Akarnae by Lynette Noni- Interview & Giveaway

I've got Lynette Noni, Australian author of fantasy novel Akarnae on the blog today chatting about her debut novel, and what we can expect from the series next! Having just released in February this year, Akarnae will enchant fans of Harry Potter and Narnia and take hold of your imagination--trust me, I've read it, rated it 5 stars and am already dying for the next book!

Enjoy my interview with Lynette, and if you're Aussie, don't miss you chance to win a paperback copy of Akarnae!

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With just one step, sixteen-year-old Alexandra Jennings's world changes--literally.

Dreading her first day at a new school, Alex is stunned when she walks through a doorway and finds herself stranded in Medora, a fantasy world full of impossibilities. Desperate to return home, she learns that only a man named Professor Marselle can help her... but he's missing.

While waiting for him to reappear, Alex attends Akarnae Academy, Medora's boarding school for teenagers with extraordinary gifts. She soon starts to enjoy her bizarre new world and the friends who embrace her as one of their own, but strange things are happening at Akarnae, and Alex can't ignore her fear that something unexpected... something sinister... is looming.

An unwilling pawn in a deadly game, Alex's shoulders bear the crushing weight of an entire race's survival. Only she can save the Medorans, but what if doing so prevents her from ever returning home?

Will Alex risk her entire world--and maybe even her life--to save Medora?

Add on Goodreads or check out my 5 star review!

Purchase:

Bookworld | The Book Depository | Amazon | Akarnae Website
 

 

Hi Lynette and welcome to The Rest Is Still Unwritten! I'm super excited to have you answer some questions and talk to you about your debut novel Akarnae......

First off, congrats on getting Akarnae out into the world! I know it must be a very exciting time for you right now; how does it feel having your novel out there for people to read?
It’s such an incredible feeling—very surreal! To be honest, there are days when I still wake up in the morning and wonder if it’s all just a dream; an incredible, impossible dream! Then it hits me that it’s real and I feel ecstatic—and also a little bit terrified!

If you had to describe Akarnae to someone who hadn't read it in one sentence, what would you say?
AKARNAE is about a sixteen-year-old girl who becomes stranded in a fantasy world where she attends a school for teenagers with extraordinary gifts while she waits for an opportunity to get back home.

Medora is one of those amazingly unique worlds where you never know what will happen next.....What was your inspiration for this incredible place?
I think it is very much inspired by wishful fantasies. Medora is the kind of place that I would absolutely love to go to. Because of that, it’s a bit of a mixture of all my favourite places I’ve read about and watched from other fantasy books and movies, all mashed up together—with a few aspects unique only to this series.

Lyndsy Fonseca AKA Alex Jennings.....

If Akarnae was ever made into a movie, what actress would you want to play Alex?
Oooh, that’s such a tough question! For me, Alex is more than just a face, so it’s difficult to imagine her as anyone specifically. But if I had to pick, maybe someone like Lyndsy Fonseca. She was totally awesome in Nikita and I think she’d kick butt in the high action scenes—especially in Combat!

Alex is pretty awesome in Akarnae, but so are many of the other characters, Jordan, Bear, Darius, D.C. and so many more....is there anyone who has a special place in your heart?
I think I’ll always have a soft spot for Jordan. In the original version of AKARNAE, he was the first person to meet Alex after she arrived in Medora (before Aven, and Bear wasn’t with him) and the bond that formed between the two of them was instant and, well, beautiful. I love writing every scene that he’s in—because, let’s face it, he’s just so much fun!

Kaiden and Declan are also huge favourites of mine, and I’m stoked that they get a lot more screen time in the second book. And speaking of the second book, this is kinda cheating for this question, but there are a few people we get to meet in RAELIA who I absolutely adore beyond words. You’ll just have to wait to see who, though! (*sneaky grin*)

I CAN'T wait to meet these individuals! Many of the people of Medora are gifted with amazing abilities. If you yourself could have a gift like theirs, what one would you want and why?
Another hard question! Since the second book introduces a heap more gifted humans and their abilities, I don’t want to give any cool gifts away by accident, so instead I’ll just say that I’ve always wanted to be able to fly. I love the idea of such complete freedom while soaring through the air currents and seeing the world from a different perspective. I can’t imagine that I’d ever want to come back down to the ground!

Though there is plenty of friendship in Akarnae, there's not really any romance. Although, there is a certain young man who I have my fingers crossed may be a love interest for Alex in later books. Any chance we may see some of this down the line? Do you think Alex may just need a push?
I’ve always had a bit of a pet peeve when it comes to stories that start out as epic adventures, but then they fizzle out and become all about the insta-love. It’s so disappointing when a story hooks you in with a super cool plot but then as soon as the main character meets their love interest, the rest of the book/series becomes all about the relationship and less about the adventure. I absolutely LOVE it when an author can find a perfect balance between the two—keeping the story alive while realistically developing a relationship. So, fingers crossed, that’s my aim for Alex and… the person she ends up with.

I love those kinds of romances too! Your heroine Alex finds herself literally in a new world when she opens a door to Medora. If you could visit anywhere, real, fiction, past, present or future where would you want to visit and why?
To be a total walking cliché, I’d be lying if I didn’t say Hogwarts. I travelled on the train from London to Edinburgh a few years ago and I remember looking out at the snow-capped craggy mountains in the distance and all the other scenery along the way, and I seriously felt as if I was on the Hogwarts Express. It was the most magical feeling ever!
Otherwise, I’d love to visit any of my favourite fantasy places, like Middle Earth (I’m talking Rivendell or Loth Lorien, not Mordor!), Narnia, Oz, or even Neverland. Oh, and the lost city of Atlantis would also be pretty awesome, I think! 

What's something readers might be surprised to discover about you?
I’m a bit of an open book (pun intended!) so there’s nothing hugely mysterious about me. That leaves a whole heap of little tidbits… So I’ll give you a random one: The only movie I have ever cried in is Marley & Me. And they weren’t pretty tears, either. I’m talking, huge, hulking, impossible-to-draw-breath sobs. It was downright embarrassing. I made it through The Notebook without any problems and I’m pretty sure I was okay even in the devastating Mufasa scene from The Lion King. But give me a cute puppy and I become so emotionally invested that all dignity flies out the window.

Obviously you can't give away too much, but what can readers expect in the next Medoran Chronicles book, Raelia?
A whole heap of action and a stack of new characters to fall in love with!
While AKARNAE really is an introduction novel where we meet Alex and her friends and get to know the world of Medora, RAELIA branches out to new realms of impossibilities. The plot becomes so rich, so complex, so intriguing, that it is very much a go-go-go journey full of ups and downs, happiness and heartache. RAELIA allows The Medoran Chronicles to shuffle out from under the ‘Narnia’ and ‘Harry Potter’ umbrella that readers are pulled into through AKARNAE, and the series turns into something completely different, something entirely unique. I can’t wait for people to further embrace the wonder of Alex’s journey as her story continues!

I'm really grateful you've taken the time to chat with my Lynette! I adored Akarnae and can't wait to devour the rest of The Medoran Chronicles as they're released! 
It was my absolute pleasure! Thank you so much for your delightful questions! 

Lynette Noni grew up on a farm in outback Australia until she moved to the beautiful Sunshine Coast and swapped her mud-stained boots for sand-splashed flip-flops. She has always been an avid reader and most of her childhood was spent lost in daydreams of far-off places and magical worlds. She was devastated when her Hogwarts letter didn’t arrive, but she consoled herself by looking inside every wardrobe she could find, and she’s still determined to find her way to Narnia one day. While waiting for that to happen, she creates her own fantasy worlds and enjoys spending time with the characters she meets along the way.

Visit Lynette:

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook 

Thanks to the amazing team over at Pantera Press I have a PAPERBACK copy of Akarnae to give away to one lucky Australian resident! As someone who has read and loved this book I can guarantee whoever wins this will LOVE the story as much as I have!

I'm going to keep this really simple; To enter, simply comment on this post with a way to contact you, letting me know how you follow The Rest Is Still Unwritten :)

+1 entries for sharing on Facebook or Twitter!

Giveaway will run from today and end on April 5th. Open to Australian residents only--sorry international peeps!

I want to take this opportunity to thank Lynette Noni once more for being on the blog today. Akarnae is a great addition to the fantasy genre and I can't wait for the rest of the series to be released!

 

WINNER:

Glen Woods--congrats!