Last week I reviewed a book that was in my top ten most anticipated books of this year – Dualed. Luckily enough I received an egalley of Dualed from Netgalley, so I was able to experience this book earlier and much sooner – and that’s what should happen if a book is one of your most anticipated. You just want to read it as soon as possible. Today the author of that book, Elsie Chapman, is here today to participate in a Q&A about her debut novel Dualed, writing, and something unrelated to the book, Japan.

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I grew up in Prince George, BC, before graduating from the University of British Columbia with a BA in English Literature. I currently live in Vancouver with my husband and two kids, where I write to either movies on a loop or music turned up way too loud (and sometimes both at the same time).

I’m repped by The Chudney Agency, and my debut novel, DUALED, will be published by Random House in February, 2013. A sequel, DIVIDED, will be published February, 2014.

Photo Credit: Michael Meskin
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Q. Where did the story idea for Dualed start for you? What was the inspiration behind Dualed and the Alts?

My son asked me one day how did we know for sure we all didn’t have doubles out there and simply weren’t aware of it. It was a question that pretty much came out of the blue, and it just went from there.

Q. How would you best describe the world of Dualed?

It’s pretty harsh and demanding, but I think at the heart of it, it’s a society that isn’t much different from our own. People still want to feel and know they’re safe, and to do their best to work towards a future.

Q. West seems like a protagonist with quite a few flaws. What do you think readers will relate to in her character, even if in this futuristic society?

I think almost everyone has internal conflict of some kind, and West is very much a torn character. She makes mistakes along the way, and I wanted to be honest to her character by having her deal with all the fallout from that. It’s hard to relate to perfection.

Q. One Alt will live and the other Alt will die… basically. Dualed is not particularly a book between a hero and a villain per se, between a person who does good and a person who does bad. It’s more of a struggle between two citizens fighting for their ultimate survival in a society that forces them to. Would you agree? 

I do agree, Braiden! And I’m really happy you say that because I didn’t really want a good guy vs bad guy scenario. Those stories definitely have their place and I think they can be so much fun, but it’s not West’s story.

Q. As the reader, how do we decide which Alt should meet their end and which Alt should not if there’s nothing in the story that dictates that either one is the villain that we should despise? Is this made harder, our own ability to question and decide, with Dualed told through West’s perspective, with only one Alt’s view being told? Would Dualed have been any different if both Alts had the chance to tell of their survival against one another, both had the opportunity to share their lives with the reader?

One of the aspects I wanted to touch on (and hope I did, at least in some way) was whether or not one Alt should win over another. Who’s to say who deserves it more? Both of them are loved by others, and both of them are capable of good as well as bad. But I do think it’s human nature to end up picking one over the other—we have to make decisions in order to keep moving forward.

Having only West’s perspective definitely skews the story in one direction, as would having only her Alt’s. And it’s really interesting, your question about writing it from both points of view. It very briefly crossed my mind to tackle it that way, but when I started writing I just naturally gravitated toward one voice, and it was West’s.  I guess this ties in to my earlier point about everyone having to make a decision!

Q. Would Dualed be any different if it were not young adult?

There’s a complexity to our teenage years that’s pretty unique from all the other stuff we go through as little kids or adults. For me, personally, it was a really tough time in my life—it really is just this period where you’re trying to figure out who you are, and it’s not easy at all. I think Dualed and what is asked of West can be seen as a reflection of that.

Q. What do you hope readers of Dualed will take away?

When I wrote Dualed, it was never with the intention of sending a message or anything like that. I’m still always a little surprised when readers come up with these amazing analogies and theories from the book. I think it’s incredible. That said, I’m just happy if they enjoy it—anything more than that is pure bonus.

Q. You say you write to movies on a loop or music turned up way too loud. Which movies have you acquired the most number of written words from? What type of music do you prefer to listen to when writing?

I wrote Dualed so long ago—over two years now—so that particular time is somewhat fuzzy when I try to think back to what I was listening to or watching. I know I listened to a lot of Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Eminem, Snow Patrol. And I watched the Bourne series, LOTR, Eight Mile, and I am Legend a lot, I think. In terms of music for writing, the one constant is finding something that keeps me in the mood for whatever scene I’m writing, but is also familiar enough that it becomes a sort of white noise. I know that’s a bit contradictory, hah!

Q. Japan. Nihon. The Land of the Rising Sun. You seem like the perfect expert… What are your favourite hotspots throughout Japan that every visitor has to visit, even in each of the seasons? 

Braiden, I’m definitely not an expert, though we can agree that we both love Japan! Well, we always stay in Tokyo, so most of my recs will be based there. Akihabara is amazing and one of our favourite places to visit. It’s a shopping district known for electronics and anime- and manga-related goods. The Yodobashi Akiba store there has six floors of electronics, a floor with restaurants, and then the top floor has Yurindo Bookstore and Tower Records. Harajuku is is a fun place for people- and fashion-watching. There’s this bridge there, Jingu Bridge, where teens and cosplayers hang out and tourists will go there and take pics with them. Meiji Shrine is also in Harajuku, and that’s a definite must see. Ikebukuro for Sunshine City and ramen, Shibuya for its world famous intersection and gigantic Tsutaya, and Ueno for the park, especially in spring with its cherry blossom trees. Outside of Tokyo, Kyoto is really beautiful, and very traditional. We had the best taiyaki in the world in Sendai, and Hakone is the place to go on New Year’s, where you can eat kurotamago and add seven years to your life!

Man, I just want to return to Miyajima Island and eat fried oysters non-stop – wish I had some right now, those delicious things. Also, if I remember correctly, I crossed that crossing in Shibuya like 9 times from every direction.

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You or your Alt? Only one will survive.

The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her.

Elsie Chapman’s suspenseful YA debut weaves unexpected romance into a novel full of fast-paced action and thought-provoking philosophy. When the story ends, discussions will begin about this future society where every adult is a murderer and every child knows there is another out there who just might be better.

Find DUALED at:
Goodreads | Booktopia | Fishpond | Bookworld
Book Depository | Amazon

Follow Elsie Chapman at:
Website | Goodreads | Tumblr | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

To be thrilled today is an understatement. Today I welcome Lenore Appelhans, famed book blogger and fresh debut young adult novelist of Level 2, to the blog to participating in a Q&A for the Australian blog tour of Level 2, which was published on the 2nd of January (2013). Recently I reviewed Level 2 and you can read my review here. From one book blogger to another – THIS IS SO FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! Gives so much hope to myself, a “hopeful author”.

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Born and raised in America, Lenore Appelhans now lives in Germany with her husband, illustrator Daniel Jennewein, and their three fancy Sacred Birman cats. Lenore dabbled in creative writing throughout her schooling writing short stories for assignments, literary magazines and writing contests. Level 2 is her first novel and began only in 2010. She also works as a freelance advertising copywriter and blogs at Presenting Lenore: presentinglenore.blogspot.com.au

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1. How have you changed as a writer since you began book blogging at Presenting Lenore to now with the release of Level 2 in a few weeks time? Have you always been a writer?

I started book blogging back in 2008. At the time, the idea of writing a novel was too daunting.  Book blogging brought the discipline and structure of writing every day.  Getting to meet so many authors via the book gave me the confidence to start a novel.

I have always been a writer.  I used to write stories in the back of the car on our family vacations and then read them aloud at the campground. I was also that nerd in high school that loved writing essays, ha!

2. Has living abroad in Germany altered your writing or inspired you in ways you couldn’t have living elsewhere, such as back home in America?

Trying new things (like living abroad) expands your range of experience and that has definitely made me a keener observer and a better writer. When I moved to Germany right after college, I didn’t know anyone. It was a brave/crazy thing to do, but one experience led to another in a chain that brought me where I am today – a published author.

3. How would you best describe Level 2 and The Memory Chronicles considering it’s a hybrid, an amalgamation of many elements? What is at the book’s core?

At the core of Level 2 and the rest of the series is an exploration of how memories shape us. I’ve been calling it a dystopian afterlife thriller, but it’s more than that too.  Via the memories, you get almost a contemporary novel. And there’s romance!

4. Were you influenced by anything in particular before writing and during writing The Memory Chronicles?

While I was writing the first draft of Level 2, I was putting together a coffee lexicon for a major coffee company for my day job as an advertising copywriter. Some of the fun facts I gleaned in my research made it into the book.

5. Are any of the characters in Level 2 based off of yourself or others? What is a striking characteristic and/or personality trait of each of the characters that readers might relate to?

All the characters are purely fictional, though I sometimes joke that Felicia’s grandmother is based on an ex-boyfriend of mine.

The Felicia you meet in Level 2 is very loyal to her friends, and because that’s something she lacked during her life on Earth, she’s almost too loyal. She’s overcompensating.

Julian is very focused on achieving his goals (whatever those may be – he’s pretty mysterious).

Neil is a great listener. He’s someone you could go to with your problems and he’d never judge you.

6. What do you hope readers of Level 2 will take away?

I hope the twists will blow their minds like they did mine! But I also hope Felicia’s journey towards self-acceptance will resonate with readers. We all have done stuff we’re not proud of, but we can move on.

7. You’ve “swam with sea lions in the Galapagos Islands, walked with lions in Zimbabwe, fed anteaters in Tikal, Guatemala, braved fire ants in Australia, chased a puffin across a black sand beach in Iceland and narrowly avoided stepping on a snake in Burma” (taken from your author site). What haven’t you done and what do you hope or want to try next? I suggest riding a kangaroo or emu � you’ll get a sore back either way, but, I guess, that’s no different to writing. Maybe wrestle a crocodile?

I’m going to skip crocodile wrestling, thank you very much! That reminds me of a comic strip I saw once where a man missing most of his limbs is preparing to give a speech entitled “Are crocodiles ticklish?”

The only continent I haven’t set foot on is Antarctica.  So maybe one day I’ll get to march with the penguins.  And if not, I’ll have to rent someone’s memory of it when I get to Level 2

Read an excerpt of the first 50 pages of LEVEL 2 here..

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Three levels. Two loves. One choice. Debut novelist, Lenore Appelhans has written a thrilling otherworldly young adult novel about a place that exists between our world (Level 1) and what comes after life (Level 2).

‘I pause to look around the hive – all the podlike chambers are lit up as the drones shoot up on memories … I’ve wanted to get out of here before, but now the tight quarters start to choke me. There has to be more to death than this.’

Felicia Ward is dead. Trapped in a stark white afterlife limbo, she spends endless days replaying memories, of her family, friends, boyfriend … and of the guy who broke her heart. The guy who has just broken into Level 2 to find her.

Felicia learns that a rebellion is brewing, and it seems she is the key. Suspended between heaven and earth, she must make a choice. Between two worlds, two lives and two loves.

Find LEVEL 2 at:
Goodreads | Booktopia | Fishpond | Bookworld

Follow Lenore Appelhans at:
Website | Blog | Goodreads | Twitter

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Today I have Melina Marchetta on the blog for an interview. This woman needs no introduction whatsoever as I am sure you have heard about her books even if you have not read them. I am proud to be Australian; we have a list of incredible authors that have made it big in the global market, even if it is only for YA. Melina is the author of several award winning novels such as On the Jellicoe Road and Saving Francesca. In September the third and final novel of her fantasy series the Lumatere Chronicles, Quintana of Charyn, was published (March, 2013 in the US) to praise and glory by reviewers. You can read my review for Quintana of Charyn here. I was lucky enough to meet Melina earlier this year at the Centre of Youth Literature’s 21st celebration – sadly I left with an invisible photo – and she was incredibly wonderful to listen to. Then again with this interview, with thanks to Tina at Penguin for making this happen, it is amazing to read Melina’s answers and take a lot away from them.

I hope you enjoy! All comments are welcome.

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Q. You have garnered success in your writing career, mostly because of your characters, either they be from your contemporary novels (e.g., Looking For Alibrandi) or those from the Lumatere Chronicles. What makes your characters so relatable and how did you go about developing them?

I suppose I’m not the right person to ask that, but what’s important is that these characters need to be relatable to me if I want them to resonate with a reader.  They initially come in fragments. Sometimes I get a complete name (Taylor Markham) and other times I get bits of confusion (Quintana.  I like to write characters that despite their circumstances are accessible to a reader, so you may notice that they are never totally beautiful except in the eye of the beholder.  They never have everything they want, because most of us don’t, and they fail as much as they succeed because don’t we all.

Q. What process was involved in the creation of Skuldenore and its inhabitants? In constructing a fantasy world, what would you say are the most important things to remember? Where did you get your inspiration from? 

Know thy boundaries is the rule to myself. And I don’t mean the physical boundaries of a land, but the boundaries of where I’m going to go as a writer of fantasy when it may seem on the surface that there are no limits.  The fantasy element, for example, had to be something that was believable to me, and one side of my family believe that people’s emotions can curse others. Sometimes readers want more of an explanation of the curse because it doesn’t fit into a mythology or stories they’ve been brought up with, but the curses of Skuldenore make sense to me. It’s pretty much the Italian evil eye or the “mal’occhio”. There’s a scene in Alibrandi where Katia is removing it from Josie by placing a bowl over her head. Of course I take it to the extreme in the Lumatere Chronicles, but I think in fantasy there’s so much more room for high stakes.

The other thing I found important in creating Skuldenore was travelling. I’ve said over and over again, I couldn’t have written those two kingdoms from inner city Sydney. So I begin with something as basic as Google or Wikipedia. Or Lonely Planet, which is where I found Matera in central Italy, which is where I found the gravina and the citavita.  Note the Italian influences, but I can’t help it.  I grew up Italian. When a critic questions the improbability of some of the differences of the languages spoken in a land as small as Skuldenore, I think to myself that they don’t know the Sicilian dialect and how guttural it is compared to the Italian language, but it still sounds romantic to me.  So when Finnikin describes to Evanjalin the joy of hearing his mother tongue, it was Sicilian in my head although it’s not my mother tongue. But I was brought up listening to it.  The diversity of the Italian dialects is fascinating.  So in my head the Skuldenorians speak different dialects of the same language. They just don’t want to acknowledge it.

Another reason travel is important is because what I find out on a day trip isn’t found in a book. Usually that’s because someone in the group is asking a question that perhaps the guide hasn’t been asked before. And when I’m in a place like Cappadocia or Matera or Guernsey, which is where I went to research Sebastabol, it’s the smell of the place, the atmosphere, the texture of the stone or the road that ends up going into the novel.

Cappadocia, Turkey

Q. Before writing Finnikin of the Rock what were you hoping to achieve in The Lumatere Chronicles now that is has come to an end, and what did you want readers to take away from it?

Both hard questions. To begin with I’m just hoping to finish the story.  That’s my greatest fear.  Not completing what I started.  But once I get into it, I just get caught up in the story these characters are telling me, regardless of what true event or circumstances triggered off the journey for me.  I try not to think of my writing as being didactic and I never think of it as theme based. Once or twice I’m interviewed about the trilogy and I’m asked about a never-ending list of thematic doom and gloom. So I suppose I can answer more what I don’t want a reader to take away from it.

Q. Were you a large fantasy reader before writing the Lumatere Chronicles? Considering you wrote a number of contemporary realistic novels that have brought attention to you as a writer, was it difficult at all to delve into fantasy, a genre quite the opposite of what people know you for? Are there any other genres you would be interested in writing?


Apart from the obvious ones as a kid reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and the Wizard of Earthsea, my taste in fantasy revolves around Isobelle Carmody’s work, as well as Garth Nix, Sharon Shinn, Anne Bishop, Kristin Cashore, Lois McMaster Bujold and of course Megan Whalen Turner (I’m sure people are sick of me going on about her work).

The only difficulty I found delving into fantasy was blocking out the voice in my head that said not to go down that path because I wouldn’t be taken seriously.  But I’m good at telling myself to shut up.

I’d love to write a historical novel as well as a thriller or mystery, although Jellicoe is a mystery.

Q. Now I have read that after Quintana of Charyn you were taking a hiatus from writing fiction so that you can focus on television. Was this a tough decision to make? Was TV something you always thoughts about pursuing besides writing books? 

I’m not really taking a hiatus from novels so I can focus on TV as much as because I’m exhausted.  Those Skuldenorians and the Finch-Mackees wrecked me with all their big big emotions.

I’m in development for TV and one or two film scripts (two of those projects with Joanna Werner, who is the producer of Dance Academy). There’s a big difference between developing and writing and I miss writing so much at the moment. But I’ve given myself until next year to keep away from any prose. Unfortunately some annoying past characters don’t care about a writer’s holiday or break. They are very egocentric, so for now the voices in my head are happening and I’m happy to just listen.

Q. Having been published internationally, have you noticed any differences between your readers in Australia to readers elsewhere, such as the US? If there are, has it been difficult in being faithful to your readers in whatever you write, or do you write what you want to write no matter the response you may get?

Not a massive difference.  I could be technical and say that Alibrandi and Francesca and The Piper’s Son sell better here in Australia, and Jellicoe and The Lumatere Chronicles sell better in the US. My readership differs so much in their opinions, not only about the novels, but the characters, so if I was writing what one reader wanted, another would be disappointed. So I write what I want to write, no matter what.

Q. In terms of responses and whether some readers “get” something when others do not, does it all come down to individual perception or is it a cultural perspective? 

You know I try very hard not to say that someone didn’t “get” my work. I used to, but then I realized that not “getting” could be insulting, so the way I see things now is that some readers do not connect with my work. I actually don’t think it has anything to do with cultural perspective and I’d like to think it has nothing to do with the quality of my writing, but I think it has much to do with the reader’s context and expectations.  They may go into the reading of The Piper’s Son wanting to just read about the Francesca gang, so they’ll be very disappointed when most of the story is about a whole new set of people.  Or they may go into Quintana of Charyn expecting it to be all from Quintana’s point because of the title, but for me Quintana is the subject of this novel, not the main point of view.  Jellicoe followed Alibrandi and Francesca and I know a lot of readers were disappointed that I hadn’t written another novel set in inner city Sydney about an Italian girl.  And then people who loved Jellicoe were expecting something similar to that and I write a fantasy.  A reader isn’t right or wrong for wanting, and I’m not right or wrong for not delivering so I kind of don’t let that affect me.  Nor do I worry if someone hasn’t connected with my characters.  I don’t think that’s a criticism.  It’s just the reality that we all have different tastes.  I don’t have one friend who loves everything I love and vice versa and sometimes when I haven’t connected with what the rest of the world loves, I wonder where that gene went. Trust me, I went to see Tin Tin with eight other members of my family while we were away at Christmas and I truly did not like it and there was much hostility directed at me that night by all of them.

Q. Will you return to the land of Skuldenore and revisit the characters in the future? Although I felt the trilogy was complete and ended perfectly, I can’t help but hope we get to see them all again. Will we ever?

I certainly haven’t finished with Lady Celie of the Flatlands and Banyon. I’ve said this before – they haven’t even pashed yet!  How can I remotely be finished with them?  I feel that there are great opportunities writing short stories for online magazines or anthologies.  But the thing is that I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my writing, so if I’m going to write anything, it has to be solid and have as good a story line as the novels.   The Lady Celie stories are mysteries and although I have the setting and world and definitely the love story, I need a crime and that’s hard to find. I’m almost sure that with every story, there’ll be some link to those introduced in The Lumateran Chronicles..

I’m dying to get the Queen of Lumatere out of the castle and on the open road, so who knows.  She may go on a road trip with her best friend Lady Celie and it can be the fantasy version of Thelma and Louise.

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Who’d a thunk that I shared the same city, let alone the same country, with one of the quickest rising stars in the speculative genre. First came the killer synopsis that did a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick to the brain (which was what cemented a sort-of cult following almost immediately), then the covers were released and gave me hope that I’ll never be diagnosed with testicular cancer in my life, and then I read Stormdancer, deciding shortly after that I needed help desperately following the plastering of Jay Kristoff’s author photo onto my bedroom wall and kowtowing to him like a crazed loony. In short: forgetting my place as a civilized member of society. Make sure you have a psychologist on standby - maybe contact me in a year and a half’s time when I am a young padawan of a “psychologist”; you’ll need one! You can read my blabbering of a review on Stormdancer here.

Today I am overtly aroused as I have Mister Kristoff here on the blog for an interview. Of course this  man needs no introduction! By now you all should have a clear idea of his book Stormdancer, book one of The Lotus War, which will be published next month in September, as well as Jay himself - one author who does not stray from being his hilarious self on the social media platforms he treads; I’m sure you have all crossed paths with him one way or another. And if you haven’t yet… do yourself a favour and give this man a hello.

I think we should move onto the interview. However, lucky for you, at the end of the interview I will be giving away two signed copies of the Australian paperback edition of Stormdancer – one for the Aussies (thanks to Charlotte at Pan Macmillan Australia) and another for the glorious international folks of the interwebs who want to join me in my daily kowtowing (thanks goes to me). HOW EXCITING! The winners will be announced on Saturday September 8th, the day after the Stormdancer book launch – you will be able to see footage of the rocking book launch at Dymocks and have a feel of the party at Robot Bar. The video will end with the announcement of the winners. How cool does this sound? ALL. FOR. YOU. So this way you’ll be able to experience - even if via video - and celebrate the launch of Stormdancer too.

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What were the fantasy influences that helped you decide to write fantasy?

I actually read a lot of sci-fi when I was younger. I think stylistically, I steal a lot from authors like William Gibson and Phillip K Dick. But in terms of fantasy, I was introduced to the whole notion by Tolkien and The Hobbit (how the hells they’re going to squeeze three movies out of that book, I’ll never know). I graduated to authors like Raymond R Feist, Robin Hobb, Katherine Kerr. But I have a few embarrassing gaps in my fantasy reader catalogue – I’ve never read Eddings or Donaldson or McCaffrey. Yeah, I Know. Call the frackin’ police.
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I’ve studied Japanese for six years and been to Japan yet still may not have been able to execute a Japanese-inspired world as real and sensational as yours. What was the research involved in bringing the world of Stormdancer to life? Or did you drink some magical sake and try your luck?

I’ve had a few people say that, and it’s really flattering, but honestly I think most of my research was done via osmosis. I’ve always had an interest in Japanese cinema and manga, so I absorbed a lot of knowledge through that over the years. Wikipedia was really my go-to source for information, plus a few specialized sites dealing with the Tokugawa age.

The cool thing about writing a setting that’s inspired by Japan, but not actually Japan, is that you can take what you want from history and mythology and leave the rest. Take thunder tigers, for example – there’s nothing close to griffins in Japanese folklore. But without thunder tigers, there would be no Stormdancer.
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How long did it take to write Stormdancer? Was there a reason you chose to write from a female’s POV? Do you think it would have had the same [reader] reaction or direction [in story] if it were a male protagonist instead?

It took six months to write my first draft. I actually stopped writing it about eight chapters in. My previous attempt at a novel had been a very dark and angsty vampire novel (nobody sparkled, everybody died) and I felt a little silly going from that to a story about a telepathic samurai girl and her friend the griffin. But something about the characters and the setting dragged me back.

I chose a female MC for a couple of reasons – first, because I’d been reading a lot of female MCs at the time, and really didn’t like most of them. Even though they were invariably caught up in some kind of Armageddon, they seemed primarily concerned with and defined by the boys in their lives – who will she pick, will they get together, and so on. I wanted to make a character who could stand on her own feet. Romance is great and all, but I didn’t want it to be the focus of the book – there was So. Very. Much of that kind of work being produced, and I didn’t want to add to the pile of “female MCs who cannot think or eat or exist without a boy on her arm”.

Besides, it’s difficult to write a convincing MC of the opposite gender, and I like making things hard for myself.

More importantly though, it just felt right. I’m not sure Stormdancer would work if the gender roles were reversed. Daughters/father relationships are different to those of sons and mothers, and really, Stormdancer is a story about Yukiko and her father. Would reader reaction be the same if Yukiko were a boy? I’m not really sure. The vast majority of readers nowadays are female. Do females read male MCs if the premise is intriguing? I’d hope so. I’d hope people will read anything and everything if it sounds awesome enough.
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What clan in the world of Stormdancer would you belong to? Any special abilities?

I’d probably be Phoenix clan. They’re the arty types. Big imaginations. Sllllllightly mad.

As for special powers, probably not. Unless you count being able to kick ass on expert Guitar Hero, or exist on four hours sleep a night as “special”.
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What can we expect in the next two books of The Lotus War [vaguely]? A full on war that would take three films if adapted? *fingers crossed*

Stormdancer is really Yukiko and Buruu’s story. In the next two books, the conflict grows much wider. We learn more about the Lotus Guild and the gaijin. The rebellion grows, civil war blooms and Yukiko is caught in the middle of the conflicts, trying to come to grips with the mantle of hero that’s been forced upon her shoulders.

In the unlikely event someone is mad enough to want to make this trilogy into a movie, yeah, they’re going to need a big “Epic battle” budget.
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To my knowledge, you have finished writing book three. Are there any other projects when The Lotus War is done and dusted, or even now, that you are working on or want to begin? Care to share? Still fantasy?

I’ve only finished first draft of book 3 – there’s still a lot of work to do on it. My bride hasn’t even read it yet, so I’m literally the only person on the planet who knows how it all ends atm.

Muahahahahaha. *lightning strike*

I have three ideas for a next book bouncing around – one is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thing with a cyberpunk slant. One is a fantasy story with a Douglas Adams/Terry Pratchett feel (comedy is really hard to do well, though). The last is a dark epic fantasy thing. The epic fantasy is winning atm. I wrote the opening page the other day, just as a writing exercise, and I enjoyed the voice a lot. It’ll be difficult to write, but I like the idea of doing something that pushes me.

Strangely, all three ideas feature female protagonists. I dunno why that is. Maybe deep down I’m just terrified of Gary Stu accusations if I ever write a male MC.
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Having [soon-to-be] been published in three countries (US, UK and Australia) as a debut novelist straight off the ba—I mean chainkatana, how have you handled the excitement so far from readers, friends, family, and even yourself? Has it been overwhelming yet? How have you dealt with the reactions and hype, even months before the release of Stormdancer?

It’s still all slightly surreal. And I’m not sure when it’s actually going to hit home – even holding the finished book in my hand, it just feels… odd. Maybe the first time I walk into a bookstore and see Stormdancer on a shelf it will finally hit me?

I’ve started getting letters from early readers. Places in Europe and China – place I’ve never been, and that’s just incredible and bizarre, to think my words are in countries I’ve never set foot. It’s difficult to articulate – you live alone with this thing for years of your life. You build this world out of nothing, and for the longest time, you’re the only one who lives there. And then, in what seems a very short space of time, suddenly it’s just… out there. Strangers are reading. People who have no personal stake, no reason to spare your feelings. I guess it’s like watching your baby leave home.

But a lot of people are saying really lovely things about the book, and it’s all very humbling and awesome. I’m exceedingly grateful. And whenever I start to get an ego about it, my wife is there to pop my big head and send me flying about the room like a deflating balloon. She’s good like that.
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Any advice for budding writers aiming to write fantasy [or speculative fiction]? What about in general?

I’d recommend reading outside your genre. Good books are good books. You want to inundate yourself with wonderful words, and you can’t afford to limit yourself to one flavor. If you only ever live in one country, or one city, you’re going to have a blinkered world-view. The same goes for reading. As a writer, you need to be open to any kind of style. You need to know the pitfalls and tropes of the genre you want to write in, sure, but if all you expose yourself to is YA fantasy, you’re going to end up sounding like every other YA fantasy writer out there.

And there’s the usual stuff. Write every day, even when you don’t feel like it. Give yourself permission to suck. Never finish a writing session by finishing a scene – that way, when you pick up the next day, you won’t be sitting there wondering “what happens next?” Blah, blah, blah |
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Where can we find ourselves our own griffin? How can we get one? A sacrifice of some sort?

I’m not sure, sadly. But if you find one, let me know. I’d like to borrow it one weekend.
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Are you able to give us a tour of the Shima Isles? Or maybe just a description at what readers can expect there?

There’s a brief history or the Shima imperium and the clans who populate it along with a couple of maps and other doo-dads going up on my website real soon. You’ll find it under the “world” tab at www.jaykristoff.com

Enjoy!

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Find Jay on:
Goodreads
Website / Blog
Twitter
Facebook

As part of the blog tour for Rapture by Lauren Kate, the fourth and final book in the Fallen series, which I was invited to be apart of, I have an interview with Lauren Kate for you to be enticed with if you haven’t yet already had the pleasure of reading Rapture. Let me just say: You’ll be surprised! Before we get to the interview, take a look at the previous blogs that have posted earlier as there are some other great interviews to read and will give you a more-rounded look into Lauren Kate’s writing, inspiration, and about the final moments with the Fallen series.

12-Jun            http://treasuredtalesforyoungadults.wordpress.com/
13-Jun            http://www.girl.com.au/
14-Jun            http://www.beautyandlace.com.au
15-Jun            http://headstuckinabook.blogspot.com.au/
18-Jun            http://eleusinianmysteriesofreading.blogspot.com/
19-Jun            http://bookprobereviews.com/
20-Jun           http://www.shiirleyysbookshelf.blogspot.com.au/
21-Jun            http://nicegirlsreadbooks.com/
22-Jun            http://www.facebook.com/fallenbooks

1) What was the hardest thing about writing a four-book series (i.e. instead of a trilogy)? Was it clear from the start that there would be four books (or five books with Fallen In Love) and did planning come into effect?

I thought Fallen would be a trilogy, which was a very comfortable format for my mind to wrap around. But because Lucinda’s past lives play such a large role in the series, I began to realize that I’d need to explore them, and that exploration might need to take shape in its own book. Passion became a kind of integrated prequel, one that gave me the space to really have fun with Luce’s history. I’m so glad the book became a part of the series-it’s where I first truly fell in love with Daniel. 

As for Fallen in Love, the short stories are largely inspired by my readers. Over the past few years, they have shared so many different kinds of love stories with me. I would meet girls (and boys) who felt connected to Luce and Daniel’s story, even though, to me, the love they spoke of was a vastly different kind of love. I wrote Arriane, Roland, Miles and Shelby’s stories as an homage to the many shapes love takes, and to my readers for the gift of so many love stories. 

2) Why did you decide to call the final book Rapture?

Fallen and Rapture were the only two titles I knew from the start of the series. Torment, Passion, and Fallen in Love all had to be brooded upon and brainstormed. I didn’t always know what was going to happen in this book, but I knew where the feel of it was going to go. Rapture was the perfect title to encompass the end of Luce’s journey. 

3) I’m sure many readers will miss Luce or Daniel or any of the other characters. Who will you miss the most and why?

Arriane, always Arriane for her humor (though I find her rather frequently in my real-life friends). Cam, of course. His parting words at the end of the series remain a mystery to me, one I’ll probably have to think about for a while. There’s also a new character in Rapture named Dee, who quickly captured my heart. I miss her already. 

4) You visited Australia last year in late July/August. What was your favourite moment if you remember anything from then?

There were SO many highlights from that tour. It really was just fabulous. It started with a bang in Sydney at the Sword and Cross ball where I got to see how very stylish and COOL Australians are. I loved visiting the schools in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney. I was amazed by the crowds who bused in far distances to meet me at a mall. In Melbourne, the Dymocks crowd made me a fantastic binder of letters that I keep on the corner of my desk. And in Brisbane I got to have coffee with a girl named Hannah, who’d lost her house the year before in the floods and who claimed Fallen saved her life. I still think about how smart and inspiring she is. 

5) When can we expect another book or new series?

I am working on something that I’m very thrilled about-a new series, a brand new love story. I get to share more details very soon, I promise!

Thank you to Lauren for answering some questions and also for writing the series. I’m sure many of you will looking out for what Lauren will be coming out with next. I’m sure excited!

Don’t forget to visit the rest of the blogs over the next few days to the end of the blog tour. Hope you’ve enjoyed it. Below is the trailer for Rapture if you have missed it. And don’t forget to get yourself a copy of Rapture if you haven’t already!

Hey there! Welcome to day 7 of the Storm Blog Tour!

Hope you’ve managed to stay safe and out of the path of the storm. But since you’ve been reading on the posts in the blog tour, I guess you’ve been succumbed to the beauty of the eye of the storm anyway, right? I thought so! How are you enjoying yourself? Have been riding the flooded roads on a piece of board? Or have you been sitting indoors reading Brigid Kemmerer’s fantastic debut STORM, which was released in the US on Tuesday and here in Australia this coming week, and maybe even ELEMENTAL, the short story prequel which is FREE to download from Amazon for just a limited time only? Hope you’ve been doing the latter. It just makes sense!

So for you, I was able to chat with Storm author Brigid Kemmerer about her book, bloggers, and much more! So get comfortable, grab a coffee or tea or tub of ice-cream, and enjoy!

PART 1

 

Schedule:

Monday 23rd April:  Chris/Becca/Hunter Interview – Read Me Love Me Bookmark Me
Tuesday 24th April: This or That with the Boys of Storm – Shiirleyy’s Bookshelf
Wednesday 25th April: Fantasy Casting – saz101
Thursday 26th April: Brigid Q&A: YOU ask the questions! – Eleusinian Mysteries
Friday 27th April: Keeping up with the Merrick Twins + Review Roundup – Badass Bookie
Saturday 28th April: Storm Excerpt – Forget-Me-Not
Sunday 29th April: Video chat – Book Probe
Monday 30 April:  Chris Interview – Reading Wishes
Tuesday 1st May: Guest Post by Brigid: Five Secrets of the Elemental Series – Amaterasu Reads

Giveaway Packs:

You can fill out this form for EACH of the blog posts outlined below during the tour. 9 days, 9 bloggers, 9 chances to get extra entries in to win some AMAZING prize packs!!

  

International Prize Pack 1:
Elemental (ebook) + Storm + Spark preorder 

International Prize Pack 2: 
Elemental (ebook) + Storm + Spark ARC

International Prize 3:
Copy of Storm + Spark Pre-order

Australian Prize Pack: 
Storm ARC + Spark preorder

Australia/New Zealand Prize Packs (10 winners):
1 copy of STORM + 1 STORM book jacket  + 1 SPARK book jacket
Thanks to Allen & Unwin and Brigid!!

Last month I read All These Things I’ve Done and I absolutely adored it. You can check out my review for it here. I thought it would be perfect to have the author of All These Things I’ve Done Gabrielle Zevin, come by the blog for an interview. I, too, want to share the amazement of it with you by giving you the chance to win a copy. Please enjoy the meaty questions with even meatier answers!

Gabrielle Zevin (born 1977) is an American author and screenwriter. She is a Harvard graduate and currently resides in New York City. 

Her first novel Elsewhere was nominated for a 2006 Quill Award, won the Borders Original Voices Award, and was a selection of the Barnes and Noble Book Club. The book has been translated into sixteen languages. 

She was nominated for a 2007 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay for Conversations with Other Women starring Helena Bonham Carter and Aaron Eckhart and directed by Hans Canosa. 

1. For those who have yet to read All These Things I’ve Done, could you briefly explain what it is about?

In 2083, chocolate and coffee are illegal, paper is hard to find, water is carefully rationed, and New York City is rife with crime and poverty. And yet, for Anya Balanchine, the sixteen-year-old daughter of the city’s most notorious (and dead) crime boss, life is fairly routine. It consists of going to school, taking care of her siblings and her dying grandmother, trying to avoid falling in love with the new assistant D.A.’s son, and avoiding her loser ex-boyfriend. That is until her ex is accidently poisoned by the chocolate her family manufactures and the police think she’s to blame. Suddenly, Anya finds herself thrust unwillingly into the spotlight–at school, in the news, and most importantly, within her mafia family.

So today I want to welcome JOSEPHINE ANGELINI to the blog to answer some questions about her debut novel and first in a trilogy, STARCROSSED.

Well, in my opinion the reason books based around Greek mythology and the Iliad are still exciting today is because they’re universal. There are a lot of reasons humanity still remembers Hector, Hercules, and Jason– and there is probably some Freudian tie-in here also that I’m totally missing, but honestly? I think it’s just because we all love monsters and curses and quests. We all love to see the hero fight the guys that are trying to burn down his city, or watch him balance the world on his back, or sail across a siren infested sea. It’s just cool. These stories have excited people for thousands of years, and I don’t think they’re going to stop being exciting any time soon.

2. Can you describe and inform us of your journey from the idea of Starcrossed to publication?

The idea came fast. I saw a copy of Romeo and Juliet sitting next to The Iliad on my bookshelf and I wondered why no one had tried to do a modern-day retelling of The Iliad, but focusing on the “star-crossed” love aspect of the two teenagers that started a war by falling in love. And then I just wrote it. Really. I wrote a detailed outline, because I’m a freak about outlines, and then I sat down every day and worked my fanny off for about eight months until I finished it.

Or course, once it was done, I had no idea what to do with it—didn’t have a clue how to get it published. My husband reached out to a few friends of Facebook and found a manager that he didn’t really know, but he sent my manuscript to her anyway. She read the first chapter, fell in love with it, and (that day) gave it to an agent friend of hers in NYC (who read it that night and loved it). I woke up the next morning with a manager and an agent that I’d never even heard of, let alone met. About three weeks later I had a pre-emptive deal with Harper Teen.

The most difficult part in my story was creating a scenario where it would be plausible for a war to be waged over two teenagers who fell in love. I never liked Paris and Helen—I mean seriously! A ten-year war because two people couldn’t keep their hands to themselves? That just doesn’t fly in our day and age. On top of that, it’s not like soldiers suit up and fight battles over captured queens anymore. The world has changed a lot since antiquity, but I took this more as a challenge.

Greek mythology is something that I’ve read since I was young because I love it and as soon as I came up with my idea I already knew the material so I didn’t have to do too much research.

Mostly what I did was re-read bits and pieces here and there to refresh my memory. While The Iliad is my main source material, I also use a lot of Aeschylus, and in later books I borrow from Sophocles as well, and it’s been a few years since I’ve read those old plays. It was fun, actually. I would open a play or my trusty Edith Hamilton to get a name or a which animal is which god’s reference and an hour later I’d glance up, thinking that I had to stop getting distracted and get back to work!

5. Starcrossed is the first in a planned trilogy. Is it possible to spill a little bit about what we can expect in the sequel Dreamless? And was there a particular reason why the title was changed from the original Persephone’s Garden?

DREAMLESS is darker than STARCROSSED. A lot of it takes place in the Underworld so it’s more dangerous, and it has a lot more action. I also introduce a new character named Orion who I think everyone is going to love!

As to why the name got changed, who knows? The Marketing Department is a shadowy realm that few dare enter, and even fewer dare challenge. I just write the books, man. Titles are above my pay grade.