Find out what inspired Kate A. Boorman to write WHAT WE BURIED (a mysterious psychological thriller that will keep you up waaaay to late into the night).
At the Edge of the End She Will Burn Bright and Brilliant
We entered Lailah at the beginning of the end... then teetered on the edge of it with Gabriel. Now, with Jonah we will fall from it together.
Today, the final book in The Styclar Saga, Jonah, hits bookstores, and I’m feeling a little like this...
It’s also a good day in the land of paperbacks #InsertShamelessPlugHere as Gabriel releases today too, featuring a Q&A with yours truly, and a sneak peek at Jonah!
It’s been a good seven years since I originally dreamed up Lailah. I didn’t realize when I began to write that what started out as a love story would evolve and end with, well quite frankly, all kinds of madness of EPIC proportions.
Yes, I just used the word EPIC about my own novel, and I think I can be forgiven with all that’s going on in the final installment...
Here’s a little teaser for your reading (and gif!) pleasure!
Lailah travels to the third dimension. AKA Hell. She also takes a trip to the first dimension. AKA Heaven.
...and that’s not the last of her dimension jumping (hang on—one dimension, two dimensions, three dimensions...) But that’s all I’m saying on the subject for now!
Then Lailah leaps aboard her ship of choice, and finally it sets sail! You may hear some new and very technical terminology once we get going...
Higgs Boson you say? Singlet particles? Linear lines of time? Sounds a little on the timey wimey side of things, but yeah, we get all science-y up in the place.
Not everyone will live to see the end of this story...
But for those of you that have been following the Saga, Jonah may excite you...
...or perhaps it will scare the bejesus out of you!
And for those of you that are just joining now (what?!?!)
...well here’s the good news—you don’t have to wait yearlong gaps for the next part of the story! But, I shall warn you in advance I am a fan of the twist, and an even bigger fan of the cliff hanger!
And if you can’t get enough of the Styclar Saga? Tear into these two prequel stories I wrote for the series, both available on the magical platform Wattpad for free!
Each story takes place before the first book in the saga, and is told from the POV of each of our two leading men.
JONAH Jonah is mortal. Though he is technically living and breathing, he might as well be dead. The only shelter he finds to hide from his excruciating existence is in those seldom few moments, just before waking from sleep. In that half dreamlike state, in the unconscious recesses of his mind, he welcomes the darkness. One night, Jonah meets an alluring stranger who makes him want to be awake again. But it's a short-lived sensation, before he is stolen and dropped on death's door. The place he once hid will consume him until there is nothing left—nothing but the echo from the flutter of the butterfly's wing.
GABRIEL The year is 1941 and Gabriel has returned from Styclar-Plena to Lucan, Ireland in the middle of the Second World War. Gabriel has spent a hundred years of Earth's time seeking out Lailah's soul in the in-between, to no avail. Certain now that Lailah is truly lost, he silences the voices that protest, telling him that she lives—for nothing has ever been more inconceivable. But when Gabriel comes face to face with the very definition of the impossible, he has a choice to make. That choice will set Gabriel on a new path, one that will change the course of his future forever.
Both short stories tie into the series story arc, but can be enjoyed as standalones too!
And when you’re done, and you’ve page flipped your way through Lailah and Gabriel, I’ll see you at the edge of the end for that aforementioned bungee jump!
JONAH – On sale Feb 7th in all good book stores.
5 Things You Don’t Know about Mary E. Pearson
- I used to surf. When I was like, 14. Sometimes I saw fins in the water. I would hope they belonged to dolphins.
- When I met S.E. Hinton I was so nervous I babbled on for two minutes without taking a breath.
- I love ducks. I love everything about them—the way they waddle, the way they quack, the way they nibble at your fingers. But I’ve never had one because of dogs. Golden retrievers love them in a whole different way.
- I was just in Vienna and visited the Museum of Torture. It was underground in a former WWII bunker and I have to admit to a little trepidation walking down dark stairs into who knows what.
- I give myself pep talks as I write. And write pep notes too. It takes a long time to write a book and a writer needs all the boosts they can get. Here’s one for you: “You can do it.” Remember that.
In the Remnant Chronicles a princess must find her way in a reborn world, through cultures built on myth, fairy tale, and the disconnected pieces of a world gone by. It is a story about the resilience of humanity and the short reach of history. But mostly the Remnant Trilogy is about Lia, and her timeless story of love and sacrifice.
The final book in the Remnant Chronicles, The Beauty of Darkness is out August 2nd. Click here to learn more.
The Beauty of Darkness Blog Tour
Here’s the schedule for THE BEAUTY OF DARKNESS blog tour! We can’t wait to delve deeper in the the Kingdoms of the Remnant with Mary E. Pearson and these amazing book bloggers!
July 20 - Mundiemoms - "The Covers"
July 21 - vilma'sbookblog - Review, comments on series as a whole + Giveaway!
July 22 - Books & Wine - "The Histories"
July 23 - Adventures of a Book Junkie - "Kaden"
July 24 - bookiemoji
July 25 - Step Into Fiction - "True Love, War and Things That Last"
July 26 - RavenousReader - "Rafe"
July 27 - Dark Faerie Tales - Fancasting
July 28 - apedulla - Review of first chapters, comments on series as a whole + Giveaway!
July 29 - twochicksonbooks - "The Map"
July 30 - thebookhookup - "Love Triangles"
July 31 - artsyreadergirl - "World-Building"
August 1 - Jenuine Cupcakes - "Lia"
August 2 - My Friends are Fiction - Review of first chapters, comments on series as a whole + Giveaway!
August 3 - WhatSarahRead - The Remnant Chronicles Mood Board
August 4 - Eater of Books - Swoon Thursday Post
August 5 - Belle of the Literati - "Love Triangles"
August 6 - Fierce Reads
Learn more about The Remnant Chronicles!
5 things you don’t know about Mariko Tamaki
1) I eat at least one frozen food a day.
2) I have long aspired to find the perfect black dress and then wear only that dress for the rest of my life.
3) I find it very hard not to buy every stuffed rabbit I see.
4) My heart sings 80's dance music when I'm happy.
5) I write with a fountain pen because I think it's cool.
Learn more about Mariko and her new book Saving Montgomery Sole!
Q&A with Featured Author Mariko Tamaki
Mariko Tamaki is the author of Saving Montgomery Sole and our Fierce Reads Featured Author. Since June is LGBT Pride Month we wanted to ask Mariko some questions regarding the LGBT characters that appear in Saving Montgomery Sole.
If you haven’t read Saving Montgomery Sole here’s a little summary for you:
Montgomery Sole is a square peg in a small town, forced to go to a school full of jocks and girls who don't even know what irony is. It would all be impossible if it weren't for her best friends, Thomas and Naoki. The three are also the only members of Jefferson High's Mystery Club, dedicated to exploring the weird and unexplained, from ESP and astrology to super powers and mysterious objects. Then there's the Eye of Know, the possibly powerful crystal amulet Monty bought online. Will it help her predict the future or fight back against the ignorant jerks who make fun of Thomas for being gay or Monty for having lesbian moms? Maybe the Eye is here just in time, because the newest resident of their small town is scarier than mothmen, poltergeists, or, you know, gym. Thoughtful, funny, and painfully honest, Montgomery Sole is someone you'll want to laugh and cry with over a big cup of frozen yogurt with extra toppings.
And here’s the Q&A!
Q: Why was it important for you to write a book featuring LGBTQ characters? Simplest answer is because I'm queer and I think queer characters are awesome. The social answer is that those characters are there because LGBTQ people are a part of our landscape and culture. There's also probably a part of me that is making up for a lack of lesbians in the books I read as a teen, and a part of me that is responding to the way queer characters often appeared in literature and movies (and TV) I did find, who were often either there as a +1 or a tragic figure. The tragic stuff used to just gut me. Like, all I wanted was a nice queer happily ever after and it felt like that was never going to happen in the books and movies I saw. At one point in my life I promised myself that I would never write a character who discovered she was gay and then burst into tears. Like, that is NOT for me. That's not to say that that doesn't happen or that there's anything wrong with that, only that that story is one I read a lot as a kid, and it's one I think is changing for a lot of queer kids today, and I'd like to reflect that in the characters I create. I am being the change I want to see, essentially.
Q: Who are some of your favorite LGBTQ characters? (in books or on screen) One of my favorite LGBTQ movies of all time is Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy, which is an oldy but a goody; a funny and tragic story of the loves of a gay performer in New York. My other favorite queer movie is Paris is Burning, which is about the drag ball culture in NYC in the late 1980's, I think it's the starter lexicon reference for every young LGBTQ person or anyone interested in drag culture. Relatedly I am a huge RuPaul fan and follow the show and its queens pretty religiously. In terms of books I grew up on Jeanette Winterson (The Passion and Oranges are Not the Only Fruit) eventually graduating to the plays of Tony Kushner (this is of course a very short list and there are many more). Comics wise (ditto), to name a very few, I love Alison Bechdel's work, I love the queer characters in the Lumberjanes. Book wise I am a huge fan of David Levithan's work and more recently I loved Raziel Reid's When Everything Feels like the Movies and Kate Scelsa's Fans of the Impossible Life.
Q: What's something about Montgomery's parents you want the reader to know? That families with queer parents are like any other families that fight and get frustrated and celebrate and are awesome. They cut oranges into sections for soccer games and watch too much TV and they have crayons on the floor and laundry to do and cats and all that stuff. And they're not always like other families, in that they have to deal with stuff like, for example, celebrating "Father's Day" at school when there are two moms and no father in their family. I am so proud of my friends in queer families who are raising kids and dealing with regular parenting stuff on top of dealing with outsiders' expectations of what a family should look like, or what "makes" a family a "real" family.
Q: There is a lot of hate in your book, from Montgomery and those around her. Why do you think people respond to hate with hate? Because hate is incredibly scary. And being scared feels pretty awful. I think for Monty, who responds to the bullies around her by lashing out, there's a lot of frustration and a lot of fear she's holding: fear for herself and for the people she cares about. It's hard to hold yourself in those moments, to know you will be ok, to know that you don't have to be defined by the people around you. The book is kind of a spectrum of responses to conflict. I like to think at the end Monty gets a little taste of some different ways to deal her fears. At the very least, she realizes she doesn't have to be alone, which is a pretty great thing to know.
Q: There are a lot of allusions to The Outsiders. What's the significance? I try to reference a book I read in high school in almost every book I write, in part because those narratives had such a big influence on me when I was a kid. I didn't actually get to read The Outsiders in school but it's an amazing story. It also is kind of a perfect fit with Monty's experience. The Outsiders is a book about being part of a group that's perceived as less than, as not normal, not the status quo. For Monty the book is about her, and her struggle as part of the queer community (in that she is part of a queer family), which is why she's so annoyed that the school is opening The Outsiders up to the likes of the jocks and popular kids by making it the school play. But really The Outsiders a book about everyone. It's a book about a struggle a lot of teenagers can relate to, the struggle to be your own person, the struggle to define yourself outside of people's expectations and prejudices, the struggle to love your community while knowing that being a part of that community means dealing with conflict and stereotypes. I also just got a real kick out of imagining The Outsiders as a school play. I bet it could have some great musical numbers.
Learn more about Mariko Tamaki on our Fierce Reads Featured author page!
Author Guest Post from H.A. Swain, author of Gifted.
The idea for Gifted (what if genius could be bought) hit me like a brick wall to the head…
No wait, that’s not right. Smacking my head into a brick wall gave me the idea for Gifted.
Literally.
I was snowtubing. Yep, snowtubing. Not something awesome like snowboarding or hang gliding or Parkour. The laziest version of skiing did me in when our inflatable tube went goofy and smacked into an embankment. My head bounced off the wall. I saw stars and heard music. Then I threw up.
Public Service Announcement: Always wear a helmet!
A concussion for a writer is kind of like an ACL tear for an athlete. You’re sidelined. Out of the game. A bruised brain means no reading, no writing, and absolutely no looking at screens.
While I was recovering, I tried typing with my eyes closed…
…and listening to podcasts…
(okay, lots of podcasts,) but mostly I had to rest which meant, I had time to think.
So, I pondered things like flying cars and the future of fame and dragonfly drone paparazzi.
And why some people get bonked on the head and suddenly become geniuses while another person has to lay low listening to podcasts (seriously, a ridiculous amount of podcasts) because her brain feels as if it will pop out of her head like a piece of toast.
That’s true about people becoming savants after head trauma, by the way. Not for me, obv—it still took me over a year to write Gifted. But there are people who suffer brain damage from an accident or illness then wake up as a math genius or a musical virtuoso or a memory wizard. Neurologists don’t understand exactly what happens in the brain, except that perhaps some circuits get rewired and suddenly…
What if people could purposefully rejigger the brain to induce savant abilities? Sounds crazy, right? Then again, think about how as a culture we push children to be soccer stars and violin wunderkinds and piano prodigies way ahead of schedule.
If purchasing savant abilities for a child was an option, I think some families would sign up. There would be no need for expensive educations, private lessons, summer camps, or grueling internships to prepare children for the future. Just zap the brain when teens turn sixteen and they’ll be set for life. Sounds great, doesn’t it? I’m not so sure.
Because most likely, turning teens into geniuses would be the provenance of the wealthy. And as our ol’ pal economist Thomas Piketty says, “…no hypocrisy is too great when economic and financial elites are obliged to defend their interests.”
(Thanks, Thomas!)
In other words, if the wealthiest members of a society owned artistic genius, then everybody else would be screwed.
Which brings me to Orpheus and Zimri—the couple at the heart of Gifted.
Orpheus is a plute—the son of the guy who owns almost all music as well as the patent for Acquired Savant Ability surgeries. (Plus, Orpheus has a really cool flying car!)
But Zimri is a plebe—a picker in a fulfillment center and a natural-born musical prodigy who hijacks the airwaves to release her illegal songs into the world.
What happens when someone like Orpheus meets someone like Zimri and they fall in love?
Will they…
[Pun alert]
A) Make beautiful music together? [Groan]
Or
B) Will Orpheus’s father plan something sinister to keep them apart and ensure that music stays in the hands of the elite.
Hint: Pick B then read Gifted to find out what happens!
- H.A. Swain, Gifted
Saving Montgomery Sole Blog Tour!
Celebrate Pride Month this June with Mariko Tamaki's wonderful novel Saving Montgomery Sole! We're so pleased to be celebrating the diversity and inclusion of Pride with this wonderful novel about Montgomery Sole, who tries to find her place in the world when her two moms have given her a different perspective on what a typical life is like.
Check out the blog tour for reviews, interviews, and a give-away!
- June 13th -- Read Write Love
- June 14th --Trisha Jenn Reads
- June 15th -- The Paper Worlds
- June 16th -- Books, TV, and More -- Oh My!
- June 17th -- Books and Ladders
- June 18th -- Aphonic Sara
- June 19th -- Bayy in Wonderland
- June 20th -- YA Under My Skin
- June 21st -- Read Sleep Repeat
- June 22nd -- Shooting Stars Mag
- June 23rd -- Stay on the Page
- June 24th -- The Queen Reads
Learn more about Saving Montgomery Sole!
Q&A with Becoming Jinn author, LORI GOLDSTEIN
What did you want to be when you grew up?
For a long time, I wanted to be a daytime soap opera actress. That’s right, not just an actress, specifically a daytime soaps actress. From an early age (earlier than was appropriate, I’m sure!), I watched soaps every day after school. My grandfather did too, and I can still remember us debating the storylines—the more outrageous the better for both of us!
When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve always been in the world of the written word. I was a journalism major in college, and my early jobs had me doing a bit of everything: writing, design, and copyediting, but all in the nonfiction world. While I’ve been an avid reader since I was a kid, I never thought of myself as a creative writer. I was a newspaper girl. Then one day, my husband suggested I write something about being short (I’m only 4’10”). What’s frustrating to me is pretty funny to everyone else: like climbing a step stool to reach the clothes in my stackable washer/dryer; wedging my toes in between cans of beans on the bottom shelf in the grocery store so I can lay a finger on the olive oil at the very top (quite the dangerous—and potentially messy—balancing act); trying to find a pair of heels without sparkly hearts on them (because kids’ shoes better suit my tiny feet); I could go on and on. But that idea of my husband’s might be the best one he’s ever had because in writing that “memoir” of sorts, my creative side was coaxed out. I went from that to writing my first fiction manuscript, which, over three long, hard years, taught me how to actually use those creative juices to write a novel, and then came Azra and Becoming Jinn, and the rest is history.
What were your hobbies as a kid? What are your hobbies now?
As a kid, I wasn’t into sports. I was a reader, always. I’d come home from the library every week with a stack of books so high I could barely see over it. And the next week, I was bugging my mom to drive me back for a new stack. My family is Italian-Irish, and food was very important to us. My mom went back to work as a nurse when I was in fifth grade and she worked a seven a.m. to seven p.m. shift. This meant she wasn’t home to make dinner. I had learned to cook from her at an early age, and I became the chef in her absence. It’s something I’m grateful to have done, because today, aside from reading and writing, cooking is my next love. I’m also now a tiny bit into sports—at least swimming. I love to be in the water, and it’s a great place to let my mind wander as I plot my books.
What was your first job, and what was your “worst” job?
My first job, aside from a bit of babysitting, was at a picnic facility that businesses or private groups could rent to host a corporate outing or event. Two of my friends worked there, and the place was largely “run” by about six to eight young teenagers. Of course there were adult supervisors, but the family that owned the facility put a lot of trust in us. We cleaned the grounds, set up the tables, made sure sporting equipment was available, and we cooked and served the food. Often for the smaller picnics, we did everything ourselves. I still remember putting on this giant pot of water to boil a hundred ears of corn all by myself. The responsibility I had then was pretty impressive, now that I think about it. It’s kind of amazing what teens can accomplish when you trust them. We were just expected to do it, and we did it (and yeah, we also did some things I won’t write about here . . . but our jobs came first!).
My worst job was at a call center, also in high school. People signed up for a change to their heating system that would save them money. My job was to call these individuals and schedule the appointment. This should have been easy, but the amount of people who refused to believe they signed up for the call was probably more than fifty percent. So then I became a salesperson, explaining what they had already agreed to and coaxing them to agree once more. It was draining, but it did teach me to have a lot of respect for folks who work in telephone sales—it’s a tough job.
Where do you write your books?
My favorite place to write is on the wicker couch on my back porch. Living in New England, I only get to write from there a few months of the year. I pile on blankets and have been known to plug in a lamp for extra light when my brain keeps going after dark. Being outside keeps me more focused and creative than anywhere else. . . . If only Azra would grant my wish for a beach house, I’d be set (and a prolific writer!).
What sparked your imagination for Becoming Jinn?
Becoming Jinn was inspired by a name I heard on the news. A few years ago, there was a devastating earthquake in Turkey. A mother and her infant daughter were pulled from the rubble and both miraculously survived. That baby’s name was Azra, which is my protagonist in Becoming Jinn.
YA paranormal and supernatural has always been a genre I loved, and in hearing this name and thinking of what would be a cool story for this girl, somehow it all sparked the idea of writing a book featuring Jinn, which for some reason I knew was the term for spirits derived from North African and Middle Eastern lore.
In terms of inspiration, it’s hard to have a book with magic in it without acknowledging the master that is J. K. Rowling, but I knew I also loved contemporary books with humor, like those from Rainbow Rowell. And as a kid, I read a lot of Stephen King, which is paranormal in a contemporary setting. All of that, subconsciously at least, influenced the direction I took with Becoming Jinn.
What challenges do you face in the writing process, and how do you overcome them?
I think the greatest challenge in writing, for me, personally, is not knowing where the story is going. That can paralyze me for weeks. I’ve learned that I am a plotter—an uber plotter, in fact. My outline for Becoming Jinn was a scene-by-scene beat sheet that was eighty pages long. Taking the time to think and plot before my fingers hit the keyboard allows the story to come better and faster. And the surprises that come when writing, which always do come, somehow better fit the world because I know how to integrate them.
If you could live in any fictional world, what would it be?
I’m currently obsessed with Game of Thrones, so I’m going to say Westeros. Though that’s a hard place to be . . . maybe Highgarden is the safest spot? For now at least. . . .
What was your favorite book when you were a kid? Do you have a favorite book now?
As I kid, I loved From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. It’s about a girl, Claudia, who runs away to live in a museum. I was a kid who occasionally dreamt of running away, so she was my hero! She was smart and clever. I learned so much from that book. I don’t think I really knew what a museum was before I read it. It opened my eyes to so many things.
Now, it’s hard for me to claim a favorite book because I’m continuously awed and inspired by what authors are doing, especially on the other side of the page as an author myself and knowing how very hard the process is. That said, the standout series for me will always be Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling is a masterful storyteller who puts characters at the forefront of her books, right up there with plot. She’s the gold standard forever for me.
If you could travel in time, where would you go and what would you do?
For a long time, I was on a pretty heavy historical fiction kick, especially everything surrounding the English court, from Anne Boleyn on. I’d love to visit that time and see those great castles and estates in action (of course, the one thing I would not do is pique the interest of King Henry VIII . . . doesn’t end well for anyone!).
What advice do you wish someone had given you when you were younger?
That things change. All the time. As a kid, I remember feeling like I would always be a certain way, that things would always be a certain way. And while many things can’t change or are hard to change, there’s a lot that you have control over. You can effect change in your life. I never thought I’d have a book (let alone two) on a bookstore or library shelf, and yet here I am. I never thought I could stand in front of a crowd and speak without my palms sweating and my stomach curdling, and yet, here I’ve found that being on a panel at a festival, talking about my books and writing, is one of the most enjoyable things in this second career of mine. The fact that I say “second career” is itself a change I wouldn’t have thought possible when I was younger. I think the trick here is knowing what you want to and can change, and then learning to accept and work with the things you can’t.
What do you want readers to remember about your books?
I want readers to be able to relate to the struggle and journey of my characters. Because whether a character is a genie, a vampire, or a “normal” person, every good story is about that character finding him- or herself and his or her path in life. In Becoming Jinn and the sequel, Circle of Jinn, I wanted to explore what it would be like to be the one granting the wishes of others while your own remain unfulfilled. I wanted to write a strong female character, who, though not on the run from the government or some evil corporation, has her own battles to fight from within herself as she struggles to discover where she truly belongs. As a teen and even as a young adult, this was something I dealt with, and though I didn’t have to learn to use magic on top of it, the emotions are something I can identify with—something I think most readers, especially teen readers, can identify with. I would hope readers would read this series and understand that while the struggle may be overwhelming when you are in the midst of it, you can come out the other side—especially when you let your friends and family in to help you.
What would you do if you ever stopped writing?
I would be an editor. My roots are in editing, and I still do some freelance copyediting and manuscript editing when my schedule allows. Copyediting lets me use my detail-oriented brain, and I love finding all the missing words and typos to ensure a polished end product. And I also love digging into the manuscript from a content standpoint, using all I’ve learned from my own editors, fellow writers, and from serving as a mentor in several online writing contests. Selfishly, as a reader, there’s nothing better than being able to help other writers produce fantastic stories.
Do you have any strange or funny habits? Did you as a kid?
When I’m writing, listening to music with words distracts me from the words I’m trying to extract from my brain and get down on the page. And yet pure silence causes my mind to wander. My sweet spot is listening to instrumental music, sometimes classical, sometimes something like Bonobo, but most often, it’s one thing played on repeat: the Downton Abbey soundtrack.
I listened to those songs nonstop while writing Becoming Jinn and Circle of Jinn, and they’ve become the soundtrack to my writing life (minus the few songs with vocals!). The two albums together last for almost two hours, and when the first few notes sound, I’m instantly in writing mode. The familiarity and repetition allow me to push out all other distractions and focus solely on my writing.
As a kid, I went through a phase (and when I say “phase,” I mean from probably age five through age eleven) where I’d eat only mashed potatoes. Not baked, not fried (I’ve never been a French fry fan), mashed. Mashed = a lot of work. My mom got so sick of peeling, cutting, boiling, and mashing that she gave me instant mashed potatoes, thinking I’d hate them and finally eat other food. She was wrong. My palate was indiscriminate, and I ate those cardboard-y potatoes right up!
What would your readers be most surprised to learn about you?
I love all things vampire. Always have, always will. I am obsessed with The Vampire Diaries. Obsessed. I blame (owe a thanks to?) Anne Rice’s The Vampire Lestat for sucking me into all things vamp as a kid.
However, I am a total wuss when it comes to scary movies. Total. Wuss.
Learn more about BECOMING JINN! And look out for book two CIRCLE OF JINN!
Deleted Scene from NIL ON FIRE by Lynne Matson
Hi everyone! Today I’m sharing a scene I deleted from NIL ON FIRE during the revision process. Here is a scene from early in the book, where Skye reaches out to Charley, calling her in the middle of the night. Skye, who is struggling with terrible nightmares from her time on Nil, is seeking reassurance that everything will be okay. That she will be okay…
Here you go! Happy reading!
I gently set my journal on the bedside table. My favorite pen followed. Sometimes I actually woke up with my pen in hand. It reminded me of waking up clutching my rock sling on Nil.
Why does everything go back to Nil? I thought.
I wished I could let it go.
But Nil refused to let me go, or at least that’s how it felt lately.
And it made absolutely no sense.
Maybe it’s not making sense because you’re so tired, I scolded myself. It was after two in the morning, my bedtime long past.
In the bed, Rives lay asleep, silent and beautiful, the sheet casually thrown over one leg. Despite myself, I smiled. This was Rives. The gorgeous boy I loved more than life itself, a boy who had retained his kindness and humanity after surviving a year at Nil’s mercy. He faced me, eyes closed, his chest rising and falling in sleep. I still felt grateful for the gift Nil had given us—a future, together. The way Rives looked at me when he was awake made the rest of the world disappear; the intensity of his gaze always reflected his heart, and his depth of feeling took my breath away. I didn’t have to tell him I felt the same. He knew. We both knew, thanks to a parting gift from Nil.
Lately though, Rives’s expression had shifted. I caught him studying me at odd moments, as if he were working out a puzzle, trying to make something fit. But my haunting darkness didn’t fit anywhere in this world; it belonged in the past, so rather than bringing my nightmares into the open, I poured them into my journal instead. Surely the cathartic release would come any day now, the release that would banish my dream, taking the darkness with it.
I didn’t want to bring the darkness into the daylight or into Rives’s head.
Sometimes I wondered if he saw it too: the darkness, and the dreams. I couldn’t be the only one haunted by Nil. Surely everyone struggled after returning from that crazy place, a place where you left friends behind. A place where you lost friends like clockwork, some to gates, some to death. Surely every Nil survivor had nightmares. I know Jillian did when she first got back. Zane, too.
But they don’t have them every night, my conscience whispered. And not the same one.
Then again, maybe they did. Maybe they’d all already beaten the darkness. Maybe they could tell me how.
But I didn’t want to ask Jillian. She knew what I’d done, the choice I’d made, and I knew she’d had enough pain. I didn’t dare risk dragging her back through her nightmares if she’d managed to banish them for once and for all. And if she hadn’t, she couldn’t help me.
But there was one Nil survivor who could.
Hoping for a lifeline and feeling exceptionally sneaky, I crept into the bathroom, closed the door, and dialed Charley.
She answered on the second ring. “Skye!” Her drawl oozed through the line. “How’s Europe? How’s Rives?”
“Great,” I whispered. “Both are great.”
“Tell Rives I said hey, okay?” I could hear her smile. “Wait,” Charley said abruptly. “It’s the middle of the night. What are you doing up? And why are you whispering?”
“Because I’m in the bathroom, trying not the wake Rives.” It sounded as ridiculous as it felt. “Charley, this might sound crazy, but did you have nightmares when you got back? Like maybe even the same nightmare? And when did they stop?” Please say they stopped.
When she finally spoke, her voice was so soft she may as well have been whispering in a closed hotel bathroom too. “When I first got back,” Charley whispered, “it was awful. I dreamed about Thad, every night.” Buried pain rippled though her voice, a reflection of the Charley I’d first met. “I’d dream I was back on Nil, searching for Thad, desperate to find him. But I never did.” She paused. “Why? Are you dreaming about Paulo?”
I was surprised Charley remembered his name.
“At first. But now—” I stopped, unable to put the darkness into words. “It’s hard to explain.”
“Oh Skye, I know it’s awful coming back. I promise it gets better. The thing is, when I left Nil, I wasn’t expecting to leave yet, as weird as that sounds. So not only was I missing Thad, but I felt like I’d left things—unfinished. In hindsight, I think it was a bit of survivor’s guilt. But it’s different for Paulo, okay? You didn’t abandon him. Remember, unlike the rest of us, Paulo chose to go to Nil. And he chose to stay.”
Did he? I wondered. Both choices felt forced to me, for different reasons.
“Skye?”
I realized I’d drifted, again.
“Charley,” I heard the tremor in my voice and I hated it, “I don’t dream about Paulo anymore; I haven’t in weeks. But I still dream of Nil, at least I think I do. I dream of blackness, the kind inside the gates. Just pure black.” I sighed. “It’s weird. Who dreams of darkness?”
Charley took a moment to answer. “What does Rives think about your nightmares?”
“I haven’t told him,” I admitted. “I don’t want to worry him. He carried more burdens on Nil than anyone ever should’ve carried. He doesn’t deserve more worry weight here.”
“I know what you’re saying, but I guarantee you’re worrying him to death anyway. Nightmares don’t hide well, Skye. Neither do secrets.”
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
“Can I ask you something?” she said.
“Of course.”
“That last day on Nil. When everyone was leaving through the gate. After Rives left, did you talk to Paulo for a while?”
I thought back. “Define ‘a while.’”
“Minutes,” Charley said without hesitation.
“I don’t think so. Why?”
“Because until you and Rives, everyone came through like clockwork. At least that’s what Zane told me. Jillian, too. They said it took so long for you to show up after Rives that they were terrified you didn’t make it. Jillian said Rives was going crazy waiting for you.”
Did it take me longer to come through that last gate?
So much of that day was a blur, obscured by fear and purpose and smoke and death. But I clearly remembered the sense of being held inside the gate for one heartbeat too long, feeling trapped between before Rives pulling me through.
“But I made it,” I said brilliantly. Duh. I closed my eyes. Sleep deprivation was clearly taking its toll.
“I know, Skye.” Charley’s voice was quiet. “All I’m saying is give yourself credit for surviving something awful, and give yourself time to grieve and to heal. I think you spent more time in that darkness between worlds than anyone, and so you have some memories and ghosts to battle that others don’t. The time between is a dark, dark place.”
There are no coincidences on Nil, Johan had once said.
I shivered.
Had the island done something to me in the darkness? Had it touched me, somehow left a mark on me, like an invisible island brand? Or just kept me long enough for its shadow to cling to me like invisible sludge when I finally escaped? Had it read my mind?
Abruptly I felt vulnerable, more exposed than when I’d woken naked on Nil. I also felt crazier than ever. Lovely.
“Wow, I almost freaked myself out there.” Charley’s forced laugh crackled through the line. “Sorry, Skye. I just meant, don’t be too hard on yourself. And please, give yourself credit. You’re one of the toughest people I know. Rives would agree with me.” I heard the true smile in her voice. “So do me a favor, okay?”
“Sure.”
“Talk to Rives. And more than anything, don’t give that terrible place any more power over you here, okay Skye?”
“Okay,” I said.
But that’s two favors, I thought. And the latter seemed beyond my control.
I hope you enjoyed that deleted scene! Thank you to all my readers, for loving the Nil world, and for staying until the end. NIL ON FIRE is for you.:)
xo
Lynne
NIL ON FIRE Blog Tour Schedule!
The epic conclusion to the Nil Series is here!
On the mysterious island of Nil, the rules are set. You have exactly 365 days to escape—or you die.
Learn more about the series and join us for the blog tour!
Tuesday, May 17
http://www.toofondofbooks.com, Interview
Wednesday, May 18
http://www.readingteen.net, Guest Post
Thursday, May 19
http://www.xpressoreads.com, Guest Post
Friday, May 20
http://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com, Mood Board
Saturday, May 21
http://www.bookrookreviews.com, Guest Post
Sunday, May 22
http://scifichick.com, Excerpt
Wednesday, May 25
http://eaterofbooks.blogspot.com, Farewell Letter
Friday, May 27
http://abackwardsstory.blogspot.com, Feature Post
Sunday, May 29
Fierce Reads, Deleted Scene
Monday, May 30
http://www.bookaddictsguide.com, Guest Post: Survival Tips
Tuesday, May 31
http://www.wastepaperprose.com, Interview
CIRCLE OF JINN Blog Tour
Being Jinn is Azra's new reality. As she grants wishes under the watchful eye of the Afrit council, she remains torn between her two worlds--human and Jinn. Soon secrets spill, and rumors of an uprising become real as the Afrit's reach extends beyond the underground world of Janna. Straddling the line becomes impossible. Aware of her unique abilities, Azra must not just face but embrace her destiny. But when the role she must play and those she must protect expand to include a circle of Jinn greater than her own, Azra will be forced to risk everything. A risk that means there's everything to lose, and at the same time, everything to gain-for herself and her entire Jinn race. In this dramatic sequel to Becoming Jinn, Azra's story comes to a heartfelt and thrilling conclusion.
For author interviews, guest posts, and giveaways check out the blog tour schedule below!
Wednesday, May 11
curling-up-with-a-good-book.blogspot.com
Friday, May 13
Saturday, May 14
Sunday, May 15
Tuesday, May 17
5 Things you didn’t know about Cecelia Ahern
- I used to be in a pop band "Shimma" when I was 18.
- When I was 14 I wrote a novel BEANS ON TOAST (AND A BOTTLE OF BEER)
- I wrote my first novel when I was 21.
- I co-created "Samantha Who?"
- I still suck my thumb & have a blanket called "Sniffy" !
Stone Field by Christy Lenzi Blog Tour
1. You’re a debut author, what is it like having your first book published?
You know that feeling in school when you’ve worked super hard on a personal essay for a class, and you turn it in, and the teacher gives it an excellent grade, even writing praise in the margins? You can tell she really gets what you were saying by the comments she writes. It feels so great that she connected with your words and she values what you wrote. Makes you feel like you’re flying.
And then she announces that she will now read it in front of the class.
Lord. That feeling of falling. That feeling of wanting to snatch the essay back. Maybe people will laugh or roll their eyes when they hear your words, or maybe worse—they won’t even care about the thoughts you worked so hard to express. But still, even though you sit there, mortified, wondering what will happen, there’s a part of you inside that is still happy and proud and excited and flying even higher than before.
It’s sort of like that.
2. What was the inspiration to write a retelling of Wuthering Heights? How long have you been thinking of this version?
I’ve always been intrigued by certain aspects of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights that tugged at my imagination and sparked my interest in doing a re-imagining. I wanted to highlight Catherine’s guiding belief that her soul was somehow entwined with another’s to the point where she says, “he’s more myself than I am,” and of course, the famous line: “I am Heathcliff!” Related to this is her conviction that she belongs to the wild remote landscape in which she lives. She would rather haunt the land she loves than go to Heaven when she dies. I wanted to understand such beliefs and their implications, so I envisioned a troubled, slightly unhinged, but passionate young woman and her beloved land, and let her story play out.
The setting of Stone Field is inspired by my childhood home in southern Missouri—the Ozark highland region. My connection to the wild landscape, culture, history and mood of the place is deep-rooted and I grew up exploring the hills, woods, caves, creeks and springs. Reading Wuthering Heights always gave me the sense that Emily Bronte felt a deep connection to her remote piece of the Earth, too, so it seemed natural to me that if I were to re-imagine the story, that is where it must take place.
The writer Annie Dillard said it takes ten years to write a book. For me, looking back, perhaps that is true, because I see elements in Stone Field that I have been pondering and writing about for a long time. So although the actual writing of Stone Field took 1-2 years, the development of it in my mind took closer to ten.
3. What is the hardest challenge with writing a retelling of a literary classic?
I would have thought that the hardest part would be to make sure I clearly adhered to the original in all the major plot points, but it turned out that the most difficult aspect was learning when to let go of it for the sake of my own story. For instance, when I first wrote Stone Field, I spent the entire second half of the book on Cat and Stonefield’s descendants who were haunted by Cat, because I wanted to follow the Wuthering Heights storyline. But going that direction made my story feel absurd and disjointed for various reasons. It wasn’t working, and I decided to rewrite the last half of the book, concentrating on Cat and Stonefield.
4. In what ways are Catrina and Stonefield similar to their counterparts in the original Wuthering Heights? How are they different?
Stonefield, like Heathcliff, has a murky past. The little we know of both men at first is that they are dark-skinned and destitute and are taken in by a man with two children. Like Heathcliff, Stonefield forms an animosity toward the abusive son and develops a deep attachment to the sister. The attachment between them is deemed unsuitable by those around them, and Stonefield, like Heathcliff, reacts with resentment and violence when spurned.
Catrina shares Catherine’s self-absorbed intensity and fiercely independent nature. Like Catherine, Cat freely roams the wild landscape with the boy her father has taken in and she is certain their souls are twins.
The significant divergence in Stone Field is that Stonefield’s character is seen through Catrina’s eyes, not from an outsider’s point of view. Such a perspective allows us to see a kinder, gentler version of his character at times. Also, with Cat as unreliable narrator, we see a side of her not seen in Catherine. Cat struggles with a mental and emotional instability that, combined with her disregard for societal expectations, drives her behavior to extremes. Another difference is that when Stonefield and Cat meet, they are teens, not children. Instead of a shared childhood, they share a darkness that has fallen over their pasts. Cat wants to forget what troubles her, but Stonefield fights his amnesia.
5. How did you settle on the Civil War for the backdrop in this updated version?
Connected to that sense of place, my childhood home in Missouri, was my interest in the history of the place as it related to my own people. Growing up, I heard stories about our infamous ancestor, Bushwhacker Bill Wilson, who once lived on the same piece of property that I did. When the Union soldiers tried to conscript him into the army during the Civil War, Bill resisted and became a violent outlaw. His story horrified and fascinated me and I began to do research about the area. The wildness of the time and place seemed to suit a story similar to Wuthering Heights, whose fierce main characters perplexed and intrigued me as much as Bushwhacker Bill did. It was satisfying to gather these interests together into one project.
6. Without spoiling the ending, can you explain why you chose to end Stone Field in a very different way than Wuthering Heights ends?
I tried several versions, actually. I wrote two drafts in which I followed the Wuthering Heights’ storyline into the later generation of characters. One version involved the immediate descendants and the other jumped ahead into present day. Both had to do with breaking a curse. Neither was working for me and seemed to weaken the story I was trying to tell, so I decided to concentrate on Cat and Stonefield and try to capture the essence of the Wuthering Heights ending in those final moments.
7. Why do you think the original is considered a classic, what makes it timeless, and how did you incorporate those aspects into your retelling?
I think the strength of its setting and mood definitely contributes to the book’s enduring power. Wuthering Heights’s Yorkshire moors of Northern England provide a setting that is almost a main character in the novel. Bronte brings to life the isolated wildness of the place so skillfully that a fierce, dark, lonesome mood hangs over the entire story like a mist. It even seems to permeate the characters, themselves. You feel it on every page.
In Stone Field, I reimagined the moors as the rolling hills of a Missouri wilderness—a remote, untamed region; wild and unforgiving. It’s a land that hides secrets in its dark caves, woods, and deep springs. Cat understands a land like that and shares the mood of the place. I felt it would be a fitting tribute to Catherine and her moors.
8. Did you discover new things in the original Wuthering Heights that you hadn’t noticed before from writing a retelling?
Yes! I love when a familiar book reveals little nuggets I never noticed before. I experienced one of those surprises when I was reading about Catherine struggling with her decision to marry Linton and she confides to Nelly the spiritual connection she believes exists between herself and Heathcliff. She tells Nelly about a dream she had:
“Heaven did not seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; and the angels were so angry that they flung me out into the middle of the heath on the top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for joy.”
Heath on the top of Wuthering Heights. Why had I never seen heath-on- the-heights that way before? Wuthering Heights=Heathcliff, and Catherine wanted to spend eternity with both.
9. What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve received?
When I was first researching my agent, Erin, hoping to discover if we might make a good fit, I read a piece about her that included some advice for writers that has stuck with me all these years. It’s brilliant, yet it’s something I’ve never heard anyone else in the writing community say when asked for writing advice. She said something to this effect: Get away from your writing, sometimes, and seize the day! How can we write about the world if we don’t go out and engage with it and explore it? Your experiences will not only make you a more interesting person, but they will provide a wealth of inspiration and knowledge for your writing.
10. What are you working on next?
Right now I’m experimenting with an idea that weaves together two story lines separated by millennia. One is set in King Hammurabi’s Babylon and follows a young man who gets drawn into a political intrigue involving a stolen cylinder seal. The other storyline follows an American young woman who is a soldier in the US Military. She’s caught in a political intrigue involving stolen artifacts, set in Iraq’s National Museum during the US invasion of Baghdad in 2003. I don’t know if I can actually do it, but I’m going to give it my best shot and see what happens.
- Christy Lenzi
Five Things You Might Not Know About Chandler Baker
Hello, @chandlerbakerbooks here! And I’m so excited that the very first installment in my High School Horror series is out this month, beginning with Teen Frankenstein. While waiting to introduce readers to the entire cast of Hollow Pines High, I realize that I’m filled to the brim with first-day-of-school jitters and figure that, this being my first series and all, I’m kind of the new kid. So, allow me to introduce myself by sharing 5 things you might not know about me:
- I love to read, but between working as a lawyer, writing and a 5-month-old baby, when I get to sneak a book in at the end of the day, I often fall asleep before I get to the second page. So, I get a lot of my “reading” in through audiobooks, which I play at double or triple speed. This drives my husband crazy as he’s often stuck listening to super-speed books (which don’t bother me a bit) while I exercise or do chores.
- Nobody ever guesses that I’m a huge Eminem fan! One of the first gifts I got for my daughter was a CD of Eminem songs re-mastered as lullabies. Plus, I just recently stood for 6 hours to get a good spot to see Eminem at Austin City Limits. My vital organs were almost crushed during a stampede of fans , but it was totally worth it.
- My first “serious” attempt at writing a book was during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) while I was a junior in college. I wrote a terrible book about a whimsical apocalyptic flood that sent a church with five people inside floating all over the world. It was as weird and random as it sounds and I have no clue what made me write it! It was terrible, but I finished my 50,000 words that month and I’ve been writing novels ever since!
- My husband and I watch a different horror movie every night of October, which means I spend an entire month completely terrified. My favorite from this year was Creep.
- Even though it’s way outside of my comfort zone, I started doing vlogs with an Austin-based Youtube Channel called The Weirdlings. The channel covers everything from Dungeons & Dragons, to cosplay, to comic books, and I do silly videos about books when I have time.
Why I Wrote Grandmaster – by David Klass
GRANDMASTER was a strange novel for me to write because I gave up playing chess for more than twenty years. I was taught to play by my father, Morton Klass, when I was seven. I’m very competitive and I relished the battles over the chessboards – first with my father, then with the strongest players at school and in our town, and finally at local tournaments with older players who had high ratings.
Bobby Fischer was becoming an icon, and American chess was taking off. When I started to become a serious player in junior high school, my parents allowed me to take the bus alone from our small New Jersey suburban town into Manhattan to play at tournaments in the McAlpin Hotel. Hundreds of players would be entered in giant ‘open’ tournaments, and it was a thrill for me to exchange our quiet town for the big city and plunge into a super-competitive world of hushed hotel ballrooms, ticking chess clocks, and glimpses of masters and even grandmasters at the highest tables.
I kept getting stronger and reached a point where in order to compete at the next level I needed to study chess theory. While I liked winning games, seeing my rating go up, and collecting trophies, I didn’t like sitting alone studying opening variations. And on a deeper level, I didn’t like what competitive chess did to me. I couldn’t sleep during tournaments. I used to lie in bed all night, going over games in my head. I got angry at opponents and even angrier at myself – so angry that at times I could barely control it. Chess is very much like going to war, and war is violent.
Leigh Bardugo speaks with her editor Noa Wheeler about the Grisha Trilogy and Six of Crows
Warning! Contains some spoilers for The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo. New readers, enter at your own risk!