Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today I’m
excited to have instant New York Times bestseller Marc J Gregson here to
share about his debut YA fantasy/dystopian Sky’s End. Dystopian and
fantasy stories are favorites of mine, and this one sounds like a page-turner.
I’m looking forward to reading it.
Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:
AN INSTANT NEW
YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Plummet into a kill-or-be-killed competition where a
scrappy underdog hell-bent on revenge must claw his way to the top in this
thrilling YA fantasy debut
Exiled to live as a Low, sixteen-year-old Conrad refuses to become heir to his
murderous uncle. But Meritocracy is a harsh and unforgiving rule on the
floating island of Holmstead, and when his ailing mother is killed by monstrous
gorgantauns, Conrad cuts a deal to save the only family he has left. To rescue
his sister from his uncle's clutches, Conrad must enter the Selection of the
Twelve Trades.
Hunter, the deadliest of all the Trades, gains a fresh recruit with Conrad. Now
he must endure vigorous training, manipulative peers, and the Gauntlet—a brutal
final test that yields riches and status to whichever skyship crew kills the
most gorgantauns. Forced to serve in the lowest of stations and unseen by all,
Conrad overhears whispers of rebellion in the dark. Conrad had never known
anything existed below the toxic black clouds of the Skylands . . . until now.
Grab your copy of Book One of the Above the Black trilogy today! This
fast-paced series is reminiscent of Attack on
Titan and will appeal to fans of Pierce Brown. It's a great
pick for those who love action-adventure.
Before I get to Marc’s interview post, I have my
IWSG post.
Posting: The first
Wednesday is officially Insecure Writer's Support Group Day.
Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns
without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire
can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of
all kinds!
The awesome co-hosts this month
are: Janet Alcorn, SE
White, Victoria Marie Lees, and Cathrina Constantine!
Optional
Question: What
turns you off when visiting an author's website/blog? Lack of information? A
drone of negativity? Little mention of author's books? Constant mention of
books?
I look at a lot of author websites when
trying to decide which authors to feature at Literary Rambles. The thing that
annoys me the most is when the author doesn’t have any way to contact them on
the website other than contacting their agent or publisher or contacting them
on social media. I don’t contact those authors. I think they should include an
email address or a contact form so that bloggers, podcast hosts, and readers
can contact them. You’d be surprised at how many authors don’t include this
essential information on their website.
Another annoying thing is how hard Google Blogger has made it to comment on blogs, including mine, that use this platform to blog. I've had to switch to the pop-up windows option to make it easier for followers to comment. At least I don't get any emails from followers unable to leave comments on my blog.
But it's annoying when other bloggers on Blogger don't use the pop-up window option because I can't leave a comment using Chrome, which is the browser I use. I have to copy the link to the post into Mozilla to leave a comment. It makes the whole process take more time, but at least I can comment. I'm grateful to Alex for suggesting this solution.
Interview With Marc Gregson
Hi Marc!
Thanks so much for joining us. And a huge congrats on becoming an instant New
York Times bestselling author.
1. Tell us
about yourself and how you became a writer.
When I was
a teenager, I was given a Halloween writing assignment. It was only supposed to
be 2-3 pages long. I wrote a dozen pages about a killer squirrel. As I was
writing, I felt a strange twist of excitement in my gut every time I sat down,
and I realized just how much I enjoyed it.
2. That
sounds like a scary story. Where did you get the idea for Sky’s End?
I’ve always
wanted to write a story about a world set in the sky, and I love deadly
competitions. After I read books like Hunger Games and Red Rising,
I really wanted to do my own unique spin on it.
Your
Writing Process
3. You’re a
teacher and also have a family. What is your writing schedule, and how long did
it take you to complete Sky’s End before you began querying agents? Will the
process change with book 2 and 3 where you have publishing deadlines to meet?
So, I must
be very regimented with my schedule, or I’ll never get it all done! I wake up
early to write for an hour before work. Then, I go to work early so that when I
return home in the evening, I don’t have to bring class work with me. This
allows me to generally get 2-3 hours of writing in per day.
The
original draft I sent to literary agents took me about seven to eight months to
write. But I ended up doing massive revisions with my agent after I signed with
her. My writing process for books 2 and 3 are the same as before I was
published, just more condensed. This means I must be even more careful with my
time and I’m often writing on the weekends.
4. It’s
great that you’re so disciplined. Your book sounds like a real page-turner. How
did you keep the tension and stakes rising throughout the story?
I
constantly asked myself, “and then what happens?” Something had to always be
happening in the story. In Sky’s End, all the characters have their own
goals and motivations, and in many instances, their goals run in opposition to
those of their peers. This creates a lot of friction and tension on the ship.
While characters are trying to achieve their own goals and rise on the ship to become
Captain, the entire crew simultaneously must deal with the threat of the giant
sky serpents that they were sent to hunt.
5. I really
like that you’ve combined elements of a dystopian and fantasy world into your
story. Describe your world-building process, and share tips on how to create a
unique world like you did.
I sort of
reverse engineer the process. I start with a goal in mind, but how it gets
there is quite hazy and unclear. My only choice is to just explore it the best
that I can. As I was creating the Skylands, I had this idea of a true
Meritocracy where the strong would rise and the weak would fall. Furthermore, I
liked the idea of developing this Meritocracy around a dueling system. If you
were a great dueler, you had a chance to rise to a High status. But as I
explored this idea, I ran into a problem. What about those who can’t duel? And
can a society adequately run if the only people in power are also just
physically impressive? What about the highly intelligent?
That’s
where the Selection of the Twelve Trades came in. It fills in the gaps—and
provides opportunities to some whose primary asset is their brain. That being
said, there are plenty of people who are Selected by Trades who are also
capable duelers.
My
suggestion about worldbuilding is to constantly ask questions of your world.
Why does each aspect of the world exist? Sometimes, it can simply be because,
“Well, it’s cool.” But I’ve found that for deep worldbuilding, there must also
be some logic behind it as well.
Your
Journey to Publication
6. That’s
great world building advice. Your agent is Heather Cashman. How did she become
your agent, and what was your road to publication like?
Getting an
agent was the biggest challenge. I queried Sky’s End on and off for
several years. At one point, I had about a dozen agents that seemed really
interested in Sky’s End. I thought it was going to happen. Then,
one-by-one, the passes rolled in. Around this time, I became a teacher, so I
wasn’t quite as active in the querying trenches—and I started on another book project.
Finally,
three years after I started querying Sky’s End, Heather sent me an email
at midnight asking to setup a time to chat. She was interested in Sky’s End
and my other project. But she told me that Sky’s End would need some work. She
told me that I needed to bring Sky’s End up to my current writing
ability. So, after I signed with her, I revised Sky’s End and rewrote
the beginning and ending. I changed the whole thing from past tense to present
tense. We sent it out, and Sky’s End sold to Peachtree Teen in the first
round of submission.
7. Share
something you learned that made you a better writer from working with your
agent or editor on revising your manuscript.
One thing
that helped me was diversifying my sentence starters. Sky’s End is in
first person, so naturally you’re going to have a lot of sentences that start
with the pronoun “I.” Practicing beginning my sentences with other words
constantly keeps me on my toes and forces me to be creative in how I approach
my sentences.
Another
thing my editor has said is to constantly lay challenge upon my characters.
Never make it easy for them.
Promoting
Your Book
8. Your book was released on January 2,
2024. What did you do to celebrate its release, and what are your future plans
to promote your book?
I’d like to say that it was a week-long
celebration! January 2nd was an amazing day, but a little
bittersweet, because my winter break from teaching ended the same day my book
released! Ha ha! No, I had a lot of fun. My students and I celebrated “Sky’s
End’s birthday” at school. When I got home from work, my wife and I visited
the Barnes & Noble stores in my area, and I was able to sign their stock.
Now that was incredibly surreal.
Later that week, I had my launch event
with the King’s English Bookshop. My parents flew in for the event, and my
agent even showed up as a surprise. We had a great turnout despite the sudden
snowstorm that began a couple hours before the event. Afterward, a bunch of my
family and I went to a Mexican restaurant and celebrated.
Then I napped all weekend!
Some future plans for promotion include
going to the Tucson Book Festival in March! I’m really excited for that. At
some point, I’m also going to do a Instagram Live session to discuss spoilers
with readers and start amping them up for book two, Among Serpents. That
will likely happen in late Spring or early Summer.
9. What social media site have you
connected the most with readers, teachers, and librarians? How have you
connected with them?
In the beginning, TikTok was totally my
social media headquarters. But after my wife posted Sky’s End’s cover
reveal on Instagram and it went viral (5.9 million views), Instagram became my
new place. I’ve had so much engagement on Instagram and met so many amazing
people there.
As far as connection, I’m always trying to
be genuine. I am incredibly proud of Sky’s End, so I hope my enthusiasm
for the book is rather apparent in my posts. I also love hearing from readers.
10. I think I need to get on Instagram What
are you working on now?
I recently sent back my edits for Among Serpents,
the sequel to Sky’s End. Currently, I’m hard at work on the trilogy
finale, Downfall. I’m so excited about this trilogy and cannot wait for
readers to experience the full thing!
Thanks for sharing all your advice, Marc.
You can find Marc at www.marcjgregson or @mjg_write on
Twitter, Instagram, Threads, and TikTok.
Giveaway Details
Marc’s publisher is
generously offering a hardback of Sky’s End for a giveaway. To
enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my blog (via the follower
gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right sidebar) and leave a comment by February
17th. If your email is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the
comments to enter the contest. Please be sure I have your email address.
If you mention this
contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog and/or follow me on Twitter or Marc
on his social media sites, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an
extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This book
giveaway is U.S.
Upcoming Interviews, Guest Posts, and Blog Hops
Monday, February 12th I have a guest post
by author Sherry Ellis as part of her blog tour and a blog-tour giveaway
Friday, February 16th I’m participating in the Wish Big
Giveaway Hop
Monday, February 26th I have an interview
with debut author Megan Brennan and a giveaway of her MG graphic novel Kira and
the (Maybe) Space Princess
Friday, March 1st I’m participating in the Lady Luck
Giveaway Hop
Wednesday, March 6th I have an interview with author
Rajani LaRocca and a giveaway of her MG fantasy Sona and The Golden Beasts and
my IWSG post
Monday, March 11th I have an agent spotlight interview
with Rebecca Lawrence and a query critique giveaway
I hope to see you on
Monday!
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