Authors are Rockstars Tour Stop: Rae Carson (Interview + Giveaway!)

Howdy, my bookish friends! It's that time of the year again: the Authors ARE Rockstars Blog Tour! I participated in this tour last year (also on the 29th of August, eh!), and it's my utmost honor to be a part of it once more! The Authors ARE Rockstars tour, in case you're unfamiliar, is an annual tour hosted by the fabulous Jaime of Two Chicks on Books, Rachel of Fiktshun, and Mindy of Magical Urban Fantasy Reads that showcases the awesomeness of over 100 authors every August. Thank you for all that you do, Jaime, Rachel, and Mindy!

Today, I am SO SO excited to present to y'all the amazingness that is Rae Carson.

Why is Rae Carson a Rockstar?

Rae is one of the most inspirational people I've ever "met". She has such a strong personality: both incredibly determined and incredibly reassured. She writes amazing books for sure, but I'll get to that in a second. I just want to say: Wow. If you ever read the stories about what Rae has gone through, and how she battled her way through misogyny and people who should reconsider their moral path--it's truly inspiring. Besides, Rae connects with her fans a lot and it's really awesome to see that she responds to your tweet, even when it's super embarrassing. And then of course, her books are among some of my all-time favorites. Just: dang. I bow down to this woman. SKILLZ.

And on a personal note... I do believe that The Girl of Fire and Thorns was one of the first--if not the first--ARC I ever received, so I owe a lot to Rae just for how much she helped me kickstart my blog. Love you, Rae! *she says with the most serious and solemn face possible, with a handful of tissues on the side*

Before I get to the interview, you should know what this series is about.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns
By: Rae Carson
Release Date: Already released
Publisher: Greenwillow/HarperCollins

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.
Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can't see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he's not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people's savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do.

-Summary from Goodreads
Purchase: Mrs. Nelson's (Help support my local indie store!)* || Barnes & Noble || Amazon || Book Depository

Here is my review of The Girl of Fire and Thorns ///// Here is my review of the sequel, The Crown of Embers (Find it on Goodreads here)  ///// Lastly, find the last book, which just came out on August 27th, here on Goodreads!

Alright, without further ado... let's get to the INTERVIEW!

Hi Rae! Welcome to The Reviews News. *waves* Thanks!! *waves back*

1) Your books draw heavily from Spanish roots, which I think is incredibly cool. How much research did you have to do, if any at all, to make sure the period/cultural information was at least reflective of the Spanish culture?

I was pretty immersed in it at the time. I lived in California's Central Valley, in a place were non-Hispanic whites are a minority. My Latina friends were teaching me Spanish, and I was watching Spanish telenovelas religiously. So all the Spanish influences came pouring out in a very organic and natural way.

2) In Elisa's world, religion is as embroidered into their lives as breathing. Did you ever think that the religious aspect could be a turn-off to some readers?

The religion absolutely turns off some readers! But I feel strongly that teen experiences should be explored in literature—in all their incredible diversity—even if they make readers uncomfortable. In a country where more than 80% of people still claim to believe in a god, it's odd to me that more books don't explore religion. I'm not a religious person myself, but I'm determined to have empathy for the millions of teens who are. 

*NOT REALLY A SPOILER, BUT CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED ANYWAY*
3) I'll admit: when I first read The Girl of Fire and Thorns, what happened to Alejandro and Humberto completely shocked me. I think that was the first book where my naive expectations of "everyone's safe! Always!" was irreversibly knocked down. I love you for it, but man, that was brutal. Did you ever feel as though you couldn't carry through with a plot point because it was just too emotionally unbearable?

I'm not going to lie; it was reeeally hard to do what I did to Humberto. I liked him a lot. But I wanted Elisa to experience true loss, especially in regards to war. War sucks. People die. And it's dishonoring to all those who have risked their lives in service to their countries to pretend otherwise.

Also, while Humberto was generally a nice guy, he was Elisa's kidnapper, and she deserved better. No heroine of mine will ever end up with a man who abuses her.
*NOT-REALLY-A-SPOILER OVER*

4) Did you always set out to make Elisa an overweight heroine to begin with? What were your influences for her character?

Yes, I always intended for her to be overweight. Even later, when she is more fit because of her changed lifestyle, I hope readers continue to picture her as a larger girl. I chose to make her that way after dumping a guy who was obsessed with my weight—even though I could run 6 miles every day, I was never skinny enough for him. So writing about Elisa was my way of giving the finger to him and his douchey perception of beauty.

5) Your husband and you both write. Has this impacted your writing in any way? Do you both never sleep? (The second question is a joke. I think.)

My husband is my first reader for every single thing I write, and he has a great editorial eye. For example, after I drafted The Crown of Embers, I could tell that a few scenes weren't paced right. So he broke them out into an Excel spreadsheet!!! and showed me how I could re-order them for maximum impact. It's the sexiest thing he's ever done for me. 

And what is this "sleep" you speak of? 

6) You're writing a new series in the Gold Rush Era, which is AWESOME. What can we expect? :D

The first book is tentatively scheduled for early 2015. It will have some similarities to the Fire and Thorns series because epic journeys! And magic! And horrifying deaths! And KISSING! But it will be different because guns! And DYSENTERY! I'm very excited about it.

P.S. Questions:

 
-Humberto or Hector?
HECTOR. Hands down. No question.

-How much will we die from The Bitter Kingdom's feelz?
A lot, I hope. "Am DED from FEELZ" is pretty much the best thing you can say to an author.

-Will you come to my funeral?
Of course! I'll bring Hector with me.

-How embarrassed were you by my absolutely facepalm-worthy fangirling video of The Crown of Embers that I sent you a link to on Twitter last year? (I hope you don’t remember it. And I’m not posting the link again, haha. Oh gosh. I swear I have no eloquence. T.T)
How could I forget something that epically awesome?!?

Thank you so much for stopping by! ^.^ We eagerly await the final part of Elisa's epic story.

Thanks for having me!

I don't know about you, but those were some AWESOME answers. I know I can't wait for Rae's new series--but first, I don't know if I'm ready to handle the emotional wreck that I will become after The Bitter Kingdom.

About Rae:

I write books about teens who must do brave things. I'm originally from California, but I moved to Ohio to marry my husband, who is the smartest and therefore sexiest man I know. We live in Columbus with my teenaged stepsons, who are awesome. My books tend to contain lots of adventure, a little magic and romance, and smart girls who make (mostly) smart choices. I especially love to write about questions I don't know the answers to.

Find Rae: Website || Goodreads || Twitter || Facebook

And finally... the GIVEAWAY!

What can you win?
-A signed hardcover copy of The Bitter Kingdom from Rae herself!

What are the rules?
-The prize can only be shipped to an address in the U.S. But that doesn't mean you can't get your friend in the states to enter for you, and then for them to mail it to you wherever you are if they win! *nudge nudge*
-The giveaway will run for one week, from August 29th, 2013 to September 5th, 2013. You must enter within that timeframe.
-The winner will be given 48 hours to respond following initial contact. If there is no response, another winner will be selected.

What do I do?
-Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below! Only leaving a comment is mandatory, but if you follow Rae on Twitter or tweet about the interview + giveaway, you get extra entries! Woot!

Waiting on Wednesday {25}

This week, I'm waiting on...

I am an Egalitarian

Things have changed quite rapidly around the internet. You may have heard about a certain fiasco on Goodreads, where an author-who-shall-not-be-named attacked a reviewer for doing her job: reciting her honest opinions.

I was part of that discussion, and I have to say this: We have our rights and freedoms that we hold dear, and you have your rights and freedoms that you hold dear. Let us not interfere with each other's rights, and let us not interfere with each other's freedoms. If you must do so, you must take responsibility, and not ask for commiseration from your friends by means of further violation.

I won't be giving out a direct link to the discussion, as things are already simmering down (thank goodness, and let's hope everyone learned something from this!), but it's about feminism and misandry--and the confusion often involving these two completely different practices. It's also about netiquette. Here is a link that sums up what happened pretty well, in case you are curious.*Edited to add: And of course, don't miss out on this understanding and hopeful post by Hannah Moskowitz!*

Another thing I wanted to bring your attention to is this fantastic post by the wonderful Rae Carson, whose book The Girl of Fire and Thorns I really enjoyed (you can see my review of it here. This was one of my earliest reviews, though, so it's neither perfect nor up-to-date on the formatting). Basically, Rae talks about the misogynist POV our society revolves around, and her own personal experience with it that affected and influenced her debut novel as well. I encourage you to read that post. It will open your eyes to an insider's perspective on the stereotype-centric world we occupy today.

Both of these links, however, have one common thread. Stereotypes. They both address ideas many members of our generation possess and seemingly believe to be ultimately accurate, and those ideas irk me. I understand if you judge someone based on first sight--it's hard not to. But to keep judging someone based on that first sight even after getting to know them and/or seeing them is not only a detrimental move on your part, but also insulting to the person judged as well. Who are they to be defined by their beliefs and physique? Who are we to define them by their beliefs and physique? Let us all just operate and carry on as fairly and egalitarian-like as possible. Not everyone will act this way, but for every person that does, the world lights up a bit more everyday. Let's make this Earth a better place, for both you and me and everyone to come.

Let's show everyone what true wisdom and understanding is all about.

Endow with Enchantment!

The Girl of Fire and Thorns
By: Rae Carson
Reported by: Juli Helms
Release date: September 20th, 2011

Once a century, one person is chosen for greatness.

Elisa is the chosen one.

But she is also the younger of two princesses, the one who has never done anything remarkable. She can’t see how she ever will.

Now, on her sixteenth birthday, she has become the secret wife of a handsome and worldly king—a king whose country is in turmoil. A king who needs the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

And he’s not the only one who seeks her. Savage enemies seething with dark magic are hunting her. A daring, determined revolutionary thinks she could be his people’s savior. And he looks at her in a way that no man has ever looked at her before. Soon it is not just her life, but her very heart that is at stake.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her most. If the prophecy is fulfilled. If she finds the power deep within herself. If she doesn’t die young.

Most of the chosen do. 

-Summary from Goodreads

 *Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this ARC. Of course, this does not influence my opinion of the book in any way.*


An enchanting, mesmerizing book, The Girl of Fire and Thorns is just as Tamora Pierce said:


"Engrossing".


The story was beautiful, the setting was exotic. Elisa's quest to seek the power within herself is not only a breathtaking experience, but executed with a firm hand as well.
     I loved so many things about this book. To start off with, the cover is captivating. It depicts the almost magical feel of the story and I love how it doesn't show Elisa's features in detail. This allows the reader to really delve into the book and come up eventually with their own heroic version of Elisa.
     There was also the twists. I had mixed feelings about the twists, but most of them are personal. There were somethings that deeply surprised me, and I congratulate Rae Carson for taking up such a risk and succeed--that is, executed it wonderfully. I'm still a little heartbroken over the loss, but now I look forward for the sequel, even though the first installment isn't publicly released yet.
     Another thing I loved was the struggle of the characters, not just with others but also themselves. We see things the way Elisa sees them, we learn truths and conspiracies along with her, and even though I didn't develop a tangible connection with Elisa, I still felt her emotions and understood her journey and its purpose.
     The one thing I had a little bit of trouble with was the pacing. Don't get me wrong, the story moved straight into action, and there were no unnecessary scenes interrupting the flow. But sometimes a chapter felt stretched too long, or at least an experience was slightly overwhelming. Elisa is a strong, brave heroine, but during certain times I found an action that seemed a bit out of character, and perhaps it is because I miss a connection with her. Other times a scene was depicted in such detail, it felt overly extravagant.
     Nonetheless, this is still a wonderful, definitely must-read story. I've heard thoughts about how there is a religious element in the novel, and it's true. But I would like to state here, loud and clear, that the religion is essential to the story. It enhances the story to make it what it is. I am not the most religious person, and I assure you that even if you are not religious, you should give this book a try. I did, and I really, really enjoyed it.