Sky in the Deep Blog Tour: Interview with Author Adrienne Young

Title: Sky in the Deep Written by: Adrienne Young
Published: April 24, 2018 by Wednesday Books (St Martin's)
(Amazon / Goodreads)

Synopsis: OND ELDR. BREATHE FIRE.

Raised to be a warrior, seventeen-year-old Eelyn fights alongside her Aska clansmen in an ancient rivalry against the Riki clan. Her life is brutal but simple: fight and survive. Until the day she sees the impossible on the battlefield—her brother, fighting with the enemy—the brother she watched die five years ago.

Faced with her brother's betrayal, she must survive the winter in the mountains with the Riki, in a village where every neighbor is an enemy, every battle scar possibly one she delivered. But when the Riki village is raided by a ruthless clan thought to be a legend, Eelyn is even more desperate to get back to her beloved family.

She is given no choice but to trust Fiske, her brother’s friend, who sees her as a threat. They must do the impossible: unite the clans to fight together, or risk being slaughtered one by one. Driven by a love for her clan and her growing love for Fiske, Eelyn must confront her own definition of loyalty and family while daring to put her faith in the people she’s spent her life hating.

Interview 1. What inspired SKY IN THE DEEP? How did the idea and Eelyn come to you? The sibling betrayal was definitely the first inspiration for this story. I was driving in the pouring rain on this country road and that first scene just hit me - Eelyn, seeing her brother on the battlefield after thinking that he was dead for five years. I pulled over on the side of the road and scribbled a million notes on an old envelope. I was immediately hooked to the idea and I wanted to know what had happened. I started writing that first chapter and I just never stopped. 2. What type of research did you do for your characters and world-building? What languages did you study to implement the languages that the Aska and the Riki speak? What was the strangest thing you had to research for this book? I did a ton of research for this story. I actually really love to research things so it was a lot of fun. A lot of it was stuff like clothing, landscape, weapons, food, etc. But I did a lot of research into Norse mythology as well to build a foundation for this world. The language used is Old Norse, but it’s a dead language so studying it was really difficult. There is a lot of controversy about it among scholars and there’s no real way to fully understand it, so I just did my best based on my own investigation. I’m definitely not an expert! The weirdest thing I had to research was how to tear out someone’s eyeball. Yuck. 3. What was your writing process like for SKY IN THE DEEP? Complete and utter obsession. When I draft, I get really buried in the world and I don’t really come up for air until I get to the end. I write as much as I can and limit my intake of other influencers that could mess with my mindset. I don’t watch TV or movies or listen to music that’s not on my playlist, and I kind of don’t have a social life until it’s done. 4. What was your hardest scene to write? What was the easiest? I really didn’t struggle to get this story on the page the way I have with other books so I really don’t know what the hardest scene to write was. But the easiest was the first chapter. I wrote itso fast and it just clicked in so perfectly. 5. Do you have a soundtrack for SKY IN THE DEEP? Can you share a couple songs? What would Eelyn’s favorite song be? Yes! Music plays a HUGE role in my writing process and I have a playlist for every project. The ones I probably listened to the most while drafting SKY are To the Hills by Laurel, Bare by Wildes, and Rise Up – Reprise by Foxes. But a link to the whole playlist is on my site! 6. What books have inspired you to write? What books are you looking forward to reading this year? The ones that inspired me to write are nothing like my books. One of the most influential ones for me was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, because the human element is so beautiful and the author explores so many things in that book that really took my breath away. I wanted to write stories that went deep like that, but I love fantasy so I try to it within that realm. 7. Any advice on querying? Or writing advice for aspiring writers? Querying – do not just sign with any agent who will take you. Make a dream agent list of qualified agents who have good reputations and make consistent sales. Query them. If they don’t bite, then write another book that they might want. Believe me when I say it is worth waiting for the right agent! 8. Any details about the companion novel? I can’t say anything about the companion novel yet! But I’m hoping that we can start talking about it soon because I am really excited about it! 9. If you were trapped on a desserted island, what dessert would you island be made of?   Food. Because I love food. And because I think starving to death would be like the worst way to die ever.

About the Author

Adrienne Young is a born and bred Texan turned California girl. She is a foodie with a deep love of history and travel and a shameless addiction to coffee. When she’s not writing, you can find her on her yoga mat, scouring antique fairs for old books, sipping wine over long dinners, or disappearing into her favorite art museums. She lives with her documentary filmmaker husband and their four little wildlings beneath the West Coast sun.


I hope you enjoyed learning more about Adrienne and Sky in the Deep. If you missed my review of the book, which was posted on Monday you can check that out HERE. Spoiler alert... I loved it. I definitely recommend you check it out. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

In Her Skin Blog Tour: Author Guest Post and Giveaway

ABOUT THE BOOK

In Her Skin by Kim Savage
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Release Date: April 17, 2018
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Mystery

Synopsis: A dark, suspenseful young adult novel about crime, identity, and two girls with ever y- thing to lose.

Fifteen-year-old con artist Jo Chastain takes on her biggest heist yet — impersonating a missing girl. Life on the streets of Boston these past few years hasn’t been easy, and s he hopes to cash in on a little safety, some security. She finds her opportunity with the Lovecrafts, a wealthy family tied to the unsolved disappearance of Vivienne Weir, who vanished when she was nine.

When Jo takes on Vivi ’ s identity and stages the girl ’ s miraculous return, the Love-crafts welcome her with open arms. They give her everything she could want: love, money, and proximity to their intoxicating and unpredictable daughter, Temple. But nothing is as it seems in the Lovecraft household — and some secrets refuse to stay buried. When hidden crimes come to the surface and lines of deception begin to blur, Jo must choose to either hold on to an illusion of safety or escape the danger around her before it ’ s too late. In Her Skin is Kim Savage at her most suspenseful yet.

GUEST POST / MINI INTERVIEW

I asked the author Kim Savage to talk more about her writing process for a mystery/heist novel. Here are her answers to my questions/

What are the steps to writing a heist novel?

1. Create a character who is savvy but vulnerable. The reader needs to care!
2. Give her skills that can only get her so far.
3. Give her a formidable opponent to create conflict. Dear reader, meet Temple Lovecraft.

How do you start?

With In Her Skin, I started with the motivation of the Lovecrafts. How could they be fooled by an obvious con? Jo’s eyes are a different color than Vivi’s, she doesn’t recall the same memories, and her kidnapping story has holes. I realized the question wasn’t how they could be fooled, but why would they choose to be.

Do you have to plot it out or can you pants it?

I write chapters with bullets, then lay down the bones of a story in a messy first draft. You really can't pants suspense, or you'd end up with logic problems. At least I can’t!

I hope that has interested you in reading the book. Having finished it myself I can definitely say she achieved that goal in writing a book about why someone would want to be tricked. If you want more info on my thoughts on the book, come back tomorrow for my full review.

BOOK LINKS

Goodreads /  Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Book Depository / Kobo / IndieBound / iBooks

TOUR SCHEDULE

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KIM SAVAGE is the author of three critically acclaimed young adult novels, After the Woods, Beautiful Broken Girls (named by Kirkus as one of the 10 Best YA of 2017), and In Her Skin (releasing March 27, 2018), all with Farrar, Straus, Giroux/Macmillan. He r novels have been published in Spain, Brazil, and Turkey, and have been optioned for TV. Kim presents at conferences and book festivals natio n- wide; has been featured on NPR, Herald Radio, and on local cable stations; and she reads from her novels at bookstores across the country. A former reporter with a Master degree in Journalism from Northeastern University, Kim's stories are based in and around Boston. She lives with her family near Boston, not far from the real Middlesex Fells Reservation of After the Woods. Kim and her husband have three children, each of whom beg to appear in her books. They shouldn't.

GIVEAWAY

Prize :1 finished copy of IN HER SKIN by Kim Savage (US Only)

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Hunting Prince Dracula Blog Tour: Interview with Author Kerri Maniscalco and Giveaway

I'm so excited to be a part of the blog tour for this book. If you saw my review on Monday you know that I loved Stalking Jack the Ripper (it was one of my favorite books of last year), and I was not disappointed by Hunting Prince Dracula (it will probably be one of my favorite books of this year). So I was really happy to help spread the word about this book.

In addition to that, I really like Kerri. I've been chatting with her on Twitter for over awhile now and I was able to meet her both at BEA in 2016 and at ALA this year. She is just a total sweetheart. So because of that I am super excited to have an interview with Kerri.

Hunting Prince Dracula
(Stalking Jack the Ripper #2)
by Kerri Maniscalso
Publisher: Little, Brown & Co.
Release Date: September 19, 2017

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

Synopsis: In this hotly anticipated sequel to the haunting #1 bestseller Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer...or has the depraved prince been brought back to life?

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper's true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe's best schools of forensic medicine...and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life's dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school's forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

Hi, Kerri! I'm so excited tobe able to ask you a few questions. I loved your debut Stalking Jack the Ripper and I can't wait to read the sequel Hunting Prince Dracula. I'm excited for our readers to learn more about you and the book. Okay, let's dive right in.

Thank you so much! I’m excited about the questions and am so excited to be here!

General Questions About The Book

Can you explain the series in ten words or less?

Sure! Victorian Era Gothic Nancy Drew meets Sherlock.

How would you describe the main characters of Audrey Rose and Thomas? What Hogwarts Houses would you sort them in?

I LOVE this question! I usually describe HUNTING PRINCE DRACULA inHP terms: (a forensic academy full of Slytherins go Ravenclaw on each other while trying to solve murders in Dracula’s castle), so this is fabulous. I think they’d both be sorted into Ravenclaw, though they do have some Slytherin...so maybe Raverin.

(As a Slytherclaw myself I love this answer. I told Kerri when she said this on Twitter that this is my personal Hero's Journey because I was a teenage Slytherin but now I'm a total Ravenclaw.)

What can you tell us about the setting of the book? I know in this one we are headed to Romania.

Most of the setting takes place at Bran Castle, which is a magnificent fortress located in the his-toric region of Romania known as Transylvania. I’ve definitely taken liberties with the interior ofthe castle and have included really fun, subterranean tunnels for the characters to explore. It’s filled with chambers that feature “fun” surprises for them.

 What inspired you to write this series?

I really wanted to read a book about a girl like me—one who loves forensic science. My grand-mother was always one of my biggest supporters, so I used my love of forensics and my grandmother’s love of“whodunits” and came up with the idea of a gothic Nancy Drew-type series. Women in STEM are amazing and it felt right to feature that passion in my main character.

Do you have a favorite scene? One that you’re excited for readers to experience? (No spoilers of course).

I do! There’s a scene in HPD that I’ve been holding back on since SJTR and it has to do with Thomas Cresswell. I think readers will totally know the scene when they get to that chapter...I believe it’s 29. 

This series involves solving unsolved murders. What unsolved crime would you want to solve?

I still stand by wanting to know who Jack the Ripper really was—his case is still so captivating after all of these years, it would be nice to have closure. I also have always been intrigued by the Black Dahlia case.


Questions About Your Writing Process.

When you write are you a plotter or a pantser?

A little of both, actually. I always have an idea of how I want the story to play out—a lot of times I’ll write out character sheets with details of all the players before I begin. I also like to write up a short three or four hundred word blurb for myself. (Much like the sort of jacket copy you read on books.)

I also have this thing called the “The 3 C’s”of drafting I sort of live by:
1. Cursing
2. Crying
3. Chocolate


I know a lot of writers listen to music, and some use Pinterest to visualize everything. How do you get into the frame of mind to write?

I ADORE using my Pinterest board! I’m a visual person, so anytime I can find a picture that’s similar to what’s in my head, I’m in a happy place. I also am a huge fan of taking writing breaks to listen to music that sets a certain mood or atmosphere for whichever scene I’m currently working on.

I love your Pintrest board! It was how I got verification that I was right about how this book was going to be about Dracula after I read SJTR. Before seeing that it was just a theory. If you want to check out Kerri's Pinterest here it is.

Which book was harder to write, this book or the first book in the series and why?

Definitely HUNTING PRINCE DRACULA! I was terrified of the second book curse, and writing to deadline is SO HARD. I normally like to write in a linear fashion...starting from chapter one and going on until I reach the end, editing as I go to fine tune it before sending it off to critique partners, revising, rinsing and repeating until my dark heart’s content. Deadline writing is much different. I wrote scenes out of order (based on what was feeling like the most natural scene for me that day), and fit it all together chapter by chapter. It was stressful since it wasn’t my usual process, but I actually love writing that way now!

When you were writing did you start with the setting or the plot?

Before I started drafting SJTR I’d say I started with the setting. I knew I wanted to write about a girl who studied forensics, sort of have her be a female Dr. Watson, but thought there needed to be more tension based on why that would be difficult for her. When I read about some badass female doctors during the 1840’s and beyond, I knew I wanted to set it in the 19th century. After that, there was only one case that jumped out, waving its hands to be solved by this brave heroine.

What research did you do for the book?

I think it might be easier to ask what research I didn’t do;) Everything. From the setting to the dresses to Victorian protocol to upper class versus lower class, folklore regarding strigoi and pricolici, research on Vlad the Impaler and his family, the list truly goes on and on.


Questions About You

Favorite book?

I have several that I reread occasionally, but growing up I loved WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS by Shel Silverstein.

Favorite TV show?

I LOVED the Victoria series on PBS and can’t wait for the second season.

Favorite Movie?

I’m a huge fan of Shakespeare and absolutely LOVE Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo and Juliet.

Favorite Song?

Ohh. Too hard! I listen to songs based on mood and it changes often. Right now I’m listening to“Burial”by Miike Snow.

Name 3 fictional places you would move to in a heartbeat?

Wonderland, Fantasia, and Velaris.

Name a recent book that you read which would recommend to our book lovers.

GIRL AT THE GRAVE by Teri Bailey Black which is perfect for fans of SJTR, or SKY IN THE DEEP by Adrienne Young, this epic Viking-inspired fantasy. Both are coming out in 2018 and need to be on everyone’s pre-order lists.

Oh, I want to read Sky In the Deep. It's one of my most excited debut of next year. I'll have to look into Girl at the Grave though.

If you were trapped on a desert island what would your island be made of?

 Mangoes. I could eat them all day long. Oh...are we talking about food or...is this just me? If not food, then abalone shells. Totally not functional but it would be gorgeous at sunrise and sunset!

That sounds amazing and totally realistic. I'm sure somewhere out there is an island full of mangoes and one full of shells. I mean I have definitely seen beaches made out of shells. It must exist.

Thanks so much for being here Kerri. It was my pleasure getting to interview you and get to know you a little bit more.

Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC where her fascination with gothic settings began. In her spare time she reads everything she can get her hands on, cooks all kinds of food with her family and friends, and drinks entirely too much tea while discussing life’s finer points with her cats.

Her first novel in this series, Stalking Jack the Ripper, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It incorporates her love of forensic science and unsolved history.

FOLLOW THE TOUR

•    2 copies of Stalking Jack the Ripper and Hunting Prince Dracula

•    US & Canada Only

•    No Giveaway accounts

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There you have it folks, my interview with Kerri Maniscalco, author of the Stalking Jack the Ripper series including the newly released Hunting Prince Dracula. Hunting Prince Dracula is officially out there in the world so get yourself to a bookstore and pick it up. It's soooo good. If you need a little encouragement here is my review which was posted Monday. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Obsidian and Stars Blog Tour: Guest Post with Julie Eshbaugh and Giveaway

Hi Everyone, 

I am so excited to be on the blog tour for this book. I really like Ivory and Bone. I thought it was a super creative concept and a thrilling read. I love me some historical fiction and the fact that this series is set during prehistory (more on that later) makes it so unique and I loved that. So when I saw that Fantastic Flying Book Tours was doing this one I knew I had to be a part of it. But enough about me, let's get to the good stuff.

Obsidian and Stars

(Ivory and Bone #2)
byJulie Eshbaugh
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: June 13, 2017
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Synopsis:

After surviving the chaotic battle that erupted after Lo and the Bosha clan attacked, now Mya is looking ahead toher future with Kol. All the things that once felt so uncertain are finally falling into place. But the same night as Kol and Mya’s betrothal announcement, Mya’s brother Chev reveals his plan to marry his youngest sister Lees to his friend Morsk. The only way to avoid this terrible turn of events, Morsk informs Mya when hecorners her later, is for Mya to take Lees’ place and marry him herself.

Refusing to marry anyone other than her beloved, and inaneffort to protect her sister, Mya runs away to a secret island with Lees. And though it seems like the safest place to hide until things back home blow over, Mya soon realizes she’s been followed. Lurking deep inthe recesses of this dangerous place are rivals from Mya’s past whose thirst for revenge exceeds all reason.

With the lives of her loved ones on the line, Mya must make a move before the enemies of her past become the undoing of her future.

Hi Julie, thanks so much for being on the blog today. I'm so excited to ask you about Obsidian and Stars. I loved Ivory and Bone, and one of my favorite things about it was the setting.What inspired you to set a book during the prehistoric time period? 

Thank for having me on the blog today, Cassi!

I love this question. The truth is, the idea to set a story in prehistory didn’t come tome all at once. There was no big “ ah-ha!” moment. Instead, it came to me in little pieces, over a long period of time.

It all started at the Museum of London. I was visiting London for the first time, and I found myself standing in front of an animated display of the city as if I were looking down on it from above. The view started in the present day, with all the city of London’s streets and neighborhoods laid out below, and rolled back through time—through the Victorian era, through the Middle Ages, until we were looking down on that same spot of land along the Thames thousands of years ago. It showed a forest with herds moving through the trees. Then, smoke began to rise from the ground—the smoke of hearth fires. The thought of people living in that wilderness tens of thousands of years ago fascinated me. How did they live? Who did they love? What did they aspire to? These questions would not leave my mind.

I went home and sketched out some ideas for a story and tucked them away.

A few years later, I read an article about recent archaeological discoveries, and how new information was changing the way scientists thought about the first Americans. The article talked about the latest theories—that the earliest people to come to North America traveled along the coast from Eastern Asia, using boats. I dug into some nonfiction, most notably First Peoples in a New World: Colonizing Ice Age America by David J. Meltzer. This book talked about the struggles and obstacles that these first Americans would have faced, including a specific threat that this vast, open wilderness would have presented to small, far-flung clans—the threat of dying out if they failed to connect with other clans and find spouses.

These ideas turned in my mind and led to the plot and characters of IVORY AND BONE and OBSIDIAN AND STARS. But it took a long time! I just found myself thinking about these people and daydreaming about their lives, until I knew I had to write their story.

Thanks again for having me on the blog today! This was such a fun question to answer!

Thanks so much for being here, Julie! That is totally fascinating. I also think about what a location was like when it was first inhabited so this is totally up my alley. And I don't think I've heard about that article. I remember seeing something about how Early Americas traveled here but I had always heard it was from a land bridge from Asia but the boats along the coast makes a lot of sense. Now I want to look into it more. Thanks again!

Julie Eshbaugh is the author of Ivory and Bone (HarperCollins, 2016). She used to have trouble staying in one spot, having lived in places as varied as Utah, France, and New York City. Julie eventually returned home to the Philadelphia area, where she now lives with her husband, son, cat and dog. Her favorite moments are when the unexpected happens and she cheers loudest when the pitcher gets a hit.

• 1 Finished Copy of OBSIDIAN AND STARS by Julie Eshbaugh

• U.S. Only

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• Giveaway runs through 6/17

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Blog Tour: The Love Interest by Cale Deitrich Guest Post and Giveaway

Thanks to Fantastic Flying Book Tours for having me on the blog tour of The Love Interest. This is definitely one of my lost anticipated reads of the month because it sounds like it's totally up my alley and like a fun and unique contemporary and/or thriller that plays with the tropes. 

The Love Interest

by Cale Dietrich
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Release Date: May 16, 2017
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBTQIA

Synopsis:

There is a secret organization that cultivates teenage spies. The agents are called Love Interests because getting close to people destined for great power means getting valuable secrets.

Caden is a Nice: The boy next door, sculpted to physical perfection. Dylan is a Bad: The brooding, dark-souled guy, and dangerously handsome. The girl they are competing for is important to the organization, and each boy will pursue her. Will she choose a Nice or the Bad?

Both Caden and Dylan are living in the outside world for the first time. They are well-trained and at the top of their games. They have to be – whoever the girl doesn’t choose will die.

What the boys don’t expect are feelings that are outside of their training. Feelings that could kill them both.

Being that this is basically a book about teenage spies, something that I am a huge fan of, I thought it woulfd be fun to ask Cale what some of his favorite books about teenage spies are. Here's what he said:

So, this is slightly difficult for me to answer, as I didn’t really set out to write The Love Interest as a spy novel! It’s kinda bizarre, because that’s what it is, but my initial idea was inspired by the meta concept of a training academy for the hot love interests of YA fiction more than it was by spy books. In fact, I don’t think it had truly sunk in that the book I had written was a spy story until I saw the cover. When I saw it for the first time, I was like: “Oh, THAT’S the genre of this book I wrote”. But as I was drafting, I was writing an extremely personal gay coming of age book that was also a meta take on YA fiction.

That said, there are two spy stories that I love that I’ve read recently. The first is YOU DON’T KNOW MY NAME by Kristen Orlando. I thought this was a bunch of fun, and features a truly badass protagonist. I also recently read a 2018 book that everyone should have on their radar. It’s called #Prettyboy Must Die by Kimberly Reid, and it’s a fun and action-packed thrill ride.

Growing up, I loved the Alex Rider books. They are the kind of high stakes, action heavy books with amazing voice that I love. It’s highly possible that these book influenced TLI in ways I’m not consciously aware of.

On the film side, I’m a huge fan of SKYFALL. I had an absolute blast watching that in IMAX It’s just SO cool, and was the first time a James Bond story clicked for me. Kingsman is also a freaking fantastic movie: it’s hilarious and surprising and the action in it is amazing.

Lastly, I think I should mention THIS MEANS WAR, which I have seen, but not for a while. Readers often tell me that TLI is like THIS MEANS WAR if the two guys hooked up, which I think is such an awesome comparison. I need to watch it again to make sure, but yeah, I thought it was worth mentioning!

Thanks Cale for answering my question and sharing some of the spy stories that you like. I have not read or seen many of the ones you mentioned but I do love Skyfall, I mean who doesn't love James Bond. And I have a copy of You Don't Know My Name that I haven't read yet. I may have to move that up the TBR. 

Cale Dietrich is a YA devotee, lifelong gamer, and tragic pop punk enthusiast. He was born in Perth, grew up on the Gold Coast, and now lives in Brisbane, Australia. The Love Interest is his first novel.

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Thanks Fantastic Flying Book Tours for having me on the tour, and check out the rest of the tour! I just started The Love Interest so don't forget to come back next week for my review. It sounds totally up my alley. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!