{"id":2322,"date":"2019-06-17T14:12:46","date_gmt":"2019-06-17T18:12:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blinkyabooks.com\/?p=2322"},"modified":"2026-01-02T08:18:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T08:18:36","slug":"bookbrag-a-touch-of-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.harpercollinsfocus.hcusweb.com\/blinkyabooks\/bookbrag-a-touch-of-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"#BookBrag – A Touch of Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throwback to the book brag on A TOUCH OF GOLD<\/strong><\/a> with Annie Sullivan. The softcover just released. When you order a copy of this, be sure to pre-order a copy of her coming release TIGER QUEEN<\/strong><\/a>, the fantasy retelling of Frank Stockton\u2019s famous short story \u201cThe Lady, or The Tiger?\u201d.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Blink readers, I\u2019m so excited to introduce you to Annie Sullivan, a debut author with an AMAZING book. A Touch of Gold<\/em> tells the story of Kora, the daughter King Midas turned to gold. Ten years have passed since her father gave up The Touch, but Kora has powers of her own she\u2019s desperately trying to keep secret. When a thief steals precious items from the kingdom, Kora is the only one who can track the thief down, but she\u2019ll have to face pirates, deadly sirens, and a battle or two along the way.<\/p>\n

Annie\u2019s here to talk to us about the inspiration behind the story, her extensive world traveling, and the insanely gorgeous cover for this book.<\/p>\n

JM:<\/strong> Hello, Annie! We\u2019re thrilled to be introducing readers to A Touch of Gold<\/em>. Tell us a little bit about the book and about our main character, Kora.<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>Hello! I\u2019m so excited to be sharing this book with you because I love this world and these characters, and I hope you all will too. A Touch of Gold<\/em> is a really unique retelling of the King Midas myth that focuses on his daughter, Kora, who thinks the only thing worse than being turned into a golden statue as a child is being turned back into a living, breathing, cursed human being. Kora isn\u2019t your typical princess. She longs to escape the palace where she\u2019s been locked away for her safety\u2014and for the safety of others. And when the other objects King Midas turned to gold get stolen, Kora finally gets her wish. Only, the outside world is far more dangerous than she ever imagined. I think readers are going to love going on this adventure with Kora. It\u2019s a little bit of Pirates of the Caribbean<\/em>, Princess Bride<\/em>, and Tangled<\/em> all rolled into one!<\/p>\n

JM:<\/strong> You draw heavily on mythology in A Touch of Gold<\/em>. How much research went into this novel?<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>A lot! I feel like I\u2019ve been researching my whole life. My mom introduced me to fairytales and Greek mythology (like through the movie Jason and the Argonauts<\/em>) when I was kid. So some of the knowledge has always been there, but I also did research on things like the Greek gods, Greek names, and ship layouts. I think the key with a retelling like this is having the mythology not only feel authentic, but also unique so the reader gets unexpected surprises along the way.<\/p>\n

Of course, my favorite type of \u201cresearch\u201d for this was traveling. I feel like, as a writer, the more I see of the world, the more creative my landscapes can be. So having been to many countries helped me to shape these settings into something that feels real but magical.<\/p>\n

JM:<\/strong> Despite being a princess of a mythological kingdom, Kora deals with a lot of the issues real-life readers face\u2014anxiety, family problems, and low self-esteem. How do we see her address these issues as the book progresses?<\/p>\n

AS:<\/strong> Kora is definitely \u201creal\u201d in the sense that she does face real problems, problems that many readers face in their own lives. And what I love about Kora is that she doesn\u2019t let her fears and anxieties hold her back. She has to continually face them over and over again, and as she does, she realizes she\u2019s stronger and more powerful than she ever imagined\u2014that she\u2019s more in control than she thought she could be. The same goes with her family relationships. Obviously, being turned to gold by her father puts a strain on that relationship. Communication is key there, and Kora realizes you can\u2019t ignore problems and expect them to go away.<\/p>\n

JM:<\/strong> Arrrrr, me hearty, there be pirates! (Yeah, okay, I would make a terrible pirate.) What can you tell us about pirates in the story?<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>First of all, don\u2019t mess with pirates\u2014they\u2019re scary! Kora has to go up against Captain Skulls, a pirate who\u2019s not only ruthless and greedy, but who collects the skulls of his victims to put on display. Yuck!<\/p>\n

JM: <\/strong>Let\u2019s talk about the cover for a second\u2014what did you think when you saw it for the first time?<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>WOW! Right away, I loved all the gold raining down because it\u2019s such a perfect representation of what\u2019s inside the book. Then, you get down to that golden hand, and it sort of calls out to you to come closer, to enter the book, to find out about a girl who has golden skin! It\u2019s mysterious and intriguing all it once, and the way the gold and black play off each other really highlights some of the themes of the book. I also love that the hand is holding a rose. The rose is something that holds a lot of significance for Kora\u2026but to find out why, you\u2019ll have to read the book.<\/p>\n

JM: <\/strong>Last but not least, you\u2019ve traveled all over the world. Top five places\u2026ready, set, go!<\/p>\n

AS: <\/strong>Ahh!!! This is such a hard one, but here we go\u2026(and yes, I know I cheated and have 6 instead of 5, but asking someone who travels their 5 favorite places to visit is like asking a reader what their 5 favorite books are\u2014they\u2019ll always have more than 5):<\/p>\n