#Giveaway & Recap of #FierceReads Tour in Oxford,Ms.

From L to R: Leigh Bardugo, Me, Marie Rutkoski, Gennifer Albin and Caragh  O'Brien

I was chosen as the featured blogger for this stop on the Fierce Reads Tour  at Off Square Books located in Oxford, MS on October 19th. I had the opportunity to sit down an chat with these ladies and let me just say, they are all so very nice and entertaining. You can feel the camaraderie, it was like sitting in with friends that had known one another forever. I hope that you get a sense of this in the interview. 

Marie Rutkoski, Gennifer Albin, and Leigh Bardugo(far right) listen on as Caragh O' Brien  tells us about her books.

LLM: Why do you think the appeal for dystopia is so strong right now?

Gennifer-Dystopia, I think derived from current issues that concern us and they are the extreme versions of those issues. She goes on to say, she believes "most teenagers feel like they live in a dystopia" because someone is always dictating what they are allowed to do and they really have limited control over their lives. She then states "doesn't that feel dystopian?

Caragh: I think that is true for teenagers throughout time, I don't know why especially now. I think that people feel more afraid than they used about things that are outside of their control. She feels "the economy has really shaken people" and fear of the environment... 

On a real deep level people are concerned about those issues and stories just give us a way to encounter some of them in ways that are safe enough. The young adult dystopias tend to be more hopeful. We read them because we want to see that there will be solutions. I think that's why they may be so popular at the moment.

LLM: If you hadn't found publishers for your work, do you feel you would've self-published like so many authors are doing lately?

Gennifer: At the time that I wrote it, I would've said, no. At this particular moment, I would say, yes. I think there are benefits to having a traditional publisher; they do a lot of things that I can't do or that would take up so much time. I have a really good friend who I never anticipated self-publishing. He's wildly successful at it right now and making a very good living. It's something a year and half ago, I wouldn't even considered and now I kind of go, oh, this is totally viable and kind of cool. Most of them actually work with editors; there is this stench that people just throw whatever crap that's on the internet.

Caragh: No. She does mention that she saw that there are a large number of self-published authors.

Leigh: I don't honestly know because I knew nothing about the publishing industry when I was looking into it. I didn't know that self-publishing was a thing. Only reason that I know anything about is because now people ask about it at panels about self-publishing. I will say that I suspect that if I had self- published, I think what I probably would've done is written another book and tried. But had I self-published, I doubt anybody would've bought my book in stores.*this is as close to what I think she said*

Marie: I don't think that I would have, I think because I would've felt discouraged. My response has everything to do with the sort of person I am and nothing do to with what self-publishing means now. It's just that I think that if I hadn't found a publisher, I would have said 'Oh, well no one really wants to read this' and then given up on it. I wish that wasn't the case but I know myself well enough to say that's what I would've happened.

Leigh: I think I would've been in the same boat; I just wouldn’t have had the confidence.

The opening act, a little "fierce" rocking 

LLM: Do you root for the villain or the hero? 

Leigh: I don't think there are villains and heroes, generally. I think there are people that do really bad things. As a writer, it gets really dangerous when you get too invested in one persons goodness and another person’s badness... You know, I take that back. I really do believe in heroes, I do. I believe in people doing good but I also believe that people that do good are often not the people you expect. Sometimes they have to work a little harder for it.

Caragh: I also believe in villains.

Gennifer: I think the most compelling villains have a reason for why they do what they do.

Marie ponders if the question should be the antagonist vs. protagonist

Marie: Antagonists are very fun to right.

Leigh: But the question is who you root for...I liked Darth Vader but I didn't root for him.

Marie: I wouldn't say I root for the antagonist but I do take some pleasure in writing the antagonist.

LLM: How much of your time do you spend on research?

Gennifer: I'm sure some people have really well structured research. I tend to be like, oh!, I need to know what that is, then I dig into and then I forget what is and have to go back to it like two weeks later. I'm constantly researching. 

Leigh: It’s so fascinating because we have completely different writing processes and we are figuring this out as we do these interviews. When I'm writing the first draft, I put question marks in threes and  I don't let myself stop to research or get online. I go back and do those things and sometimes they're very heavy structural things that may be a really big point. I take a specific amount of time. When I was writing book one, I let myself have two months to do research and that was it. I knew I would fall down the rabbit hole and never come out. It's also a good excuse to not be writing. 

She laughs and says, I couldn't possibly go back to writing, I really have to research this old book of recipes and I should make them. I should eat them. 

I knew it would be too easy for me to do that so, I tend to research in blocks. Of course, when I go into the drafting process then I have to start looking up [information].

Caragh: I think I'm sort of a cross in between. I had to do research to know what was happening. With the genetics in the first book and finding the suppressor gene that was going to provide a solution to a problem that I had in a book. So, I needed to do the research to do it... If I'm stuck on something, I go do research and that helps with my ideas, then I can write more.

Marie: When I started writing, I felt like I couldn't research because I was an academic and I did so much research for my dissertation. I felt almost resentful at the idea doing research for a creative project. That said I did draw on a lot of research that I had already done. Definitely things I had encountered in the process of my own research and they worked there way into my books. I'm becoming more and more of a researcher with every novel that I write. I'm beginning to reject it less out of personal issues and realize that this is an important part of me and my writing process. For the book I'm working on now, I need to read Herodotus and I recently read Euripides the Peloponnesian War. I'm doing more research than I used to, like for the Shadow Society, I did very little research for that beyond asking people how to do stuff. How do paint with oils? How do you fix a carburetor?

Caragh: But you already had in groundwork for the Chicago Fire, you knew the things you wanted to undo and say that they were myths.

Marie: Yeah. 

Leigh Badugo conversing with a fan

LLM:How much input do you have in the cover art process?

Gennifer:None
Someone says, We pray
Gennifer: I asked about the font and they gave me a different font.

Leigh: I don't know how much input I had. I know that I pushed very hard, my book is set in a fantasy inspired by Russia.So, I wanted it to be clear that there was a Russian influence. I wanted it to be like, 'it's different'. I pushed hard for that but they may have been planning to do that anyway,I don't know if that was me.At least, as a debut author, they were really good to me but it's really about what they want to do and you just keep your fingers crossed.
Caragh: I didn't have much input into the first cover but by the time they made the third cover... it gave me the idea of actually changing something in the book to match the cover. Which is different from how it usually works.
Marie: I had no say whatsoever in the Shadow Society yet and still I love the cover so much. The first cover, I wasn't crazy about but my publisher decided to do something totally new.  

LLM:Favorite literary character?
EVER?
LLM:Yes
ALL: Laughs

Marie: Favorite like we want to be friends with this character or we want to marry them or best constructed...
LLM:How about marry, that sounds good?
ALL: laughing (I think they were plum tickled at this question, makes me wonder)
Marie: Sorry guys
ALL: Laughs
Leigh: I'll go with Lymond from the Lymond Chronicles
Gennifer: I'm glad you have an answer but I plead the 5th. 

Caragh:I also have an answer but I'm going to keep it to myself.
 Leigh's choice baffles Marie...she wonders does that character get better in the books, apparently he must not be a very good guy, maybe.
Leigh: I find him delightful.
Caragh: I find that this question really surprises me.
I think she found the idea of merging the real world with the fictional world strange.
Caragh: I'm married, I'm a married woman.
Leigh boisteriously says, "I'm a single lady, I can do whatever I want."
Gennifer: We're all married but Leigh, so we can't say anything.
Marie says she feels that her significant other might not care about her fictional crush.
Leigh:Well he shouldn't, what with him being fictional.
They all laugh, I think this might be my favorite question of the night. 

Moving down the assembly line...getting books signed!

LLM: How do you feel about all of these young adult novels being translated to the screen?

Leigh says that she is in talks with DreamWorks and the producer of Harry Potter about making Shadow and Bone into a movie but nothing is set in stone right now.

Leigh: I’m very excited about that possibility.

I should have asked her would she be doing the makeup for the movie.

LLM: If you had to choose, would you choose invisibility or the ability to fly?

Marie: My character gets both. I think she chose invisibility.

Gennifer: Fly

Caragh: Fly, I've been invisible before. If had to choose I would be invisible because I don't like to fly.

Leigh knew why I asked the question. Darn, lol.

Leigh: I've never been able to choose. I had dreams of flying and being able to experience that is something I can’t pass up. Then on the other hand... but I need to live and with invisibility I could steal things. I'm torn. 

They all laugh at this one.

LLM: I think to myself she could basically get her Harry Potter on, mischief managed!

LLM: Favorite character to write?

Leigh: Book 1, Genya, she's the most fabulous of the characters and Book 2 Stermhond 

Marie: Jims, I would want to hang out with Jims. He actually is based a bit on a friend of mine and not just on him but also myself when I’m around him. Some of the things he says, I think that either I said or he said to me.This friend of mine is very intelligent, clever and light-hearted. Even when we talk about serious things; it’s always in this light way. I don’t have that kind of dynamic with anybody else. I enjoyed imparting some of that quality into Jims.

Gennifer: Cormac, he’s just interesting and he sees himself as the hero in the story. When he’s around the main character, though he does actively control her and her world, he treats her with a certain amount of mutual respect. He doesn’t lie to her. He tells her like it is. I think that is very telling about the dynamic of their relationship and their world. I find him fascinating.

Caragh: Gaia, my main character, I just find her fascinating. I like how she deals with difficult ethical situations. She seems impulsive and she really makes terrible mistakes sometimes.

L to R: Marie Rutkoski, Gennifer Albin and Caragh O'Brien

LLM: Is there a question you wished interviewers would ask you?

Leigh: Would you like some cake?

Someone says pie

Caragh: People really come up with some great questions, I feel like I’ve been asked everything. I wish there was a question that was asked that would get me to reveal who I am but I don’t know how I would answer it.

Leigh: I am always excited when somebody asks me new questions and specifically about my book. I like to be surprised and offered cake.

After my one on one session with authors, the main event opened up with a musical act pictured above. After this the author introductions about their books began and then floor was opened up to questions before the book signing. 
View more photos here & the video here

That’s all folks, I hope you enjoyed this chat with these lovely ladies, I know I did. I also want to thank them all for sitting down and speaking with me and MacmillanKids for picking me do to so. A special thank you to my two little brothers for taking the trip with me, love them both very much. 

Now for the giveaway. It is going to be US only. Just fill out the rafflecopter and you are good to go.

What’s up for grabs?

Prize#1 Signed set of the Birthmarked Trilogy by Caragh M. O’Brien.
The first two books in the series are paperbacks and the last book is hardback.

Prize #2 (3 )winners get to choose between a signed copy of one of these books: The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski, Crewel by Gennifer Albin or Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. 

Caragh asks the audience "How many of you are writers?"

a Rafflecopter giveaway