Blog Tour: Crystal Magic by Madeline Freeman: Gust Post & Giveaway

Welcome to the Blog Tour for Crystal Magic presented by Xpresso Book Tours! Yesterday I posted my review of Crystal Magic and today I have author Madeline Freeman discussing the inspiration behind the story in a fabulous excerpt and I have an ecopy of Crystal Magic to give away as well as the tour wide giveaway I'm happy to share!

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Nothing is safe around Kristyl Barnette. Windows break. Books rocket across the room. Lights flicker. Strange occurrences follow the sixteen-year-old everywhere.

When tragedy forces her to move to the small town of Clearwater, Michigan, with her estranged aunt Jodi, Kristyl tries to leave her past behind. But Clearwater has secrets of its own—a mystical history that intersects with Kristyl’s life and might shed light on the inexplicable events that plague her.

When a mysterious illness threatens her aunt’s life, Kristyl will do anything to cure her. Enlisting the help of witches could save Jodi, but is dealing in magic worth the consequences?

Add on Goodreads or check out my review!

Purchase:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Inspiration behind the book

The first nugget of inspiration for Crystal Magic came from a name—Crystal. The first draft, written when I was thirteen, relied heavily on the oddity of having several girls in the same small town with different spellings of the same name. And while and quirk like that might be enough for a thirteen-year-old, when I came back to the idea nearly two decades later, I knew I needed more.

When you strip away the magical elements, at its core, Crystal Magic is the story of a girl becoming her truest and best self. It’s the journey we all find ourselves on. One of the things I’ve learned in life—so far—is that while, at our cores, we’re often always the same person, our circumstances can bring out different facets of our personalities—sometimes unexpected ones. I want to uncover those aspects of Kristyl Barnette’s personality. If I ever get stuck, I start thinking about what kinds of craziness I can throw at her and how she might react. What will the experiences bring out about her? How can she deal with them and remain true to herself? And what are the consequences when she’s not?

But I didn’t strip away the magical elements. Why? In addition to my deep-seated and unfulfilled desire to possess some kind of supernatural ability, I like the challenges a world with beyond-ordinary complications presents. While magic affords certain solutions, it also causes problems that "normal" people don’t have to deal with. And, let’s face it, it’s just cool.

So, Crystal Magic pulls its inspiration from some of the same places I think most authors find their stories: real life experiences, natural curiosity, and the longing for something more.

Madeline Freeman lives in the metro-Detroit area with her husband, her daughter, and her cats. In the time she should spend doing housework, she rewatches Fringe. She also loves anything to do with astronomy, outer space, plate tectonics, and dinosaurs, and secretly hopes her daughter will become an astronomer or a paleontologist.

Visit Madeline:

Blog | Goodreads | Twitter

 

As I previously mentioned I have ONE (1) ecopy of Crystal Magic to give away thanks to Xpresso Book Tours and author Madeline Freeman! To enter simply comment with a way to contact you and which format you would prefer. Giveaway ends September 5th!

 

--Signed copy of Crystal Magic (Open to US and Canada, ends August 26th) a Rafflecopter giveaway