Interview with F.A.Hershey

by - Thursday, January 19, 2012


Hi everyone, thank you for stopping my blog today and join in the blog tour fun! I am so excited to be a participant of F.A.Hershey's The Outsiders blog tour and even more excited that the two lovely ladies, Halola and Julia had agreed to participate in my interview. Gosh, these never get old!

Before that, let me introduce you to the trilogy:


Sixteen-year-old Julia finds herself leaving her London life behind to move with her parents to the Amazon jungle. 


A native descendant, she becomes familiarized with her own roots for the first time in her life. However, she never imagines she is about to discover much more than her own past but also just how crowded our little planet is... 


This is a present time sci-fi/ fantasy story about trust, friendship, love and self-discovery. 



My Review : Swirls (The Outsiders #1) - F.A.Hershey

Without further ado, please welcome The Besties - Lola and Julia!


Lola & Julia   



Hello Julia and Halola, welcome to my blog! It is such an honour to have both of you here today. First thing first, how have your day been?

Halola: Thank you! It’s great to talk to you too. When Mrs Hershey told us we would be interviewed together I was very excited.

Julia: Yeah, me too.

Halola: We’ve been so busy lately here at The Lodge. Julia is my happy little helper. [Julia rolls her eyes]. I know her favourite chore of the day is cleaning the tables after breakfast so she gets to sneak a peek at G.. [Julia elbows Lola in the stomach]

Julia: Yeah, today’s been great. It’s good to keep busy, and help Lola do her endless chores. I only wish she’d keep her big mouth shut most of the time, hehe... Anyway, the view from where I sweep the floor is not bad at all, and I guess there is more to this forest than big trees.  This is my new home and it’s great.

Halola: I wouldn’t leave this place even if I could.

Julia: Yeah, right. Then who was that talking about running away from the country?

Halola: ...


You girls cracked me up! And Julia, we all know who G is J :) 


So Julia, I heard it was tough for you to move to Brazil leaving your friends and school behind back in London, but eventually you've grown accustomed to the country, with the help of Lola of course. So what do you think of Brazil? Do you still miss London?

Julia: When I was in London, I hated the prospect of leaving my happy life behind me for this. I miss my friend Sarah [Halola gives her a sour look], and my Grandma too. If she had come with us, I think I would have handled things much more gracefully. When we first got here, I thought this place was going to be my hell on Earth, but then I found this annoying receptionist who makes my life that much easier to live.

Now I can safely say that I love it here. The Amazon forest is my home just as much as London had once been, but there is still so much more to see. Maybe one day Lola and I will get to travel around the country, well, I hope so.

Halola: Oh, me too! That would be so great, wouldn’t it? Let’s go backpacking across the Pantanal, until we get to Florianopolis... Did you know it snows in the south, here in Brazil? I live in a country where there are sand dunes in the northeast and snow in the south! How awesome is that!

[Julia puts her hand on Lola’s mouth]

Julia: I said one day Lola, not tomorrow... hehe...


Would you mind if I tag along? I never been to Brazil! Call me!



I've always admired the bond both of you shared, you guys are inseparable. Tell me, how does it feel like to have such a deep bond? 

Julia: I’m only going to tell this once, otherwise I’m going to have it repeated back at me for the rest of my life.

Halola: What? What is it?

Julia: I couldn’t have done it without her. I wish there was a Halola out there for everyone. She is just the best.

[Halola hugs her]

Halola: Same here.

You guys always make me teary…..

Lola, you have always been bubbly and vibrant throughout the book, what's your recipe of being happy all the time?

My Grandpa always said that anything will be that much better if you’re positive about it. No matter what that is. For example, I know I have a million things to do every day. Things that I don’t like doing – like washing dishes – and things that I just plain hate, like making beds. But complaining about it wouldn’t change the fact that I still need to do all those things, so I rather be in a good mood.

Julia here is the whiny one. She thinks that with her groans and abandoned puppy face, she will convince her parents to go back to London, but she is just wasting precious time.  She will only get wrinkles. I rather have laughing lines.

Julia: Hey! I thought we were talking about you.


Now that is a great advise, I think both me and Julia need to learn a little bit from you!


Can you guys elaborate more on the Kanuayeds' heritage? And what does it feel like to be part of a tribe?

Halola: Kanuayeds have been nomads for centuries. Nahuatl was one of the first leaders of our community and he was Mayan descendant. His grandfather, whose name we don’t know – there aren’t many written records that far back – severed his relationship with his family and travelled down to the Amazon forest with his wife and some friends, who admired his courage to face a new life in the unknown forest. The Kanuayeds are well known for their strength and their complete faith in the Enlightened Ones – Gods that protect us and show us the way. I’ve heard stories of Nahuatl journey ever since I was a little child. They’re part of who I am, and I am very proud of it.

Julia: And I’m having a crash course on Kanuayed’s heritage, as I grew up away from all that.


Do you know how great it is to get to know your own heritage? And from a heritage so unique and special, I’m jealous.


What's the deal between Yoji and Gabriel? Can you lead us in on some inside scoop?

Halola: Yoji is a young leader, but a great and caring leader nonetheless. Gabriel seems to feel very comfortable close to the tribe, and all I can say is that I trust Yoji’s judgment. If he welcomed Gabriel with arms wide open, I can safely say that he has automatically earned my trust.

Julia: She has a crush on Y.. [Lola’s elbow connects with Julia stomach this time]

Halola: There is something about Gabriel and Yoji, I can say that much, but unless you are Kanuayed or honoured by our leader, I cannot reveal much, sorry.

Julia:  But don’t be disappointed. Trust me when I tell you that you’re better off not knowing.


Now, I’m even more intrigued when you say that Julia! And Lola, I’m happy for you, Y sounds like a great ~coughs~ leader. 


Can you guys tell me what's your favourite part of the book? And why?

Halola: I knew Julia was coming here. Don’t ask me why, this is a Kanuayed thing; we rely a lot on dreams, visions and spontaneous feelings of knowing what’s coming at us. And I knew I would finally find my best friend, well, that she would finally find me, and for me that was the best thing that could have happened. I opened my guestbook one afternoon and there they were: the Ixel/White family to arrive the next day, and then I just knew the day of their arrival would be the day my life would change forever. Oh and also...

Julia: Careful, Lola...

Halola: Erm.... there are other cool stuff that happened to us, but...

Julia: You’ll be safer not knowing.

Halola: Yeah.... whatever. What fun is it, not being able to tell anybody we’re...

Julia: My big mouthed BFF here was the best bomb ever dropped on my head. I love her, and I also loved meeting Yoji and getting re-introduced to my own family.


I’m sure I will get to know more about you guys in the next book……….


Thank you ladies for the lovely interview, and thank you everyone for stopping by my blog today! Hope you have a wonderful and great weekend!





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Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/F_A_Hershey

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4992300.F_A_Hershey

Website : http://fahershey.wordpress.com/


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1 comments

  1. Hi,

    I loved reading the interview with the girls was so interesting :)

    I loved the book and I'm taking part in the tour too. :)

    Carly :)
    http://fictionfascination.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete

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