Recap of Rules
Everyday that you participate in the giveaway of the day, you are eligible to win a brand new kindle.
How to participate
a) Subscribe via email, so you can get the author & prize of the day sent directly to your email.
b) Like the author of the day on facebook
c) Follow the author on Twitter
d) Read any of the author's books
e) Answer the occasional quiz on author's interview
f) Scroll to the bottom of each interview and enter the raffle (you'll have to unlock the raffle with your email first)
That's it- then enter the kindle giveaway!
All giveaways will be sent out by the 7th day in April. Good Luck.
Featured Book
Between truth and deception, between justice and abuse, a stonewiser stands alone with the stones... Or so begins the Stonewiser's oath. But what happens when a rebellious stonewiser discovers that lies have tainted the stone tales?
Like her fellow stonewisers, Sariah always expected to spend her life wising truth from the stones. But when she discovers lies in the sacred stones, she is forced into a pit of intrigue with only her stone pledge and her wits””along with her bitterest enemy””to protect her in a desperate quest to restore justice and prevent her world's destruction .
Hi Folami. It’s a pleasure to celebrate National Reading Month with you and your readers.
Folami: What role does reading play in your life?
Reading is a fundamental part of my life. It’s my primary source of entertainment, that’s true, but
it’s also an important tool of my trade and an awesome source of learning. I love traveling,
exploring and learning. Reading is an awesome way of doing all of those things.
Folami: Who were some of your favorite authors as a child? What was your favorite book?
Oh, my gosh, that’s a really hard question! I had many favorite authors as a child and to this day
I can’t settle on a favorite book. As a young woman growing up in the Dominican Republic, I
was exposed to many different influences. I thrived on young adult novels from Louisa May
Alcott. I loved Enid Blyton and blazed through The Famous Five, The Seven Secrets and The
Malory Towers series. I think I wanted to be a student at Malory Towers as much as my kids
wanted to go to school at Hogwarts!
But, talk about being a hybrid of many worlds. At the same time I was reading Louisa May
Alcott and Enid Blyton, I was also reading the Latin American classics. Books such as A
Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario
Vargas Llosas, and the House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende left lasting impressions. I also got
to enjoy the Russians (I favored Tolstoy), the French (Victor Hugo), the Germans (Eric Maria
Remarque), the Spanish (Jose Maria Gironella), and the Americans (Hemingway, always
Later, when I came to the States, I discovered fantasy and was dazzled by J.R.R. Tolkien,
Stephen Donaldson, Frank Herbert, Robert Jordan, and George R.R. Martin—way before he
became as popular as he is now. I also fell in love with commercial fiction. Diana Gabaldon,
Bernard Cornwell and Anne Rice are some of my all-time favorites.
Folami: What makes a book you read exceptional to you? What about a book you write?
I like a book with a complex plot and lots of twists, a read that challenges my brain, heart and
imagination, a novel that surprises at many levels. I want characters that are complex and
engaging, who grow, change and evolve before our eyes.
I also like flawed characters who have a lot of baggage, heroes and heroines who struggle, not
just against evil and injustice, but also with their flaws, insecurities, self-doubts and limitations. I
love characters who are invested in meaningful relationships and adventures that matter. Because
I write fantasy, I want rich worlds that explore humanity’s realities in new and imaginative
settings. And I want rich writing too, authors who are not afraid to dazzle with a balance of
descriptive brilliance and witty dialogue. This is what I like in the novels I read and also what I
strive to accomplish in the novels I write.
Folami: If you could escape into any book, what book would that be? Why?
Another really hard question! My usual escape is the novel that I’m reading right now. I’m likely
to obsess about an author and his or her works for a few weeks at a time, then move on. It’s rare
for me to return to the same book once I’ve read it. I love finding new authors and coming across
great and unexpected reads.
Folami: If you could be any YA hero or heroine, who would it be?
Katniss from The Hunger Games.
Folami: In another interview you mentioned having redefined your definition of success as
an author, by how you connect with readers. What was the last comment a reader gave you
that really made your author journey feel worthwhile?
My readers have been very generous and kind with their praise. I feel very blessed. I hear from
readers all the time and I treasure each contact. Whether it’s a short five star review on Amazon
that says “I couldn’t put this book down,” or a longer, personal contact through e-mail, Facebook
or Twitter, every time I hear from a reader my author journey feels worthwhile.
Recently a reader posted that my novel kept her up all night and she read it in less than twenty-
four hours. It’s something I hear often and I love it! It means that I’ve successfully conveyed the
passion I feel when I write. Another reader just wrote this: Riveting to finally read a book and it
takes whole day, and it keeps you entranced the whole time. This book was everything I've been
looking for in a standalone story that had depth and humor, love and courage. It was completely
A few days ago, another reader mentioned I’m on her favorite list of authors. How’s that for an
author boost? Yet another reader said he was going to buy all of my books. Last week, a lady
wrote to ask if the Stonewiser series had been made into a movie and yet another reader
contacted me through FB to ask if there’s a sequel to The Curse Giver. Talk about making an
author giddy with praise.
Folami: Tell us about your latest novel. How does it differ from other books in its genre?
My latest fantasy is The Curse Giver, from Twilight Times Books, an epic fantasy with brawn,
brains and heart, about an innocent healer, Lusielle, who is betrayed and condemned to die for a
crime she didn't commit. When she's about to be executed, Lusielle is rescued from the pyre by
an angry, embittered lord doomed by a mysterious curse. You might think that Bren, Lord of
Laonia, is Lusielle's savior, but he isn't. On the contrary, Bren is pledged to kill Lusielle himself,
because her murder is his people's only salvation.
What ensues is a dangerous journey, where Lusielle and Bren have to escape their ruthless
enemies and unravel the mystery of the terrible curse that ails the Lord of Laonia. They also have
to overcome the distrust they have for each other, struggle with the forbidden attraction between
them, and defy the boundaries between love and hate and good and evil to defeat the curse giver
who has already conjured their ends.
The Curse Giver's Amazon's Link: http://amzn.to/1szECCn
I'm really proud of The Curse Giver. It's gotten some wonderful reviews, which you can check
out at http://www.doramachado.com/cursegiver.php. It also won the 2013 Silver IndieFab Book
of the Year Award in the Fantasy category and was a finalist at the 2013 USA Best Book
Awards. For those readers who prefer to listen to the story, The Curse Giver is also available as
an audiobook from Audible.com, narrated by the talented Melissa Reizian. It's good old
fashioned storytelling at its very best!
There is a lot more going on at www.doramachado.com, including my blog, which I update on a
monthly basis and my quarterly newsletter. If you or any of your readers have any questions,
please don’t hesitate to contact me at dora@doramachado.com. I’d love to hear from you guys.
Thanks, Folami, for all your hard work coordinating this wonderful celebration of reading. I
enjoyed chatting with you.
About Dora Machado:
Dora Machado is the award-winning author of the epic fantasy Stonewiser series and her newest
novel, The Curse Giver, available from Twilight Times Books. She is one only a few Hispanic
women writing fantasy in the United States today. She grew up in the Dominican Republic,
where she developed a fascination for writing and a taste for Merengue. After a lifetime of
straddling such compelling but different worlds, fantasy is a natural fit to her stories.
When she is not writing fiction, Dora also writes features for the award-winning blog Murder By
Four and Savvy Authors, where writers help writers. She lives in Florida with her indulgent
husband and two very opinionated cats.
To learn more about Dora Machado and her award winning novels, visit her at
www.doramachado.com , email her at Dora@doramachado.com, find her on Facebook, or follow
her on Twitter.
Other Books by Dora Mochado
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