GYDO: A.G. Howard

A.G. Howard, Author of Splintered (2013) 

Instead of talking about Splintered today, I thought it would be fun to highlight one of the two masterpieces that inspired it. See, it wasn’t just Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland that sparked my Wonderland companion novel … Carroll’s second book, Through the Looking Glass and what Alice Found There , also had several scenes/characters which played a part in my spinoff.  The most obvious example is the crazy dinner scene. It was always one of my favorites, so of course I wanted to give credence to it in my book. I kept my tribute nonsensical like Carroll’s, but at the same time wove in some sadistic and violent undertones to darken it.  Here’s a small excerpt of the original, and the piece of artwork that first ignited my imaginings:

(John Tenniel’s illustration of the bowing mutton leg from Through the Looking Glass) 

At last the Red Queen began. 'You've missed the soup and fish,' she said. 'Put on the joint!' And the waiters set a leg of mutton before Alice, who looked at it rather anxiously, as she had never had to carve a joint before.  'You look a little shy; let me introduce you to that leg of mutton,' said the Red Queen. 'Alice -- Mutton; Mutton -- Alice.' The leg of mutton got up in the dish and made a little bow to Alice; and Alice returned the bow, not knowing whether to be frightened or amused. 'May I give you a slice?' she said, taking up the knife and fork, and looking from one Queen to the other.  'Certainly not,' the Red Queen, very decidedly: 'it isn't etiquette to cut any one you've been introduced to. Remove the joint!' And the waiters carried it off, and brought a large plum-pudding in its place.

(A little later, really crazy things start to happen)

And then (as Alice afterwards described it) all sorts of thing happened in a moment. The candles all grew up to the ceiling, looking something like a bed of rushes with fireworks at the top. As to the bottles, they each took a pair of plates, which they hastily fitted on as wings, and so, with forks for legs, went fluttering about in all directions: 'and very like birds they look,' Alice thought to herself, as well as she could in the dreadful confusion that was beginning.  At this moment she heard a hoarse laugh at her side, and turn to see what was the matter with the White Queen; but, instead of the Queen, there was the leg of mutton sitting in the chair. 'Here I am!' cried a voice from the soup tureen, and Alice turned again, just in time to see the Queen's broad good-natured face grinning at the for a moment over the edge of the tureen, before she disappeared into the soup.  There was not a moment to be lost. Already several of the guests were lying down in the dishes, and the soup ladle was walking up the table towards Alice's chair, and beckoning to her impatiently to get out of its way.  'I can't stand this any longer!' she cried as she jumped up and seized the table-cloth with both hands: one good pull, and plates, dishes, guests, and candles came crashing down together in a heap on the floor.  'And as for you,' she went on, turning fiercely upon the Red Queen, who she considered as the cause of all the mischief -- but the Queen was no longer at her side -- she had suddenly dwindled down to the size of a little doll, and was now on the table, merrily running round and round after her own shawl, which was trailing behind her.  At any other time, Alice would have felt surprised at this, but she was far too much excited to be surprised at anything now. 'As for you,' she repeated, catching hold of the little creature in the very act of jumping over a bottle which had just lighted upon the table, 'I'll shake you into a kitten, that I will!'

And so, from Carroll’s amazingly vivid and chaotic dinner scene, one of the most Carrollian chapters in my book was born. Well, that and a trip to the ER room, which magnified all of the crazy emotions needed to nail that scene. If you want to know what I mean by that, check out this post (add link: http://adr3nalin3.blogspot.com/2012/03/what-er-taught-me-about-writing.html) on my YA group blog. Now, when you read my book one day, you’ll know exactly how that chapter came about. :) Thanks Nikki for having me! And hope to see you all in January when Splintered hits the shelves!

Splintered Blurb

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence. Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.
When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

Short Author Bio

A.G. Howard was inspired to write SPLINTERED while working at a school library. She always wondered what would've happened had the subtle creepiness of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland taken center stage, and she hopes her darker and funkier tribute to Carroll will inspire readers to seek out the stories that won her heart as a child.

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