Interview with Joanne Rendell for Sky Without Stars

Sky Without Stars (System Divine #1)

by Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: March 26th 2019

Genre: Retellings, Young Adult, Science Fiction

Synopsis:

A thief. An officer. A guardian. 

Three strangers, one shared destiny . . .

When the Last Days came, the planet of Laterre promised hope. A new life for a wealthy French family and their descendants. But five hundred years later, it’s now a place where an extravagant elite class reigns supreme; where the clouds hide the stars and the poor starve in the streets; where a rebel group, long thought dead, is resurfacing.

Whispers of revolution have begun—a revolution that hinges on three unlikely heroes…

Chatine is a street-savvy thief who will do anything to escape the brutal Regime, including spy on Marcellus, the grandson of the most powerful man on the planet.

Marcellus is an officer—and the son of a renowned traitor. In training to take command of the military, Marcellus begins to doubt the government he’s vowed to serve when his father dies and leaves behind a cryptic message that only one person can read: a girl named Alouette.

Alouette is living in an underground refuge, where she guards and protects the last surviving library on the planet. But a shocking murder will bring Alouette to the surface for the first time in twelve years…and plunge Laterre into chaos.

All three have a role to play in a dangerous game of revolution—and together they will shape the future of a planet.

Power, romance, and destiny collide in this sweeping reimagining of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, Les Misérables.

Can you briefly describe Sky Without Stars and their main characters?

Sky Without Stars is a reimagining of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables! Our book is set on a very distant and very divided planet called Laterre, where the wealthy live in luxury and the poor live in the rusting and leaking remains of 500-year old spaceships. But the rumblings of revolution have begun—a revolution that hinges on three unlikely heroes. Chatine is a street-savvy thief who will do anything to escape the brutal Regime. Marcellus is an officer being groomed to command by his powerful grandfather. And Alouette lives in a hidden away underground Refuge, where she guards and protects the last surviving library on the planet. Although from very different worlds, all three have a role to play in the dangerous game of revolution—and together they will shape the future of a planet!

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

Oh my, that’s like having to say which child or parent is your favorite! I love them all in completely different ways. But I did really enjoy writing Alouette, mostly because of the challenge of writing about someone whose only experience of the world so far has been through the books and the knowledge given to her by the women she lives with in a hidden away Refuge. She reminds me of a butterfly just budding from her chrysalis! She has so much to learn, yet her “chrysalis” has given her great gifts that she won’t fully understand until she flies up into the world above!

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

Jessica, my co-writer, initially came up with the idea of writing a retelling of Les Mis set in space. But she’d sat on the idea for a while, unsure whether she was ready or able to embark on such a project. Then one night, when she and I were having dinner, our conversation came around randomly to the French Revolution and naturally from there to Les Misérables. I told Jess that the novel was one of my top favorite books ever and I’d read the 1300-page epic three times! (I have a PhD in literature and I’m a super-fan of all the epic literary classics!) A second later, without warning, out of Jess’s mouth flew the words, “Do you want to write a retelling of it with me set in space!?” And a second later, without warning, out of my mouth flew the words, “I’d love to!” 

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

Well, of course, it really has to be a Les Mis song, doesn’t it?! Especially because Jess and I spent a lot of time singing loudly – and probably very badly – our favorite Les Mis songs as we geared up for brainstorming or writing. For me, the one song that embodies our book is “Do You Hear the People Sing?”

At the beginning of Sky Without Stars, the poor people of Laterre are suffering, rain-soaked, and hungry, while the rich live in luxury and excess in their climate-controlled dome. But within them, and within our main characters, there is a spark of hope. Hope for change and hope that “There is a life about to start/When tomorrow comes”! 

What’s the best and the worst thing about writing a book with someone else? What are the challenges you guys found while writing Sky Without Stars?

Years ago, a fiction writer said to me she loved what she did because it was like getting to play dolls as a grown up! With a co-writer, it’s like getting to play dolls with a friend too – a friend who knows all the names and character backstories and who is just as excited coming up with new plot ideas as you are! However, Jess and I live on opposite sides of the U.S and it makes brainstorming in person (or playing dolls in person!) tricky and the three-hour time difference between our coasts can be a challenge. Luckily, though, the tech wonders of Skype, screen-sharing, and instant-messaging through Slack have made the whole co-writing venture possible. 

If your book was about to become a movie/TV show, who would you see playing as the characters in Sky Without Stars?

I hate to put an idea of a character’s looks in our readers’ heads, because when I read a book I like to imagine characters for myself. But if, for some reason, I was made head of casting for the movie of our book, this might be who I’d cast:

Amandla Stenberg as Alouette:

Mackenzie Foy as Chatine:

Henry Zaga as Marcellus: 

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

Jess and I drank a lot of tea while writing this book, so I can’t help associating it with a good strong cup of Tetley tea! But Laterre is a French-inspired planet, so the book would probably go best with “un café” (an espresso) or “café au lait” (coffee with milk)! Take your pick and enjoy! 

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish Sky Without Stars? 

If you love retellings and haven’t read Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles yet, that’s definitely the place to start. Meyer’s epic series retells the fairy tales with a sci-fi twist. Also, Jessica Khoury’s new book Last of her Name is a fabulous retelling of the Anastasia story in space. Being the literary classic super-fan, I also have to give a shout out to Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables! It’s a monster of a book, I know, but it is just such a fabulous story with incredible characters – it’s no wonder it’s been adapted into a mega-successful musical and numerous movie versions. 

What’s next for you? 

Jess and I are hard at work finishing up the sequel to Sky Without Stars (book two in the System Divine series). We’ve been having a lot of fun “playing dolls” with our beloved characters from book one, but also creating brand new characters that we hope our readers will love as much as we do!

Jessica Brody is the author of more than 15 books for teens, tweens, and adults including Addie Bell’s Shortcut to Growing Up, A Week of Mondays, Boys of Summer, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, and the three books in the sci-fi Unremembered trilogy. She’s also the author of the Descendants: School of Secrets series, based on the hit Disney Channel original movie, Descendants. Her books have been translated and published in over 23 countries and Unremembered and 52 Reasons to Hate My Father are currently in development as major motion pictures. She lives with her husband and four dogs and splits her time between California and Colorado. 

Visit her online at JessicaBrody.com. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram @JessicaBrody

Joanne Rendell is the author of three novels and holds a PhD in English literature. She teaches fiction writing to teens and kids and is a board member for the youth Shakespeare company, New Genesis Productions. With her husband and son, Joanne divides her time between New York City, and New Paltz, New York. Visit Joanne at JoanneRendell.com.

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Interview with Victoria Lee for The Fever King

The Fever King (Feverwake #1)

by Victoria Lee
Publisher: Skyscape
Release Date: March 1st 2019
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, LGBT

Synopsis:

In the former United States, sixteen-year-old Noam Álvaro wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of the viral magic that killed his family and made him a technopath. His ability to control technology attracts the attention of the minister of defense and thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia.

The son of undocumented immigrants, Noam has spent his life fighting for the rights of refugees fleeing magical outbreaks—refugees Carolinia routinely deports with vicious efficiency. Sensing a way to make change, Noam accepts the minister’s offer to teach him the science behind his magic, secretly planning to use it against the government. But then he meets the minister’s son—cruel, dangerous, and achingly beautiful—and the way forward becomes less clear.

Caught between his purpose and his heart, Noam must decide who he can trust and how far he’s willing to go in pursuit of the greater good.

Can you briefly describe the world in The Fever King and their main characters?

The book takes place in a speculative North Carolina, in a world where magic’s a lethal virus and the rare survivors are infected with the ability to use magic. 

The main character is antifascist activist kid Noam who’s always fought against the anti-immigrant government (his parents are undocumented immigrants from Atlantia, a neighboring country that’s dealing with a lot of magic outbreaks). But when he gets infected with magic, he’s recruited by the Minister of Defense to join a government-funded magical training program. He decides he’ll let the Minister teach him the science behind his magic…but secretly plans to use it against the government and bring them down from the inside. He’s pretty passionate and idealistic and just a little reckless.

Dara Shirazi is Noam’s academic rival in the magical training program. He’s the Minister of Defense’s adopted son and he’s incredibly powerful…and he can be a little mean, too. He grew up wealthy and privileged, so his political opinions butt heads with Noam’s pretty often.

Calix Lehrer is the Minister of Defense I’ve been mentioning. He’s a war hero and revolutionary who helped build Carolinia in the wake of a genocide against magic-users a hundred years ago. He used to be Carolinia’s king before he gave up power to form a democratic government. Now, he seems to sympathize with the plight of the refugees.

Carter Ames is Dara’s best friend, another one of the cadets in the training program. She’s snarky, heavily tattooed, and very protective of Dara. But she takes a shine to Noam, too.

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

This is a hard one! I love Noam, obviously—I mean, he’s the main character—but if I’m brutally honest, Dara is my favorite. He represents so much of what I was trying to say with this book. I relate a lot to his experiences, and honestly I just want him to be happy. 

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

It took me a really long to figure out what story I was actually trying to tell with The Fever King. I wrote several versions of this book trying to figure it out! Some parts of the book were originally parts of other books I’d written that ended up getting coopted and ultimately becoming part of TFK. 

Most of all, I wanted to write about the intersection of intergenerational and personal trauma—about what it means to face our trauma, and the way the world can demand that we “have” to confront our abusers in order for trauma to be viewed as legitimate. I also wanted to write about the experience of feeling like an outsider in your own country. For me, I wrote this through the lens of being Jewish American (for Noam: Atlantian-Carolinian), but so many different groups have experienced this historically and today in different ways.

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

“War Sweater” by Wakey!Wakey!

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

Spiced cider! Best consumed from a chipped handmade mug in an old bookstore.

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

Absolutely! From a variety of genres: Vita Nostra by Sergey and Marina Dyachenko, Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan, This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada, The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton, Deathless by Catherynne M Valente, In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan, Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D Jackson, The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, Bruja Born by Zoraida Cordóva, The Spy with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke.

On the adult side, The Poppy War by RF Kuang, The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson, The Fifth Season by NK Jemison, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, Vicious by VE Schwab, and Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer.

For more debuts coming out in 2019, I recommend Wilder Girls by Rory Power, Wicked Saints by Emily A Duncan, The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante, The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman, Opposite of Always by Justin Reynolds, Color Me In by Natasha Díaz, Descendant of the Crane by Joan He, and The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala.

On the new adult side, I loved Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. 

What’s next for you?

Well, first off…. Proposing my dissertation and finishing my Ph.D.! Writing-wise, though, I’m wrapping up the sequel to The Fever King. It’s called The Electric Heir, and it’ll release in March 2020. The book starts six months after The Fever King ends, and if you thought TFK was angsty and dark, well…I have news for you about book 2.

Other than that I have a few works in progress underway, but I can’t say too much about them just yet!

Victoria Lee grew up in Durham, North Carolina, where she spent twelve ascetic years as a vegetarian before discovering spicy chicken wings are, in fact, a delicacy. She’s been a state finalist competitive pianist, a hitchhiker, a pizza connoisseur, an EMT, an expat in China and Sweden, and a science doctoral student. She’s also a bit of a snob about fancy whisky.

Victoria writes early in the morning, then spends the rest of the day trying to impress her border collie puppy and make her experiments work.

She is represented by Holly Root and Taylor Haggerty at Root Literary.

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Interview with Jessika Fleck for Beware the Night

Beware the Night

by Jessika Fleck
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Release Date: March 12th 2019

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

When her world divides, pitting light against dark, Veda must join a dangerous revolution to save her grandfather and fight against injustice...even if it costs her the boy she loves.

On the island of Bellona, life is peaceful--as long as the citizens dutifully worship the Sun, which protects them from all harm. Seventeen-year-old Veda knows that keeping the Sun happy will protect her and her grandfather from the Night, the dangerous people who snatch innocent citizens from their beds under the cover of darkness, never to be seen again. As long as Veda follows the rules, she will be safe. 

But when Veda's grandfather is offered up as the next sacrificial offering to keep the Sun's favor, she starts to see that the safety she's been promised comes at a dangerous price. Maybe there is more to fear above than there is below. 

With a mysterious young man, Dorian, at her side, Veda has to figure out if the scary bedtime stories she grew up hearing are real--or dangerous lies.

Can you briefly describe Beware the night and their main characters?

First off, I’m so happy to be on a book tour with FFBC! What a perfect way to kick off the release of Beware the Night! Thank you so much for having me. 

Here’s a brief blurb for Beware the Night: When her world divides, pitting light against dark, Veda must join a dangerous revolution to save her grandfather and fight against injustice...even if it costs her the boy she loves. 

The story centers around three teens and several significant side characters. But as for the main characters…

First is Veda Adeline: Veda is a member of the Basso working class. She can out-fish anyone on the island, adores and is protective of her grandfather, and isn’t afraid to bend the law if it means survival. Veda has a heart of gold and would keep the entire island fed with fresh fish if she was allowed. She also holds a special place in her heart for Nico, her best friend since childhood, but knows, because of their society, they can never be more. Veda will discover, deep down, that she’s a warrior like her mother was.

Nico Denali: Nico is a member of the ruling Dogio class. He also happens to be the son of a very powerful family and with that comes heavy expectation. His friendship with Veda isn’t forbidden but is definitely discouraged and frowned upon. He loves his family but would do anything for Veda. Nico is quietly stoic, honest, and fiercely loyal. 

Dorian Winters: Dorian is a bit of a mystery… Aside from seeing him around the island, Veda’s only memory of Dorian is from childhood: Dorian would pelt birds with rocks in the market square and she would shout he leave them alone. But he unexpectedly resurfaces and, somehow, despite his sarcasm and playful attitude, he and Veda become quick friends. Dorian is all sass and strength on the outside but a total sweetheart on the inside. He also happens to hold a few dark secrets. 

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

Probably Bronwyn, Dorian's sister. She originally had more screen time, but with the nature of revisions, her character got severely axed. Bronwyn loves animals, is quietly observant but also fairly cunning, and really enjoys baking and giving to others. She's loyal to her friends and family and, while she's not much of a fighter, will certainly do what she has to to protect what she loves.

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

Usually, at least for me, ideas for stories come in waves. My inspiration for Beware the Night was no different. Originally, the concept was sparked after the horrific tsunami and earthquake that hit Japan in 2011. I began thinking about isolation and islands and was, at that point, veering more toward a post-apocalyptic story about a girl and her mother. But, as these things go, that early conception morphed and evolved and then eventually bloomed into what is now Beware the Night: a story about love, strength, loss, fear, and pushing against the status quo set on a remote island within a dystopian society.

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

Definitely Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men. The lyrics, the mood, the haunting melody… It was the backdrop of many a writing session for Beware the Night. 

If your book was about to become a movie/TV show, who would you see playing as the characters in Beware the Night? 

Caveat—I am not amazing at this, lol. That said…

Veda: A red-headed Kiernan Shipka 

Nico: Tyler Posey

Dorian: Josh Whitehouse (but with blonde hair)

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

Love this questions! I’m going to have to say a nice, spicy chai latte—hot, like the sun but also earthy and layered with a mix of spices Bronwyn would absolutely love to bake with! 

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

It’s not out until next year but Ink in the Blood by Kim Smejkal is going to be absolutely fabulous! Definitely pick up A Soldier and a Liar by Caitlin Lockner, it’s wonderful. And I have to always recommend one of my all-time favorite books EVER, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. 

What’s next for you?

Actually, I’m working on several projects at the moment. Most pressing is the sequel to Beware the Night (title soon to be announced). It’s currently in edits. Writing sequels is HARD but the editing process is proving easier than with Beware the Night (yay!). I’m super excited about continuing Veda’s story! Aside from that, I’m working on edits for another YA fantasy/dystopian called DARK GENTIAN. It’s sort of an old west Count of Monte Cristo mash up. I’m also deep into my first middle grade project, A SWEATER FOR THE BURROW—a loose Robin Hood retelling but with knitting and dirigibles. It’s currently in my highly competent agent’s hands and hopefully will be going on submission soon.

Jessika Fleck is an author, unapologetic coffee drinker, and knitter — she sincerely hopes to one day discover a way to do all three at once. Until then, she continues collecting vintage typewriters and hourglasses, dreaming of an Ireland getaway, and convincing her husband they NEED more kittens. Her YA debut, THE CASTAWAYS (Entangled TEEN), is now available. Her next YA novel, BEWARE THE NIGHT (Swoon Reads/Macmillan) releases March 12, 2019. More at www.jessikafleck.com.