Amelia Atwater-Rhodes will be awarding a limited edition print copy of the book *U.S. only* to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Of The Divine
by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
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GENRE: FICTION/Fantasy
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INTERVIEW:
1.
What elements are necessary components
for this genre?
This is an interesting question, because
“fantasy” is such a wide genre that the answers vary widely. Disclaimer:
Everything I say next, I’m sure someone will disagree with or think of a
counter-example for.
I think most people would agree that
fantasy (unlike urban fantasy or science fiction) depends on a created world
generally unconnected to our own. That, to me, is much of the appeal of writing
it; I love creating worlds, from the big sweeping cultural parts to the
nitty-gritty details. Even though Mancer takes place almost entirely in the
small island nation of Kavet (it’s about the size of Maine), me being me I
created an entire world-map while establishing other countries, trade partners,
exports and imports-- I love details.
Most fantasy worlds have one or more
systems of magic, though how prevalent it is varies greatly. In the case of the
Mancer trilogy, how and why this magic exists is a major part of
the plot. What makes someone an Abyssumancer, a Numenmancer, a necromancer or
an animamancer? What makes this different from simple sorcery, or the types of
magic practiced in some other areas of the world?
The third aspect I’ll mention is the
presence of some kind of overarching enemy. Sometimes it’s a powerful royal
figure or an opposing army, but more often it’s something supernatural--a sorcerer,
or monster, or even a god. One way or another, it’s something too powerful to
confront directly. For Mancer, most of the characters aren’t fully aware of the
larger, behind-the-scenes plot going on, though the reader is; the characters
are busy trying to survive their immediate situation, which quickly spirals
well beyond their control.
2.
What expertise did you bring to your
writing?
For the Mancer trilogy, a lot of the
expertise I brought with me was my experience as a gay American. Though the books
are about many things-- including at the heart an ongoing battle between the
infernal and the divine, their attempts to exert influence on the mortal realm,
and the struggles of the mortals trapped in the middle to survive-- they are
also about life, survival, and love in a world where who (and what) you are and
whether or not you have a right to exist is considered a subject of debate.
3.
If you could be one of the characters
from this book, who would it be and why?
Haha. I’m so mean to my characters--I
would be horrified to live inside my own book!
For Of
the Divine, it would be interesting to be a member of the Order of Napthol
and learn about sorcery (well, at the start of the book. Their lot goes
downhill fast during and after this book). It would also be interesting to be a
Tamari sailor. They don’t get much time in the Mancer trilogy, but are central
to the book I’m working on now.
4.
Can you give us a sneak peak into this
book?
The pride of Osei
abruptly turned and dove. Serpentine bodies large enough to lift ships from the
sea plummeted. They changed shape so close to the ground that the wind from
their wings smacked the plaza like a hand, rattling or knocking over the light
carts and tables the early morning merchants set up to display their wares.
Henna squinted her eyes against the grit that smacked her face as the Osei
landed with enough force to shatter their bodies had they been human.
People in the plaza
scattered, scrambling away to hide in the shelter of surrounding buildings, but
Henna couldn’t make her muscles move as the Osei queen looked around
speculatively.
The creature had skin
like liquid silver and eyes like barbed steel. As she crossed the plaza
directly toward Henna’s frozen form, Henna recognized her. She was the only
Osei queen who ever left her own territory to visit another Osei House.
The Queen of the First
House, the Royal House of the Osei, was standing in the Kavet marketplace.
Henna felt all the
blood drain from her face. Maybe farther. Was she bleeding onto the cobbles?
Into the core of the earth?
“You know us,” the
queen said. “That is convenient. You will inform the rulers of this land that
we require their immediate presence.”
5.
Do you belong to a critique group? If so
how does this help or hinder your writing?
I went years without a writing group
since I couldn’t find one that was a good match, and ended up joining the one
I’m in now almost accidentally-- they were a core group that gathered in the
same place most weeks during NaNoWriMo. After November was over, some of us
kept coming to the same spot at the same time, and eventually one of our
members formalized us with a Facebook group.
Most of the time we just get together
and write and chat and get support, but occasionally we swap work and get
together in critique circles.
The part of the group that’s most
essential for me isn’t actually the critiques-- it’s having a group of people I
regularly see who think like me, and with whom I can have conversations I
usually avoid at my day job (teaching).
6.
When did you first decide to submit your
work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?
I first decided to submit my work in the
summer between seventh and eighth grade. I had always shared my work with my
friends and, more occasionally, my family, but it was when one of my
manuscripts passed out of my close friends group that my thoughts on the matter
started to change.
You see, when your best friends and
family tell you a book is good, it’s hard to know whether or not to believe it.
When acquaintances at school start saying it, people who aren’t so worried
about hurting your feelings, it’s easier to believe. It was my friend Sarita,
who I had been really close to when we were young but who I saw less come
middle school, whose words finally struck me (she probably has no idea she had
this effect on my life). She finished one of my books and said, “This is good.
You should try to get published.”
I took her at her word. I chose the book
I thought was best (I had about seven finished in various drafts at that time,
though some even I knew were awful) and started seriously revising it and
researching publication. I made a goal to submit by the end of the year, so
there I was on December 31, 1997, just before the post office closed (with my
mother, since I couldn’t drive and had no money).
7.
What is the best and worst advice you
ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)
Best advice… well, maybe what Sarita
said, “You should try to get published.” I didn’t know any other writers when I
was a teen, and didn’t know how to reach out to any, so I didn’t encounter a
lot of the traditional advice for aspiring writers until I already had a few
books under my belt.
As for worst advice, that came to me from an ML during National Novel
Writing Month. It was the first time I had joined a NaNo event, and I was
determined to meet fellow writers and be social and productive, and the first
piece of advice from my ML was, “Don’t worry about making 50 thousand words”
(the goal of NaNoWriMo). “You can always make a smaller goal. It could be 5
thousand words. Or just have fun!”
Now, this is probably good advice for
some people, but I’m the kind of person who does best when I set absurdly high
goals for myself and stretch to surpass them-- not when someone encourages me
to not worry about actually trying too hard.
8.
Do you outline your books or just start
writing?
I recently read a quote from George R.R.
Martin saying (in short), “I think there are two types of writers, the
architects and the gardeners. The architects plan everything ahead of time...
The gardeners dig a hole, drop in a seed and water it. They kind of know what
seed it is, they know if planted a fantasy seed or mystery seed or whatever.
But as the plant comes up and they water it, they don't know how many branches
it's going to have, they find out as it grows.”
To elaborate on Martin’s words, I’m a
gardener. I spend a lot of time planning the world. I plan my rows, space out
my plants, and fertilize the beds. I love world building, and plan that part of writing with intricate
detail. When it comes to the story itself, though, I drop a seed in, water it,
and see what happens.
From a story perspective, that means I
have a general idea, but what I end up with rarely resembles any sort of “plan.”
In other words, sometimes I think I’m planting a sunflower, and I end up with a
rose-- or a pumpkin.
9.
How do you maintain your creativity?
How do other people lose their
creativity?
I always have stories inside me. I
always have. I don’t understand how other people don’t have characters inside them itching to have their stories
told. What occupies that space in their minds?
Sometimes I have slow spells, where the
stories don’t flow smoothly or where writer’s block makes it difficult to
figure out how to get to the next page, but generally speaking the creativity
is there-- I just need to give it free reign.
10.Are your plotting bunnies angels or
demons?
I once made two photoshop images
depicting writer’s block and inspiration as little demons and fairies (it’s
still the cover photo on my facebook profile). The two exist hand in hand.
Writing block, in my opinion, is mostly just fear that your skill can’t achieve
what inspiration demands.
Sometimes, inspiration is itself writing
block-- it’s the whispery voice that says, “The grass is greener in this other
story” whenever a story stalls or hits a rough patch (for me, usually about
15,000 words in).
BLURB:
Henna
is one of the most powerful sorcerers in the Order of Napthol, and her runes ’s
runes tell her that the future of Kavet is balanced on the edge of the knife.
The treaties between Kavet and the dragon-like race known as the Osei have
become intolerable. The time has come for the royal house to magically
challenge Osei dominion. Prince Verte, Henna' lover, is to serve as the nexus
for the powerful but dangerous spell, with Naples--an untested young sorcerer
from the Order of Napthol--a volatile but critical support to its creation.
Amid these plans, Dahlia Indathrone’s arrival in the city shouldn’t matter. She has no magic and no royal lineage, and yet, Henna immediately knows Dahlia is important. She just can’t see why.
As their lives intertwine, the four will learn that they are pawns in a larger game, one played by the forces of the Abyss and of the Numen—the infernal and the divine.
A game no mortal can ever hope to win.
Amid these plans, Dahlia Indathrone’s arrival in the city shouldn’t matter. She has no magic and no royal lineage, and yet, Henna immediately knows Dahlia is important. She just can’t see why.
As their lives intertwine, the four will learn that they are pawns in a larger game, one played by the forces of the Abyss and of the Numen—the infernal and the divine.
A game no mortal can ever hope to win.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
The ocean that covered most of the Numen’s first level was
clear and sweet. It lapped against diamond sand where tiny long-legged birds
spread wings the color of honey as they raced back and forth, plucking drifting
seeds from the air. The Numini—those perfect, beautiful sentinels who ruled the
divine realm by might and decree—watched the birds’ antics with gentle
amusement.
One Numini looked past the white sands and crystal waters
below to a realm where the ocean was cold and tasted of salt, where verdant
green cascaded across rich earth, and where the mortal creatures lived.
Soon, she thought. She was one of the three arbiters who
ruled the Numen, second only to the high justice of her kind.
“I am concerned about the Abyssi,” remarked one of her
brothers, a lesser judge. “We have worked for generations to nurture these
lines of power, and now they could all be—”
“Have faith,” she assured him. “Abyssi scrabble at the
mortal realm like dogs at a closed door. They always have. They lack the wisdom
or discipline to do more than that.”
“But do the mortals have the wisdom to keep the door
closed?” he challenged.
“Faith,” the arbiter said again. This time it was a clear
chastisement.
She knew their children in the mortal world were
defenseless. Humans had minds barely capable of comprehending their own
existence, and as a consequence lived short and brutal lives. They needed their
divine guardians to guide and nurture them. The Abyssi—vicious, mindless beasts
of the infernal realm—could fight for sovereignty all they wanted. In the end,
it wouldn’t matter.
In the mortal realm, all things served the divine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Amelia Atwater-Rhodes wrote her first novel, In the Forests of
the Night, when she was 13 years old. Other books in the Den of Shadows series
are Demon in My View, Shattered Mirror, Midnight Predator, all ALA Quick Picks
for Young Adults. She has also published the five-volume series The Kiesha’ra:
Hawksong, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and VOYA Best Science
Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror List Selection; Snakecharm; Falcondance; Wolfcry;
and Wyvernhail.
Buy link:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:
Amelia
Atwater-Rhodes will be awarding a limited edition print copy of the book *U.S.
only* to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Thanks for hosting!
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