about the book
It’s a miracle that a girl without a name survived three days in the enchanted forest. The vicious trees and witch could easily have been her undoing.
Of course some credit does need to be given to Remington, the knight-in-training she met at the witch’s house. His quick-thinking and horse assisted in the escape. Unfortunately, the girl finds him rather annoying.
As she enrolls at Pennyroyal Academy, where princesses and knights are trained to fight witches and dragons, she’s given the name Evie. Training is harsh under her Fairy Drillsergeant, but Evie takes all the lessons seriously—something Remington should learn to do—because the witches attacking the Eastern Kingdoms need to be stopped.
Can Evie learn all she needs to know at Pennyroyal Academy? Or will the personal nature of the battle get in the way of her training?
about the author
M.A. Larson is better known as Mitch to his family and friends. He was born in Rochester, Minnesota, but moved up to Burnsville, Minnesota, when his dad took another job.
In high school, he took a class about mythology and the foundations of drama. It’s this class that made Mitch want to be a writer. For his fictional “hero’s journey” assignment, Mitch wrote “an odyssey about the dog piece on a Monopoly board.”
After a brief stint at the University of Miami, Mitch transferred to the University of Minnesota. In 2000, he graduated with a self-guided triple major in screenwriting, production, and film theory.
Mitch got his foot in the door of the television and film world by working as an assistant to director Mike Nichols in New York. Later, he and his wife moved to Los Angeles. Mitch has written for networks such as Cartoon Network, Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon.
He’s also a writer for the cult sensation My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and has attended My Little Pony conventions from Paris, France to Dallas, Texas.
The original idea behind Pennyroyal Academy was a parody called “Princess Boot Camp.” It didn’t make it to TV, but someone suggested he turn it into a novel. The resulting book is a lot different than the proposed TV show. Mitch is okay with that.
Mitch lives with his wife, two daughters, and two dogs in California.
Sources:
Author website
Pennyroyal Academy series website
Author guest post: Whatever
Author interview: Icey Books
Author interview: StarTribune
Author interview: Sun Thisweek
Also by M.A. Larson:
Shadow Cadets of Pennyroyal Academy (Pennyroyal Academy, Book 2). Putnam Publishing (Juvenile). May 2016.
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