The time it was about Landry Park

I was given an arc of Landry Park a couple of months ago and I absolutely loved it.  So, of course, when I saw that there was an upcoming blog tour going on for Bethany, I jumped at the chance to be a part of it.

But, before we get to her interview, let's check out the book, shall we?

Downton Abbey meets The Selection in this dystopian tale of love and betrayal

In a fragmented future United States ruled by the lavish gentry, seventeen-year-old Madeline Landry dreams of going to the university. Unfortunately, gentry decorum and her domineering father won't allow that. Madeline must marry, like a good Landry woman, and run the family estate. But her world is turned upside down when she discovers the devastating consequences her lifestyle is having on those less fortunate. As Madeline begins to question everything she has ever learned, she finds herself increasingly drawn to handsome, beguiling David Dana. Soon, rumors of war and rebellion start to spread, and Madeline finds herself and David at the center of it all. Ultimately, she must make a choice between duty - her family and the estate she loves dearly - and desire.

 Sounds good, right?

 

1. Where did the idea for Landry Park come from?

The short (ish) answer is that is came from the long days spent working at a local history museum, cleaning Plexiglass cases and staring at the old pictures inside.  The long(er) answer is that it came from more than a decade of loving Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte and King Arthur and Science Channel documentaries.  I think our brains are like crock pots.  Or percolators.  Or brewing vats...I'm not really sure where I'm going with this metaphor, but what I mean is that our brains are these vessels that things we love/wonder about/obsess over fall over into.  Our favorite movies and music and quotes and gifs--and then they all stew together and mix and reduce into a sludge from whence newly birthed ideas crawl shakily forth.  (Sludge sounds bad.  Goo?  Nectar?  Whatever it is, it's made of rainbows and angst.)

2.What do you like most about Madeline and David and why should we root for them?

I think my favorite thing about Madeline and David is that they challenge each other in a very dynamic way.  A lot of couples enjoy each other's company because they affirm and reassure each other; this is why so many (but not all) people marry inside their particular educational/cultural/class/political demographics, because it's very easy to be with someone who believes the exact same things you do. But somebody who forces you to examine your beliefs and your actions--that can be both very painful and very rewarding. I think David and Madeline demonstrate this well.

3. How did you go about building your dystopian world and the rebellion?

I started with the atmosphere, the set pieces.  Once I began spinning this world of balls and glowing nuclear charges, I knew there would have to be people who handled the nuclear waste.  I came up with a name for them--Rootless--out of nowhere, and from that name, I realized the didn't have money or capital or even real homes.  Once I realized what their lives looked like compared to what the gentry's looked like, a rebellion was fairly easy to imagine.  Systems of oppression are ultimately unstable because they rely on fear to crush every other feeling and need.  And luckily, that's not how people work.

4. What was the weirdest thing you googled while researching?

I am probably on so many FBI watch-lists right now.  I've googled bomb-making, how to load and fire automatic weapons and how to start fires.  The thing that made my husband go "Really? While I'm trying to eat?" was the time I was scrutinizing pictures of radiation victims (so I could accurately describe their wounds.)  It wasn't pretty stuff.

5. Describe Landry Park in 5 words.

Glowing, dancing, kissing, rebelling elegance.

Speed [ish] round:

1. You get the call/email/letter that says you're being published for the first time.  What happens next?

Screaming.  Hugging.  Frantic texting to critique partners.  Usually you'll get a congratulatory chat on the phone with your editor, and then it's on to waiting for that first edit letter.

2. What three tings would you take to a desert island?

An e-reader, a wifi connection and a bottle of scotch.

3. You can only read one book for the rest of your life.  What is it?

Jane Eyre.  Always.

4. Who are your favorite swoony boys?

Edward Rochester and Fitzwilliam Darcy, definitely. Also Max de Winter from Rebecca, Sebastian Flyte from Brideshead Revisited and Matthew St. Clair from A Discovery of Witches. The more tortured, the better.

5. Are there any authors that you fangirl over?

Too many to name! I would faint if I ever got to meet Elizabeth Wein or Laini Taylor.  I think on every level--technical and artistic--they are telling some of the best stories out there today.

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Huge thanks to Bethany for taking the time!  Make sure you're following her on Twitter, subscribing to her blog and adding Landry Park to your GoodReads shelf!

Click here to see the list of other blogs participating the tour and see what goodies they're doing. And...Bethany is hosting a giveaway, so go forth and enter!

**Good Luck!!**

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The time it was about the devil

I heard about Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea from Colleen.  We were talking about our upcoming plans and she told me that she was going to an author dinner with April.   At that time, I hadn't heard of the book, but I've loved all of the books Colleen has recommended, so I looked it up.  As soon as I saw the blurb that said it was "for fans of the Mara Dyer books", I was sold.  Obviously.

I borrowed the arc from Michelle and instantly fell in love.  At Christina's near insistence, I even participated in a group review that was posted on The Book Hookup.  It only seemed logical to ask April for an interview... And I'm thrilled to say she said yes.  Before we get to her answers, let's check out the book.

You stop fearing the devil when you’re holding his hand…

Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town…until River West comes along. River rents the guesthouse behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more? Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery...who makes you want to kiss back. Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.

Blending faded decadence and the thrilling dread of gothic horror, April Genevieve Tucholke weaves a dreamy, twisting contemporary romance, as gorgeously told as it is terrifying—a debut to watch

Sounds amazing, right?

1. Where did the idea of Devil come from and was it always going to be two books?

My inspiration came from an article I read while living in Scotland: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/8574484.stm I figured the whole thing traced back to one kid. One charming little liar of a kid. And that's where I got the idea for River.

Two books? I'm not sure. I didn't really think that far ahead, I guess. I just wrote Devil and then sat back and waited to see what would happen.

2. The relationship between Violet, Freddie and the Citizen is one of a kind. For a woman who has passed away and a house, they certainly have presence. Did you set out for them to be strong forces throughout the story?

The Citizen was always a major character--a crumbling mansion is necessary and Gothic. But Freddie really got fleshed out in revisions. I started out with a character that was rather like my own Dutch grandmother, and morphed her into someone else, someone complex and deep and flawed. She plays a fairly major role in the sequel as well.

3. Let's talk River. A bad boy who is so so so good. Thank you for giving him to me. How did he develop as a character that's [for lack of a better term because of spoilers] more? 

Sure thing, Stacee. I had some serious Bronte exposure when I was young and it influenced a lot of what I write. I see shades of both Mr. Rochester and Heathcliff in River--Mr. Rochester is wounded and demanding and arrogant, but also a little insecure, and Heathcliff is dominating and manipulative and terrible. Yet both are capable of great love. I suppose this led to River and his more-ness, in a way.
 

4. You have a cast of characters who are mostly kids. DJ MacHale recently said that he doesn't write parents because then the story becomes about the parents instead of the kids. Do you agree or was there another reason the kids were on their own?

Here's what I think: When parents aren't around, kids do interesting things. They get bored and end up creating a lot of mischief and getting into a lot trouble. This allows for great plots to develop. My post-apoc WIP is all kids as well, and I find the Lord of the Flies dynamic utterly fascinating to think about, and write about.

I remember an incident with the neighbor kids a few years ago--their parents left them in the care of the oldest 14 year old boy for a few hours. Their father was an ex-cop and very strict...but the second the parents were out of sight those previously quiet, well-behaved kids climbed onto the roof of their house and started screaming and shouting at anyone who walked by. This is charming. And terrifying.

5. Describe Devil in 5 words.

Dangerous boy lies to lonely girl. Wait, that's six words. Shoot.

 

Speed [ish] round:

1. What's your go to guilty pleasure thing to eat?
 

Expensive dark chocolate and affogato.

2. What are you reading right now?
 

I'm about to start The Whatnot by Stefan Bachmann--I loved The Peculiar. Also Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo, My Berlin Kitchen, Dragonfly in Amber, The Queen of Attolia, The Doomsday Book and The Drowned Cities. 

3. Who are your favorite swoony boys?
 

Hmm. Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock and Khan. Francois Arnaud as Cesare in The Borgias. Rhett in Gone with the Wind. Mr. Rochester. Tyrion in The Game of Thrones. Eddie Redmayne as Jack in The Pillars of the Earth. Henry Cavill in The Tudors. All these characters have moved me, in their own way.

4. Are there any authors that you fangirl over?
 

Larry McMurtry. Susanna Clarke. Stephen King. George R.R. Martin. Scott Lynch

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Huge thanks to April for taking the time to deal with my incessant fangirling to do the interview!

Make sure you check out her website and Twitter and add her books to your GoodReads TBR shelf!

Now.  I was lucky enough to win an arc of Devil from GoodReads and since I already have one, I'm giving it away! Contest is open internationally, additional rules are on the "terms and conditions" of the Rafflecopter widget.

**Good Luck!!**

 

 

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The time it was all about Auntie Heather

By now, everyone knows how I stalk adore Heather Brewer.  I finally met her at Comic-con in 2011 and was able to see her at CC in 2012 and then again at one of her signings. She is always so amazing and Minion friendly, so of course it was only a matter of time before I asked her to do an interview.

But before that, Heather has a few series... The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, The Slayer Chronicles and finally, The Legacy of Tril [which I'm more than in love with].

Tril is a world where Barrons and Healers are Bound to each other: Barrons fight and Healers cure their Barrons' wounds in the ongoing war with the evil Graplar King. Seventeen-year-old Kaya was born a Healer, but she wants to fight. In Tril, and at Shadow Academy, where she is sent to learn to heal, it is against Protocol for Healers to fight.

So Kaya must learn in secret. Enter two young men: One charming, rule-following Barron who becomes Bound to Kaya and whose life she must protect at all costs. And one with a mysterious past who seems bent on making Kaya's life as difficult as possible. Kaya asks both to train her, but only one will, and the consequences will change their lives forever.

Doesn't that sound amazing?

Anyways... onward to Auntie Heather!


1. Is is hard for you to juggle the different worlds between Joss and Kaya?
 

Sometimes, yes. Writing from a male perspective has always come more naturally to me, and it takes me much longer to get inside of Kaya's mind. Switching back and forth between genders is a challenge. Switching back and forth between worlds, however, is an easy task. I love worlds full of action and danger, so they're pretty similar in that regard.
 

2. Did the world building in Soulbound come easy for you, compared to the "normal" world of Vlad/Joss?
 

The world building in Soulbound was a lot of fun, and definitely more extensive than the world that Vlad and Joss live in. I can't say, however, that it came easily. My editor and I went back and forth on a lot of questions that helped me create the world of Tril. But the story itself came easily, and I loved every moment of exploring it. BUT...I'm a bit embarrassed to say that the story of Soulbound came to me in a dream. A dream about vampires, which just goes to show how my brain works.
 

3. When you wrote that evil cliffhanger in Soulbound, did you sit back and laugh knowing you'd be driving people crazy?
 

YES! I cackled with glee! I danced around my office and sang a little "ha ha ha, in your face, readers!" song at my monitor!

......No, really. I did all of that.
 

4. Who is your favorite character to write in the Soulbound world and why?
 

Darius. Because he's a TOTAL JERK OF HOTNESS.

Darius is so complicated. He knows more than he lets on. He challenges Kaya and challenges her, taunts her. And just when you wish he'd get swallowed whole by a Graplar, he does something tender and sweet. I love him. He's the Han Solo of Tril.
 

5. How many books will be in the Legacy of Tril series and do you know the ending?
 

As it stands right now, I can't really answer this question. But I can say that I think there needs to be at least one more Tril book. And the ending? Oh yes. I know it and can't wait to get to it.

 

Speed Round:

 

1. What is your go-to guilty pleasure thing to eat?
 

Lays potato chips. I eat entirely too many of them, and have to have a bowl of them every day. Besides, they were once potatoes...and potatoes are good for you. Right?

 

2. What are you reading right now?
 

Interview questions. But I have been known to read a Taco Bell sauce packet now and again. ;)

The book I'm reading is The Witching Hour by Anne Rice, on recommendation from my fabulous book blogger/reviewer sister, Dawn (http://absoluteforestofwords.blogspot.com).
 

3. Are there any authors that you fangirl over?
 

There are three authors that I would gladly eat dirt for. Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Poppy Z. Brite. But I'm a huge fan of Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, A.S. King, and Lisa McMann. It's so cool when you can fangirl over your friends!

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A huge thank you to Auntie Heather for taking the time!! Not only is she busy with writing and being awesome, she's also putting together an amazing anti-bullying conference.  Visit http://lessthanthreeconference.com/ for more information!

And now...

Want to flail about the ending of Soulbound? I'm giving away a signed copy!!

 

 

Rules are listed on the "terms and conditions" of the Rafflecopter widget.  Good luck!!

 



a Rafflecopter giveaway