An Insight Of The Characters' World: Guest Post + Giveaway by Liesl Shurtliff

This is a feature where I ask authors to do a guest post discussing about the world building of their books and share their experiences in creating the world for their characters.For more information on this feature,click HERE.

Today,Liesl Shurtliff stops by at Daydreaming Bookworm to discuss about the world building of her MG debut,Rump,which is a retelling of  Rumpelstiltskin.Thanks so much for stopping by,Liesl! :)

ABOUT RUMP:

In a magical kingdom where your name is your destiny, 12-year-old Rump is the butt of everyone's joke. But when he finds an old spinning wheel, his luck seems to change. Rump discovers he has a gift for spinning straw into gold. His best friend, Red Riding Hood, warns him that magic is dangerous, and she’s right. With each thread he spins, he weaves himself deeper into a curse.

To break the spell, Rump must go on a perilous quest, fighting off pixies, trolls, poison apples, and a wickedly foolish queen. The odds are against him, but with courage and friendship—and a cheeky sense of humor—he just might triumph in the end.






ABOUT LIESL:

Liesl Shurtliff was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the mountains for her playground. Just like Rump, Liesl was shy about her name, growing up. Not only did it rhyme with weasel, she could never find it on any of those personalized key chains in gift shops. But over the years she’s grown to love having an unusual name—and today she wouldn’t change it for the world!
Before she became a writer, Liesl graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in music, dance, and theater. She now lives in Chicago with her husband and three young children, where she still dreams of the mountains. Rump is her first novel.

  



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Liesl's Guest Post:

An Insight of the Characters' World:

RUMP: THE TRUE STORY OF RUMPELSTILTSKIN by Liesl Shurtliff

When I started to write a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, I decided I wanted to stick pretty closely to all the major events of the original tale, the unique shift being in the point-of-view character. My Rumpelstiltskin was going to be a loveable hero, so how could I explain all the strange and horrible things he does in the original tale? The world of Rump plays and intricate and vital role in accomplishing this seemingly impossible task.   

Names

From what I recall, my very first idea for this story was that names would be at the center of Rump’s world. That made total sense to me. In the original Grimm’s tale of Rumpelstiltskin, it is his name that is the key in the end, though we don’t know exactly why or how. Some folklorists believe that Rumpelstiltskin was a demon that wanted the baby to feed upon, and discovering a demon’s true name gives you power over him. This answer seems logical enough, but I wanted to defy logic. My Rumpelstiltskin had to be loveable.

So the first thing I realized about this world was that names were intricately tied to a person’s destiny. Your name affects your future, how people judge you and treat you. A name might reveal social status or a particular power or virtue. It might also reveal weakness or the sorrowing of a parent. Though it’s magnified in the world of Rump, this is not wholly unfamiliar territory in the real world. Names have always held great meaning and power in many cultures; I just took it to another level. With Rump in particular, his name reveals a gap in his identity. His mother died before she could reveal his entire name, leaving him with a rather embarrassing portion. This is the starting point for the entire story.

 

Magic

 

Names were the easy part to work with in this world. It was an obvious choice from the beginning, but what about the magic of this world? As I considered other aspects of the tale, such as spinning straw into gold, I had to consider a magic system. Who could use magic? What were the consequences of its use? I felt the more specific and concrete the answers, the better. For Rump, the magic of spinning straw into gold is deeply rooted in his family history, as are the consequences of that magic, which don’t reveal themselves right away. And without giving away too much, Rump’s magic is also connected to his name.

Magical Creatures

 

Though I did not want to create a high fantasy world full of elves, dwarves, centaurs, mermaids, dragons, etc. I wanted Rump’s world to be magical beyond just the use of magic. That is, I wanted some magical creatures. This part was slower for me, probably because it intimidated me. I like magical worlds, but they also need to have some basis in logic in order for them to be satisfying, and I don’t like to make things up just to add flavor and intrigue to the story. Anything that pops up in my story, in the end, must have a necessity. So the pixies and gnomes and trolls that Rump runs into along the way are all entertaining in their own way, but they also each play roles in moving the story along and even bringing about the resolution. 

Building the world of Rump was challenging, but so rewarding as I found those moments of connection between the fantasy and reality. That’s when a fantasy world really comes to life.

 GIVEAWAY!!!

 

Liesl is giving away a signed copy of RUMP and a bookmark to one lucky INTERNATIONAL winner!Enter using the rafflecopter below and check the Terms And Conditions on the widget for the rules.Good Luck! :)



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An Insight Of The Characters' World: Guest Post + Giveaway by Emma Pass

This is a feature where I ask authors to do a guest post discussing about the world building of their books and share their experiences in creating the world for their characters.For more information on this feature,click HERE.

Today,Emma Pass stops by at Daydreaming Bookworm to discuss about the world building of her debut,ACID.Thanks for stopping by,Emma!

ABOUT ACID:


2113. In Jenna Strong’s world, ACID – the most brutal, controlling police force in history – rule supreme. No throwaway comment or muttered dissent goes unnoticed – or unpunished. And it was ACID agents who locked Jenna away for life, for a bloody crime she struggles to remember.

The only female inmate in a violent high-security prison, Jenna has learned to survive by any means necessary. And when a mysterious rebel group breaks her out, she must use her strength, speed and skill to stay one step ahead of ACID – and to uncover the truth about what really happened on that dark night two years ago.

 

  




ABOUT EMMA:

Emma Pass has been making up stories for as long as she can remember. Her debut novel, ACID, will be published in 2013, followed by another stand-alone thriller for young adults in 2014. By day, she works as a library assistant and lives with her husband in the North East Midlands.

Links:

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Emma's guest post:


ACID – An Insight of the Character’s World



Writing a novel set in the future is a tricky business, because often, you’re writing about things that don’t exist (yet). In one way, this is very freeing and exciting, as you can make everything up – literally anything can happen! But in another, it’s quite scary, because you can’t expect your readers to just believe whatever you tell them. Even a future world has to follow its own logic, and be plausible. With ACID, I wanted to create a version of Britain that reflected the brutality of ACID and how much it might be possible for a country to change over the span of a century, yet it had to be believable – familiar, even – so that the worldbuilding didn’t pull readers out of the story because it didn’t feel ‘right’.

I started with the politics, trying to work out how a police force as ruthless as ACID (which stands for The Agency for Crime Investigation and Defence) could have taken over from the government and got into power – then hung onto it for so long. I wrote pages and pages of notes, as well as looking back at notebooks from when I tried to write earlier versions of the book that didn’t work out.

I decided that the UK of 2113 would no longer have a monarchy, so I renamed it the Independent Republic of Britain, which reflects the way ACID have cut the country off from the rest of the world to ensure their power is absolute. At this stage, I read up on North Korea, where the authorities have done this in real life. North Korean citizens don’t even have access to the internet; instead, government officials have created their own intranet, loading information onto it so no-one sees anything they don’t want them to – something which, when people read ACID, they will see I drew on directly.

Next, I had to figure out the implications of this for the ordinary people who lived under ACID’s rule. At the time I started to write the book, there was a big outcry in the ‘real world’ about the UK becoming a ‘nanny state’, where everything people did was micro-managed by the government. For example, did you know that in 2009, the Shetlands, a tiny collection of islands north of the Scottish mainland, apparently had more CCTV cameras than the San Francisco police department?

So I tried to imagine what life would be like if this was truly taken to the extreme, with ACID watching your every move: deciding where you live, what sort of education you get, what sort of job you have, what food you can eat (and what you can’t), what sort of clothes you can wear, even how much TV you have to watch every day and who you marry – a process called LifePartnering, which people go through at 16. Everything depends on your social class, which, again, is decided by ACID, who’ve even gone as far as dividing up London, still the country’s capital city, into sections where people are placed according to their status. If you step out of line, punishment is swift, and terrifying. ACID have created super-prisons where you can be sent for the slightest infringement. Even hugging someone of the opposite sex who isn’t your LifePartner could result in you being arrested – and sent down without a trial. And as for the people they want to get rid of forever… well, you’ll have to read the book to find that out!

Creating ACID’s world was interesting and, at times, quite scary, as I began to see how easy it would be for a real-life dystopian society to develop. And it was fun, too – as a reader, I’ve always loved the ‘what if’ posed by these sorts of novels, and it was great to have the chance to create my own.  

 

 Giveaway!!!

Emma is giving away a signed copy of ACID to one INTERNATIONAL winner.Enter using the rafflecopter below and see TERMS AND CONDITIONS on rafflecopter widget for the rules.
  
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An Insight Of The Characters' World: Guest Post + Giveaway by Cat Winters

This is a feature where I ask authors to do a guest post discussing about the background of their books and share their experiences in creating the world in which the characters are portrayed.For more info on this feature,click HERE.

 Today,Cat Winters stops by to share her insights on her upcoming debut,In The Shadow Of Blackbirds.Thanks for stopping by,Cat! :)

IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS by CAT WINTERS

In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion. Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died in battle—returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her?

Featuring haunting archival early-twentieth-century photographs, this is a tense, romantic story set in a past that is eerily like our own time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: 

Cat Winters was born and raised in Southern California, near Disneyland, which may explain her love of haunted mansions, bygone eras, and fantasylands. She received degrees in drama and English from the University of California, Irvine, and formerly worked in publishing.

Her debut novel, IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS—a YA ghost tale set during the World War I era—is coming April 2, 2013, from Amulet Books/ABRAMS. She currently lives outside of Portland, Oregon, with her husband and two kids. 






  

CONTACT INFO:
 
Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/catwinters   
Twitter:  http://twitter.com/catwinters 
Facebook:   http://facebook.com/catwintersbooks
Website:   http://www.catwinters.com


 Here is Cat's guest post for today's feature.

IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS isn’t a typical historical ghost story. It doesn’t take place in a decrepit old manor house rising out of the gloom of an English moor. The setting is a very specific moment in time: October and November 1918, during the last weeks of World War I and the height of the deadly Spanish influenza pandemic that killed millions of people around the globe.

My main character, Mary Shelley Black (named after the author of FRANKENSTEIN), travels from Portland, Oregon, to live with her aunt in San Diego, California, after watching her father get arrested for treason. There’s an atmosphere of fear and paranoia gripping America. Anyone who speaks out against the war is at risk of arrest. Anyone who catches the flu might die within hours. Encountering the ghost of her first love is only one of the many reasons Mary Shelley is trying to keep hold of her courage and sanity.

After researching 1918 America in depth, I realized I was dealing with a real-life version of a dystopian/apocalyptic setting. I decided to draw out the science-fiction elements of the time period. One of the first scenes that came to me was the opening chapter, in which Mary Shelley boards a train. I envisioned a crowded railroad car populated by passengers wearing flu masks, with only their eyes visible. Onions were a popular folk remedy used to fight off the flu germs, so I smelled the potent fumes of onions in the air and imagined Mary Shelley making her way past all the watchful eyes in her quest to find a seat. When a woman sneezes, Mary Shelley holds back on saying “gesundheit,” for the word is German, and Americans were fighting Germany. She’s worried she might go to jail for seeming un-American, like her father.

To add richer layers to my otherworldly atmosphere, I continuously drew upon reports of the 1918 flu and all the homemade flu remedies. Some people sprinkled sulfur over hot coals to try to chase away the germs, creating a smelly, eerie blue smoke—which seemed perfect for a paranormal funeral scene in the novel. I read accounts of coffins piling up in front of undertakers’ homes and children climbing on the caskets as if they were playing in a fortress—chilling details that also went into the book.

In the research archives of the San Diego History Center (http://www.sandiegohistory.org), I learned about a Red Cross House that was opened for recovering war veterans in November 1918. Two scenes that are important to the story’s central mystery take place in that convalescent home. I merged the archives’ descriptions of the building with my own interpretation of what the men recuperating there would have looked like and how the place would have smelled and sounded. Those chapters became some of my favorite parts of IN THE SHADOW OF BLACKBIRDS, and even though those sections of the book were more grounded in the real, living world, they contain their own touch of the novel’s surreal atmosphere.

There are also scenes involving the ghost—a troubled, terribly haunted eighteen-year-old soldier named Stephen Embers. Those moments usually occur at night, and most of the tension and fear my main character endures were drawn from my own experiences of lying in bed after reading a scary book or watching a frightening movie, my heart thumping so loudly until it sounded like a second heart beating inside my mattress. The aunt with whom Mary Shelley lives can’t afford electricity, so most of the ghostly encounters occur by the light of an oil lamp, or in pitch darkness…as all frightening ghost scenes should.

Atmosphere and world building are an essential part of submerging one’s readers into a story. I hope you enjoy your journey into Mary Shelley Black’s dark and dangerous historical world and feel I’ve fully transported you to this strange, sad, and fascinating period in time—even if it makes you want to leave your own lights on at night. 

 
GIVEAWAY:
 
Cat is giving away a signed swag pack containing a bookmark, postcard, and bookplate, as well as a clock-gear necklace inspired by the jewelry that technology-loving Mary Shelley Black wears in the novel (All pictured below) to one lucky INTERNATIONAL winner.Giveaway is international.Enter via the rafflecopter below and please check the TERMS AND CONDITIONS on the widget.Good Luck! :)

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An Insight Of The Characters' World: Guest Post + Giveaway by Jennifer Archer

This is a feature where I ask authors to do a guest post discussing about the background of their books and share their experiences in creating the world in which the characters are portrayed.For more info on this feature,click HERE.

For today's post,Jennifer Archer stops by at my blog today to share her insights of her upcoming novel,The Shadow Girl.

 

THE SHADOW GIRL by JENNIFER ARCHER

"Sometimes I forget for an hour or two that she's with me. Sometimes I convince myself that she was only a dream. Or that I'm crazy."


For as long as Lily Winston can remember, she has never been alone. Iris, a shadowy figure who mimics Lily's movements and whispers in her ear, is with her always—but invisible to the rest of the world. Iris is Lily's secret.

But when Lily's father is killed in a tragic accident, his cryptic final words suggest that he and Lily's mother have been keeping secrets of their own. Suddenly, Iris begins pushing Lily more than ever, possessing her thoughts and urging her to put together the pieces of a strange puzzle her father left behind. As she searches for answers, Lily finds herself drawn to Ty Collier, a mysterious new boy in town. Together, Lily and Ty must untangle a web of deception to discover the truth about her family, Iris . . . and Lily's own  identity.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 At the age of ten, Jennifer Archer made up her mind to become a writer. Then she grew up, became “sensible,” and earned a business degree with a minor in accounting instead. After years of trying to find her way through a confusing maze of debits and credits she realized that, for her, accounting was no more sensible than becoming a World Federation wrestler. So in 1993, she enrolled in a creative writing class, and five years later, sold her first novel. Since then, Jennifer has published several novels for adults, as well as numerous non-fiction works.

Jennifer has been a finalist twice for RWA’s Golden Heart award and in 2006 was a finalist for the prestigious Rita Award and a nominee for a Romantic Times Bookclub Magazine Reviewer’s Choice Award. Her debut Young Adult novel, THROUGH HER EYES, was an April, 2011 release from Harper Teen. She has taught creative writing and has presented numerous talks and workshops for educators, students, writers' organizations and bookstores.

The mother of two grown sons, Jennifer lives in Texas with her husband and two dogs, Marge and Harry.

 CONTACT INFO:  

 Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/28572.Jennifer_Archer 

 Twitter:        http://www.twitter.com/jenniferarcher1

 Facebook:    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Archer/159335414094711

 Website:       http://www.jenniferarcher.com/           

 Here is Jennifer's guest post in which she shares the story behind The Shadow Girl's creation.

Typically many different elements come together to form the ideas for my stories and it’s often difficult for me to pinpoint exactly one thing that inspired a book, a character, or a fictional world. That’s definitely true of The Shadow Girl. When I think back to the time when the story and characters were percolating in my mind, I remember pondering the following things: 

• When I was in 6th grade, one day I slipped out of the room while class was in progress to go to the restroom. The school building was old, with dark echoing hallways, and the restroom across from my classroom was small and empty except for me. I remember standing at the sink, washing my hands. I could hear the distant sounds of teachers lecturing, books slamming shut, students talking quietly. I turned off the faucet and looked up as I reached toward the paper towel dispenser on the wall, and when my eyes connected with my own image in the mirror, my breath caught and for a moment I froze as I stared at myself. Who are you? That was the thought that flashed through my eleven-year-old  mind. It lasted only a second , that odd and disconcerting feeling of disconnection from the girl in the mirror . . . myself. But I have never forgotten it.  I think that moment was a natural part of growing up and trying to figure out who I was – not literally, but in the scope of my place in the world and what I believed about myself.  And I think that the memory of that experience is at the core of my idea for The Shadow Girl. What if a girl named Lily senses a presence that stays with her all the time? Another girl whose whispers Lily hears in her head? A girl named Iris who feels to Lily like a separate part of her?

•  My love of ghost stories is apparent when I look back at the books I’ve written. In my novels for adults, two books – Sandwiched and Off Her Rocker – have subtle ghostly elements. However, my young adult novel Through Her Eyes is a full-blown ghost story in that the ghost is very much a crucial main character. In The Shadow Girl, I wanted to write a ghost story with a twist. Another true ghost story, but one that’s more than that. And because I don’t want to ruin the twist for anyone who hasn’t yet read the book, I’ll leave it at that!
  
  
• In building Lily’s world, I realized she needed to live in a somewhat isolated location with a fairly lonely existence so that Iris is one of the few “friends” she has. For this reason and others, I decided that her parents would home-school Lily. And I realized that setting her home in a fictional location in the mountains of southern Colorado would be perfect, because it is a very remote place. My husband and I have a cabin in the Spanish Peaks there, so I know and love the area. The two peaks – the east and the west – stand side-by-side and seem to me a perfect analogy for Lily and Iris. Lily explains this better than I can! Here are her thoughts about the peaks outside her bedroom window in her own words:
  

My parents and I live in a cabin my dad built in the Rocky Mountains of

southern Colorado. My bedroom is in the upstairs loft. As I roll to face the

   window beside my bed, two peaks in the distance are the first things I see. 

       They’re as vigilant as always, their frosty heads twinkling beneath a hazy wash 

    of moonlight.My parents and I call them the twin peaks, and they’re so close 

together that I used to imagine they held hands.Though the west peak 

changes colors with each season, the east peak remains black and gray, 

somber and dark. It’s slightly taller than the west one and stands a step 

behind, as if to watch over its smaller friend.  

Also,the Spanish Peaks are rich with Indian legends,and I discovered that a few of them worked with my   storyline. For instance, one legend states that anyone who sleeps in the shadow of the peaks never dies.How cool is that?

I love stories that feature characters facing challenges that force them to change and grow and learn something about themselves. Characters who ask “who am I?” Characters who ultimately learn that there is more to themselves than they ever imagined. That is the character I attempted to create in Lily.

Thank you so much for the guest post,Jennifer! :) 

This guest post also comes with a giveaway!Giveaway is INTERNATIONAL and PLEASE CHECK the rafflecopter widget for the rules.Here's what you can win:

 

                    

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An Insight Of The Characters' World: Guest Post + Giveaway by Liesel Schwarz

This is a feature where I ask authors to do a guest post discussing about the background of their books and share their experiences in creating the world in which the characters are portrayed.For more info on this feature,click HERE.

I would like to thank Liesel Schwarz for doing this feature with me.Her debut,A Conspiracy Of Alchemists,was published by DelRey on the 7th of January in the U.K and will be published in the U.S on the 5th of March.
                                                      
A CONSPIRACY OF ALCHEMISTS by LIESEL SCHWARZ


LEAVE IT TO CHANCE. Eleanor “Elle” Chance, that is—a high-flying dirigible pilot with a taste for adventure and the heroine of this edgy new series that transforms elements of urban fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal romance into pure storytelling gold.

It is 1903, and the world is divided between light and shadow. On the side of light is a wondrous science that has transformed everyday life by harnessing magical energies to ingenious new technologies. But each advance of science has come at the expense of shadow—the traditional realm of the supernatural.

Now two ancient powers are preparing to strike back. Blood-sucking immortal Nightwalkers and their spellcasting Alchemist allies have a plan to cover the whole world in shadow. All they require is the sacrifice of a certain young woman whose past conceals a dangerous secret.

But when they come after Elle, they get more than they bargained for. This enterprising young woman, the daughter of a scientific genius, has reserves of bravery and determination that even she scarcely suspects. Now she is about to meet her match in more ways than one: a handsome yet infuriating Warlock named Hugh Marsh, whose agenda is as suspect as his charms are annoyingly irresistible.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Liesel Schwarz has an MA in creative writing and is currently completing her doctorate in English and creative writing at Brunel University.

A life-long fan of 19th Century Gothic literature, she is a hopeless romantic and loves Victorians, steampunk, fairies, fantasy monsters, the Fin de siècle, and the correct way to drink absinthe. She also likes Medieval stuff, pirates, zombies, space operas and all subjects in between.

Her debut – the first in a series of Edwardian Steampunk Novels published by Random House/Del Rey is out now.

She is also currently busy with her doctorate in English and Creative Writing at Brunel University. She chooses to live in London because she loves weather there. 

CONTACT INFO:
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6458963.Liesel_Schwarz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Liesel_S
Website:   http://lieselschwarz.com/

Here is Liesel's guest post where she not only gives a wonderful insight of her debut but also provides some helpful advice for anyone who is thinking of writing a steampunk novel.

 My favourite definition of Steampunk is “…the science of what could have been.” But it’s not just about airships and brass goggles. Steampunk is a philosophy. It’s a hankering for an era gone by. And most of all it is an aesthetic movement which comprises fashion, art and design in many forms.

A Conspiracy of Alchemists came to me one afternoon as I was travelling home on the London Underground through Baker Street. Eleanor and Marsh started having an almighty row in my head and I knew I had to write it down. The series just grew and grew from there. I decided to set the story in the Belle Epoch, because I think the Art Nouveau of the time is absolutely beautiful. The beginning of the 20th Century was also a time for phenomenal growth and invention. In fact, most of the things we consider to be indispensible in our lives today were invented around that time, which I find very exciting.

Steampunk is tremendous fun to write. In fact, I loved writing A Conspiracy of Alchemists so much, that I had to write a sequel and I am currently busy with the third.

So here are a few tips for anyone who is thinking about writing steampunk:

• Do your research. There is no substitute for historical accuracy and if you cut corners, your readers will catch you out for sure. Look into the time period you wish to use. You will be amazed at all of the interesting information you will find. 

• World building. The trick to writing historical fantasy is blending fact and invention in such a way that the reader cannot tell what is real and what is made up.  It’s not just a case of slapping a few top hats and goggles onto characters. The technology and the world must be integral to your story.

• Ensure that you have good, sympathetic characters. Make them come alive.

• Plot. Just like a body cannot function properly without good strong bones, so no story will survive without a solid plot to hold it up. 

• Remember to have fun. This, in my view, is the most important thing.

Thank you Bonita for inviting me to post here. 


As usual,this post also comes with a GIVEAWAY!!!DelRey U.K has generously donated a copy of Liesel's debut to one lucky INTERNATIONAL winner.This giveaway is NOT applicable for NORTH AMERICAN residents,since they already have a different edition of the book coming out in March.Good luck and please check the TERMS AND CONDITIONS on the Rafflecopter widget.
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An Insight Of The Characters' World: Guest Post + Giveaway by Meagan Spooner

This is a feature where I ask authors to do a guest post discussing about the background of their books and share their experiences in creating the world in which the characters are portrayed.For more info on this feature,click HERE.

So as you all might have noticed,I've been inactive the past two weeks.This was because our merciless subject teachers kept showering us with pop quizzes and tests.Not to mention that I joined coaching for my O'Levels,which just took up a lot more of my time.So to make up for my absence,today Meagan Spooner is here at my blog to talk about her debut,Skylark,which just got released in the U.K this month.Since I'm focusing on the U.K edition,the giveaway of the book for today's post too will be of the U.K edition.Which means that the giveaway is open to anyone in the world except North American residents.Sorry guys!!!But you can always check out the guest post. :)

 SKYLARK by MEAGAN SPOONER

Vis in magia, in vita vi. In magic there is power, and in power, life.

For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley waited for the day when her Resource would be harvested and she would finally be an adult. After the harvest she expected a small role in the regular, orderly operation of the City within the Wall. She expected to do her part to maintain the refuge for the last survivors of the Wars. She expected to be a tiny cog in the larger clockwork of the city.

Lark did not expect to become the City’s power supply.

For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley believed in a lie. Now she must escape the only world she’s ever known . . . or face a fate more unimaginable than death.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Meagan Spooner grew up reading and writing every spare moment of the day, while dreaming about life as an archaeologist, a marine biologist, an astronaut. She graduated from Hamilton College in New York with a degree in playwriting, and has spent several years since then living in Australia. She's traveled with her family all over the world to places like Egypt, South Africa, the Arctic, Greece, Antarctica, and the Galapagos, and there's a bit of every trip in every story she writes.

She currently lives and writes in Northern Virginia, but the siren call of travel is hard to resist, and there's no telling how long she'll stay there.

In her spare time she plays guitar, plays video games, plays with her cat, and reads.

She is the author of SKYLARK, available now from Corgi/Random House U.K. She is also the co-author of THESE BROKEN STARS, forthcoming from Disney-Hyperion in Fall 2013.

You can find her on the web at http://www.meaganspooner.com.

Meagan's Insight into the world of Skylark.

 I think that after “where do your ideas come from” and “what’s your favorite author,” “how did you come up with the world of SKYLARK” is the most common question I get asked. In general world-building is a fascinating process, but with SKYLARK in particular, people are drawn by the mixing of fantasy and dystopian, steampunk and magic, survival and adventure. I often get asked how I manage to blend these genres in the world without everything seeming jumbled.

For me, the world in SKYLARK is its own unique thing. I don’t think of it as a fantasy world or a dystopian world. I didn’t set out to create a book within a particular genre—in fact, labeling it with a genre became problematic later when I was trying to figure out how to pitch it to agents, and later, to publishers.

I got the first glimmers of an idea for the world of SKYLARK while listening to the radio, a segment on global warming and the energy crisis. As they talked about alternative fuels my mind wandered, and I began to wonder what it would be like if you could run the world on magic—if magic existed, and could be harvested as a resource the way we harvest fossil fuels for energy.

From there everything else fell into place. The world of SKYLARK once had fantastical machines that ran on magical energy, gathered from the life force of every living thing. In their world this power was abused and depleted, and by the time the book starts, Lark and the others in her city are living inside a dome, a tiny enclosed island in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Maybe some day I’ll write about the world of SKYLARK before it fell apart, the golden age of mechanical walkers and copper animals—but for me, the aftermath was the more interesting place to start. What do you do once everything falls apart? How do you survive without even the simplest of the things you once took for granted?

During the story, Lark learns she must flee her home city into the magically-wasted landscape beyond. Not knowing what she’ll find there, she chooses the dangerous unknown over what she knows is waiting for her at home. Through her travels, in this book and over the next, she begins to put together an image of what this world used to be like—and might yet be again.

And finally, a giveaway of a U.K edition copy of Skylark,donated by Ruth at Random House Children's Publishing U.K.This giveaway is open to anyone living outside North America.
Enter via the rafflecopter widget.Be sure to check terms and conditions and lastly,cheating disqualifies ALL entries.I've seen quite a few of you entering your name into the GFC option in the widget but not exactly following the blog via GFC.And I've deleted all entries for such candidates on previous giveaways.But anyway,good luck!!

 

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