Blog Tour Author Interview with Giveaway: Rekindled (A Circuit Fae NEMESIS Prequel Novel #3.5) by Genevieve Iseult Eldredge

Book info:
Title:  Rekindled
Author:  Genevieve Iseult Eldredge
Series:  A Circuit Fae NEMESIS Prequel Novella #3.5
Published by: Firefly Hill Press
Publication date: March 26th, 2019
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Young Adult

Synopsis:

“If you like reading about the fae, other realms and watching two bada** chicks fight then you will love this series! – The Avid Reader

It’s good to be queen. Except when it’s a total disaster.

Syl Skye, newly crowned Queen of Fair Faerie, would be psyched to be the ruler of her Summer realm, except for two things.

First, her girlfriend Rouen Rivoche became Queen of Dark Faerie, the Winter realm. That would be great except the Winter realm’s always been at war with Summer. By tradition, that makes Rouen Syl’s mortal enemy. That said, love can break past old hatred, right? Especially with a new foe about to attack them both.

Ah, no.

Which brings us to Syl’s second problem. Rouen’s under a dark spell and doesn’t remember Syl, their lives, their love. Worse, if Syl doesn’t break the spell by the next new moon, Rouen will forget her forever.

“Fast paced, full of action, never a moment of bore! Strongly recommended!” – Annarella, Goodreads

To defeat their foe, it’ll take two soul-bound queens whose hearts and minds act as one. Trouble is, no one has ever broken the dark spell Rouen suffers from.

Good thing Syl isn’t the type of queen who gives up easily.

Don’t miss Syl and Roue’s adventures in REKINDLED, the new prequel novella to NEMESIS, Book 4 of the Circuit Fae

Don’t miss out!

Perfect for readers of romance, urban fantasy, fairy stories and LGBT.

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Author Interview:

1.  What does your writing process look like? Do you know the whole story when you start?  Or do you just start writing and go with it (seat of the pants writing)?  If you plan it out, how do you do that?  Outline, notecards, post-it-notes, etc.?  

I’m a big plotter. The first thing I do is what I call a “treatment.” That’s where I open a blank doc and just type in anything that comes to mind about the book/series, whether it’s concepts, titles, character names, visual, snippets of dialogue, anything. Then I organize it and draft an outline. I write from the outline, but often, the characters take me in different directions as they work through the conflict. I let that happen when I can. The sweet spot for me is to be a plotter with pantser tendencies. 

2. Do you edit as you go, or wait till you're finished before you edit?  How many times would you say you go over it yourself before having another set of eyes look it over? 

First draft all the way! Once I’ve got my outline, I write the first draft from beginning to end, even when I’m struggling. I let it be messy, crappy, and incomplete, as long as there’s a discernable beginning, middle, and ending. I take notes along the way. A lot of trial and error has taught me that it’s much easier to edit something I’ve already written than a blank page. After the first draft is done, I grab my notes and it’s back to my outline. I don’t show it to anyone until I’m about three drafts in. 

3.  Are you part of a writers group that gets together and helps each other with their writing?

 I just started with one, and I realize how much I’ve missed it. We get together once a month, critique one another’s work, and talk shop. It’s very recharging. I can’t recommend a good critique group enough!

4.  How important are names in your books?  Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds, or the meaning?  Do you have any name choosing resources you recommend? 

 Oh, great question! In CIRCUIT FAE, you can tell who the secret Fae are because they all have alliterative names: Syl Skye, Rouen Rivoche, Jessamine Jardin, etc. Readers are smart, and I wanted a way to drop some hints about who is and isn’t Fae. Also, the Go-Go’s are my fave retro 80s band, so in DERAILED, all of Syl’s old squad is named after the members of the Go-Go’s.

I love putting little Easter eggs like that in CIRCUIT FAE. There are more, too. J

5.   What are your favorite:

Books/authors/genres

Books (in no particular order): Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Cordova, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, Wizard of the Pigeons by Meghan Lindholm, Queen of Ieflaria by Effie Calvin

Authors: Sarah Waters, Leigh Bardugo, Zoraida Cordova, Laini Taylor, Effie Calvin

Genres: I love everything, but I’m too much of a scaredy-cat to read much horror.

Movies/TV Shows

Movies: Sucker Punch, Frozen, Alice in Wonderland (2010), Captain Marvel, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Pan’s Labyrinth, the Dark Crystal, Crimson Peak

TV: She-Ra, the Runaways, Shadowhunters, Wentworth, Xena, also I’m a sucker for shows like The Voice and the Titan Games. I love seeing people do awesome things and shoot for their dreams.

Music

Demi Lovato, Throwing Muses, Lady Gaga, Belly, Wolf Alice,

Food/Writing snack

Popcorn or Popeye’s fried chicken

 
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Author Bio:

Raised by witches and dragons in the northern wilds, GIE writes angsty urban fantasy YA romance–where girls who are mortal enemies kick butt, take names, and fall in love against all odds.

She enjoys long hikes in the woods (where better to find the fair folk?), believing in fairies (in fact, she’s clapping right now), dancing with dark elves (always wear your best shoes), being a self-rescuing princess (hello, black belt!), and writing diverse books about teenage girls finding love, romance, and their own inner power.

She might be planning high tea at the Fae Court right now.

GIE is multi-published, and in her role as an editor has helped hundreds of authors make their dream of being published a reality.

The Circuit Fae series
Derailed – A Moribund Prequel Novella

Moribund eSampler (FREE)
Moribund
Ouroboros

Dethroned

Inimical

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Audiobook Review: Darla's Story (Ashfall #0.5) by Mike Mullin

I was lucky enough to see when the author was offering a few codes to read this and review it on his Facebook page.  I've been a huge fan of Mike Mullin's Ashfall series since I read the very first book.  This was a neat novella, kind of a prequel novella, that told about our other main character, Darla, and the events from the time of the volcano exploding up until Alex came into her life. 

Darla lives in Iowa, on a farm with  her mother.  The day it starts there is a plume of smoke from a neighbor's farm.  Darla's mother wants her to go check on them, but before they can go to do that, there is a terrible noise that starts, and they can only think to go hide in their storm cellar.  The noise goes on and on.  At one point Darla is able to get her mother some headphones that at least cut the noise back to a dull roar.  After a long time, at least a day, if not longer, the noise stops. And Darla and her mother go back to the house, and try to figure out what they are going to do for food and water.  There is no electricity, which means getting any water from the well will be impossible.  Unless Darla can come up with a way to build a manual pump for bringing the water up. 

You see, as we know about Darla from the other books, she is pretty handy, and seems to know her way around machines and the like.  We learn in this novella about why she is like that.  How her father played into her life.  We also learn about how her relationship with her mother is, and how their experience with others in the first few days or so of the disaster affect how she feels about strangers.

The detail told of how the ashes are totally relates and reminds me of reading the first book.  But in the different environment and with the different perspective on it in this book, it was very interesting to read about again.  My only issue with the story was that sometimes all the engineering/MacGyver type of things that Darla was doing got kind of long and too detailed maybe.  But then again, I know there are probably people, like Darla herself, who probably really loved the reality that I know the author built in to all of those aspects of the story.

Definitely another great addition to this world.  Now I am just waiting for the fourth book to be finished so that I can find out what will happen next!

Review: No Place Like Oz (Dorothy Must Die 0.5) by Danielle Paige

When I saw this was available as an e-novella, I had to purchase it right away.  I bought it before I got ahold of the ARC of Dorothy Must Die, but just didn't get around to it until after I read it.  It was nice to read this because it did kind of answer some questions I had as I read Dorothy Must Die.  If you go back to my review that I liked to above, you can see what my questions were.

As it says, this is a prequel.  In No Place Like Oz we join Dorothy about 6 months I believe after she returned from Oz.  But when she gets back, she finds that she really, really misses Oz.  In fact, you kind of see a connection in the way she feels about Kansas compared to the way Amy Gumm felt about it in the first book.  It is just about time for Dorothy's birthday, and at the party she begins to feel like she misses Oz even more.  Her Uncle Henry and Auntie Em are having some issues with raising money with the farm these days, and so the cake doesn't turn out so great.  And when her best friend shows up, she sees that her tales of Oz may have lost her to other, more well-to-do girls in the town.  Dorothy gets upset at one of her gifts and runs to shut herself in her room.  Under her bed is a gift from Glinda!  Some bright red shoes.  When she puts them on, she makes a wish, and she is back in Oz.  Only, not alone.  Her aunt and uncle end up there as well.  And they are not happy to be there.  They want to get back to take care of the farm.  But they land right by the old house, and there is a message from Glinda that she is in trouble.  So Dorothy sets off on a journey to find and help Glinda.  While many years have passed in Oz compared to the short time that passed in Kansas, she is still able to find all her friends, as well as meet the Princess Ozma, and begin looking for Glinda.  But she gets a taste of magic, and loving the life she lives as a hero there, and gets really irritated about her aunt and uncle who just keep harping about going back.

It's a different Dorothy than we know from The Wizard of Oz, but that's okay.  A trip like she had would change anyone.  Another great read, that while it gives you an idea of what is to come, it doesn't tell us every detail leading up to Dorothy Must Die, and that is just done perfectly.  Read it before or after, you won't be disappointed either way.

Rift (Nightshade Prequel #1) by Andrea Cremer

I was very lucky to get this ARC at BEA and even get it autographed by the author!  I was very excited to read this book.  I love the Nightshade series, you can see my reviews of the books here:  Nightshade, Wolfsbane, and Bloodrose.  So I was very interested to go back and learn where it all started.  Yeah, we got the history run down in Wolfsbane, and then of course more in Bloodrose.  But to go back and actually follow the people from the history, well that is what makes me enjoy learning about REAL history.
So, knowing all this, at first, I was a little disappointed.  I don't know why, but for some reason my brain didn't think that we'd go quite so far back in time.  But once I kind of figured out that we kind of had to in order to get to the beginning of the story, I really got into the story and was hooked!  As with the original series, we have a strong girl as our main character.  Only now, we're in more medieval times, when women were expected to marry well to bring their family money and status.  Never should they be warriors.  And yet our main character is Ember, and she has gone off on her own into to practice with a fake sword, for as long as she could.  She could never let her family know, they wouldn't understand, and her father is a bit of a tyrant.  But her friend, the family friend, Alistair, when he comes back, now as a guard of the Conatus, he does know, and has always known she wants this.  Ember is promised to Conatus as repayment when her mother was having trouble giving birth to her, and they helped out. Her father does not want to lose her, it would be losing her possible marriage to another lord's son that would help his family.  But Ember cannot wait to be free and get the chance to do what she wants!
Her family is escorted to Tearmunn, where the "convent" or place of the Conatus is.  Ember must choose a path, the paths are between being a warrior, knowledge, and crafts. She chooses the warrior room, and soon must face a trial.  And the trial is something she never knew was real.  A creature, dead, yet living.  And she is able to defeat it.  When she comes out, she is welcomed into the Guard.  She now must train.  At first she believes she will be training with the other female guard member, Sorcha.  But when her father once again protests, Barrow says he will train her.  And now she is training with this man who she is in awe of.  He seems to be a great leader, as well as really know the way of a warrior.  As they train, she feels differently about him.  But she is not sure how.  Alistair surprises her by making a pass, saying he knows that this is why she became a warrior, so she could be with him.  This is of course not true, and her relationship becomes strained with him.
The Guard must fight many different supernatural creatures, as terrible things begin happening in the villages surrounding them.  One of the Conatus members is sucked in to the evil, by a name we've heard before, Bosque Mar.  He wants to make a deal to help the Conatus with these evil creatures, such as wraiths, again creatures we know from the Nightshade series.  We're left at the end with all of the Guard and other members of the Conatus having to choose to leave quietly to escape the evil that is taking over, or to choose to be a part of the new group.
And now, I have to read on!!  Can't wait for the next book in the series!