We are very happy to welcome Gabi Stevens to BLI today! Gabi is the author of the Time of Transition series: a magical contemporary romance series about fairy godmothers! Book #1 The Wish List was released in May 2010 and Book #2 As You Wish was just released on 26 April 2011.

So please give a warm welcome to Gabi and join us in celebrating the release of As You Wish, a modern Beauty and the Beast story! 

The Latin Lover: Gabi can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

Gabi: Well, I was born in Southern California to Hungarian parents. I went to boarding school for high school, then college, where I spent my junior year in Germany, then moved to Illinois with my husband for grad school. Over the course of years I learned Hungarian, English, Latin, and German. (I’ve also studied Japanese, but please don’t expect fluency…yet). I’ve been teaching English for the past seven years; I have three daughters, two dogs, and the one husband. I love to play games, travel, read (no kidding), learn, and laugh.

The Latin Lover: Describe a typical day of writing? Are you a planner or pantser?Gabi: If I have a day, I sit in front of the computer and simply write. I sometimes sing to songs that play on my iPod as I work, but I let the story take me where it will. I listen to my characters, feel their feelings, see what they see. I guess that makes me a pantser. I know where the basic plot is taking me, but I let the story surprise me. That means that I don’t write a perfect first draft, but I like my process.

The Latin Lover: What do you think is the difference between a reader and a real Book Lover?

Gabi: A reader enjoys books, but a book lover can’t live without them. I need to read everyday. Need. To. I don’t have a TBR pile. Well, not for long anyway. I have been known to pick up my husband’s academic engineering journals to have something to read (And, no, I don’t understand a word of them). I like to have books, hold books, keep books, give books, dream books, touch books, talk books. Real Book lovers feel more alive between the covers. (I don’t know whether that sounds more pathetic or kind of kinky.)

The Latin Lover: Your Time of Transition series is a unique blend of contemporary romance and Harry Potter magical world, could you tell us a bit about how this parallel universe you have created is?

Gabi: When Merlin and Arthur realized their perfect society—a mix of humans with magic and without—wouldn’t work out, they decide they must separate the two worlds. But since Arcani occupy the same world as Groundling, some mixing was inevitable, so Merlin wrote rules for the contact of the two worlds. Included in his guidelines was the position of fairy godmothers. Their job was to live in both worlds and make sure that the Groundlings never discovered the Arcani, and that the Arcani never rose against the Groundlings.

Fast forward 1400 years or so, and the Arcani have established themselves all over the world, with headquarters in London, and branches in Budapest, Kyoto, Buenos Aires, Luxor, Quebec City, and San Diego. Every city has its own set of fairy godmothers and it’s time for the old ones to step down and the new ones to take over.

That’s right, my magic comes with a bureaucracy. Merlin’s rules have been twisted a bit and his book was considered a legend until an Arcani historian found it.

The Latin Lover: What can we expect of Book #2 As You Wish?

Gabi: In the first book, the first godmother is chosen. She discovers a plot to reveal the Arcani to the world and place the Groundlings under Arcani control. In As You Wish, Regina Scott, known as Reggie, learns she’s one of the new godmothers. In a matter of a few days, she has to deal with burgeoning powers, a love interest, the bad guy, and an over-enthusiastic mother. And she doesn’t know which will cause the most difficulty.

The Latin Lover: Why fairy godmothers? What attracted you to make them the heroines of your novels?

Gabi: I’ve always loved stories about magic. I devoured them as a child– the Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander, Half-Magic and the rest of the books by Edward Eager, all the Oz books, Tolkien (yes, as a child), Escape to Witch Mountain and so many more. That never changed. I love books with magic, science fiction, psychics, etc. Plus I studied the Brothers Grimm. Fairy godmothers were a natural step.

The Latin Lover: What was the most fun part of writing As You Wish (or the series)? And your favourite scene (or character if you have one)?

Gabi: I do have a favorite part of the book, but I can’t tell you what it is because it gives too much away. I know that’s a cop out, but it’s actually true. Honestly, I’m not trying to be coy.

The Latin Lover: Can you summarize As You Wish for us twitterstyle (140 characters or less)?

Gabi: What if you had to choose between Beauty or the Beast? Oh, yes, and your mother probably won’t approve either way.

The Latin Lover: Now can you tell us 3 reasons why people should read your Time of Transition series?

Gabi: How about three sets of three?
1. Hyacinth, Rose, and Lily
2. Kristin, Reggie, and Stormy
3. Tennyson, Jonathan, and Hunter

The Latin Lover: What shall we expect from you, what is next on your schedule?

Gabi: I have a full manuscript making the rounds right now, and two proposals with my agent, all paranormal. And I left a character at the end of the trilogy, whom I’d like to visit again sometime.

The Latin Lover: Can you briefly hint what the next book, Wishful Thinking will be about?

Gabi: It’s Stormy’s tale. The magical Council assigns a Guard to her, so she can’t join the first two godmothers.

The Latin Lover: Will we see again in Wishful Thinking some of the characters introduced in As You Wish?

Gabi: Oh, yes. The characters from the first two books play important roles in Wishful Thinking.

The Latin Lover: What was your favourite fairy tale as a child and why?

Gabi: My favorite fairy tale is a lesser-known one that translates as King Thrushbeard or sometimes as King Grislybeard. It’s such a tale of redemption and humility; it touches me every time I read it.

The Latin Lover: If you had a magic power, what would you like to be able to do?

Gabi: I’d love to breathe underwater without any equipment. I love the oceans and water in general. Some people would wish to fly. I would wish to swim.

The Latin Lover: You have pledged 10% of your royalties from As You Wish to an organization called Best Buddies. Could you tell us a bit more about them?

Gabi: I have two very special characters in AS YOU WISH. Tommy and Joy are Arcani, bakers, and have special needs. Tommy has Down syndrome and Joy is…well, Joy is just Joy. Reggie, the newest fairy godmother and the heroine of the novel, has set up a bakery for her friends and works beside them, taking care of the business aspects because she doesn’t bake. Tommy and Joy are very capable and talented bakers. And yes, they are realistic. I should know. My daughter was the inspiration for Joy. Give her the rules and instruct her, and my daughter can do most things. Oh, she requires supervision for her daily life, but she’s fiercely independent—heck she’s a typical teenager in more ways than not—but she makes her own lunches for school, cooks some, and makes all the brownies for the family. In AS YOU WISH, Reggie truly regards Tommy and Joy as her friends—friends who need perhaps a little more care, but friends first.

Best Buddies International is a non-profit organization that pairs up kids and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to peer buddies. They have school programs, college programs, community programs and employment programs around the world. My daughter has a Buddy through the Best Buddies ™ program at her school. They have lunch together, go out to events together, and look for each other at school. She goes to dances, attends special activities, and I even had to get her a cell phone so she could text just like any other teenager. Yes, in a way it is artificial, but my daughter doesn’t see that. She loves her buddy and the sense of normalcy she receives from her Best Buddies™ chapter.

So in honor of Tommy and Joy—and my daughter—I have pledged ten percent from my royalties from AS YOU WISH to Best Buddies International, a group that strives to overcome the prejudices and loneliness that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities face. If you want to find out more about Best Buddies™, please visit them at http://www.bestbuddies.org/.

The Latin Lover: Can you share with us some little secret trivia, something that not many people know about you?

Gabi: I’m afraid of moths. Butterflies don’t thrill me either. I can’t tell you why. Maybe it’s the way they flit around, or the weird dust they leave behind. All I know is I don’t like them.

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