfall, Ashen Winter & Sunrise) from The Book Depository.
Please make sure they ship to your country. Open to everyone!