Oh, do we have a fabulous guest today!
I’m super excited to have author Kylie Fornasier on the blog today because she is so absolutely fabulous and an Australian writer! And her book is gorgeous. Seriously, what more can I ask for?
Also, thanks to Penguin Australia, there’s a giveaway of Masquerade at the end of this post! You too can read this fabulousness!
Interview with the author, Kylie Fornasier!
As a teacher librarian, Kylie Foransier is in touch with what kids like to read, as well as being passionate about helping them enjoy that reading experience as much as she can. Kylie has won a number of writing awards, and already has a published chapter book and a soon-to-be published picture book with other major publishers. She is a strong believer in practicing what she preaches when it comes to her writing and so runs a writers’ group with the NSW Writer’s Centre and another in Penrith. Kylie lives in western Sydney.
Have you ever been to Venice and do you speak any Italian?
Ohhh, I want to to Venice SO BADLY. Lucky you! (My mother is half Italian, so it’s totally destiny that I go at some point, right!?) Out of the 7 teens who take turns narrating, whose point-of-view did you enjoy exploring the most?
g a huge error of judgement. I think Kiera Knightly would play her perfectly!
I loved Veronica’s intelligence too! Do you have a favourite quote from Masquerade you can share with us?
In a city shrouded in secrets, it was only fitting that Orelia’s first view of Venice was shourded in fog.
Your first sentence totally hooked me right in! Can you tell us a little about how you went from finished manuscript to book deal?
At my publishing consultation, the editor expressed that she loved the three chapters I had submitted and requested that I send her the full manuscript as soon as I could. From there, it was just a matter of waiting to see if they accepted it. This is really only part of the story though; there’s a lot more that came before that which I believe really gave me a leg up. Check out the first video on my YouTube Channel to hear the full story and see me be adorably awkward!
Since there are a lot of masks in Masquerade, have you thought about what kind of mask you’d wear to Carnevale? (Can we beg a picture if you have one?!)
I LOVE YOUR MASK SO MUCH. (I need a mask in my life, I think.) Are there any more glorious writing projects we might see in the future?!
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Squee! A sequel! And your contemporary already sounds adorable (I want to read it!). Thank you so much for coming, Kylie!
Here Are My Glorious Thoughts Upon The Book
It’s the Carnevale of 1750 and Venice’s ballrooms, theatres, palazzos and squares are filled with delicious gossip, devilish fun and dangerous games. In this glittering masked world, everyone has a secret…
Set in an age of decadence made famous by Casanova, Masquerade uncovers the secrets of seven teens, from the highest aristocrat to the lowest servant – their dreams, desires, loves, loyalties … and betrayals.
All the world’s a stage. Let the show begin.
I liked this book! I liked it a lot!
Masquerade is a historical drama set in 1750 in Venice.You know what this means, right? MASKS AND CARNEVALE. I’ve always been mildly fascinated by Italy because a) I’m part Italian and b) they have freakishly good food. And the whole mask thing? That sounds fabulous to me. (I’m shy. Hiding = my favourite.) And Venice?! Oh the book so did it justice.
Truman Capote describes Venice like this: “Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go.” And the book GOT that. It completely did! I felt very swept up in the secrets and mysteries and intrigue of the era. There’s a darker side, too, of course. Sexism. Superstition. Class wars.
(If you haven’t checked out the author’s pinterest yet, go GO do so. It’s amazing.)
There are 7 points-of-view. Yeah, it’s a lot. It’s not my favourite for there to be so many. But they were handled brilliantly. All seven of our narrators are total drama queens. THEY ARE. But then it’s Venice, so do we expect less? My favourite was Orelia. She was nice but fierce.
With so many narrators, there are a lot of stories going on…but basically none of them ended like I predicted. YAY! A lot of surprises happened at the end.
With the lavish, gorgeous setting and tightly written description, I was sold! Where is the sequel? I need more!
“text-align: center;”>Giveaway!
A huge thank you to Penguin for offering a copy of Masquerade for a fabulous winner!
– book will be sent by the publisher
– Australian only!
– You must say “Italian Deliciousness” 5 times fast.
Cait has the Phantom of the Opera song “Masquerade” going through her head right now thanks to this book. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing…because Cait used to be very obsessed with the music from that musical and played it incessantly on the piano. Good times. Currently she’s listening to BZRK and drawing squiggly lines in notebooks and still writing for NaNoWriMo.
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