Interview with Kalyn Josephson for The Storm Crow

The Storm Crow (The Storm Crow #1)

by Kalyn Josephson
Publisher: SourcebooksFire
Release Date: July 9th 2019

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

In the tropical kingdom of Rhodaire, magical, elemental Crows are part of every aspect of life...until the Illucian empire invades, destroying everything.

That terrible night has thrown Princess Anthia into a deep depression. Her sister Caliza is busy running the kingdom after their mother's death, but all Thia can do is think of all she has lost.

But when Caliza is forced to agree to a marriage between Thia and the crown prince of Illucia, Thia is finally spurred into action. And after stumbling upon a hidden Crow egg in the rubble of a rookery, she and her sister devise a dangerous plan to hatch the egg in secret and get back what was taken from them.

Can you briefly describe THE STORM CROW and their main characters?

THE STORM CROW follows Thia, a princess who trained her entire life to become a crow rider—until the day they’re destroyed. When she finds a surviving crow egg in the rubble, she teams up with her sister the queen, her best friend, and a kind-hearted inventor to hatch the egg and defeat the empire that destroyed the crows.

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

Kiva! I love her cutting honesty. She doesn’t beat around the bush and she’s not afraid to say what she thinks.

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

I did! The story was inspired by a newspaper article I read about a little girl who fed her neighborhood crows. In return they brought her gifts, and her neighbors called her The Crow Queen. That title is what gave me the idea for a kingdom whose way of life was based of magical crows and what would happen if they were suddenly gone.

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

Alive, by Sia. I think it really captures Thia’s emotional journey, and it has a raw strength to it that fits the vibe of the book.

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

Oh gosh, these types of questions are always so tough for me. I think Isabela Moner would make a great Thia, and I’ve thought of Ericen as a young Robbie Amell. For Caylus I think of a young Eddie Redmayne. Kiva is the one I really struggle with and haven’t figured out! Someone tall and seriously badass.

Summer is here and we love to go out and enjoy the sun. What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

I’d recommend somewhere cold and rainy, like Ireland, or warm and storming, like a little cottage off the US east coast. Anywhere with the steady drum of rain the background that promotes drinking a nice cup of tea ;)

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

CROWN OF FEATHERS by Nicki Pau Preto! Instead of crow riders, you get phoenix riders, and they’re super cool! It’s got fantastic worldbuilding for all your epic fantasy needs.

What’s next for you?

Right now I’m working on the sequel to THE STORM CROW, which we should be announcing the title for soon. Other than that, I have a couple drafts of other books I’m playing around with, all to do with more types of animal magic!

Kalyn Josephson is a Technical Writer in Silicon Valley, which leaves room for too many bad puns about technically being a writer. She grew up in San Luis Obispo, CA, but now lives in the Bay Area with four awesome friends (because it’s the Bay and she’d like to be able to retire one day) and two black cats (who are more like a tiny dragon and an even tinier owl). When not writing YA Fantasy, she loves baking, reading, playing sports, and watching too many movies.

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Interview with Elizabeth Lim for Spin the Dawn

Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars #1)

by Elizabeth Lim
Publisher: Knopf
Release Date: July 9th 2019

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

Project Runway meets Mulan in this sweeping YA fantasy about a young girl who poses as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor and embarks on an impossible journey to sew three magic dresses, from the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she'll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There's just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia's task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor's reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

Steeped in Chinese culture, sizzling with forbidden romance, and shimmering with magic, this young adult fantasy is pitch-perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas or Renée Ahdieh.

Can you briefly describe SPIN THE DAWN and their main characters? 

To provide for her family, a young seamstress disguises herself as a boy to compete for the role of imperial tailor. Her task to sew the legendary dresses of the sun, moon, and stars lead her on an adventure of danger and romance along a reimagined Silk Road. 

Maia Tamarin is a talented seamstress who yearns to become an imperial tailor for the emperor, but doesn’t even get a chance to have her work considered because she’s a girl. She’s a go-getter, absolutely loyal to her family, and a realist despite her incredible talent. One reader described her as a “cinnamon roll slytherin,” which I absolutely love. 

Lady Sarnai is the daughter of an enemy warlord and is betrothed to Emperor Khanujin. She’s a fierce warrior who despises having to play princess at court. Don’t mess with her. 

Emperor Khanujin is the ruler of A’landi. Not much can be said about him without too many spoilers!  

Edan is the emperor’s lord enchanter. He gets bored easily and enjoys playing pranks on the emperor’s ministers. 

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

I think I’m the most like Maia, the main character, but Lady Sarnai’s actually my favorite character. She’s so fierce and so…Slytherin—she’s ambitious like Maia but has similar struggles: she wants to be recognized for her battle prowess, but people look down on her because she’s a girl. I love how similar she and Maia are and yet how different. She’s really fun to write, and I hope readers will love her prickliness. 

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

I was inspired by the fairytales my father used to tell me as a child. SPIN THE DAWN draws influence from three in particular: the Chinese legend, The Cowherd and the Weaver, the French fairytale, Donkeyskin, and the Norwegian story, East of the Sun. I decided to write about a tailor in particular because of my grandmother, who spent many years working as a seamstress when she first moved to the United States. 

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

Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys. 

Summer is here and we love to go out and enjoy the sun. What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date? 

A pot of freshly brewed oolong tea sipped in a garden (the Brooklyn Botanical Garden’s Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden and Staten Island’s Chinese Scholar’s Garden are two of my local faves). 

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

Yes! I’d recommend The Reader by Traci Chee, Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan, Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer, and Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie Dao.

What’s next for you? 

I’m working on the sequel to Spin the Dawn!

Elizabeth Lim grew up on a hearty staple of fairy tales, myths, and songs. Her passion for storytelling began around age 10, when she started writing fanfics for Sailor Moon, Sweet Valley, and Star Wars, and posted them online to discover, "Wow, people actually read my stuff. And that's kinda cool!" But after one of her teachers told her she had "too much voice" in her essays, Elizabeth took a break from creative writing to focus on not flunking English. 

Over the years, Elizabeth became a film and video game composer, and even went so far as to get a doctorate in music composition. But she always missed writing, and turned to penning stories when she needed a breather from grad school. One day, she decided to write and finish a novel -- for kicks, at first, then things became serious -- and she hasn't looked back since. 

Elizabeth loves classic film scores, books with a good romance, food (she currently has a soft spot for arepas and Ethiopian food), the color turquoise, overcast skies, English muffins, cycling, and baking. She lives in New York City with her husband.

Interview with Erin Bowman for Immunity

Immunity (Contagion #2)

by Erin Bowman

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: July 2nd 2019

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Horror

Synopsis:

Survivors of a deadly planetary outbreak take on a new, sinister adversary in the white-knuckle sequel to Contagion, which New York Times bestselling author Amie Kaufman called “gripping, thrilling and terrifying in equal measures.”

They thought their nightmare was over, but Thea, Coen, and Nova’s rescue was only the beginning. After being imprisoned on a ship they thought was their ticket to safety, it’s clear that the threat they left behind isn’t as distant as they’d hoped—and this time the entire galaxy is at risk.

Now that threat is about to be unleashed as an act of political warfare. To prevent an interstellar catastrophe, the survivors must harness the evil they faced on the planet Achlys and learn to wield the only weapon they have left: themselves.

The first installment in Erin Bowman’s duology earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly, who called the plot “intricate and action-packed,” and fans of Jonathan Maberry, Rick Yancey, and Madeline Roux will relish in Bowman’s tense, high-stakes conclusion to the events of Contagion.

Can you briefly describe the CONTAGION series and their main characters and what’s going to happen in IMMUNITY?

Contagion follows two teens (science intern Althea Sadik and temp pilot Nova Singh) who are working part-time gigs at a research facility when a distress call from a distant mining crew comes in. They're swept up in a search and rescue mission that brings them to Achlys, a dark, tidally-locked and near-uninhabitable planet, where they find that the entire mining crew has disappeared. As they rush to discover who (or what!) could have decimated an entire operation, the titular 'contagion' comes into play.

Immunity picks up exactly where Contagion leaves off, following the survivors of book one as they attempt to keep the contagion they thought they'd escaped from being unleashed as an act of political warfare. The entire galaxy is at risk, so to say the stakes are higher than ever is incredibly accurate.

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

This is a hard question for me to answer because I love all my characters for different reasons. Nova was a big surprise for me, because when I initially envisioned the series, she didn't even have a POV. But she came to life on the page and demanded my attention. I also love Thea because there's a lot of teen me in her—a rule follower, a good student, avoids confrontation (especially with authority figures). I enjoyed writing her quiet strength and watching her find her voice throughout the first book. And of course, there's Coen. I adore writing gray characters and he kept so many secrets hidden just below the surface in Contagion.

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

Contagion was the first book I ever wrote that was inspired by a dream. In this dream (which was actually more of a nightmare), I was part of a crew traveling through deep space when our mechanic started acting strangely. We locked him in an air lock and watched him rapidly deteriorate. It was pretty gruesome. That story kernel, paired with my extreme fear of outbreaks and plagues, served as the main inspiration for the duology.

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

I'm going to go with 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' by Lorde. It fits both books on multiple levels. The creepy, atmospheric melody. Lorde's haunting vocals. Lyrics that speak to multiple characters. Certain lines remind me of Thea and Coen, others Dr. Tarlow (from book one), and the titular line, especially, reminds me of Burke and the Radicals (who readers will learn a lot more about in Immunity) 

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

I always feel like I'm cheating when I answer this type of question, but I honestly don't care so long as the actors nail the part and can bring the character to life. And of course, I'd want the diversity of the book's cast to be reflected in the diversity of actors cast in the movie. That is non-negotiable.

Summer is here and we love to go out and enjoy the sun. What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?

Water. Good, clean, bottled water. Sounds boring, but if you've read the book, you understand. If you want to get fancy, maybe make it a bubbly seltzer and toss a wedge of lime in. ;P

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

If you're one of the few people who hasn't picked up Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, that would be a natural fit for fans of Contagion. Also, I haven't read these next two titles yet, but they are on my to-read list because they have killer premises that give me Contagion vibes: Sanctuary by Caryn Lix and Pitch Dark by Courtney Alameda

What’s next for you?

I'm currently working on my first middle grade project, a fun and heartwarming portal fantasy tentative titled Piper, Invisible. It's set to come out summer 2020 and you can learn more about it over on goodreads.

Erin Bowman is the Edgar Award-nominated author of numerous books for teens, including the Taken Trilogy, Vengeance Road, Retribution Rails, and the Contagion duology. A web designer turned author, Erin has always been invested in telling stories—both visually and with words. When not writing, she can often be found hiking, commenting on good typography, and obsessing over all things Harry Potter. Erin lives in New Hampshire with her husband and children. You can visit her online at embowman.com, on twitter @erin_bowman, or on instagram @heyerin. 

Erin is represented by Sara Crowe of Pippin Properties.

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