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Wizard Queen at Sixteen
MEET HADLEY HOLT:
Hadley Holt, author of paranormal and fantasy YA (Young Adult) has always loved to write. She also nurtures an incurable fascination with all things supernatural and fantastical. From a young age, she imagined stories about dragons, wizards, witches, ghosts, shape-shifters, vampires, and other magical creatures. As life often does, it blessed Hadley with family - a hunky husband and amazing children, and with family came a rewarding career. Hadley spent many years in the not-so-magical world of finance and mortgage banking, but the stories were always there in the back of her mind, demanding to be set free.
Thanks to the housing market crash, Hadley finally realized her dreams. She now breathes life into her magical tales of reluctant young heroes finding their inner strength to fight against terrible odds.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
DESECRATION, Book One of the Wizard Queen at Sixteen
In a hidden world of wizards where only men hold the power of magic, one girl arises with the power to change everything, but only If she survives…
Adriana Victoriana Evangelista (Addie), daughter to the High Chancellor of the Wizard’s Council, has always been the perfect wizard girl. She never questions why men possess magical powers and women have no power at all, magical or otherwise.
On her sixteenth birthday, Addie finds out she possesses magic. Under wizard law, she is a desecration.
Just as Addie discovers love, her fate sends her straight into the path of a powerful and evil sorcerer, but the worst danger of all may come from right inside her own home.
EXCERPT:
The sound of footsteps outside sent my heart racing. If Izzy got caught without her cloak on school property, we’d both get detention for a week. And worse, my father would murder me.
“Your cloak!” I whispered. I stretched out my hand as if I could somehow grab Izzy’s cloak from several feet away.
In answer to my thoughts, Izzy’s discarded forest-green cloak flew across the room, coming into my open hand.
I blinked at my hand and the cloak I clutched in my fist. I stared as my knuckles went white and my outstretched arm began to tremble. A thunderous pulse echoed in my ears and my limbs and I realized it was the pounding of my heart.
Finally, I met Izzy’s shocked stare. We both gaped at each other for a moment. Then our gazes whipped back and forth between the corner where her cloak had been and my hand, where it currently was. And then to the door, which fortunately remained closed.
I realized I’d stopped breathing. Gasping for air, I dropped Izzy’s cloak like it was on fire.
“Addie,” Izzy gasped, then giggled nervously, “you just did magic.” She pointed a finger at me. “You just did MAGIC!”
“No. Shhhh! Don’t even say that!” I shook my head spastically. I clutched my head between my hands. “No! No! No!”
“Yes, yes, yes! You did!” she sang back.
“It didn’t happen. It couldn’t have.” I kept shaking my head so vehemently that I started to get woozy. “I’m a girl. That’s impossible!”
“It is impossible. But you did it anyway.”
I couldn’t seem to stop shaking my head.
“Ha! Your brat of a brother would look like such a total idiot right now. Bet he couldn’t do what you just did. His magic hasn’t come that far yet.”
“No,” I said, still in major denial. I could hear my father’s voice ranting; a woman wielding magic is a desecration!
“There’s some prophecy about this.” Izzy tapped her palm against her forehead several times. “Hugo mentioned it a while back. Shoot! I can’t remember.”
“I can’t be part of some prophecy. My father will kill me.”
QUESTIONS FOR HADLEY:
Kathleen: I loved your YA Fantasy serial. I haven’t had that much magical fun since Harry Potter. Desecration is a good story!
Your heroine lives in a wizard society that suppresses women. This made me curious, and I also found it interesting that one of the secondary characters, the fascinating Lady Acacia, found a way to still rise in the ranks. That’s interesting. What inspired you to create a society that struggles with this issue?
HADLEY: I’ve always heard that you should write what you are passionate about. I had actually written another book (part of a different series) and in that book I knew that there would be a crossover to a wizard book/series. As I developed that world to create a backstory, I asked myself what would that world be like for a girl living within it? As I contemplated that question, Addie came to life. When I thought of the struggles Addie would have to face in a backward chauvinistic society, Addie’s story called to me so strongly that I set aside the other book to write her story. It all came down to the fact that I am passionate about the empowerment of girls/women and I love a good world-saving adventure.
Kathleen: How often do you get lost in a story?
HADLEY:Pretty much continually whether I’m reading or writing.
Kathleen: What’s the first book you remember reading?
HADLEY:That’s hard to say. I read so much throughout school that I somehow forgot that you could read for fun. As an adult, (a couple of years after college) someone gave me a copy of Jude Deveraux’s book, A Knight in Shining Armor, and I haven’t stopped reading since that day.
Kathleen: What’s your favorite fairy tale?
HADLEY: I love Cinderella but my favorite version is in the movie Ever After starring Drew Barrymore because it’s still just as romantic, but Cinderella saves herself instead of the prince saving her!
Kathleen: Can you tell us about a real-life hero you’ve met?
HADLEY:My daughter Christina who straight out of college traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to work with orphans. She faced down danger, secret police, malaria, being assaulted on the street, and an Ebola scare. She made a difference to a lot of children and helped one little boy get artificial legs so he could walk for the very first time in his life. That’s the definition of a hero to me.
Kathleen: Wow! You must be an amazing mother to have raised such a brave daughter. Where do you read and how often?
HADLEY:I’m particularly partial to audio books these days and I “read” while I get ready for the day, while I drive, on breaks, and before bed.
Kathleen: Who’s your favorite villain?
HADLEY:I’ll have to say my favorites (plural): Hans Gruber played by Alan Rickman in the original Die Hard, David the vampire played by Kiefer Sutherland in the Lost Boys and the shark in Jaws.
Kathleen: Yikes! You picked some scary ones. What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in?
HADLEY: I like many kinds of stories but I like a good adventure with romance and an element of paranormal or magic so I try to write the kind of stories that I like to read (we have to entertain ourselves – LOL).
Kathleen: If you could interview one person (and it doesn’t have to be a writer) who would it be?
HADLEY: Malala Yousafzai – Here is a girl who is an incredible hero! At the age of 11, this little Pakistani girl stood up against the Taliban – peacefully fighting for the right for girls to receive an education. Even after being gunned down, she continued to fight for the rights of girls to receive an education. I’d like to know where that kind of bravery comes from.
Kathleen: Oh yes, she’s amazing! Which of your characters would you most/least to invite to dinner, and why?
HADLEY:I think I’d like to have Addie’s best friend Izzy to dinner. I think she would keep me laughing.
Kathleen: Yes, she would. She says exactly what’s on her mind. What would you say is your most interesting quirk?
HADLEY: I have a Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head collection
Kathleen: LOL! Mr. Potato Head, that is quirky and fun!
So, which era would you least like to have lived in, fashion-wise and why?
HADLEY: I wouldn’t like to live in any time where a woman has to wear a corset.
Kathleen: This was fun! Thank you for being here today and I hear you are giving away a copy of DESECRATION
GIVEAWAY:
Hadley is giving away an eBook of DESECRATION today to one lucky reader who comments. She’ll send the eBook to your email via Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
HADLEY ASKS READERS:
If you had magic powers what would you change about the world?
FANS CAN FIND HADLEY AT:
email: hadley@hadleyholt.com
Website: www.hadleyholt.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hadley.holtauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hadley_Holt