I did not set up an official blog tour, but I thought I'd better make a post to house the things I have been doing.
I'm guessing some of you may be (hopefully!) more interested in reading some of these things now that the book is available for purchase and reading (in whatever format you like best, be it e-book, audiobook, or paper book–my personal favorite not least because the cover is so soft and the paper feels nice). I know I often want to go read interviews and things after I finish a book. If this is also your druthers, you're covered.
If you're more interested in reviews and press, links to those are housed on the Blackwood page.
I've divided the below into interviews and guest posts, in chronological order of when they were posted, first to last.
Interviews:
- Bluewater Waterstones YA Reading Group interview by Kaylie. Snippet: "Writing a novel is like chasing a whirlwind with a butterfly net. And, if you’re lucky, after a great deal of work managing to catch that whirlwind, which is actually a story, and then showing it to other people and hoping they say, “Oh, that’s a story,” and not, “What is that? It just looks like a big mess of stuff blowing around.” "
- Civilian Reader interview. Snippet: "Okay, I know this will earn me boo/hisses, but I have never made it through the whole The Lord of the Rings. Please, don’t stone me."
- Manga Maniac interview. Snippet: "Miranda and Phillips were there from the time I sat down to start writing, though of course they changed as I got to know them better. But I always knew I wanted this book to be, among other things, an unconventional romance. So the characters had to be not just right, but right for each other, at least at this stage in their lives."
- Subterranean Press interview by Kat Howard. Snippet: "I would love to see John Dee in a high fashion job. A designer. Yes, John Dee as Versace. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? “This season is going to be all about the ruff collar and jewelry featuring the Monas Hieroglyphica.” If I could have any alchemical power, I’d want the gold, obviously. I would bathe in gold coins like a less feathered version of Scrooge McDuck."
- Ink Scratchers interview by Jade. Snippet: "I’m a constant reader, all different kind of things, and probably watch too much TV. Oh, and I’m probably on twitter too much, too."
- My Bookish Ways interview. Snippet: "Honestly, when I started trying to write novels, they were all YA. I don’t think I’ve ever had an idea that would work better as an adult book. The immediacy of action and emotion in YA really appeal to me, and that time of life is so rich with possibility. Also, the way all the books rub up against each other. It’s much more of a genre melting pot, with everyone able to steal and use what they want in a freer way, because ultimately the books are marketed into the same category regardless of genre."
- Book Chick City, Debut Author Spotlight. Snippet: "My usual time to write is early in the morning, which isn’t my favorite time of day at all. But I get a lot done then, so there must be something good about it."
- Nova Ren Suma's 2012 Fall YA Debut Interview Series. Snippet: "This is too hard to name living writers, so I’m going to pick dead ones and off the top of my head: Ghost Shirley Jackson (who gets a name check in Blackwood) and ghost Alexandre Dumas (I do love some swashbuckling intrigue). How’s that for an odd trio? And I’d serve really expensive champagne and really good fried chicken."
- Bibliotropic interview: "I’m not current enough on the science to know how feasible it is that our consciousnesses could ever be preserved in some way electronically. But it seems to violate a fundamental law of nature, where the great constant is death. And I’m not sure I think we should want to."
- HerKentucky interview by Megan Whitmer: "I think Miranda ended up being my favorite to write, because it took me a while to get under her skin and figure out what she was about. And it was fun writing a character who’s into lots of nerdy things."
- Cynsations (Cynthia Leitich Smith) interview: "But the thing was, I actually didn’t feel like a failure. Mostly I felt bemused, because I’d been working toward that goal the whole time, and I did feel closer to it. But I also felt like I’d learned that working against some artificial clock wasn’t smart or productive or logical."
Guest Posts:
- At Stacked, Two New-To-YA Publishers Worth Knowing. Snippet: "This is something I really and truly believe, having witnessed many triumphs and tragedies among author friends: the most important thing is that the editor is behind your work, and the best scenario is that the whole team is. One thing I knew going in was that Strange Chemistry was building an imprint."
- At Rabid Reads for Stomp vs. Romp, Five Pieces of Advice for Surviving an Action Sequence from Dear Aunt Gwenda. Snippet: "I have some good news: if you’re the hero, the good guy (or the love interest, Team Romp gets a point on that one), then your odds are very good…of surviving horrible things. You will be chased by rattling skeletons through dark forests, forced to navigate a burnt-out wasteland with only Cormac McCarthy as your guide, the owner of many favorite pairs of jeans wrecked by fighting the latest nest of vampires to move to town, or have your plans totally hijacked when alchemists suddenly invade the tiny island you live upon (*whistles innocently*)."
- At Scalzi's, The Big Idea. Snippet: "Most of us who grew up in the United States can probably remember when our elementary school teachers brought up this provocative piece of history, talked about it for five or maybe ten minutes, and then skated on past to sterner stuff like Puritans and men in powdered wigs signing important papers."
- At Mary Robinette Kowal's, My Favorite Bit. Snippet: "Often, I find what I miss most in YA romantic threads that don’t quite work for me as a reader is the conversations. Those talks where you watch two characters develop a relationship—where they become friends, too. Where they make each other laugh, even while dealing with serious situations."
- At Wondrous Reads, Five Favorite Literary Heroines. Snippet: "There are so many fabulous ladies in literature that singling out just a few is extremely hard work. I’m sure I’ll be kicking myself later and reordering and substituting, but I’m just going with the first five that came to mind today, from five of my favorite books/series."
- At the Overflowing Library, Bookcase Showcase. Snippet: "We live in a hundred-plus-year-old-house with very high ceilings, and a few years ago we invested in a slew of Ikea Billys plus extenders. These house the mass of our books, if not all of them. They’re semi-alphabetical, because Christopher likes that sort of project, but have become less and less tidily alphabetical over recent years."
- At largehearted boy, Book Notes for Blackwood. Snippet: "So, the playlist ended up being a mix of mood pieces and songs specifically tied to my fictional people. Here are ten significant tracks–either to me during the writing or as they reflect on the book's main characters, Miranda Blackwood and Phillips Rawling." (Note: You can listen to the playlist on spotify from there.)
- At Melissa Walker's, a Cover Story on Blackwood: "When I thought about it, I worried a little—how would the cover get across that this is a story that takes place now, even though the historical Lost Colony of Roanoke inspired it? Fret and fret, as we authors do about covers (because, let’s face it—they are so important; a good cover image helps crystallize the feeling of a story, pulls us in before we’ve read the book in a way no synopsis or thousand words can)."
- At Narratively Speaking, a Day in the Writing Life: "I wish I could weave a pretty narrative of an ideal writing day. It would start when my butler/chef/ninja assassin/confidante woke me with perfectly brewed coffee at 10 or so, served me breakfast on a veranda overlooking the beach, after which there’d be a swim, and then several hours of writing before an awesome parade of activities unfurled through the evening."
- At Angels of Retribution, on Names: "Names, names, names! Okay, since I only have the one book out that’s the one I’m going to talk about. Names in Blackwood are obviously very important. One’s right there in the title—the surname of the heroine Miranda. (And, as some have already guessed, Miranda’s first name is a nod to The Tempest, which felt right given the story’s island setting.)"