See my tweet by tweet live tweeting by checking out the hashtag #FuryandBlood on Twitter!
I got to Yorkdale early so I could do some shopping and it was well worth it! If you've never been to Yorkdale, you should check it out one day. Then I went over to the !ndigo to grab my seat and talk shop with some readers!
Before I get into the specifics, one of the best parts of this event was the amount of teen readers that were present! I am no longer a teen (and the YA section wasn't really a thing when I was a teen), so it is nice to see the next generation involved in their reading beyond just ... reading. The teen girls had such good questions for the authors and I really enjoyed being in their presence.
Onto the event...
Morgan Rhodes moderated the event and she did such a fantastic job! I loved having her as the person to ask the questions to the authors. It was so refreshing!
It started out by asking the authors to describe their books in five words. Morgan Rhodes said that she describes the Falling Kingdoms series as "Game of Thrones for teens" and gave Elly Blake a double task of summing up her Frostblood series and NIGHTBLOOD. Elly described the series as "Fire girl versus sentient shadows" and NIGHTBLOOD as "battles battles kissing kissing kissing" so you know that you want to pick it up! Tracy described GRACE AND FURY as "sisterhood, rebellion, oppressive patriarchy, kissing."
Next was describing path to publication which for Tracy was "twisty" as she has self-published, been published through an Amazon publisher, and now has been traditionally published. Elly Blake was lucky to be "mentored" by Morgan Rhodes and the "original" title of FROSTBLOOD was "Ruby Red and the Frostblood King." This was immediately crossed out by Morgan because it is more a Middle Grade title and definitely not the best to engage readers.
Tracy wrote GRACE AND FURY while in Hawaii and felt it was more important and consequential after the 2016 election. It made Tracy angry and she put herself into the "Fury" of GRACE AND FURY. The villain in her novel is society rather than a specific antagonist, which allows her to have more nuance.
At this sentiment, Morgan points out that the hotter the villain, the more likely readers are to forgive them for their sins. She experienced that with Magnus in her stories. She also states that boys in fiction are better because they are typically crafted by females who know what they would have wanted in the past.
Elly states that, for her, the importance in writing villains becomes the motivations behind it. It is more understanding the nuance between what they want and how they choose to get it rather than being straight to the point. For example, world peace through killing half the population isn't necessarily world peace.
It was such a fun event and I learned so much about each of the authors and their work! Down below, you can too! And don't forget to enter for a chance to win a signed copy of GRACE AND FURY!
NYT bestselling author of the Frostblood Saga. Elly Blake loves fairy tales, old houses, and owls. After earning a BA in English literature, she held a series of seemingly random jobs, including project manager, customs clerk, graphic designer, reporter for a local business magazine, and library assistant. She lives in Southwestern Ontario with her husband, kids and a Siberian Husky mix who definitely shows Frostblood tendencies.Connect with the Author:
Check out Elly's Books:
Tracy Banghart grew up in rural Maryland and spent her summers on a remote island in northern Ontario. All of that isolation and lovely scenery gave her the time to read voraciously and the inspiration to write her own stories. Always a bit of a nomad, Tracy now travels the world Army-wife style with her husband, son, cat, and sweet pupper Scrabble.
Connect with the Author:
Check out Tracy's Books:
Morgan Rhodes lives in Ontario, Canada. As a child, she always wanted to be a princess -- the kind that knows how to wield a sharp sword to help save both kingdoms and princes from fire-breathing dragons and dark wizards. Instead, she became a writer, which is just as good and much less dangerous. Along with writing, Morgan enjoys photography, travel, reality TV, and is an extremely picky, yet voracious reader of all kinds of books. Under another pen name, she’s a national bestselling author of many paranormal novels. Falling Kingdoms is her first high fantasy.
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Check out Morgan's Books:
I haven't read this book yet, so thank you for the chance to own a copy! I always enjoy photos of author events if I can't attend myself.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this book yet so thank you so much for the chance :)
ReplyDeleteMegan S.
I was already dying to read GRACE AND FURY, but after reading that simple description the author herself gave about her book... Um, YES, PLEASE, I NEED A COPY RIGHT NOW ♥ Looks like it was a fantastic event, so glad you enjoyed it that much! And Jamie, thank you so much for giving away this book, AND SIGNED, and international - this would actually be my first signed book in my bookshelf! Fingers and toes crossed! ♥
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like it was such a fun event - thank you so much for sharing! I always love living these kind of things through other lucky bloggers, as an international it's hard to get to these events myself :)
ReplyDeleteI have been eager to read Grace & Fury for such a long time, thank you so, so, very much for hosting such a generous giveaway! :)
I actually haven't read it yet, but I sooooo want to! Thank you very much for the opportunity to win it! And for sharing your experience! Wish we had those kinds of events in my country!!
ReplyDelete