Today we welcome Pauline Hosking to Promote Me Please to talk about her new book Cinnamon Stevens - Crime Buster.
Q. Cinnamon
Stevens – Crime Buster is an enticing title. Please give us a 25 word (or
fewer) pitch for the story.
A. Twelve year old Cinnamon dreams of being a
super sleuth. Her chance comes when a class mate disappears during a
school camp.
Q. What’s the story behind Cinnamon’s
name? Is the in-story reason different from the author-choice reason?
A. In an English class
years ago I taught a girl called Cinnamon. It’s such a great name it
stayed with me (along with Tamsin, Demelza and a few others I haven’t used
yet). Another reason for the name is that Cinnamon’s family (in the book) are
foodies. Her father is a police sergeant and her mother’s a civil celebrant but
their hobby is cooking. Cinnamon believes a good breakfast is the best start to
a day. Some of her breakfast recipes appear on my website www.paulinehosking.com Cinnamon’s
name is also the source of a running joke. A boy tries to get her attention by
calling her ‘Spice Girl’ and ‘Oregano’ and ‘Paprika’. Cinnamon mistakes this as
an attempt to annoy her. It won’t be the last time she misses or misreads a
vital clue.
Q. Does
Cinnamon have a sidekick? If so, how did you decide who/what to choose?
A. The book begins with Cinnamon afraid she
will be friendless in secondary school because her BFF, Cosette, has gone to
study acting at the (imaginary) Academy of Performing Arts in Melbourne. To her
surprise Cinnamon finds a second best friend in Meera Kyrzwicki, the rather
eccentric brainiac of Year 7, who, she discovers, is an expert at reading
body-language. Cinnamon, Cosette and Meera form an impressive triumvirate. They
hunt for the missing girl, following the example of the penguins of Phillip
Island (scene of the ill-fated school camp, see Question 1): ‘When danger looms
remember the penguins. Don’t give up and stick together!’
Q. What
are five words that describe Cinnamon’s personality?
A.
Cinnamon stands on the anxious brink of adolescence. She is a funny,
stead-fast, friend - who is often wrong-footed. Although nervous when faced
with small problems, she discovers that under pressure she has a core of solid
steel. If I have to use five words to describe Cinnamon they would be: anxious,
adolescent, funny, determined, courageous. Kat Chadwick’s illustrations and
book cover totally capture the spirit of Cinnamon and her feisty friends.
Q. What’s
next for Pauline Hosking? Is there a new Cinnamon Stevens story in the works?
A. I’ve written most of the first draft of
Cinnamon’s next adventure, provisionally titled Dead Scared. It
concerns the play Macbeth, a graveyard, the haunted (actual)
goldmining town of Walhalla in Victoria’s Gippsland, and the ghost of an
actress who died in 1910.
Thanks Pauline!
You can find out more by visiting Pauline at
webpage www.paulinehosking.com
facebook Pauline.hosking520@facebook.com
The paperback is available from www.dennisjones.com.au, The Book
Depository and Booktopia, and the kindle edition is on Amazon.
The second book in this series, Cinnamon Stevens Ghost Light, also features in this blog at https://tinyurl.com/cinnamonstevens2
Promote Me Please blog is associated with Affordable Manuscript Assessments
It is open to anyone with a family-friendly creative endeavour to promote. Comments are welcome. To read other interviews at Promote Me Please, choose from the menu on the right of this post.
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