Literary Rambles

Debut Author Interview: Kristy Boyce and Hot British Boyfriend Giveaway

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to have debut author Kristy Boyce here to share about her YA contemporary Hot British Boyfriend. It sounds like a fun, sweet romance story set in a great setting—England.

Here’s a blurb from Goodreads:

After a horrifying public rejection by her crush, Ellie Nichols does what any girl would do: she flees the country. To be more precise, she joins her high school’s study abroad trip to England. While most of her classmates are there to take honors courses and pad their college applications, Ellie is on a quest to rebuild her reputation and self-confidence. And nothing is more of a confidence booster than getting a hot British boyfriend.

When Ellie meets Will, a gorgeous and charming Brit, she vows to avoid making the same mistakes as she did with the last guy she liked. Which is why she strikes up a bargain with Dev, an overachieving classmate who she’s never clicked with, but who does seem to know a lot about the things Will is interested in—if he helps her win over her crush, then she’ll help him win over his.

But even as Ellie embarks on a whirlwind romance, one that takes her on adventures to some of England’s most beautiful places, she still needs to figure out if this is actually the answer to all her problems…and whether the perfect boyfriend is actually the perfect boy for her.

Follower News

Jemi Fraser has a new adult romance, Reaching for Trust: Bloo Moo #6, releasing. Here’s a blurb and a

few links:

Reaching For Trust: Bloo Moose #6

One scared pop singer in disguise.

One burned-out lawyer opening a sugar shack.

Two newcomers to Bloo Moose who don’t realize the past is hunting them.

Amazon Apple Barnes and Noble Kobo Google Play

Bookbub Goodreads Website

Rebecca Rector has released a new picture book, Squish Squash Squished! Here’s a blurb and a few links:

When Max and Molly complain about being squished in the back seat of their gracious-spacious automobile, Mom invites their animal neighbors to ride along. They’d better figure out what to do before they’re truly SQUISH SQUASH SQUISHED!

RebeccaKraftRector.wordpress.com

https://www.amazon.com/Squish-Squash-Squished-Rebecca-Rector/dp/0525516832#ace-g6570352880

https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780525516835?aff=penguinrandom

Interview With Kristy Boyce

Hi Kristy! Thanks so much for joining us.

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

Like many of us, I’ve been writing since I was in elementary school. However, growing up, I never met other writers or learned how one became a published author. To me it seemed like an impossible dream so I treated it like one.

When I went to college I found social psychology and fell in love with it. I continued on to earn my Ph.D., and then began teaching at the university level, but I never lost my love for writing. I promised myself that once I finished my dissertation I would finally pursue the secret dream I’d always had. And I did!

2. That’s great that you committed to follow your dreams. Where did you get the idea for Hot British Boyfriend?

One of my inspirations came from a question on a psychology exam that I wrote. I was testing on the dueling motives we have to be liked and to be truly known (which are sometimes mutually exclusive) and I thought it would be fun to explore that in a YA. I’ve also always loved England and traveling so I pulled that passion into the book.

3. That is a very unique way to come up with a story idea. It shows how ideas are everywhere. It can be easy to build up the stakes and conflicts to make a story a page turner in a YA fantasy, mystery, or thriller. How do you do that in a YA contemporary romance like yours?

I’m biased, but I feel like the stakes can be incredibly high in YA romance. Especially as a teenager, what could possibly be worse than being rejected or dumped by someone you love? Or sharing your heart with someone only to find out that the other person isn’t interested? You might not be trying to save the whole world, but you’re trying to save your world, and that can feel extremely important.

As long as the reader empathizes with the character and wants them to be happy, a YA romance can be a page turner as the reader rushes to find out how the character will get their happily ever after.

4. There are a number of other things going on in your story that also make it sound interesting, like the setting in England and seeing her go to school there, Ellie’s interest in gardening, and her attempts to understand cricket. What made you decide on adding things like this to your story to make it a richer one?

Even though I write YA romances, the books are never only about romance. In this book, there’s a

deeper arc of Ellie coming to appreciate herself and feeling comfortable sharing that version of herself with others. I wanted to find ways to show this, so her struggles with academics and her gardening demonstrate how she’d grown throughout the book.

5. Talk a little bit about the romance in your story and choices you made when showing Ellie’s romantic scenes. What tips do you have us for the rest of us?

Hot British Boyfriend definitely uses the “friends-to-lovers” trope…or maybe “indifferent acquaintances-to-lovers” trope would be better wording!

I know I like to write about characters who, at least at first, appear to have opposite personalities. For instance, Ellie and Dev don’t think about the future in the same way or have the same priorities. This can lead to really fun dialogue between characters and it can also show character growth as the two learn and grow due to their connection.

Of course, it can be tricky because I don’t want one of my characters to feel like they have to change for the other. Instead, I like the idea of both characters becoming better versions of themselves with the other’s encouragement.

6. I really like the trope you used rather than an instant love one. You also are a senior lecturer at Ohio State University and have a family. How do you find time to get enough writing done and the marketing you need to do in your busy life?

It’s definitely challenging, particularly with the pandemic! During the days I’ve been helping my son with virtual school and working on my own online classes. I am a night owl so I usually write in the evenings after my son goes to bed.

It can be hard to balance writing with marketing, and that’s something that I’m still working on. Right now I’m giving myself permission to prioritize marketing over writing since my debut is coming out, but soon I’ll flip back to writing most evenings.

7. You have been seriously writing since 2008. Share about how you stuck with it and got your agent, Tara Gonzalez, and your publishing contract.

Yes, it’s been a long road with a lot of rejections. Hot British Boyfriend is the fourth novel I’ve written and the third that I queried. The first time I queried HBB I got full requests followed by rejections. I didn’t know how to improve the book and was about to give up on it, but then I decided to enter PitchWars. My wonderful mentors, Carrie Allen and Sabrina Lotfi, chose me and I’m forever grateful to them. They helped me to rework the novel and Tara requested it during the 2019 PitchWars agent showcase and signed me after.

I did a few small edits with Tara and then we went on sub in late summer 2019. I was very lucky that I was not on sub for long before we got an offer from Catherine Wallace at HarperTeen. That call is one I’ll never forget!

8. I’ve interviewed a lot of authors who said that the Pitch Wars helped them get published. How are you marketing your book given the pandemic?

Honestly, I’m just trying to do things that I enjoy. I ran a preorder campaign because I always wanted to do that and it was a lot of fun to see the entries coming in from around the country and world! I’ve been doing blog interviews, a panel for my local SCBWI group, and trying to get my book in front of lots of bookstagrammers. I’m not sure that there’s a perfect way to market right now (or ever) so I figure I should do things that bring me joy!

9. What are you working on now? If you are writing a book under contract, what has that experience been like?

Right now I’m on sub with a new YA contemporary romance and I’m going to start drafting a another new book soon. It’ll be nice to get back to writing.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Kristy. You can find Kristy at https://www.kristyboyceauthor.com/ She’s also on twitter: @KristyLBoyce and Instagram @kristylboyce

Giveaway Details

Kristy has generously offered a hardback of Hot British Boyfriend 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 20th. If your e-mail 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, 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 giveaway is U.S.

Upcoming Interviews and Giveaways

Wednesday, February 10th I have an agent spotlight interview with Abigail Frank and a query critique giveaway

Monday, February 15th I have an interview with debut author Emily Victoria and a giveaway of her YA fantasy This Golden Flame

Tuesday, February 16th I’m participating in the Wish Big Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, February 17th I have an agent spotlight interview with Pam Gruber and a query critique giveaway

Monday, February 22th I have a guest post by debut author Sam Taylor and her agent Allison Hellegers and a giveaway of Sam’s YA fantasy We Are the Fire and a query critique giveaway by Allison

Hope to see you on Wednesday!

Debut Author Interview: Jennifer Gruenke and Of Silver and Shadow Giveaway and IWSG Post

Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today I’m excited to debut author Jennifer here to share about her YA fantasy OF SILVER AND SHADOW. It sounds like a fast-paced fantasy with a unique magical system. It’s gotten great reviews, and I’m looking forward to reading it.

Here’s a blurb of Jennifer’s book on Goodreads:

Ren Kolins is a silver wielder—a dangerous thing to be in the kingdom of Erdis, where magic has been outlawed for a century. Ren is just trying to survive, sticking to a life of petty thievery, card games, and pit fighting to get by. But when a wealthy rebel leader discovers her secret, he offers her a fortune to join his revolution. The caveat: she won’t see a single coin until they overthrow the King.

Behind the castle walls, a brutal group of warriors known as the King’s Children is engaged in a competition: the first to find the rebel leader will be made King’s Fang, the right hand of the King of Erdis. And Adley Farre is hunting down the rebels one by one, torturing her way to Ren and the rebel leader, and the coveted King’s Fang title.

But time is running out for all of them, including the youngest Prince of Erdis, who finds himself pulled into the rebellion. Political tensions have reached a boiling point, and Ren and the rebels must take the throne before war breaks out.

IWSG Post and In Loving Memory of Josephine “Jo” Wake Post

Before I get to my interview with Jennifer, I have my IWSG post and In Loving Memory of Josephine “Jo” Wake 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 for the December 2 posting of the IWSG are Louise - Fundy Blue, Jennifer Lane, Mary Aalgaard, Patsy Collins at Womagwriter, and Nancy Gideon!

Optional Question: Blogging is often more than just sharing stories. It’s often the start of special friendships and relationships. Have you made any friends through the blogosphere?

Yes, one of the reasons I enjoy blogging is the friendships I have made over the years. Many of them are in this group. Although we live far from each other and cannot see each other in person, we are all so supportive of each other, which is the heart of friendship.

I have appreciated your support during my very hard times in my life, like when my husband suddenly died. I always try to be supportive too when I see someone going through a hard time. And I try to help shout out about everyone’s new book releases in my Follower News so that I can help as many of my friends as possible.

I’m also participating in the blog hop to remember Josephine “Jo” Wake. I did not know Jo, but like Nicole Wallace says every weekday on MSNBC news, it is important to "remember lives well lived".

Here’s my simple recipe in honor of Jo.

Tostados

Tostados was always a quick, healthy meal we ate when my husband was alive. To be honest, I only

recently started making them again recently.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees

Ingredients

Tostado shells (You can buy at a Mexican store or some supermarkets.)
Refried beans (Homemade or canned)
Shredded cheese
Chopped lettuce
Chopped tomatoes
Salsa

Heat the refried beans. Spread a layer of bean on the tostado shell and sprinkle on shredded cheese to taste. Heat them in the oven for approximately 3 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Top with the lettuce, tomatoes, and salsa. You can add other toppings, like sliced avocado, if you like.

Interview With Jennifer Gruenke

Hi Jennifer! Thanks so much for joining us.

1. Tell us about yourself and how you became a writer.

I’ve been writing “seriously” (as in, with the intent to become published) for about five years, but like a lot of authors, I started writing at a fairly young age. I was twelve when I first thought to myself, I’d like to write a book, and set out to do just that. I couldn’t tell you a thing about that story. I don’t remember the concept, the main character, or even the setting. I don’t think I made it more than a chapter or two before abandoning what was sure to be a noble but atrocious attempt at a first novel. A strange fantasy story about a girl with purple eyes came next, when I was about fifteen or sixteen. That was similarly set aside to collect dust and eventually wither away to nothing.

I attended college at UC Santa Barbara where I studied Communication and Professional Writing. During these four years I sidelined my attempts at creative writing, setting aside thoughts of becoming an author for shiny and distracting new things. It wasn’t until I’d graduated and moved back home to live with my parents that I returned to the idea of creative writing. This was in part thanks to a good friend who was working on her own novel. Her passion for her work inspired me to try my hand at telling stories once again. It’s also worth noting that I was living in a very small town where there was little in the way of a social scene; outside of my day job as a journalist, I had more free time than I knew what to do with. I started putting words on the page again, and everything fell into place. Nothing had ever made me feel so fulfilled. This time, storytelling stuck.

2. That’s so cool that you have a good friend who was working on a novel too. Where did you get the idea for OF SILVER AND SHADOW?

OF SILVER AND SHADOW was born from my first completed book, a YA sci-fi story that will never see the light of day because it really was that bad, though the draft does still exist on my computer (don’t tell the hackers). Most writers will agree that there are no wasted words, that everything we put on the page teaches us something, and while I absolutely agree with this sentiment, I can’t help my full-body cringe when I think about the fact that at one point I truly believed it was good. But I digress.

After a month or two of distance from that doomed novel, I came to realize it was never going to be published. So I asked myself what the concept would look like in a fantasy setting. That was the initial inkling, which I grabbed like a baton and took off sprinting. OF SILVER AND SHADOW has changed drastically since then, so much so that you’d never recognize my first novel in its pages. The bones of that story were whittled down to slivers before being extracted completely.

You may notice I haven’t revealed the concept behind that first novel. I assure you, this is intentional. I plan to go to the grave with my embarrassment.

3. It’s good to know that there is hope for our doomed stories. I may have one too. One of the comments that reviewers made is that you have a unique magical system. What was your world building process like?

I’m always pleasantly surprised when a reader enjoys my world building, because it’s really not my

strong point. I like to do what I’m going to call micro-level world building (this might be an actual term, but I haven’t looked it up), where I build out the immediate world, focusing heavily on the senses. How is the city laid out? What does it smell like? What do people wear? Is there a lot of foot traffic? What about music? What do the buildings look like?

I’m an extremely visual person and I relish breathing life into settings. I hope readers can picture themselves walking along the cobbled streets on Denfell, breathing in salty air touched by a scent of cake floating from the open doors of Noble Finch. Macro-level world building (international relations, religions, rules to magic) doesn’t come quite so easily to me.

As a result, the magic in this world, called silver, is very visual. I originally pictured it as a magic based around illusion, but as I began to write the story it just wasn’t clicking. One day I went to see the Avengers. I was sitting in the theater watching the Scarlet Witch in all her badass glory, and I thought to myself, What if the magic in my story looked something like this? Silver was born in that moment. The rules of magic, limits and the things it could do, all came later. In the beginning, my main goal was very simple: I want this to look cool.

4. It also sounds like your book is a real page-turner. How did you plot it out?

This may or may not come as a surprise, but I am not a plotter. I find plotting to be a bit of a headache. It’s a necessary evil, especially when you’ve got four characters whose individual stories are eventually going to collide, and even more so when every single one of them is keeping vital information from the other, but I don’t plot unless forced. I write by discovery, following threads as they come and letting the characters lead me down roads I didn’t know existed. The tightening of the plot and pacing comes during revisions.

As for creating a page-turner, I’m drawn to books with crisp pacing, so I naturally try not to dawdle in my own writing. Each scene needs to accomplish something that carries the characters forward, the quicker the better. One of my goals is to end each chapter on a note of anticipation. This doesn’t necessarily need to be a cliffhanger, but I like to leave readers with the sense that something new waits around the corner and you’ll find out what if you keeping reading—just one more chapter. Mood and tone play a huge part.

5. I’m not a super plotter either and like to discover my story like you. Share a bit about your main character, Ren. Did anything surprise you about her as you wrote her story?

Ren started off as a very different person than who she ended up being. Writing the beginning of OF SILVER AND SHADOW was a bit like performing an excavation as a naive archeologist with a notebook full of misconceived notions about my dig site. During the first ten-thousand words I attempted to write a quiet Ren, a submissive Ren, a girl with an attitude to be sure, but an attitude she kept in check. It just felt wrong. As I wrote her initial interactions with her compatriots, this brash, mean, impulsive girl kept trying to come out. I repeatedly attempted to slap duct tape over her mouth, because the character she wanted to be didn’t fit with this idea I had in my head, but eventually Ren got her way, as she usually does.

Ren also started off on a much higher moral ground than where she stands in the published book. In the original beginning, the rebellion was able to appeal to her sense of compassion in order to convince her to join their cause. Ren became even more compelling to me when I realized she was considerably more interested in money than doing the right thing.

Once I scrapped the Ren I was trying to force into being and embraced the character she truly was, the story took off. Ren is far more selfish, sarcastic, and mean-spirited than I’d expected. I’d go as far as to call her downright cruel in her worst moments. Exploring the why of her character, her deep grief and sense of shame and the self-hatred that festered as a result, was one of my favorite parts of writing this story. In a way, I think Ren might have written herself more than I ever did. I just put the things she was telling me on page.

6. Your agent is Hilary Harwell. How did she become your agent and what was your road to publication like?

I connected with Hilary during PitMad, which is a Twitter pitch contest. When people say success in publishing is partially due to timing, they’re not kidding. I had started querying OF SILVER AND SHADOW not even a week before PitMad. I wasn’t entrenched in the publishing world at the time and I didn’t even know what PitMad was, but a friend texted me the morning of the event to tell me about it. I threw together three pitches in a panic, posted them on Twitter, and crossed my fingers. Hilary, who’d been an assistant at KT Literary for a couple of years, had just started taking on clients of her own and was specifically looking for a dark and gritty YA fantasy. She liked my pitch, I did my research (always do your research), thought she would make a great fit, and sent off a query.

Looking back, I know OF SILVER AND SHADOW wasn’t where it needed to be and I’ll always be grateful to Hilary for seeing its potential. She offered me an R&R (revise and resubmit) and gave me some notes. If I revised the parts of the book she didn’t think were working, she would take another look. Her notes resonated with me, I knew the book would be better for it, so I accepted. I revised over the course of about three months, sent the revised manuscript back to Hilary, and got The Call a couple months later. I officially had an agent. I was lucky in that it was a relatively painless process. Submission, not so much.

After three rounds of edits with Hilary, we took OF SILVER AND SHADOW out on submission, which is the process of pitching the book to editors in the hope someone will want to buy it. Submission is the land of dread, cautious hope, and incessant inbox refreshing. We went through three rounds of sub over the course of a year before the offer from Flux came in. I received rejections full of compliments about my writing, all concluding with some variation of “I loved this but not enough,” which was both lovely and awful at the same time.

And just when I started to give up hope, we sold to Flux. My editor, Kelsy Thompson, was an absolute dream to work with. She is brilliant and sharp. OF SILVER AND SHADOW is the book it is because of her and because of Hilary. I wouldn’t trade either of them for all the salted caramel brownies in the world.

7. What a cool road to publication story. Your publication date was changed due to the coronavirus. Share how that happened and how the virus has affected your book release celebration and marketing strategy.

I got an email from Flux on a late March morning stating that they were pushing OF SILVER AND SHADOW’s publication date from May 26, 2020 to February 16, 2021. The change would give the book its best chance at success. It was a tough blow for me, learning that I had to wait nearly a year for a book I thought I’d see on shelves in two months. But we all made the best of it, refocusing our marking efforts and getting into the swing of the “new normal.” We’ve been able to utilize that initial excitement by reaching out to early readers who loved the book to do a second round of promotion. I was worried that people who cared about the book a year ago wouldn’t still care today, but I haven’t found that to be true. Readers are a passionate, lovely, wildly supportive bunch, and I’ve been tagged in a number of posts reminding people to pick up OF SILVER AND SHADOW when it comes out.

The biggest positive about releasing a book in a space that has gone completely virtual is that events are way more accessible now. While I was looking forward to celebrating the release of my debut novel with friends at an in-person launch party, so many people who couldn’t have made it before can come now.

For those interested, Main Street Books Davidson (mainstreetbooksdavidson.com) is hosting the launch party and signed copies are available through them.

8. It must have been hard to have to wait so long, but it’s great that you have a team helping keep up the excitement for your book. What have you done to increase your social media platform since you signed your book contract? What advice do you have for other debut authors?

It’s a common myth that authors need to have a big social media platform in order to be successful. Not true at all. A social platform rarely correlates to success. I like being on social media in order to interact with readers. Instagram is also a creative outlet for me (fun fact: I was a bookstagrammer in a past life), but social media isn’t something I do because I feel I have to. I’m online because I genuinely enjoy being there.

As far as increasing your platform, giveaways are a good way to get yourself noticed while doing something nice to thank the community for their support. But the best thing you can do is embrace authenticity. Find the thing that brings you joy, whether that’s writing a newsletter or taking photos for Instagram, and lean into that. Don’t feel like you have to be everywhere at once. It’s better to put your effort into the one thing that works for you than to spread yourself thin. If you’re not enjoying what you’re doing, not only will others be able to tell, but it’ll bring unnecessary stress into your life. If you don’t like Twitter, you don’t have to be there.

9. What are you working on now?

I can’t tell you much because the book hasn’t sold yet—it’s not even finished—but it’s both the most challenging and most self-indulgent thing I’ve ever written. I’m incredibly excited at the prospect of seeing it in the world one day. It’s going to be years, but I think it’ll be worth the wait.

Here’s a tease: it might involve Death, a heist, and a starlit city. That’s all I’m going to say.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Jennifer. You can find Jennifer at jenngruenke.com, and @jenngruenke on Twitter and Instagram.

Giveaway Details

Jennifer has generously offered an ARC of Of Silver and Shadow 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 20th. If your e-mail 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.

Upcoming Interviews and Giveaways

Monday, February 8th I have an interview with debut author Kristy Boyce and a giveaway of her YA contemporary Hot British Boyfriend

Wednesday, February 10th I have an agent spotlight interview with Abigail Frank and a query critique giveaway

Monday, February 15th I have an interview with debut author Emily Victoria and a giveaway of her YA fantasy This Golden Flame

Tuesday, February 16th I’m participating in the Wish Big Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, February 17th I have an agent spotlight interview with Pam Gruber and a query critique giveaway

Monday, February 22th I have a guest post by debut author Sam Taylor and her agent Allison Hellegers and a giveaway of Sam’s YA fantasy We Are the Fire and a query critique giveaway by Allison

Hope to see you on Monday!

February 2021 of Books Giveaway Hop

Happy Monday Everyone! Today I’m excited to participate in the in the February 2021 of Books Giveaway Hop hosted by It Starts at Midnight and Lonna @ FLYLēF.

I continuing to try doing two giveaway hops this month. This one is primarily dedicated to books by debut MG and YA books that are releasing in February 2021 although I have some other newly released MG and YA books as well. My next giveaway hop will feature some of these book but also other highly anticipated MG and YA books releasing this month. You can find out more about that giveaway in the Upcoming Interviews and Giveaways listed at the bottom of this post.

I hope you'll stop by for that giveaway and also support the authors I'm featuring in interviews and guest posts by stopping by and entering the contests.

You can find descriptions of these books on Goodreads. Here are your choices:

If you haven't found a book you want, you can win a $10 Amazon Gift Card.

Giveaway Details

One lucky entrant selected by the entry form will receive a book of their choice listed above or a $10 Amazon Gift Card. Open to entrants internationally as long as Book Depository ships to you for free, 13 years and older. Open for entry from 2/01 – 2/28/2021 at 11:59 pm EST. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. The selected winner will have 48 hours to respond to the notification email to claim this prize or a new winner will be selected.

Please note that you must be a blog follower and leave a blog comment to enter the contest.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Upcoming Interviews and Giveaways

Monday, February 1st I’m participating in the February of 2021 Book Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, February 3rd I have an interview with debut author Jennifer Gruenke and a giveaway of her YA fantasy Of Silver and Shadow and my IWSG post

Monday, February 8th I have an interview with debut author Kristy Boyce and a giveaway of her YA contemporary Hot British Boyfriend

Wednesday, February 10th I have an agent spotlight interview with Abigail Frank and a query critique giveaway

Monday, February 15th I have an interview with debut author Emily Victoria and a giveaway of her YA fantasy This Golden Flame

Tuesday, February 16th I’m participating in the Wish Big Giveaway Hop

Wednesday, February 17th I have an agent spotlight interview with Pam Gruber and a query critique giveaway

Monday, February 22th I have a guest post by debut author Sam Taylor and her agent Allison Hellegers and a giveaway of Sam’s YA fantasy We Are the Fire and a query critique giveaway by Allison

Hope to see you on Monday!

Author Interview and Blog Tour Giveaway: Author Gita Trelease and Everything That Burns Giveaway

Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today I’m excited to be part of Gita Trelease’s blog tour for Everything That Burns, the second book in her Enchantee series. This is a YA fantasy set in the French revolution. I interviewed Gita when she debuted as an author in January 2021. You can read that interview here.

Here’s a blurb of Everything That Burns from Goodreads:

Camille Durbonne gambled everything she had to keep her and her sister safe, and now the Vicomtesse de Seguin seeks a new life in Paris. But revolution roils the bloody streets and “aristocrat” is a dangerous word. Safety may no longer be possible.

Following in her father’s footsteps, Camille prints revolutionary pamphlets, sharing the stories of girls.

A Conversation with Gita Trelease

Author of Everything That Burns

Q: Everything That Burns continues a transporting story of forbidden magic and the French Revolution that began in All That Glitters (previously published as Enchantée). Where did the idea for this duology come from?

A: Books come to me over a long period of time, with lots of pieces held in suspension until there’s finally a click that makes all the rest come together. For a year I’d been playing with the idea of a dark fantasy set at Versailles that revolved around gambling and social inequality, but it was a book I read about 18th-century science—its chapter on 1780s balloon mania included a real-life account of an aeronaut rescued by a milkmaid—that gave me the idea to add hot-air balloons to the story. Risk and gambling and magic felt suddenly more complex and compelling. And that girl haunted me. No one had ever interviewed her to ask: Why did you risk your life when others ran away? Around that question, I created the character of Camille.

Q: What was the biggest difference between writing the first book and the sequel?

A: The biggest difference between writing the first book and the second was the pressure! Not just the time constraints of being on deadline, but also wanting to create a book that did justice to the first one and, to the best of my ability, met expectations for the readers who loved All That Glitters. And as a writer, I always want to grow in my craft, so that inner pressure was there, too.

Q: The Parisian setting and backdrop of the turbulent French Revolution is as dazzling in Everything That Burns as it was in All That Glitters. Why did you want to center this story in the midst of the French Revolution, and did you have to do any research to evoke the feeling of the city at that moment in history?

A: For me, the French Revolution—with its turbulent events, vivid real-life characters, glamorous and gritty locales, and morally complex issues—is the perfect setting for a coming-of-age story. The questions Camille wrestles with—Who am I? Who do I want to be? What should I do with my life?—are also the questions that fuel the revolution.

Writing historical fiction, I do want to get the facts straight, but it’s just as important to me to create an immersive experience for my readers, and for that I depend on research. For this book, I read letters and journals written by people who survived the revolution, as well as historians’ second-hand accounts. I studied 1789 Paris fashion and the city’s sewers; I studied the history of the Seine, Parisian theaters, and public executions. I was lucky enough to have lived, a long time ago, in one of the oldest parts of Paris, where many of the atmospheric parks and buildings I write about still exist. On a more recent visit, I explored the elegant mansions of the Marais, including the Hôtel Carnavalet. The mansion is now a museum dedicated to the history of Paris and houses a fascinating collection of artifacts from the French Revolution. For me, though, the research is like the framing of a building—it’s scaffolding to hold up my imagination and my own experience. That’s what makes the story feel immersive and real.

Q: Who was your favorite character to write this time around? Was it the same as your favorite character from All That Glitters?

A: My favorite characters to write in All That Glitters were the Marquis de Chandon, because he’s magic

—a witty and charming mentor for Camille at the court of Versailles. The villain in that book, the Vicomte de Séguin, was also deliciously fun to write. But in Everything That Burns, it was Camille who was my favorite: she undergoes such an enormous change, both inwardly and outwardly, from the beginning of the novel to the end, and it was satisfying to create terrible obstacles for her to overcome. On a more personal level, my own mother died when I was about Camille’s age, and writing the scenes in which she wrestles with her memories of Maman comforted me in ways I could never have expected.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your writing routine? Where and when do you most like to write? Has the ongoing pandemic changed that at all?

A: I love to get up in the morning, make some coffee, and go out to my writing house—preferably without talking to anyone in my family! That dreamy, early-morning state of mind is precious to me. I’ll work for a few hours, take a break to eat, and work a few more hours. This year I stopped using word or page counts as motivation; I realized that for me, they’re counterproductive. I discovered that daydreaming, brainstorming, and research are such a huge part of my process and there’s no way to quantify that. I end the day by writing a note to myself about what I plan to work on for tomorrow, or pose myself a question I need answered. Then I’ll let my subconscious work while I go for a walk in the woods. Because of the way I’m wired, I can’t help but think a lot about anything that comes into my brain, so I try to be intentional about what I let in. That’s been much harder during the pandemic.

Q: What books are currently on your nightstand?

A: Peacock and Vine by AS Byatt; All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders; Weather by Jenny Offill; The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett; a book of Russian fairy tales; and a couple of cookbooks: In My Kitchen by Deborah Madison and Simple Cake by Odette Williams. I find cookbooks the most relaxing to read before bed!

Q: We have to ask—what are you working on at the moment? Anything you can tease for readers who can’t wait to read whatever you write next?

A: Right now I’m working on a new YA fantasy. The mood is gilded autumn in New England, deep shadows at its edges. It’s personal, as I’ve lived in New England much of my life, and though it takes place in a version of the present, fans of the Enchantée series will find that some of my obsessions remain: people who move between worlds; darkly compelling magic; a mysterious, gothic setting; a romance that is both delicious and dangerous; and plenty of yearning for the things you’re supposed to want—as well as those that are forbidden.

Thanks for sharing all your advice, Gita. You can find Gita at:

Purchase link: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250295552

Website: https://www.gitatrelease.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gitatrelease

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17337861.Gita_Trelease

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gitatrelease/

Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Gita-Trelease/e/B07L1CQXH9/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1

Giveaway Details

Gita’s publisher has generously offered a hardback of Everything That Burns 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 13th. If your e-mail 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.