Blog Tour: The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy (Q&A)

Hey guys!

I am here to introduce to you Emily Bain Murphy, the author of the book The Disappearances. I am so lucky to have her interviewed via this blog tour from the Fantastic Flying Book Club and her book will be released this July 4. It’s such a great honor to have her here.

So without further chit chat, here is Emily Bain Murphy!

Emily Bain Murphy grew up in Indiana, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, and has also called Massachusetts and Connecticut home.

She loves books, Japanese karaoke, exploring new cities, and anything with Nutella. Her debut YA fantasy, THE DISAPPEARANCES, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2017.

Murphy currently lives in San Francisco with her family and is at work on her second novel.

1. First of all, tell us about your upcoming novel, The Disappearances.

The Disappearances is about a town that loses something every seven years—the scents of flowers, the ability to dream, the stars in the sky—and a sixteen-year-old girl named Aila Quinn has to follow clues left behind in her late mother’s Shakespeare book to try to figure out why.

2. What colors would define your novel the most and why?

I love the teal colors the designers chose for the cover and the “ naked” book (the bound book if you slip the cover off) because I think it strikes the perfect tone of something that’s beautiful but also a little muted and melancholy. I’d probably also pick something with a bit of shimmer in it, because the Variants are glittering dusts that catch the light, and I’d want to show a little bit of the book’s magic.

3. Missing scents, colors and reflections are not the things we commonly see on paper. How did you come up with this very unique plot?

I’m very interested by the idea of seeing bits of magic in the everyday and being able to find beauty in the world again, even after experiencing tragedy. I started to think about some of my favorite things in the world and what might happen if one day those things just ceased to exist—how I might react, and what I would be willing to do (or pay) in order to get them back.

4. If you are to lose one of your five senses, what would you choose and why?

This is so hard!! I guess I would choose to lose smell. But I would mourn it, because of what it would probably do to my taste buds, and because I spend an inordinate amount of time with my face stuffed in peonies.

5. What book will you recommend to those who are fond of reading your novel, The Disappearances.

I think it definitely has a classic feel to it, so if you enjoy books like The Secret Garden or Narnia, you might be drawn to this one. I’ve also heard people say it reminds them of The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender, by Leslye Walton.

6. If you are to disappear into a fictional place, what would it be and why?

I love the dresses of Jane Austen and Caraval, the chocolate river in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, the food in Redwall, the garden in The Secret Garden, andthe small-town feels of Stars Hollow and Avonlea.

7. Choose one song that perfectly describes The Disappearances.

Because The Disappearances takes place in the 1940’s, something by Billie Holiday would be a good fit for tone and feel. For a more modern take, I’d say The Call by Regina Spektor.

Thank you so much for having me. Your blog is beautiful!

What if the ordinary things in life suddenly…disappeared?

Aila Quinn’s mother, Juliet, has always been a mystery: vibrant yet guarded, she keeps her secrets beyond Aila’s reach. When Juliet dies, Aila and her younger brother Miles are sent to live in Sterling, a rural town far from home–and the place where Juliet grew up.

Sterling is a place with mysteries of its own. A place where the experiences that weave life together–scents of flowers and food, reflections from mirrors and lakes, even the ability to dream–vanish every seven years.

No one knows what caused these “Disappearances,” or what will slip away next. But Sterling always suspected that Juliet Quinn was somehow responsible–and Aila must bear the brunt of their blame while she follows the chain of literary clues her mother left behind.

As the next Disappearance nears, Aila begins to unravel the dual mystery of why the Disappearances happen and who her mother truly was. One thing is clear: Sterling isn’t going to hold on to anyone’s secrets for long before it starts giving them up.

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Giveaway

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