Interview with Kathryn Purdie for Bone Crier's Moon

Bone ​Crier’s Moon (Bone Grace #1)

by Kathryn Purdie
Publisher: HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen
Release Date: March 10th 2020

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis:

Bone ​Criers have a sacred duty. They alone can keep the dead from preying on the living. But their power to ferry the spirits of the dead into goddess Elara’s Night Heavens or Tyrus’s Underworld comes from sacrifice. The gods demand a promise of dedication. And that promise comes at the cost of the Bone Criers’ one true love.

Ailesse has been prepared since birth to become the matriarch of the Bone Criers, a mysterious famille of women who use strengths drawn from animal bones to ferry dead souls. But first she must complete her rite of passage and kill the boy she’s also destined to love.

Bastien’s father was slain by a Bone Crier and he’s been seeking revenge ever since. Yet when he finally captures one, his vengeance will have to wait. Ailesse’s ritual has begun and now their fates are entwined—in life and in death.

Sabine has never had the stomach for the Bone Criers’ work. But when her best friend Ailesse is taken captive, Sabine will do whatever it takes to save her, even if it means defying their traditions—and their matriarch—to break the bond between Ailesse and Bastien. Before they all die.

Can you briefly describe BONE CRIER’S MOON and its characters?

BONE CRIER’S MOON is a story about two best friends, Ailesse and Sabine, who are novice Bone Criers, members of a matriarchal society who use the magic obtained from animal bones to ferry the dead into the afterlife. Ailesse was born to be the next matriarch, and she’s ready to complete her rite of passage to finally become a Ferrier, but in order to do that she has to prove herself to the gods by killing the boy destined to be her one true love. That boy happens to be Bastien, whose father was killed by a Bone Crier eight years ago. Bastien has been on a quest of revenge ever since, but his vengeance will have to wait. Ailesse’s ritual has begun, and now their fates are entwined in life and death. Sabine’s journey is to help save her best friend from the deadly effects of the soul-bonding ritual and uncover the dark mysteries of the current matriarch, Ailesse’s mother.

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

Sabine is my favorite character because she represents the moral heart of the story. She’s the person who questions the cost of being a Bone Crier and who abhors killing for any reason. At the beginning of the story, Sabine isn’t sure if she wants to become a Ferrier, and over the course of the book, she has to turn into someone very strong and brave in order to have a fighting chance to save her best friend.

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

While doing research for another book, I came across “Les Dames Blanches” (women in white) in French folklore. In the stories, if a man comes across a woman in white on a bridge at night, she’ll ask him to dance, and if he dances with her, she’ll let him cross the bridge, but if he doesn’t, she’ll kill him. That lit my writer brain on fire! I wanted to know why these women really killed men (there had to be more to it than being denied a dance), and so I created my own story and mythology around “Les Dames Blanches” to answer that question.

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

“Heavy in Your Arms” by Florence + the Machine. I played this song on repeat for several of Ailesse’s scenes. This song is perfect for her because she’s feisty and determined to kill her chosen soulmate at any cost in order to become a Ferrier, but what she doesn’t bargain for is falling in love with him--someone who hates her as much as she hates him...at least at first. I especially love these lyrics from the song: This will be my last confession / "I love you" never felt like any blessing / Whispering like it's a secret / Only to condemn the one who hears it / With a heavy heart.

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

Hot cider in a thermos while exploring the catacombs below Paris! I based the catacombs in my story off of those ones. They are haunting and mysterious and fascinating, and I would love to explore them myself one day!

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish BONE CRIER’S MOON? 

If you haven’t read Robin LaFevers’s books set in the world of HIS FAIR ASSASSINS, definitely pick those up, starting with GRAVE MERCY. Assassin nuns! Need I say more? I’d also recommend BLOOD COUNTESS by Lana Popović, a YA novel about the real-life inspiration for Countess Dracula in 17th century Hungary. I love classic horror and historical fiction. This is the perfect mix!

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

Anyone can conceive a great book idea. The harder part is somehow making that idea become that beautiful story you first envisioned it to be. For me, that requires extensive research, detailed plotting, and strict discipline in putting in the hours necessary to draft and revise and rewrite and polish until I’ve finally told the story I meant to tell.

What’s next for you?

I just finished my most intensive round of revisions for the sequel to BONE CRIER’S MOON, and I can’t wait to share the title and stunning cover with all of you soon. I’m working with my agent on something new to sell, and I have lots of young adult and middle grade books ideas in the works. We’ll see what sticks!

Kathryn is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the BURNING GLASS series. Her love of storytelling began as a young girl when her dad told her about someone named Boo Radley while they listened to the film score of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Kathryn is a trained classical actress who studied at the Oxford School of Drama. She also writes songs on her guitar for each of her stories and shares them on her website. Kathryn lives in the Rocky Mountains with her husband and three children.

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FFBC: Welcome to the club, Lies I Live By by Lauren Sabel

Lies I Live By
by Lauren Sabel

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release Date: May 31st 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Romance

Synopsis:

Romance, intrigue, and action collide in this psychic twist on the classic spy novel.

Callie Sinclair is literally out of her mind; as the government’s youngest psychic spy, she finds valuable information for top-secret missions. Her work keeps her headaches at bay, but it means she must lie to everyone she loves, including her longtime boyfriend, Charlie.

When a new psychic arrives at the office, Callie can’t help but flirt; Jasper already knows her in a way Charlie never will.

But as her love life gets more complicated, so do her visions. People halfway around the world seem to be in danger...and people in her own backyard, too. If Callie can’t find a way to alter future events, she could lose the people she loves—and her mind. Literally.

Lauren Sabel’s enthralling, romantic novel captures the thrill of exploring a unique power in a dangerous world.

Follow the Lies I Live By by Lauren Sabel Blog Tour and don't miss anything! Click on the banner to see the tour schedule.

Originally from the Rocky Mountains, Lauren Sabel has returned to the cool mountain air of Boulder, Colorado after living in several wonderful cities that she will always love and continue to visit year after year.

Lauren loves her husband, her family, her friends, and stories that end happily. (Unfortunately, hers never do.) She also loves digging into her mind and revealing tiny gems she didn’t know were there. 

Lauren learned to mind dig while getting her MFA in Creative Writing from Naropa, a Buddhist college in Boulder, Colorado. Before Naropa, Lauren studied film in Rome, where she developed her love of crypts and other beautiful creepy things. She also worked in the film industry in New York and San Francisco, focusing mainly on film festivals, as she can never pass up a good party. In San Francisco she worked for Chronicle Books, where she was inducted into the fascinating world of book publishing. 

For the past eight years, Lauren has been teaching college students the joys of creative writing, whether they like it or not.

In 2008, Lauren was published in Undiscovered Voices, an anthology of the best new writers for children in the U.K., where she was living at the time. Then life got very exciting very quickly. She signed with Jodi Reamer Esq. at The Writer’s House Agency in New York, and they made magic happen, and that magic is named Katherine Tegen. (aka: Katherine Tegen Publishing, Harper Collins).

Lauren's first book, Vivian Divine is Dead was published June 3 2014. She's currently working on her next book, which she can't wait to tell you about (but has to wait just a little while anyway).

Lauren believes that being a teenager is an act of courage, and is proud of anyone who manages to stick through it, despite the pain. :)

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Between Two Worlds by Katherine Kirkpatrick

Between Two Worlds
by Katherine Kirkpatrick
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Release Date: April 8th 2014

Synopsis:

On the treeless shores of Itta, Greenland, as far north as humans can settle, sixteen-year-old Inuit Billy Bah spots a ship far out among the icebergs on the bay--a sight both welcome and feared. Explorers have already left their indelible mark on her land and its people, and a ship full of white men can mean trouble. 

The ship carries provisions for Robert E. Peary, who is making an expidition to the North Pole. As a child, Billy Bah spent a year in America with Peary's family. When her parents went to America years later, they died in a tragic scandal. Now, Peary's wife, daughter, and crew are in Itta to bring him supplies. Winter comes on fast, and when the ship gets caught in the ice, Billy Bah sets out to find Peary. The journey will imperil her life, and that of the man she loves.

By turns lyrical and gripping, Between Two Worlds is an impassioned coming-of-age novel set in a land of breathtaking beauty and danger, where nature and love are powerful and unpredictable forces.

by Katherine Kirkpatrick

Today we have a guest post by Katherine Kirkpatrick whose young adult novel Between Two Worlds was released this week by Wendy Lamb Books/ Random House. Katherine is here to talk about the love story in the book.

Sixteen-year-old Billy Bah, or Eqariusaq, is used to wife swapping among her people. When her nineteen-year-old husband loans her to young sailor Duncan, the experience isn’t totally out of the ordinary for her. But none of the other wives in her Inuit (formally “Eskimo”) village have been traded to a white man in exchange for a knife and a block of wood. Since there are no trees this far north in Greenland, wood is incredibly valuable. Hunters use it to fashion handles for their harpoons and runners for their sleds. In fact, Billy Bah thinks her husband has made them a really good deal. 

She discovers she likes being traded to Duncan. He wants to talk, asks her silly questions, and makes her laugh. After a while, she becomes impatient to do what she’s there to do. She realizes he’s a virgin, which both surprises and entertains her. Like most Inuit girls, she was married at fourteen. He’s gentle. And funny. She enjoys being with him. She even tells him the trade goods her husband likes best, to ensure that Duncan will bargain for her again. 

Almost from the start of Between Two Worlds, the reader learns that white people have been taking advantage of Billy Bah since she was ten, when Mitti Peary, the wife of Arctic explorer Robert E. Peary, brought her to America as a babysitter. Now, five years after Billy Bah’s year abroad, Mitti returns to the Arctic with her daughter, Marie. Once again Billy Bah falls into the role of childcare provider, while also serving as a translator and negotiator for her people, and a seamstress of fur garments so that the underprepared white explorers do not freeze to death when the winter comes. 

Billy Bah is trusting and she gives generously. One of the strengths of the novel is that Billy Bah does not view herself as a victim. She loves Marie as if she were a little sister. And Billy Bah certainly enjoys her amorous nights with Duncan. Even so, Billy is eventually pushed to her limit by white people’s demands. Through all of the resulting difficulties, however, Billy Bah’s story isn’t a cliché victim story. Duncan truly falls in love with her and she returns his affection, which adds some sweetness and quite a lot of dimension to a young woman’s experience that might otherwise be viewed as a case study in abuse. While most of the book is based on historical events, the romance with Duncan is fictionalized. I think it’s the aspect of the book that will most appeal to teen girl readers, fully drawing them into 1901 and the foreign world of Arctic Greenland. The key to writing historical fiction is to put the past into the present, to bring out themes that a modern-day audience can relate to. The theme of romantic love is powerful and universal, and sexual maturity is a very vital part of adolescence in every culture.

My wonderful editor, Wendy Lamb, helped me to hone the romance in Between Two Worlds. In earlier drafts, an older character named Officer Sutter, or Grease Beard, alternates with Duncan in receiving sexual favors. So in addition to her avaricious nineteen-year-old husband and her handsome and easygoing young lover, Duncan, Billy Bah had to contend with the old, ugly Grease Beard who mostly wanted to take nude photos of her. That really was too much! Wendy advised me to cut those Grease Beard scenes and focus instead on Duncan. She used the word “romance” to describe Duncan’s relationship with Billy Bah before I had even thought of the pair in those terms. 

Wendy also had me tone down aspects of traditional Inuit life that modern readers might find off-putting. I deleted the gory chapter in which Billy Bah’s people slaughter walruses, and downplayed the cultural norms of uncombed hair, smelly, unwashed bodies, head lice, and body lice. It’s there in the book, but it’s just tweaked in such a way that explanations are offered. The Inuit had no running water so in order to wash they had to melt snow using rare and precious seal oil as fuel. The grease on their bodies protected them from having dry, chapped skin in their frigidly cold climate.

In my take on a true-life incident, Mitti Peary gives Billy Bah a bath on the ship just prior to her trade to Duncan. Unbeknownst to Mitti, she puts beautiful, young Billy Bah into a dangerous situation amongst the all-male crew. It’s a good thing I didn’t mention that Inuit girls in that time period usually washed their hair with urine - how sexy is that! 

Dana Carey, Wendy Lamb’s assistant editor, had me rewrite that bath scene. Originally Billy Bah sat crying as Mitti yanked at Billy Bah’s hair with a comb. In the rewrite, Billy Bah takes the comb from Mitti and finishes the snarly job herself. Over five rewrites, Billy Bah became more assertive, more mature, and less historically Inuit in terms of personal hygiene. Meanwhile, Mitti Peary softened. She’s not an egregiously bad antagonist, but a woman who wants what she wants and has no trouble justifying her actions. 

Between Two Worlds is an edgy book, and sixteen-year-old Billy Bah’s unapologetic enjoyment of sexuality outside of marriage and within the context of wife-trading will no doubt rile up some parents and educators. I hope, however, that most readers will see the love story as an asset to the novel. Just as the book’s many descriptions of nature evoke the beauty of the Arctic, balancing out some of its forbidding harshness, the love story adds elements of respite and pleasure to Billy Bah’s tumultuous life. She grows increasingly aware of the lies the white people have told her, and the ways in which she has been manipulated. At the same time, Duncan’s love is true and sincere; she can hold onto that knowledge of truth, which is also very satisfying for the reader. Stories that touch us are stories that have truth and meaning. 

Hope you will enjoy Between Two Worlds.

Katherine Kirkpatrick is the author of seven fiction and nonfiction books, including The Snow Baby, a James Madison Honor Book and Mysterious Bones, a Golden Kite Honor Book and a Washington State Book Award Finalist. Her eighth title, a novel, Between Two Worlds, will be released in April 2014 by Wendy Lamb Books, Random House. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Seattle, Washington.