An Author a (Mon)day
is a sporadic feature on the blog, one in which I invite authors to
answer three questions for me pertaining to them, their writing or their
books! While this does not happen weekly, you can be rest assured that
it always happens on a Monday.
THREE QUESTIONS
Today, I'm delighted to have Jodi Meadows, author of the Incarnate series, visiting the blog. I fell in love with Incarnate last year, and I'm so excited that Asunder is finally out (as of last week!). While there have been mixed responses to her novels, I certainly find them compelling, unique and just downright entertaining. Plus, there's Sam, a male character that I've fallen for! Also, Jodi's amazingly creative with her spinning, knitting and music posts, which I love reading on her blog.
Alexa: Ana is a character that experiences a lot of difficulty when it comes to
acceptance because she's different from everyone else. Where did you
draw inspiration for this? Was it based on something in real life?
Jodi: When I was young, I was shy and quiet and felt very much like an
outsider in school. Some of the other students were mean to me. When I
was in 6th grade, though, I joined the school band (I play flute) and
made friends who taught me how to embrace my inner weirdness. Plus,
there's security in numbers.
My experiences
were nowhere near what Ana's are -- and I have a very loving and
supportive mother, too! -- but there were definitely real-life feelings
to draw from.
Alexa: Sam is such a creative soul. What inspired you to make him so musically inclined?
Jodi: Music is one of the things that inspires me -- and inspires so many
people around the world. It's universal. It's powerful. It fills Ana's
heart when she's never experienced anything good in her whole life. Sam
is musical partly because he needed to be creative in that way to be
able to communicate effectively with Ana, but also that's just who he
is. He does music.
Alexa: If you could slip into any book's story for a day, what would it be and why?
Jodi: Oooo. Hmm. There are so many
fictional places I'd love to visit, but maybe Middle Earth from Lord of
the Rings? I dunno. It's classic.
MORE ABOUT JODI MEADOWS
MORE ABOUT INCARNATE + ASUNDER
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: January 31, 2012
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.
Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?
Publication Date: January 31, 2012
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.
Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Publication Date: January 29, 2013
Publication Date: January 29, 2013
Ana has always been the only one. Asunder. Apart. But after Templedark, when many residents of Heart were lost forever, some hold Ana responsible for the darksouls–and the newsouls who may be born in their place.
Many are afraid of Ana’s presence, a constant reminder of unstoppable changes and the unknown. When sylph begin behaving differently toward her and people turn violent, Ana must learn to stand up not only for herself but for those who cannot stand up for themselves.
Ana was told that nosouls can’t love. But newsouls? More than anything, she wants to live and love as an equal among the citizens of Heart, but even when Sam professes his deepest feelings, it seems impossible to overcome a lifetime of rejection.
Why I loved this series:
I can relate so closely to Ana's feelings about being different, about not knowing what she was born for or why or how. And I love Jodi's beautiful writing, the descriptions that flow and the interesting combination of fantasy and sci-fi into this book. Plus, there's Sam. That's enough reason on its own!
Great answers! As a former music teacher, I give a big thumbs up to finding your place in band. It was that way for me, as well :)
ReplyDeleteKate @ Ex Libris
Lovely little interview. :) I literally just finished INCARNATE last night and quite enjoyed it, so coming across this was a happy coincidence. Looking forward to reading ASUNDER!
ReplyDeleteWendy @ The Midnight Garden
I met Jodi Meadows last week as well, and I can definitely see why Ana and Sam are written the way they are. She is so sweet, but also so determined to be a writer. I also loved the music references, and it is really neat that Jodi also found a place to belong with other musicians. Sam and Ana's connection to music is one of my favorite parts of this series. I just reviewed ASUNDER as well and I think I liked it even better than INCARNATE. It is such a beautiful story. I am anxious to see where she takes it next.
ReplyDeleteHaven't read this one yet, but I definitely have wanted to! Love your interview with Jodi; and seriously, she's a flute player?! I played flute in high school, so I really must read her books now! :)
ReplyDeleteI love these questions! I love Jodi's response to the music question, of course. I seriously need to pick up Asunder sooon.
ReplyDeleteGreat questions! even more excited to read Incarnate after meeting her on Saturday and this interview (not to mention your love for this series!)
ReplyDelete