Excerpt:
Kari knelt in a field of dark grass beneath a dark cloud pouring dark rain. Ari lay limp in her arms, dead to the world. She bowed her head over his prone body, colder than death even without the rain to drench them. It pattered, loud against her flicking ears—the only sound all around.
“Wake up, Ari, please,” she whispered to his chest, clutching him tighter. “Please.” Her voice broke, and a wail wrenched free.
“Love makes you weak.”
Kari’s head shot up at the whisper, but there was no one around. There was only the rain, hissing now, each drop harder and sharper.“You are a plague.”
The whispers came from the rain, now searing pinpricks rather than drops of frozen water. Gritting her teeth, Kari lifted Ari, held him close to her chest, and ran.
“One day, you will wish for the power you forsake!”
Kari’s feet sloshed through thick, black puddles. She slipped and barely managed to roll onto her back before she and Ari fell. She grunted, struggled to get back up with his weight.
A beam of light broke the murky sky. Kari squinted at it; the sight filled her with an unexplainable, instinctual hope. She pushed off from the muddy ground—harder now with her and Ari both sopping wet—and ran for the light.
“PLEASE!” she screamed to the sky. “SAVE HIM!”
It was all she wanted; she would give anything—anything.
“You have a destiny.” This whisper was deeper, ancient—a voice so full of raw power, it grabbed Kari’s spine and forced her to straighten. “Vessels do not earn worldly attachments.”
Velthas. His pull was strong even now, even though she had not seen the Tree in weeks—months. Forced rigid, Kari dragged her eyes to the beam of light.
“Holy light,” she managed through a jaw clenched shut. She curled her fingers around Ari. “I forsake everything else to you.”
A ripple—the jarring snap of something breaking in her mind. Kari gasped and fell forward, barely catching herself on one hand before she collapsed on top of Ari.
The rain slowed, she thought; at least, she felt the pattering on her back less. She closed her eyes, hoping, wishing, praying.
Fingers touched her cheek. Her eyes flew open and found Ari’s eyes—green as the deepest forest. He lifted one corner of his mouth tiredly.
“You’ll carry my faith, won’t you?” he whispered. “My light?”
Interview:
1. What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
Many,
many. I’ve been reading books and drawing inspiration from them my entire life.
I started writing twenty years ago, using my love of found family, drama, and
tortured love from the Magic Circle series, Hero’s Song, the Caraval Trilogy,
the Elemental Trilogy, and more.
2. What is the first book that made you cry?
The
first book that made me cry was likely one of the Circle of Magic books by
Tamora Pierce. The friendship and found family in those books were always so
beautiful. I wish I could have something so magical.
3. Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Writing
energizes me. Becoming the character(s), living in their world for a little
while, facing their problems and overcoming them in mystical ways…it’s all so
invigorating.
4. What is your writing Kryptonite?
My
writing kryptonite is food scenes. I hate describing cooking and eating – I
don’t know how to cook well and I don’t enjoy eating, so I always find it
difficult and boring.
5. Did you ever consider writing under a
pseudonym?
I
do! Valerie Storm is a cool name and all, but it’s definitely not my real one.
I would have never wanted to write under my real name.
6. What other authors are you friends with, and
how do they help you become a better writer?
I’m
close friends with the writers in my publishing house (Jess Moon, Erika
McCorkle, Alyssa Lauseng, Ashley Anglin, Kaitlin Corvus, Azshure Raine…) and a
handful of authors and just writers on Twitter. We all help each other all the
time, bouncing ideas and questions off each other as we need to. They’re also
brutally honest when I really need it, or back me up when I’m beating myself
up!
7. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or
are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I
am certainly building a body of work, a series. At the beginning I
disillusioned myself into thinking I could maybe make the books standalone, but
that was impossible. The story needed to be told this way. Book 7 is out now,
and when book 8 is done, the series will be complete.
8. What authors did you dislike at first but grew
into?
Hmmm.
I don’t think I’ve ever disliked an author and then grew to like them.
Generally if I dislike a piece of work, I don’t change my mind.
9. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel?
Hero’s
Song by Edith Pattou. It has some bad reviews on Amazon and is just not very
well-known, but it is one of my favorite books ever. I love the simplicity of
the world, the hidden richness of the world, the mystery, the characters – I
love everything about it.
10. As a writer, what would you choose as your
mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
I
would choose a wolf or an alligator. I love vicious animals with lots of teeth!
11. How many unpublished and half-finished books
do you have?
I
have maybe 7 books that are unfinished and/or unpublished. I hope to rectify
that over the next few years. I have a lot of stories I want to tell.
12. What did you edit out of this book?
This
book’s biggest change was stopping Ari (the love interest) from being a damsel
in distress and that being the inciting incident of the plot. Instead, Kari
gets called away and they all decide to go together. The kidnapping plot was so
weak.
13. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work?
Unfortunately,
writing is very much a hobby for me. I could never rely on it for work. I teach
as my job – language arts.
14. Do you hide any secrets in your books that
only a few people will find?
There
are little hints to previous plots I discarded in this book that one or two
people may pick up on if they talk to me regularly. There are also hints to
bigger ideas that are only really explained in prequels.
15. What is your favorite childhood book?
My
favorite childhood book was Briar’s Book from the Magic Circle series. I loved
reading about Briar; he was a sarcastic, grumpy street rat who had to learn to
love others (and himself). I absolutely adore his journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment