All About Author Chelsea Walker Flagg and her Tinsey Clover

Welcome to the book tour for Tinsey Clover by Chelsea Walker Flagg. This is a whimsical fantasy story for middle grade readers, and I have an excerpt and my review for you. But first, Chelsea tells us about her writing journey and her love for Tinsey. Want to know more? Leave her questions and comments here and all along the tour. You can also enter the giveaway!

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Your journey to becoming a writer

I’ve always loved writing. I was that kid in my second grade class always bugging my teacher to let me read my new stories to my classmates. That passion never went away, but I didn’t fully jump into being a writer until after my daughters were born. It was reading Tina Fey’s BossyPants that tipped the scale, I think. Reading that, I was fully confident that I could write a book full of funny stories! And, I did. My book, I’d Rather Wear Pajamas, was just that. Quirky stories from my life.

After winning some awards and earning best-seller status for that book, I knew writing was what I was meant to do. So, here I am!

The best advice I’ve ever received is the same advice I try to share with every aspiring writer I encounter: KEEP WRITING! There have always been plenty of people along the way who discourage writers or convince them it’s not a worthwhile activity. Those people are lying to you. If you’re passionate about writing, keep writing. You will find so much power, self-awareness, and joy when you put your words down on paper. And no, it’s never going to be perfect. And yes, some people won’t care for your style or your stories, but that doesn’t matter. Write. Anyway. I can’t emphasis that enough.


Character creation

I feel so connected to my little elfin girl, Tinsey Clover. She came to me so quickly as a character long before any sort of plot started forming for her story. In fact, as crazy as it might sound, it feels like she helped me write the story. Like she’d sit down right next to me and tell me what happened in her own words. Talk about having a muse!

Tinsey is a great combination of young and innocent mixed in with spunky and not afraid to challenge things. She doesn’t feel comfortable with the way her world works, so she sets out to change it. Sometimes she feels too small to even make a dent in anything, but other times, she’s in her full power and does amazing things. Both emotions are totally appropriate. I hope Tinsey’s young audience will recognize these emotions in themselves and feel optimistic that they can make changes for the better in their worlds, too.


Preview of an upcoming book/series

I’m excited to get pen to paper on a TINSEY CLOVER sequel! I’m equally excited to announce my intention to set up a service to help young writers publish their own books! Follow me for more information on that soon.

Tinsey Clover

Tinsey Clover is smart. She’s brave. Also, she can’t carry a tune to save her life. Oh yeah, plus she's an elf the size of a chipmunk. When her bizarre magical power grows in and makes her feel like a total outsider in her own village, Tinsey sneaks into the forbidden forest on a journey to find someone more like her. From trolls to dragons, what she discovers along the way challenges everything, and everyone, she thought she knew.

A coming of age story for early middle grade fans of Sarah Mlynowski, Kate DiCamillo, and Chris Colfer.

Read an excerpt:

This is my gift? I’m so confused. And tired. Did I seriously just gain the ability to snap my fingers and summon cleaning tools into existence? What a crock. I mean, shouldn’t I at least be allowed the gift to not sound like a really upset seal whenever I sing a note? I can’t imagine anyone in the history of ever actually getting excited about my new, strange magic. I scan the circle and notice every single eye staring at me in utter awe. I take that back. Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the trealfurs in this circle look in complete astonishment over this. Want to guess who makes up the point-oh-one percent of trealfurs who isn’t getting a kick out of this whole situation? That’s right: Me.

So, why am I the one who gained this bizarre power? I glance around the circle again. Everyone’s looking back at me like I just turned into a two-headed walrus or something. Two minutes ago, people were shooting daggers out of their eyes at me like I was the scum of the earth, and now, here they all are, acting like I'm the most amazing creature to ever walk the face of the planet.

“Do it again,” one of the trealfurs urges in a loud whisper.

A few others nod their heads in enthusiastic agreement. It’s clear they all want to see what other sparkly new cleaners I can make appear out of nowhere. I really don’t want to test it out anymore, but a tiny voice inside my head wonders if maybe, just maybe, this “gift” is actually a fluke. I mean, I did hit my head pretty hard when I rolled off that fox. What if that knocked things loose a little bit? I cross one set of fingers behind my back and hope that’ll work to help my wish come true, then close one eye before snapping my other set of fingers again. Please just be a big mistake, I think. Unfortunately, it’s not. Another broom appears in a cloud of sparkles just like the last one, and falls to the ground with a clatter.

A round of applause ripples through the council circle. I bury my head in my hands.

How unlucky can one girl get?

Available on Amazon

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**My thoughts**

Every once in a while I like to read a book for kids that falls outside of my normal choice of genre. This is definitely a book for kids who are into elves and magical creatures who like to go on adventures. I appreciated the deeper meanings in the story.

Flagg has created a world filled with many mini worlds within it. Each mini world has its own group or race of magical creature. These creatures do not mix and believe all kinds of horrible things about each other. Young Tinsey is especially sensitive to it, as her uncle is the ruler of her people. But she has a sense that there is something great that lies beyond their boundaries and she is aching to discover it. She is also trying to figure out who she is and how she fits into her world.

Soon after her magical powers finally literally descend upon her, Tinsey decides to bust through the barriers to explore the world beyond. By doing so, she manages to meet all kinds of wonderful magical creatures. And she finds out that those stereotypes that she grew up with were wrong. And her mission becomes one to teach others the same.

I think this idea is extremely timely right now as our society seems to have more hatred based on stereotypes and preconceived notions. If we would just take the time to get to know different people and to find out about them, we may find that we really do like them and can establish great relationships. The story also shows how kids are often smarter than the adults in their lives and we should listen to them more. It was a sweet story.

About Chelsea Walker Flagg

Chelsea was born and raised in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, where she spent countless hours writing stories. Mostly about cats.

In 2015, she published her first book: a quirky memoir for adults called I'd Rather Wear Pajamas that talks all about the journey through her young adult life that led to her becoming an author. It was an Amazon #1 best seller for five straight days and continues to elicit full belly laughs from its readers.

After the birth of her children, Chelsea shifted her writing to the kidlit world. She’s thrilled to share her newest baby: Tinsey Clover.

Chelsea lives in Boulder with her husband and three practically perfect daughters. Unfortunately, she doesn’t own any cats.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

www.chelseaflagg.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chelseawalkerflagg

Twitter: https://twitter.com/chelseaflagg

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chelseaflagg/

Chelsea Flagg will be awarding $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway