Interview with Angelina/Ace Hansen

So who is this little green guy? Well, I have it on good authority that this is Ace Hansen, and Ace has a funny MG novel out from MuseItUp Publishing called Julius Caesar Brown and the Green Gas Mystery! Yes, as you may surmise, Ace does have an alter-ego, and she is Angelina Hansen of the blog yascribe.

 

MH: First of all, Angelina (or should I say Ace?:)) congratulations on the release of your book. Humorous MG mystery written by an alien is quite different from your literary historical YA that I've had the pleasure of reading. Is this a new direction for you, or do you naturally have a wide range?

 

AH: I'm a neophiliac, which means I'm addicted to change, which means every project is completely unlike the last.

MH: So you DO have a wide range. Awesome! Do you view your MG writing as quite different from your YA writing, in general? How do you see Angelina's work vs. Ace's work?

AH: Most wouldn't believe the same person wrote both my YA and MG. That's why I use a pseudonym for the MG. Angelina's work is serious, bent toward the literary. Ace's work is outrageously funny.

MH: What was your inspiration for this story?

AH: A breath-mint commercial.

MH: LOL! A story's initial spark can be such a surprise, can't it? All it has to do is get our "what if?" thoughts working and we can go off in any direction! Is the book based on your childhood memories of being surrounded by boys? Did you set out to write a boy-friendly book?

AH:  Not really, but being surrounded by boys sure did give me a wacky sense of humor. I wrote this book for fun. Along the way, I discovered there's an 11-year-old boy inside of me.

MH: How long did the book take you to write? Was there a difference in this from your more literary (and more researched) work?

AH: This book was the fastest I ever wrote. Three months to draft it and there wasn't a whole lot of major revision to do.

MH: I'd love to know how JCB got his name. What significance does his name have? What impact on him?

AH: I'll let Julius explain it in his own words, taken as an excerpt from the first chapter:

Parents should think before naming their kids.

Before I was born, my parents got married and spent their honeymoon in this Italian city called Rome. Mom loved the story of how she stood in that giant stadium, the Coliseum, and decided if she ever had sons, she'd name them after those dead Roman ruler dudes, the Caesars. A year later, her first little Caesar arrived. Me. Julius Caesar Brown.

I stuffed my test into my backpack and waited for the bell to ring, cursing my mother. Why couldn't she have just named me John or David or Mike? 

MH: I've always thought parents should think before naming their kids, so he's got my sympathy. :) Ace/Angelina, where can readers get Julius Caesar Brown and the Green Gas Mystery?

AH: From the publisher, MuseItUp Publishing. The ebook is available as of July 12, 2013. The print book will be available before December 2013. It is also available on amazon.

MH: Can you give us any hints on WIPs?

AH: A time travel set in the Southwest. ^_^

MH: Will JCB solve more mysteries?

AH: He might! 

Congratulations again, Angelina/Ace, and I'm sure MGers looking for uproarious, kid-friendly stories will thank you!