Meet the Newbies: Sarah Alexander

Meet the Newbies

Welcome to today’s stop on Meet the Newbies!! I am excited to be hosting Sarah Alexander the author of  The Art of Not Breathing which released on April 26!! I am incredibly excited to read this book, it sounds phenomenal!

Sarah’s Yearbook Entry!

Author Most Likely To Forget to Breathe

Nickname: Small Sarah
First Day of School: April 26, 2016
Homeroom: HMH
Grade: YA Contemporary
Extracurricular Activities: Diving, jumping, flying, eating Mars bars, Hide and Seek, exploring
Favorite Class: Flying Lessons
Favorite Quote/Motto: “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” – Winston Churchill

My Q&A With Sarah!

** This was the prompt that I gave to ALL the authors- and I will answer them myself at the end of the event 😉 **

I figured that since this is called “Meet the Newbies”, it might be fun to go ahead and actually MEET you! But when I was coming up with questions, I thought about how being an author was really just one part of the bigger picture. With that in mind, I want to ask some questions about things that make you you.

As a  Teen

What was your high school experience like?

Ugh! Brings me out in a cold sweat thinking about it. Good, bad and just plain ugly. I loved learning so I enjoyed my lessons, and I had great friends. We were great at getting up to mischief without getting into trouble. The only thing I got detention for was wearing my school uniform incorrectly. I played about ten musical instruments so I was the kid always carrying a weird box – sometimes two on the same day – which led to much ridicule. I was also incredibly shy so hid at the back of the class (the teacher’s had no idea who I was) and didn’t ask for the help I needed. I cried a lot. I also spent A LOT of time dying my hair.

If you had the chance to go back and do it again, what would you change?

I’d care a lot less about what people thought of me, I’d be a lot nicer to everyone and I’d spend more time trying to convince people that books are cool.

As an Author

What has been the most exciting part of the process so far? The most rewarding?

Ooh, so many things! Getting my first trade review was pretty awesome. It’s all the small things that make it seem more real by the day – seeing the cover, seeing the inside design, hearing that people are enjoying my book. The most rewarding? Meeting more bookish people – other authors, readers, bloggers. Oh, and when people tell me they could relate to my characters.

What do you wish you knew before you started this adventure?

I wish I’d realised how visible I needed to be as a writer – see answer to Q1: I like hiding at the back so it’s taken me a long time to say, ‘Hello, world. I wrote a book.’ ☺

Shannon’s Sidenote: This would absolutely be my fear too! 

As an Everyday Woman

What are a few things you simply cannot get through the day without?

My phone – it holds EVERYTHING.
Bras. Thank god for bras.
Mascara – because otherwise I appear to have any eyelashes.
An hour to myself to recharge (with a cup of tea).

Shannon’s Sidenote: What did we even do before phones?

Describe the absolute perfect day for you- sky’s the limit!  

If the sky’s the limit then that’s where I’d be. In space, in my astronaut suit, looking down on our tiny planet and reading a damn good book.

Shannon’s Sidenote: You made me chuckle 😀 

As a  Reader

What book has made the most impact on your life (in any way, really) and how?

All books change my life in some way because they become part of me. The adventure stories I read as a child inspired me to explore the world, books I’ve read on my travels have helped me understand the world, and every book I’ve ever read has been a step on the way to being a writer. I love all stories – life is one giant story.

Shannon’s Sidenote: This answer is the best

Is there a book that you could read over and over again and never get tired of?

The Bronze Horseman Trilogy by Paullina Simons – I’ve read it so many times. Tatiana Metanova is a seventeen-year-old Soviet girl living in Leningrad with her family in 1941 when Hitler invades Russia. It’s an incredible story about love and war that destroys my soul every time I read it, but I always go back.

Shannon’s Sidenote:  I am seriously adding this to Goodreads after I schedule this post. It sounds incredible! Thanks so much for participating!


Book & Author Info!

Meet the Newbies: Sarah Alexander The Art of Not Breathing by Sarah Alexander
Published by HMH Books for Young Readers on April 26th 2016
Pages: 288

Since her twin brother, Eddie, drowned five years ago, sixteen-year-old Elsie Main has tried to remember what really happened that fateful day on the beach. One minute Eddie was there, and the next he was gone.

Seventeen-year-old Tay McKenzie is a cute and mysterious boy that Elsie meets in her favorite boathouse hangout. When Tay introduces Elsie to the world of freediving, she vows to find the answers she seeks at the bottom of the sea.

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About Sarah Alexander

Sarah Alexander grew up in London with dreams of exploring the world and writing stories. After spending several years wandering the globe and getting into all sorts of scrapes, she returned to London to complete a Master's degree in Creative Writing at Birkbeck College in 2013. She works in publishing and lives with her husband and two chickens. THE ART OF NOT BREATHING is her first novel.

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Today’s giveaway is the tour-wide giveaway for a finished copy of ANY of these fabulous books in the event, open internationally!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Additionally, Sarah is giving away a finished copy of The Art of Not Breathing to one of you lucky readers! (AND it is International, yay!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you guys read Sarah’s debut? It is on my first shelf (which means highest priority!) so I cannot wait to get to it! Leave Sarah some love ♥

Posted May 9, 2016 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Blog Tour, Giveaway, Meet the Newbies / 12 Comments

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12 responses to “Meet the Newbies: Sarah Alexander

  1. AHHH MEEEEE. I liked this book!! It’s a book that I liked more and more afterwards? XD I don’t even know why, eeep. It just really GREW on me and I seriously would love to own a copy so I could, ya know, pet it and reread. NORMAL LOGICAL THINGS. (Seriously though, Shannon. GO READ IT!! I HOPE YOU LIKE IT.) And also this was the most fun set of questions! I also adore Sarah’s idea of a perfect day omg. Yes to being an astronaut with a good book to read (and hopefully some cake too #priorities)

  2. Elle

    This is an AWESOME interview and the answers were *priceless*. I love that quote by Winston Churchill and really couldn’t agree more about what you can’t live without. The interview plus Cait’s glowing rec in the comment above totally sold me on this.

  3. Sarah, I just LOVE the title of this book and the cover and the storyline, and your name! I would LOVE to read this!
    As to my high school experiences.. I don’t recall much, since it was also very cliche.

  4. Kathleen P

    I was so happy to have the opportunity to read this book early through NetGalley. I loved this book. It was thrilling at times, and moving at others.

  5. Lily M.

    I haven’t read this book yet ? but it sounds so cute. I did do anything crazy during high school but I was the VP in my school Art Club and me and my friends used to go and karaoke at a friends place, it was fun ?

  6. Agus Z

    I’d love to read this book! Sounds really good! I love the cover and also the title, and I’m already intrigued about the story. Can’t wait to read it! Loved the interview! It was really fun 😀

  7. I kind of love this author, mainly because she said she couldn’t go without bras. Ha. That is too funny. I can’t go without them either, although I wish I could. I hate them! I am totally adding that trilogy she mentioned to my TBR. It sounds amazing! I read The Art of Not Breathing and thought it was pretty good. I had a few issues with it, but it wasn’t a bad read.

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