Interview with Maureen Johnson for The Hand on The Wall

The Hand on the Wall (Truly Devious #3)

by Maureen Johnson
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: January 21st 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller

Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson delivers the witty and pulse-pounding conclusion to the Truly Devious series as Stevie Bell solves the mystery that has haunted Ellingham Academy for over 75 years.

Ellingham Academy must be cursed. Three people are now dead. One, a victim of either a prank gone wrong or a murder. Another, dead by misadventure. And now, an accident in Burlington has claimed another life. All three in the wrong place at the wrong time. All at the exact moment of Stevie’s greatest triumph . . .

She knows who Truly Devious is. She’s solved it. The greatest case of the century.

At least, she thinks she has. With this latest tragedy, it’s hard to concentrate on the past. Not only has someone died in town, but David disappeared of his own free will and is up to something. Stevie is sure that somehow—somehow—all these things connect. The three deaths in the present. The deaths in the past. The missing Alice Ellingham and the missing David Eastman. Somewhere in this place of riddles and puzzles there must be answers.

Then another accident occurs as a massive storm heads toward Vermont. This is too much for the parents and administrators. Ellingham Academy is evacuated. Obviously, it’s time for Stevie to do something stupid. It’s time to stay on the mountain and face the storm—and a murderer.

In the tantalizing finale to the Truly Devious trilogy, New York Times bestselling author Maureen Johnson expertly tangles her dual narrative threads and ignites an explosive end for all who’ve walked through Ellingham Academy.

Can you briefly describe the TRULY DEVIOUS series and its characters, what’s happening on THE HAND ON THE WALL?

Truly Devious is about Stevie Bell, a true-crime aficionado who wants to be a detective. She’s come to Ellingham Academy, which is one of America’s most prestigious and unusual schools, with the hopes of solving the 1936 kidnapping of the founder’s wife and daughter. The kidnappers sent a mocking riddle signed Truly, Devious. This is an extremely famous case, considered the crime of the century, so the idea that a high school student is going to solve it eighty years later seems absurd to many. While Stevie is at her new school, some strange things happen, including an updated version of the Truly Devious letter being projected on to her wall at night. When a fellow student dies in a freak accident, Stevie is convinced it is murder and sets out on her own investigation that combines past and present. As this investigation continues over the books, Stevie will uncover things that have been buried for many decades, and others will die. In The Hand on the Wall, Stevie discovers how past and present are intertwined, and everything will come to an explosive conclusion up on the mountain.

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?

Possibly Nate, the writer who is haunted by the fact that everyone wants him to finish his second book. For reasons.

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?

The story comes out of my love of mystery and out of some classic crime cases. I wanted to take some of the things I love and have loved about many mystery novels—like the remote mansion as both setting and character, the amateur detective, the analogue clues that you can touch and see. I wanted to make a proper game that readers could play along with.

If you could choose one song to describe each books in the series, which ones would it be?

For Truly Devious, Digital Witness by St. Vincent 

For The Vanishing Stair, Mistake by Fiona Apple

For The Hand on the Wall, let’s go with Bad Guy, because we are going to find out WHODUNNIT.

From the TRULY DEVIOUS series, which book...

A. Has your favourite cover?

I truthfully like them all, but maybe The Hand on the Wall. I really like green.

B. Was the most difficult to write?

The Vanishing Stair. The middle is always hardest for me.

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

I get asked this a lot, and I genuinely have no idea. It’s just not how I think.

What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

Ideally, you’ll want to be snowed in for the last book, and you’ll want something hot to drink. Hot chocolate? Something stronger? 

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish THE HAND ON THE WALL?

There is a giant world of classic mysteries out there. The British Library Crime Classics series is amazing—all of these great mysteries from the 30s and 40s that fell out of print, they’ve brought them back. Get your country house murder on!

What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book?

Starting. Or finishing. And that middle bit.

Maureen Johnson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of several YA novels, including 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Suite Scarlett, The Name of the Star, and Truly Devious. She has also done collaborative works, such as Let It Snow (with John Green and Lauren Myracle), and The Bane Chronicles (with Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan). Her work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Buzzfeed, and The Guardian, and she has also served as a scriptwriter for EA Games. She has an MFA in Writing from Columbia University and lives in New York City.

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Interview with Rin Chupeco for The Shadowglass blog tour

The Shadow Glass (The Bone Witch #3)

by Rin Chupeco
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Release Date: March 1st 2019

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

The dramatic finale to The Bone Witch series! Tea's dark magic eats away at her, but she must save the one she loves most, even while her life—and the kingdoms—are on the brink of destruction.

In the Eight Kingdoms, none have greater strength or influence than the asha, who hold elemental magic. But only a bone witch has the power to raise the dead. Tea has used this dark magic to breathe life into those she has loved and lost...and those who would join her army against the deceitful royals. But Tea's quest to conjure a shadowglass, to achieve immortality for the one person she loves most in the world, threatens to consume her.

Tea's heartsglass only grows darker with each new betrayal. Her work with the monstrous azi, her thirst for retribution, her desire to unmask the Faceless—they all feed the darkrot that is gradually consuming her heartsglass. She is haunted by blackouts and strange visions, and when she wakes with blood on her hands, Tea must answer to a power greater than the elder asha or even her conscience. Tea's life—and the fate of the kingdoms—hangs in the balance.

Can you briefly describe the world in The Bone Witch series and their main characters and what’s happening in The Shadowglass?

The Bone Witch is about Tea Pahlavi, who learns she is a rare Dark asha when she accidentally raises her brother from the dead. Sent to be trained in the world of necromancy by asha, women who can also channel similar abilities, Tea discovers that Dark asha are feared (and called “bone witches” as a kind of slur) because they can also control and put down daeva – constantly resurrecting monsters that roam the land. Dark asha’s lifespans are shortened because of this, and that Dark asha are susceptible to darkrot, which can drive one mad with power. She is desperate to find a way to save her and her mentor’s life. At the same time she must contend with Faceless – a group of men and women who can also channel the Dark, and wishes to attain immortality and full control of all the daeva by creating shadowglass. Eventually, Tea sees most of society turning against her, including Fox (who fears the darkrot has taken hold of her), as she decides nothing will stop her from finding the eponymous Shadowglass – even if it means sacrificing almost everything else.

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?

I’m always going to be partial to Zoya I think, because so much of her personality is from my own. Likh is an easy second – it was difficult to define her as a trans woman in a world where the definitions of it do not exist yet, but I’d like to think I did well to honor her story. She was so easy to write and I love her status among readers as the world’s most beloved cinnamon roll! 

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?

The Bone Witch came at a difficult, sleep-deprived time in my life. I just had my first son, which was an emotional time. I had a brother I never knew, who died before I was born, and I started wondering about what our relationship would have been like had he lived. It’s how Fox first came to be, who’s sort of an idealized version of the brother I would have liked to have.

What’s your favourite quote from this third book?

It’s actually a huge spoiler, so this is the next best thing: this is a song Tea sings... when she’s blindingly drunk and pretty much making a fool of herself in a tavern:

Kiss me with your generous mouth,

That source of endless wine.

Kiss me close when season’s drouth,

Your lips a taste of mine.

Through storm-led skies and sun-dried fires,

Our love ’twas meant to be.

When roses fade on funeral pyres

I’ll carry your heart with me.

If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be?

Like Real People Do, by Hozier. I think the lyrics are especially foreshadow-y for The Shadowglass:

I had a thought, dear

However scary

About that night

The bugs and the dirt

Why were you digging?

What did you bury

Before those hands pulled me

From the earth?

I will not ask you where you came from

I will not ask you, neither should you

Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips

We should just kiss like real people do

Which one would you say it is your favourite book in the Bone Witch series and why?

I think it would probably be the Heartforger, mainly because I was nearly driven out of my mind writing it. It’s got a fairly complex plot and I was juggling that with character development/romance, backstories, atmosphere, and side plots, and I wasn’t sure I could fit that all in in 120k words or less.

That said though, I’m gonna say that the Shadowglass is probably the best ending I’ve ever written so far. I’m a bit proud of it. I don’t know if people will consider it a happy ending per se, but it was a very satisfying ending to write.

Can you tell us 3 things Tea can’t live without?

Since she’s been living in exile on her own at the start of the series, she’s learned to let go of a lot of things. But-

1. Kalen, obviously

2. also Fox, obviously

3. a potion created specifically for her at the apothecary, that gives her feelings of confidence. 

Since it is still cold outside, what hot drink do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

hot buttered rum, because that’s how we roll (Use spiced apple cider and not water please, though. We’re not animals.)

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish The Shadowglass?

I want to sing the praises of this wonderfully beautiful book called GIDEON THE NINTH, by Tasmyn Nuir. This has every aesthetic I want in a book (sarcastic fighting lesbian necromancers? Hell yes) and the prose is so beautiful, I just want to drink it up! And Beth Revis’ GIVE THE DARK MY LOVE is an astoundingly beautiful book considering it is also about necromancy!

What’s next for you?

I have THE NEVER TILTING WORLD coming out from HarperTeen on October 15 of this year! It’s about twin goddesses trapped in a world permanently divided between night and day, trying to solve the reasons for the cataclysm that stopped their world from moving, before shadows and monsters can consume everything they hold dear.

I also have WICKED AS YOU WISH out in 2020, which is the first book in my A HUNDRED NAMES FOR MAGIC series. Here, fairytales are a part of history, and a young Filipina descended from the heroine Maria Makiling must aid a young prince in taking back his frozen kingdom of Avalon from the Snow Queen, when Avalon’s most powerful weapon, a firebird, arrives at her doorstep.

Pre-order Campaign!

Hi guys

Would you like to sign up for a pre-order campaign of THE SHADOWGLASS (out March 5, 2019) and get these goodies, guys

US/Canada: https://t.co/9TctpIdWPm
International: https://t.co/Gg0cZ6vMJb
Alternate option: https://t.co/wWQBHOpYrh pic.twitter.com/WJZOJnfMVD

— Rin Chupeco [The Shadowglass out 3/5/19] (@RinChupeco) January 12, 2019

Despite an unsettling resemblance to Japanese revenants, Rin always maintains her sense of hummus. Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, she keeps four pets: a dog, two birds, and a husband. Dances like the neighbors are watching.

She is represented by Rebecca Podos of the Helen Rees Agency. She is also fond of speaking in the third person, and may as well finish this short bio in this manner. While she does not always get to check her Goodreads page, she does answer questions posed to her here as promptly as she is able to.

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FFBC: Welcome to the club, Bright Blaze of Magic (Black Blade #3) by Jennifer Estep

Bright Blaze of Magic (Black Blade #3)
by Jennifer Estep
Publisher: Kensington
Release Date: April 26th 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Romance, Paranormal, Magic, Supernatural

Synopsis:

Bad Things Always Come In Threes…

As a thief, I'm good at three things: hiding in the shadows, getting in and out unseen, and uncovering secrets. I put these skills to work for the Sinclair Family, one of the magical mobs that run the tourist town of Cloudburst Falls. 

Everyone knows Victor Draconi wants to take over all the other Families--and kill every last Sinclair. What they don't know is that I'm on to him, and no way will I let the man who murdered my mom get away with hurting all the other people I care about. Especially when I've got places to break into, stuff to steal, and Devon Sinclair fighting right by my side…

“You are the worst thief I have ever seen.”

Felix Morales frowned, stopped walking, and dropped the large black duffel bag he was carrying on the ground. I winced at the clank-clank of the items inside the bag banging together.

“Why would you say that?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t know,” I sniped. “Maybe the fact that you are tromping through the woods like you are trying to kill every single blade of grass under your feet. Not to mention hacking through the bushes with your sword like we’re on a jungle safari. And then of course, there’s the talking. There is always the talking. It’s a wonder you don’t pass out from lack of oxygen.”

His eyes narrowed. “And what is wrong with having a little light conversation while we hike through the woods?”

“Light conversation? You’ve been talking nonstop ever since we left the mansion.”

“So?”

I threw my hands up into the air. “So you actually have to stop talking and be quiet to be a thief! That’s why!”

Felix gave me a mulish look and started to cross his arms over his chest—until he realized that he was still holding on to his sword, the one he’d been swinging around like a machete for the past twenty minutes. He glared at me, but he finally slid the weapon into the scabbard belted to his waist. Well, that would cut down on some of the noise. Now, if I just had some duct tape for his mouth …

Felix stabbed his finger at the guy standing with us, who was busy setting his own black duffel bag onto the ground, although with far less noise than Felix had made. “And why aren’t you lecturing him about being quiet?”

“Because Devon can actually walk through the woods without cracking every single branch he steps on.”

Felix snorted. “You’re just saying that because the two of you have been sneaking around the mansion sucking face for the last two weeks.”

I tensed, still not used to having a relationship with a guy, much less talking about it with that guy’s best friend. But Devon Sinclair stepped up and slung his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close.

“And it’s been the best two weeks of my life,” he said, grinning at me.

Hello Jennifer! We are super excited to have you once again in our FFBC tours.

JE: Thanks for hosting me again. I appreciate it.

Could you tell our Book Addicts a little bit about Bright Blaze of Magic and what’s going to happen in this third book in the Black Blade series?

JE: Bright Blaze of Magic is the third and final book in my Black Blade young adult urban fantasy series. The series focuses on Lila Merriweather, a 17-year-old thief who lives in Cloudburst Falls, West Virginia, a town dubbed “the most magical place in America.” Tourists come from around the world to tour all the magic-themed shops and attractions, as well as see monsters like tree trolls, copper crushers, and more in their natural habitats.

Lila has a Talent for sight, along with transference magic — in other words, magic makes her stronger. To survive, she does odd jobs for her pawnbroker friend. Lila also does her best to stay off the grid and avoid the Families — or mobs — who control much of the town. But when she saves a member of the powerful Sinclair Family during an attack, Lila finds herself caught in the middle of a brewing war between the Sinclairs and the Draconis, the most powerful Family in town.

So in Bright Blaze of Magic, Lila is a member of the Sinclair Family now, and she’s trying to figure out how to protect her friends from Victor Draconi, who wants to take over all the other Families in town. When Victor finally strikes out against the other Families, it’s up to Lila to figure out how to defeat him once and for all.

Is there a specific scene that you had the most fun to write?

JE: Lila has a couple of scenes with the lochness, a monster that lives under a bridge, that she has sort of become friends with. I always enjoy writing those scenes. And I always like writing the scenes with Oscar, the pixie who lives in Lila’s room and helps to take care of her. He’s like a miniature cowboy, and he’s a really fun character for me to write.

If you had to pick one song to be the Theme Song for Bright Blaze of Magic – Which one would you pick? 

JE: Oh, that’s a tough one! One of my favorite songs is “Human” by The Pretenders, so I’ll go with that one. 

If you had to pick one of the three books from the Black Blade series, which one would you say you had the most fun writing it and why?

JE: I would say that Bright Blaze of Magic was the most fun for me to write. I always love writing action and fight scenes, and this book has a lot of action from start to finish. So it’s probably my favorite book in the series.

What’s next for you? 

JE: I’m working on some books and e-novellas in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. Unwanted, an e-novella from Finnegan Lane’s point of view, will be out on July 18. Unraveled, book #15 in the series, will be out on Aug. 30.

I’m also mulling over some ideas for my next young adult project. We’ll see what happens.

For more information about my books, folks can visit my website at http://www.jenniferestep.com or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

Thank you so much for everything, Jennifer!

JE: Thanks to you guys as well. Happy reading, everyone! :)

Follow the Bright Blaze of Magic by Jennifer Estep Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Jennifer Estep is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy and paranormal romance.

Her Elemental Assassin series follows the life and times of Gin “the Spider” Blanco, a barbecue restaurant owner who also happens to be an assassin with magical control over the elements of Ice and Stone.

The Mythos Academy series focuses on Gwen Frost, a 17-year-old Gypsy girl who has the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it. She studies at Mythos Academy, a school for the descendants of ancient warriors.

Her Bigtime paranormal romance books feature sexy superheroes, evil ubervillains, and smart, sassy gals looking for love.

Estep’s new Black Blade series is about 17-year-old thief Lila Merriweather, who has a Talent for sight, along with the ability to take magic others used against her to boost her own powers. She tries not to get involved with the Families who control much of the town, but ends up in the middle of a potential turf war.

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