BLOOD'S PRIDE BLOG TOUR ~ INTERVIEW and GIVEAWAY

Welcome to The Bookish Babe's stop on the Blood's Pride Blog Tour! This book looks like a WIN for lovers of Epic Fantasy! My post includes a book spotlight, interview with author Evie Manieri, and a giveaway. Thanks to the folks at Tor Publishing for inviting me to take part in the tour.

 

 

Series: Shattered Kingdom's #1

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Publisher: Tor Books

Publication Date: 2/19/13

Rising from their sea-torn ships like vengeful, pale phantoms, the Norlanders laid waste to the Shadar under cover of darkness. They forced the once-peaceful fisher folk into slavery and forged an alliance with their former trading partners, the desert-dwelling Nomas tribe, cutting off any hope of salvation.

Now, two decades after the invasion, a rebellion gathers strength in the dark corridors of the city. A small faction of Shadari have hired the Mongrel, an infamous mercenary, to aid their fledgling uprising—but with her own shadowy ties to the region, she is a frighteningly volatile ally. Has she really come to lead a revolution, or for a more sinister purpose all her own?

This thrilling new epic fantasy is set in a quasi-Medieval Mediterranean region, drawing together the warrior culture of Vikings, the wanderlust of desert nomads, and the oracles of ancient Greece. Evie Manieri's Blood's Pride is an intricate, lush fantasy novel full of taut action, gut-wrenching betrayal, and soaring romance.

 

 

Interview with Evie Manieri  

 

Describe Blood's Pride, Twitter-style. 
EM:  Blood’s Pride is about an epic rebellion, but one in which the action takes place on a very personal level – or put another way, a fantasy novel as told by an unabashed shipper.


What was your inspiration for the story?

EM:  The book really started with a single image that came to me - that of the Mongrel appearing out of the desert (in very much the way she’s pictured on the US cover in fact!). She’s someone stuck between opposite poles, someone being pulled apart by forces outside her control, but she’s not going to go quietly. She’s come back to end things, one way or the other.

The setting was inspired by some traveling I did a while ago in Greece, Turkey, and Spain. There was a starkness to some of those landscapes, a glaring intensity that not only fit the story but helped me to develop it as well.


What do you think sets Blood's Pride apart from other books in the genre?

EM:  There’s a wonderful variety of stuff coming out now in the fantasy world - it’s hard to keep up! Some of the aspects of Blood’s Pride that may differ from common assumptions about epic fantasy (not that those assumptions are always right) is that it is focused on a very specific geographic area, the action takes place during a condensed timeframe of just a few days, and there’s a focus on relationships over politics or military might (though there’s plenty of that too!). A fair number of the central characters are trained warriors, so there are intense battles – but the battles are complicated by the interpersonal relationships between those characters. In Blood’s Pride, violence is something close, not something distant or abstract, and the concept of heroes becomes very complicated.


Writing an Epic Fantasy seems daunting. How did you keep it all in order while you were writing?

EM:  Some of it I can keep in my head, and for the rest I use all kinds of things – index cards, notebooks, sticky notes, maps, timelines – to make sure I’m not crossing myself up. For one pivotal scene involving most of the main characters and multiple points of view, I built a crude model with cardboard from the recycling bin and my daughter’s action figures. That was fun. I would probably do that more often, except that building models is a lot easier than writing, and I don’t think I trust myself to use my time responsibly.


I'm guessing you're a fan of Epic Fantasy. Do you have a favorite book/series in that genre?

EM:  I really enjoyed Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series when I read them years ago. When I was younger I adored Susan Cooper’s Dark is Rising series, though I don’t think it’s considered epic fantasy. I’ve re-read those books several times as an adult, and enjoy them just as much now.

Do you have a routine that you use to get into the right frame of mind to write?
EM:  No, not really. I spent so many years working around a demanding day job and family responsibilities that a routine wasn’t really an option. On the upside, that experience taught me that it’s possible to work pretty much anytime, anywhere.


What book (besides your own, of course) do you wish everyone would read?
EM:  Dorothy L Sayers’ detective fiction, specifically the ones with Harriet Vane: STRONG POISON (1930), HAVE HIS CARCASE (1932), and GAUDY NIGHT (1935). I’ve also recommended OF HUMAN BONDAGE, by W. Somerset Maugham, to most of my friends. It’s a book that went out of fashion some time ago, but it’s a personal favorite.


What message would you like for readers to get from Blood's Pride?
EM:  There will always be people who want to tell you who you are. The people who really care about you won’t tell you: they’ll help you figure it out for yourself.

 **Thanks to Evie for taking the time to answer my questions.**

 

 

 

About the author:

 Evie Manieri graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in Mediaeval History and Theatre, disciplines that continue to influence her work in about equal measure. She is enthralled by intricacy, and when not weaving together the threads of her plots, she can be found knitting airy lace shawls and singing Renaissance polyphony. Evie lives with her family in New York.

 

Connect with Evie at:

Website  |  Twitter  |  GoodReads  |  Facebook

 

 

Giveaway

 

I have one copy of Blood's Pride up for grabs. This giveaway is open to US Residents only.

Fill out the Rafflecopter form.

Good Luck!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway