The time it was about The Disappearances

Posted July 2, 2017 by Stacee in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Interviews | 13 Comments

I was instantly intrigued by the synopsis for The Disappearances and pretty much devoured it when I got it in my greedy hands.  So when I saw the chance to be part of the blog tour, I couldn’t sign up fast enough.

Before we get to Emily’s interview, let’s check out the book!

Title: The Disappearances
Author: Emily Bain Murphy
Pub. Date: July 4, 2017
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Pages: 400
Find it: HMH | Indiebound | B&N | Amazon | Goodreads

What if the ordinary things in life suddenly…disappeared?

Aila Quinn’s mother, Juliet, has always been a mystery: vibrant yet guarded, she keeps her secrets beyond Aila’s reach. When Juliet dies, Aila and her younger brother Miles are sent to live in Sterling, a rural town far from home–and the place where Juliet grew up.

Sterling is a place with mysteries of its own. A place where the experiences that weave life together–scents of flowers and food, reflections from mirrors and lakes, even the ability to dream–vanish every seven years.

No one knows what caused these “Disappearances,” or what will slip away next. But Sterling always suspected that Juliet Quinn was somehow responsible–and Aila must bear the brunt of their blame while she follows the chain of literary clues her mother left behind.

As the next Disappearance nears, Aila begins to unravel the dual mystery of why the Disappearances happen and who her mother truly was. One thing is clear: Sterling isn’t going to hold on to anyone’s secrets for long before it starts giving them up.

Sounds good, right?

1. Please give the elevator pitch for The Disappearances.

The Disappearances is about a town where every seven years, something disappears—the scent of flowers, the stars in the sky, the ability to dream—and a sixteen-year-old girl named Aila Quinn has to follow literary clues written in an old Shakespeare book to figure out why.  The catch is—the book used to belong to her late mother Juliet, and the town thinks Juliet might be to blame.

2. What sparked the idea?

I was picturing a magic that was like shimmering dust I could hold in my hand, but I was really interested in the idea of it being magic that belongs in our everyday world. At the time when I was working through these initial ideas, I was also blogging about child trafficking and exploitation and doing some volunteer work with an organization that focuses on trafficking prevention and aftercare solutions. To balance some of the things I was learning about, I had to start becoming more intentional about also seeking out the lovely, hopeful, and magical in the world. At first I was just trying to take more notice and appreciation in those things, and one day I had the idea—what if those things were no longer here? What if they started to fade away bit by bit? Why would it be happening, and what would people do about it? What if there was a way to pay to get them back? And the story began to spin into something more from there.

3. Why do you love Aila and why should we root for her?

I love Aila because she’s whipsmart, determined, and she has this ability to see the full range of people, with all of their faults and shortcomings, and still fiercely love them anyway. I think she’s worth rooting for because she’s up against a lot of setbacks: she recently lost her mother, her brother can sometimes be a handful, she feels abandoned by her father—and she’s walking into a situation where an entire town already has reason to dislike and distrust her. The odds are stacked against her, but she still wants to help her mother and the town, even if both of them have done things that hurt her.

4. There are a lot of characters in this story. Excluding Aila, who was the easiest and hardest to write?

The easiest was Beas, the girl who becomes Aila’s best friend, because I just love her. The most difficult was probably Juliet, Aila’s mother, because she’s a complex person and we learn about her entirely from other people’s memories, with all of their biases and through their own lenses. To me it was similar to attempting to paint someone using only negative space.

5. For you, which of The Disappearances would be the biggest loss?

Either scents or stars would be the hardest for me. I love a night filled with gorgeous stars and I’m always catching myself smelling my freshly brewed coffee or a Christmas tree or sometimes even stepping into a bakery just for a moment to see how it smells.

The Disappearance that happens in the middle of the book would be hard too, but I don’t want to say what it is and spoil it!

Speed {ish} round:

1. You find out that you’re being published for the first time. Describe the next 5 minutes.

I’m driving home from seeing my agent earlier that day in New York City, and I look down and see that he’s calling, so I pull over at a rest stop and take The Call. My heart is absolutely pounding, and there is some exuberant car dancing involved, followed by a fair amount of screaming into the phone as I call my husband, my parents, and my siblings. Then I drive on pure adrenaline and endorphins and praise music all the way back home to Connecticut.

2. What three things would you take to a desert island?

Sunscreen so I wouldn’t be a lobster, endless supplies of those little Nutella pretzel containers, a notebook to write in. (I guess I didn’t give myself a pen in this scenario so maybe I’m writing my next novel with pretzel sticks dipped in Nutella?)

3. You can only read one book for the rest of your life. What is it?

The Bible, NIV translation. If I get a second choice I’d also take Pride and Prejudice.

4. What book character would you want to date and who would you want to be your BFF?

I’d date Mr. Knightley or Nikolai Lantsov and my BFF would be Anne Shirley.

5. What is the one thing about publishing you wish someone would have told you?

It’s okay if you don’t make it right away, or your first draft isn’t awesome. It’s normal to struggle for years before your work is agent- or publication-ready. I often felt like a failure through some of the years I was starting out, but the more I’ve met other authors, I realized that my experience was actually much closer to the rule than the exception. So keep persevering and trying to learn more and be better! It will pay off.

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Emily Bain Murphy grew up in Indiana, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, and has also called Massachusetts and Connecticut home. She loves books, Japanese karaoke, exploring new cities, and anything with Nutella.

Her debut YA fantasy, THE DISAPPEARANCES, will be published by HMH Books for Young Readers and Pushkin Press in 2017. She currently lives in San Francisco with her family and is at work on her second novel.

Website  | Twitter  | Instagram | Facebook |  Goodreads

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Huge thanks to Rockstar Book Tours for the invite and to Emily for taking the time! Make sure you’re checking out the rest of the blog tour for extra goodies and keep scrolling for a giveaway!

**Good Luck!!**

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13 responses to “The time it was about The Disappearances

  1. danielle hammelef

    I love to read mysteries and the more I read about your book, the more excited I get to read it. Can’t wait to put it on my read list.

  2. Scents would definitely be the thing I’d be anguished to have disappear. They become so very tied into our memories that even 15 years after my great grandmother passed away the smell of Chanel °5 makes me miss her.

  3. Sabrina

    I love the premise of appreciating the little things blended with mystery! Thanks for this giveaway!!

  4. Theresa

    I was really lucky to be able to read an ARC of this book!! I can’t say enough about how much I LOVE this book!!! Couldn’t stop turning the pages! This has jumped to the top of my favorite books!!!!

  5. Danielle Lynn

    This book sounds so incredible. A YA that’s part fantasy, part mystery sounds like exactly what I need. This book received amazing reviews and this just made me more anxious to start reading! Thanks for sharing!

  6. Tammy V.

    This sounds like it could be a The Librarians episode. Love that show and hope this is just as entertaining as it sounds.

  7. Not gonna lie, posts like this are probably our favourite! WELL, THESE POSTS AND THE ONES THAT COVER COMIC CON AND THE LIKE
    This book sounds really interesting and we hadn’t intended to check it out because the cover isn’t our favourite, but we’ll definitely try it now!

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