Welcome, friends, to an event that I've been excited about since it was first conceived last year - A Truthwitch Affair! All week long, Rachel of Hello Chelly & I will be celebrating the release of Truthwitch, the first novel in a new fantasy series from Susan Dennard. We're both huge Susan fans, having first fallen in love with her writing when we read her debut series, Something Strange and Deadly (see proof here & here). And while we'll always have a soft spot for the books that introduced us to her (and for Eleanor and Daniel), we are completely head-over-heels in love with Truthwitch!
I can't believe we're on the last day of our blog celebration for Truthwitch! It has been incredibly fun to put together these posts. I hope that not only did you enjoy them, but that you also felt inspired to pick up your own copy of Truthwitch or to add it to your TBR! Today, I'm incredibly honored to welcome Susan Dennard back to my blog, as she answers three questions about Truthwitch. (Don't forget to check out Rachel's post for three more questions!) (And don't forget you can still win a copy of Truthwitch!)
Q: What inspired you to write Truthwitch?
A: Truthwitch was one of those "perfect storm" books. I wanted to write epic fantasy (since that's my true genre-love), and I wanted friendship to be at the story's heart. Plus, I wanted to write something with a Croatian aesthetic - I'd backpacked there a few years before and ideas had been brewing ever since.
Well, right around then I discovered Two Steps from Hell - who are the most INCREDIBLE composition duo of all time. I heard their piece "El Dorado" (Alexa's note: You can listen to it here.) and suddenly this scene just exploded in my mind. That piece was really the jumping off point for the entire novel. I had all this disparate ideas (as mentioned above), and then I heard that song... and bam! The first scene just played out in my mind, and the rest of the book followed from there.
Q: Are there any specific stories, characters or songs that come to mind when you think of Truthwitch?
A: The first song that comes to mind is "El Dorado" by Two Steps from Hell. Obviously. ;) And of course, when I heard that song, I think of the opening chapter (which you can read here).
There's also a song by Two Steps from Hell called "To Glory", and I wrote Chapter 15 while listening to it on repeat. 15 is an intense chapter that takes place at a ruined lighthouse, and we're in Aeduan's (the Bloodwitch) head for it. So basically, "To Glory" has become Aeduan's theme song.
Q: Iseult is a Nomatsi, and in the world of Truthwitch, the Nomatsi are often shunned for their cultural differences and physical appearances. Is this something you deliberately set out to include as part of your story?
A: I knew I wanted Iseult to be physically contrasting with Safi (dark to Safi's light), but it wasn't until I started to write that I realized she also contrasted with Safi because she'd grown up shunned. Why was she shunned? I wondered, and the story evolved from there.
And, with that, A Truthwitch Affair has finally come to an end! *sobs* I hope you get your hands on a copy of Truthwitch, and that you fall in love with it as much as we have. In case you've missed anything we've shared, here's a handy list for you so you can go back and check our other posts out.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for leaving a comment! I love seeing what you have to say, and will try to reply (here or on Twitter) as soon as I can :)