Interview With Vanessa Barger Author of Super Freak

Hello, hello, hello! Thanks for stopping by. Today, we are joined by Vanessa Barger, author of Super Freak, a Middle Grade fantasy novel that has recently released. Here's a little tidbit about the book...

Super Freak by Vanessa Barger
Publication Date:  October 13, 2015
Publisher:  Tantrum Books
Genre:  MG, Fantasy

Thirteen-year-old Caroline is a freak. Her parents have uprooted her to a town full of Supernaturals.
You’d think she’d be thrilled. But, with someone without a magical bone in her body, this daughter of tree sprites feels like even more of an outcast than she has ever before.
To make matters worse, her new home is cursed. But when Caroline takes to investigating the mysterious and strange happenings of Harridan House, her BFF goes missing. Seems someone doesn’t want Caroline sticking her non-magical nose where it most certainly does not belong. Determined to prove herself, Caroline uncovers a plot to destroy her new hometown.

Undeterred, Caroline can’t give up. But what’s a human without magical powers to do? Caroline better figure it out fast, before she loses everything she has ever loved and the whispers she’s heard all her life prove true: Caroline is a useless superfreak.

           

               

Hi, Vanessa! Welcome to We Do Write. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hello! Thanks for interviewing me! I guess first thing, I’m an MG and YA writer, and I also teach high school students. I love to travel, to bake (it’s a problem), and do crafty things. I’m married to a fabulous man, and we live with our Overlord, a cat named Molly, in Newport News, Virginia.

Tell our readers a bit about SUPER FREAK.

SUPER FREAK is about Caroline Bennings, who is the only person in the world who doesn’t have any type of supernatural ability. Her parents are dryads, but she is just normal. She loves puzzles and mysteries, and when they move to a new town, she gets a whopper of a mystery placed right in her lap. Her house is supposed to be cursed, which just seems silly at first. But then she finds letters hidden in the house, and when they get too deep into the story, her new best friend disappears. It’s up to Caroline to figure out what’s happened, or live with the fact that she really is normal and a total useless super freak.

Sounds amazing! How did the idea of the story come to you?

I was in a bookstore, looking for a new book and I had the thought that so many of them are a person with supernatural powers in the normal world. And then I thought, what about a story where the main character is normal, in a world where everyone is supernatural. What would be her “special Ability” then? And then I came up with the fact that she loved puzzles and mysteries, and it snowballed from there.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Sadly, I have to give my punster badge back now. I used to say I was a little of both, but this novel marked the end of my pantser ways. Writing a mystery required me to outline to make sure certain things happened in certain places. I am now a plotter. Mostly. I still get sidetracked, though.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

The hardest part is a tie between the ending and making the time to write. I always end the book and mess with those last few pages and lines FOREVER. The only book I have liked the last lines of is one I have never finished yet (but I wrote the last three lines when I got about halfway through)!

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

Tea. A lot of tea. And some kind of snack is always good too. Usually cookies or something else I shouldn’t be eating.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

Psychic. Definitely.

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

Weirdest thing? Probably how to start a fire with just a battery and some wire. At least, recently that’s the weirdest!

Finish this sentence: If I'm not writing, I'm probably ... Baking.

Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

First, to all the readers, because without you, I wouldn’t be able to be published at all. THANK YOU for reading and loving my books! To my husband, Randy, who is amazing and puts up with so much from me. To my BFF, Sammi, who is fabulous and my self-appointed PR consultant. My parents and grandmother, who are always willing to be my cheering section and help me out. My publisher and publicist there at Tantrum Books. I’m sure I’m forgetting people, but I think that covers it.
And, of course, thank you to lovely bloggers such as yourself!!!!

Thanks for stopping by the blog!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vanessa Barger was born in West Virginia, and through several moves ended up spending the majority of her life in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She is a graduate of George Mason University and Old Dominion University, and has degrees in Graphic Design, a minor in Medieval and Renaissance Literature, and a Masters in Technology Education. She has had articles published in Altered Arts Magazine, has had some artwork displayed in galleries in Ohio and online, and currently teaches engineering, practical physics, drafting and other technological things to high school students in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia. She is a member of the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators), the Virginia Writer’s Club, and the Hampton Roads Writers. When not writing or teaching, she’s a bookaholic, movie fanatic, and loves to travel. She is married to a fabulous man, and has one cat, who believes Vanessa lives only to open cat food cans, and can often be found baking when she should be editing.

                 

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