So we were supposed to have an interview posted with Sherry for our tour stop yesterday, but things got crazy and it didn’t happen. BUT the good thing is that we get to feature The Burning Sky twice because it’s just that good – and I can’t wait for you to get to read the answers Sherry gave us!! If you missed our reviews – they can be found here!
THE BURNING SKY
By: Sherry Thomas
Publication Date: September 17, 2013
It all began with a ruined elixir and an accidental bolt of lightning…
Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she’s being told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells a fiery clash to the death.
Prince Titus of Elberon has sworn to protect Iolanthe at all costs but he’s also a powerful mage committed to obliterating the Bane to avenge the death of his family—even if he must sacrifice both Iolanthe and himself to achieve his goal.
But Titus makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the Bane closing in, he must choose between his mission and her life.
Iolanthe Seabourne is the greatest elemental mage of her generation—or so she’s being told. The one prophesied for years to be the savior of The Realm. It is her duty and destiny to face and defeat the Bane, the greatest mage tyrant the world has ever known. A suicide task for anyone let alone a sixteen-year-old girl with no training, facing a prophecy that foretells a fiery clash to the death.
Prince Titus of Elberon has sworn to protect Iolanthe at all costs but he’s also a powerful mage committed to obliterating the Bane to avenge the death of his family—even if he must sacrifice both Iolanthe and himself to achieve his goal.
But Titus makes the terrifying mistake of falling in love with the girl who should have been only a means to an end. Now, with the servants of the Bane closing in, he must choose between his mission and her life.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t66JoF3foF8]
An Interview With Sherry
Can you give us your elevator pitch for The Burning Sky?
I always used to say it is a reverse-Harry Potter meets The Matrix, because it has young mages, but they are attending a Muggle school, and it has a magical device that is a lot like the Construct in The Matrix.
I always used to say it is a reverse-Harry Potter meets The Matrix, because it has young mages, but they are attending a Muggle school, and it has a magical device that is a lot like the Construct in The Matrix.
But I think the official elevator pitch is Harry Potter meets Graceling, which is actually right on, as we do have a heroine with a special ability.
Introduce readers to Prince Titus and Iolanthe Seabourne
Titus is the scion of an ancient princely house in decline. Ever since he was a child, he has been entrust with the task of someday bringing down the Bane, the tyrant who bestrides the mage world like the Colossus of Rhodes. This terrifying mission has defined his entire life and the kind of pretense he has engaged in to make sure he doesn’t betray this secret has shaped his character. He is secretive and has a protective shell a mile thick; but underneath he longs for normalcy and companionship.
Iolanthe, by comparison, has had a relatively normal life. But then that normalcy is shattered the day she brings down a bolt of lightning. She discovers that much of what she thought she knew about her life has been a lie, to protect her from the attention of the Bane. And now she is being told by the prince that she has always been destined for great things, specifically, for the defeat of the Bane. Naturally she considers it nuts—she doesn’t want anything to do with the Bane; she just wants a good education that would lead to a good job. So her journey in this book is all about the expansion of what she considers possible, from a very small life to a much larger one.
The Burning Sky is so unique in plot – Where did the idea for it come from?Your other books are Historical Romance, what prompted you to dive into fantasy YA?
I’ll clump these two together since they are related.
I was asked by a childrens’ editor who had read my historical romances whether I would be interested in writing YA fantasy. I didn’t really have any concrete plans, but after I was told of this editor’s interest a couple of times, one day, as I was walking across a parking lot, this line dropped into my head: On the night I was born, stars fell.
And since I’d been asked about writing YA fantasy, I thought, oh, is that going to be my story? Thus began the exploration of the idea. Stars falling? Meteor shower. When was the last time there was a really tremendous meteor shower? 1866. Did I mind writing a book set in the 1880s? No, I did not, since I was pretty used to the late 1800s from my romances.
And that was more or less how it started.
You have created quite a few memorable characters in this book – Who is/was your favorite character to write and why?
Probably the Inquisitor. Not that I don’t love Titus and Iolanthe, I do, fiercely. But it was a book that took two years and 6 drafts. Times like that, you become really fond of secondary characters who do not require such heavy revisions.
Usually I do not look at pictures of actual people when I write characters. But with the Inquisitor, I studied images of Tilda Swinton, who is seriously one of the most striking women ever to walk this earth, but can convey a startling chilliness.
Not to mention the Inquisitor is a fanatic. Fanatics make the best villains, because they absolutely believe in what they are doing.
Do you have any interesting writing quirks or rituals?
I almost never write on a table. At the moment I’m sitting on the floor.
What is the one thing readers would be surprised to learn about you?
Maybe my fondness for monster movies–I will watch any alien/creature movie that is not outright horror. Case in point: I went to see the 1998 Godzilla twice in theaters—and had no idea it was considered a bad movie until years later.
What’s the best piece of advice you ever received from another author?
That different writers work differently and good writerly advice for you should excite you, rather than make your stomach lurch.
Do you plot everything out when you’re writing or do you tend to fly by the seat of your pants when working?
Seat of the pants. A page torn from the phone book would be as useful a roadmap as any synopsis I’ve ever written.
What is your most recommended book and why?
Probably Ember, a novella by Bettie Sharpe, because it is the most kickass—but still romantic—take on Cinderella I’ve ever come across.
If we are talking about YA, that would be the Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner.
What book(s) are on your “currently reading” shelf?
Books by my Dark Days tour mates Rae Carson, Mindy McGinnis, Michelle Gagnon, and Madeleine Roux. My son has torn through and enjoyed all of them. But I have been chained to my laptop by 14-hour workdays pounding out the 2nd draft of the sequel to THE BURNING SKY. And I totally can’t wait to read them.
Did you always want to be a writer?
Yes and no. When I was in sixth grade, I thought that would be really cool. Then I didn’t even think about it again until I was in my early 20s. And it was not an inspired, artistic decision, but because I had read a book that sucked really hard and said to myself, hmm, I could do better. And that night I rushed up to my husband and said, hey, wouldn’t it be cool if while I do the stay-at-h0me mom thing, I could make some money writing books?
To this day I wonder what went through the poor man’s mind. J
But while my reasons for starting to write were both accidental and mercenary, I genuinely fell in love with every aspect of writing in the subsequent years. And now I can’t imagine doing anything else.
Do you have any current or future projects you can tell us about that you’re working on?
At the moment I am still working on the 2nd draft of the sequel to THE BURNING SKY. Lots of dangers, revelations, reversals, and, fingers crossed, falling in love again for the first time.
But as soon as that is turned in, I am going to work on a historical romance that is actually a martial arts story. I grew up on wuxia—martial arts epics—and have always wanted to write it in English. So, very excited about that.
About Sherry:
Sherry Thomas is one of the most acclaimed romance authors working today. Her books regularly receive starred reviews from trade publications and are frequently found on best-of-the-year lists. She is also a two-time winner of Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA® Award.
English is Sherry’s second language—she has come a long way from the days when she made her laborious way through Rosemary Roger’s Sweet Savage Love with an English-Chinese dictionary. She enjoys digging down to the emotional core of stories. And when she is not writing, she thinks about the zen and zaniness of her profession, plays computer games with her sons, and reads as many fabulous books as she can find.
Giveaway Details: (US ONLY)
For First Place:
1 Hardcover of THE BURNING SKY a tote bag, and handmade balm, scrub, and bath tea.
Runners Up
3 Hardcovers of THE BURNING SKY and a tote bag.
3 runners up will get swag packs (stickers, bookmarks, signed bookplates)
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