The Children’s Book Review |February 20, 2017
The Children’s Book Review: Which five words best describe The Blazing Bridge?
Carter Roy: Breathlessly action-packed; frequently funny.
If you had to take a vacation with one of the characters from The Blazing Bridge, who would it be? Why?
Dawkins, of course. He’s not only the oldest character in the book, but he’s also the oddest: He’s lived through all sorts of adventures from Dickensian London all the way to the events of the Blood Guard series. I know I could rely on him to crack wise or to tell a good story if things got boring. And almost as importantly, I’d know he’d have my back in a fight.
What has been the best reaction from a reader, so far?
The book isn’t yet widely available, so there haven’t been many readers yet! But the first review, from Kirkus, perfectly summed up in the final line my hope for the book: “A strong and satisfying conclusion to a wild and hilarious ride.”
What’s on your nightstand? Any books?
Pretty much only books (and a lamp). Here’s an unannotated list: John Lewis’ March, Book Two; Mary Karr’s The Art of Memoir; Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley; Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See; Bruce Coville’s Hatched; James Gleick’s The Information; Kenneth C. Davis’s Don’t Know Much About the American Presidents; J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child; Samuel R. Delany’s a,b,c: Three Novels; and a pile of graphic novels I’m peppering through the heavier books.
For your writing energy: sugar or salt, tea or coffee?
Oh, gosh. Coffee, with a side of coffee, and occasional mugs of coffee to break up the coffee monotony.
Writing tools: computer, pen and paper, or all of the above?
Somehow over the years my handwriting has degenerated into an illegible cacographic scrawl. So, to spare myself the trouble of deciphering my own chicken scratch, I use a computer to write pretty much everything.
Can you tell us one more thing we may not know about The Blazing Bridge, your writing style, or yourself?
My first published story, ‘The Night My Pillow Talked to Me,” was plagiarized—from my brother. I was six, and he was ten, and he had a far better grasp of storytelling than I did, so I borrowed a storyline from one of his school assignments. He and my parents made sure I never again passed off someone else’s work as my own.
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Written by Carter Roy
Publisher’s Synopsis: Ronan Truelove’s best friend, scrappy smart aleck Greta Sustermann, has no idea that she is one of the thirty-six Pure souls crucial to the safety of the world. But Ronan’s evil father has figured it out—and he’s leading the Bend Sinister straight to Greta. If they capture her, she’ll suffer a fate far worse than mere death. But to get to Greta, they’re going to have to go through Ronan first.
Standing with Ronan are plucky hacker Sammy; witty, unkillable Jack Dawkins; and a sharp-tongued woman named Diz, who drives a dangerously souped-up taxi. One breathless close call after another leads to an ugly showdown: Ronan alone against his father, with the fate of Greta, his friends, and the entire world hanging in the balance. Will Ronan be able to rise up and prove once and for all that he has what it takes to join the Blood Guard?
By turns heart-stopping and hilarious, The Blazing Bridge brings the Blood Guard trilogy to a surprising, clever, and altogether thrilling conclusion.
Ages 9-14 | Publisher: Two Lions | February 21, 2017 | ISBN-13: 978-1477827178
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About Carter Roy
Carter Roy has painted houses and worked on construction sites, waited tables and driven delivery trucks, been a stagehand for rock bands and a videographer on a cruise ship, and worked as a line cook in a kitchen, a projectionist in a movie theater, and a rhetoric teacher at a university. He has been a reference librarian and a bookseller, edited hundreds of books for major publishers, and written award-winning short stories that have appeared in a half-dozen journals and anthologies. His first two books were The Blood Guard and The Glass Gauntlet. He lives in New York City and can be found at www.carterroybooks.com.
This speed interview with Carter Roy, author of The Blazing Bridge, was conducted by Bianca Schulze. For similar books and articles, follow along with our content tagged with Non-Fiction and Speed Interview.