The O.W.L.: The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl Book Release Day Feature/Interview AND Giveaway!

Today the 3rd book in The Haunting of Sunshine Girl series is released. In honor of that release I have an interview the author AND a giveaway!

About the book

Is Sunshine Griffith who she thinks she is? Now that her luiseach powers are fully awakened, and having barely survived an abyss full of demons at the end of Book Two, Sunshine must figure out who—or what—has been organizing the forces of darkness against her.

Thanks to her brainiac boyfriend, Nolan, they not only unearth that Sunshine's death would trigger a calamitous event, but that all civilization depends on her survival. So when an unexpected event unleashes a fierce war between the luiseach and the demon army, Sunshine will learn a shocking truth about herself. Can she bring herself to make the ultimate sacrifice to save humankind?

About Paige McKenzie:

Paige McKenzie is the YouTube star and NYT Bestselling author behind the enormously successful Sunshine Girl series. In 2010, the then sixteen-year-old McKenzie teamed up with producer Nick Hagen and her mother, actress Mercedes Rose, to record an episodic series of paranormal-themed videos, which soon had millions of fans. Signed to The Weinstein Company, McKenzie has been covered by Entertainment Weekly, The Today Show, Seventeen, The New York Times, USA Today, TIME and others. Her YouTube channel today boasts more than 250 million total views, averages 7.5 million unique views per month and maintains more than 500,000 monthly subscribers. McKenzie lives in Portland, Oregon.

Visit Sunshine Girl online:

Website

YouTube

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

I'm very excited to welcome Paige to The O.W.L. today. She was kind enough to answer some questions for us!

THE FUN QUESTIONS - These are always things my middle school students wanted to know.

Do you chew gum?

I'm more of an Altoid girl. Fresh breath is my life!

Were school lunches just as yucky when you were a kid?
This is so embarrassing but I've never once eaten a school lunch. I've always packed my own. Even in kindergarten. It was a good excuse to have cute little containers. Plus my mom always wrote cute little notes and drawings for me. The lunch lady was never willing to do that!

Do you text?
I really just text my friends. I loath talking on the phone. And I'm usually so busy I don't have time to do any social media outside of what I have to do for The Haunting of Sunshine Girl!

ABOUT THE BOOK QUESTIONS

First or Third Person Point-of-View
The story is told from both points of view! Most of the trilogy is told from Sunshine's point of view. But each book has some chapters told from a different mystery person's point of view.

Boy or Girl Main Character
Sunshine is a girl. But not a girly-girl. I guess because she is a lot like me. But taller. And braver.

What genre
The genre is what I like to call horror-light.

Middle Grade or Young Adult
The books are classified under young adult. But I definitely have a lot of readers in middle graders and even younger. And of course, a ton of adults like it too.

10 Word Summary
Gilmore Girls /Paranormal Activity, very loosely based on a YouTube show! (10 words exactly!)

THE SERIOUS QUESTIONS

For The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl what part/character/event are you most excited/proud about?
The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl finds Sunshine headed back home and reuniting with her mom and Nolan, which I thought was important for the final installment. There are some fun new characters and a lot of action.

Tell about your writing process. How long did it take you to write The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl from idea to finish? Since this is the third book in the series how did it compare?
Sacrifice is so far removed from anything that I've done on the YouTube that it was fun to work out some new details. I always knew from the beginning that I wanted it to be a trilogy and wrap up nicely without it being a hard end. My co-author and I were already outlining book 3 before book 2 was even out so about a year from start to finish.

When you were in middle school what kind of student were you? Did you write then? Did any part of the book come from middle school experience?
I was always a good student if not terribly studious! I got good grades without trying very hard. In hindsight, that probably wasn't the best choice! I never wrote anything very serious outside of what was required for school. But I've always been creative. And I've just always been fascinated with the idea of a character having to do normal life as well as something spectacular like saving the world. Very Buffy!

And because it's The O.W.L., my standard question always is: WHOOO do you admire when it comes to writing? OR WHOOO do you like to read or really enjoyed in HS or middle school?
My taste in books is as eclectic as my taste in music! I like everything from Stephen King to Sarah Dessen! Probably my fave book is Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. I also love Beauty, The Princess Academy, The Night Circus and The Eyes of the Dragon.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us today! I love your choice in books!!!