Interview with Sherry Thomas.
1. How many deadline cakes did you eat while writing? :D
Haha! Too many. There was a time during the writing of THE IMMORTAL HEIGHTS when I finished two cakes in two weeks, mostly by myself. And they weren’t small cakes. They were cakes from Costco. (For folks who aren’t familiar with Costco, it is a wholesale discounter here in the States, and everything from there is huge!)
2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live and why?
I would live at a bunch of nice places one by one, a few months apiece. New Zealand, because of The Lord of the Rings. Lake Como. The Southwest Coast of England. Hawaii. The Amalfi Coast. The fjords of Norway, but maybe only in summer, since I’m a wuss.
(A theme is emerging, I think. These are all places where steep coasts/mountains rise out of bodies of water. I was born in a place like that, so I guess that combination will always be what I find most dramatic and beautiful.)
And the only exception on my list, a completely flat place, is Manhattan, right around Central Park, because this. (I took the picture when I was in NYC this summer—concrete mountains rising out of a body of water.)
3. Which character from the three books did you have the most fun to write about?
Most fun to write was probably Cooper, the nonmage boy at Eton who is completely in awe of Prince Titus. He is just such great comedy relief throughout. And it helps that he’s also the kind of mate you would want to have around.
4. Will you be writing more YA books? If so, will it be another Fantasy series? :D
I definitely have plans to write more YA books. Just haven’t had the time for it yet—I’m contracted for three historical mysteries for the adult market. I’m not sure my immediate next YA project will be a fantasy series, but I’m totally not ruling one out for the long term.
5. I wish to try your adult books; which one do you think I should start with after having read your YA trilogy first?
I would say, give the Heart of Blade duology a try—The Hidden Blade and My Beautiful Enemy. It’s my martial arts epic. Has a sweeping love story, but begins life as a coming-of-age story of two young people in the 1870s, a boy in England, and a girl in China, a world apart, yet their destinies are already entwined.
7. Which scene from all three books did you like writing the most?
The epilogues, I would say. The Burning Sky and The Immortal Heights both have epilogues and they are both a joy to write.
8. Is there something in The Immortal Heights that you struggled a lot to write?
I would say everything! I wrote a few paragraphs in the opening chapter. And then I was completely stuck for the longest, longest time, not sure how to get my characters out of the Sahara Desert to where they needed to go. To inspire myself I wrote the first half of the epilogue, which I liked a lot, but which didn’t do much to help, because I always knew how the epilogue would unfold, it was the whole adventure that came before that totally stumped me.
I never did have one moment where I suddenly became unstuck. It was more of slow slog, one paragraph at a time, trudging through to that shining epilogue.
9. Was it hard to write about all the boys at Eton, and having Iolanthe pretend to be a boy?
No, not really. Actually I’d say no at all. I have never found boys particularly puzzling or mysterious. They’re just people. :)
10. Who is your favorite hero of all time? Bookish or not.
Ooh, love this question. I adore Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice, because even though he is proud, he is capable of admitting his mistakes and becoming a better man. I love Aragorn from Lord of the Rings—the thinking woman’s sex symbol, I say—but I like the movie version more, just because the movie version is more vulnerable and more fleshed out. And I very much enjoy Eugenides from the Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner.
I think I just love heroes who are crazy
about their ladies.
11. Do you have a favorite swoony scene from all the books? Mine was the one in the lighthouse :)
The hearts-and-bunnies scene in the lighthouse will always be one of my favorites.
I am also very found of the scene from The Perilous Sea in the Sahara Desert, where Titus tells Iolanthe that she is the scariest girl he has ever met.
12. Do you think there is any chance you will write more about Iolanthe and Titus? I want it so, so badly.
There’s always a chance. But I don’t think it will happen in the near future. :(
13. Who is your favorite villain? Did anyone inspire you to write the Bane? :)
My favorite villain is probably Loki from The Avengers, but he’s nothing like the Bane, is he? The Bane kind of grew in the telling. At the end of The Burning Sky, I didn’t know much more about him than the readers did. But slowly ideas coalesced and vague guesses became concrete knowledge. And the Bane grew more terrifying with each encounter!
C: Thank you for always being amazing. <3
Thank you, Carina, for being such a stalwart champion for the series. I’m so glad these books found you!
Thank you, Carina, for being such a stalwart champion for the series. I’m so glad these books found you!
However, getting to the Bane means accomplishing the impossible—finding a way to infiltrate his crypt in the deepest recesses of the most ferociously guarded fortress in Atlantis. And everything is only made more difficult when new prophecies come to light, foretelling a doomed effort....
Iolanthe and Titus will put their love and their lives on the line. But will it be enough?
With The Immortal Heights, Sherry Thomas brings the acclaimed Elemental Trilogy to its breathtaking conclusion.
Buy The Immortal Heights: Amazon - B&N - The Book Depository - Indiebound - CDON - iBooks
Sherry Thomas
is one of the most acclaimed romance authors working today. Her books regularly
receive starred reviews from trade publications and are frequently found on
best-of-the-year lists. She is also a two-time winner of Romance Writers of
America's prestigious RITA® Award.
English is Sherry's second language—she has come a long way from the days when she made her laborious way through Rosemary Roger's Sweet Savage Love with an English-Chinese dictionary. She enjoys digging down to the emotional core of stories. And when she is not writing, she thinks about the zen and zaniness of her profession, plays computer games with her sons, and reads as many fabulous books as she can find.
English is Sherry's second language—she has come a long way from the days when she made her laborious way through Rosemary Roger's Sweet Savage Love with an English-Chinese dictionary. She enjoys digging down to the emotional core of stories. And when she is not writing, she thinks about the zen and zaniness of her profession, plays computer games with her sons, and reads as many fabulous books as she can find.
Sherry’s next book, The Immortal Heights volume three of her young adult fantasy trilogy, will be available fall 2015.
Author photo by the lovely and talented Jennifer Sparks Harriman at Sparks Studio.
Giveaway Details.
One First Place Winner: The Burning Sky, The Perilous Sea, The Immortal Heights, and The Hidden Blade and a handmade solid lotion bar and some homemade face scrubs, plus a burning sky bag.
Runner Up Winners: 2 winners will receive The Burning Sky, The Perilous Sea and The Immortal Heights.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
10/5/2015- Reading Teen- Review
10/6/2015- City of Books- Interview
10/7/2015- Fiction Fare- Review
10/8/2015- The Eater of Books!- Guest Post
10/9/2015- Fall Into Books- Review
Week Two:
10/12/2015- Carina's Books- Interview
10/13/2015- Nicks Book Blog- Review
10/14/2015- Fiktshun- Guest Post
10/15/2015- Reading with ABC- Review
10/16/2015- Two Chicks on Books- Interview
Awesome interview. Loved learning more about Sherry. From reading her books, I'd never guess that English is her second language. Awesome she's under contract for more books, even if they are adult.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic interview Carina! Cakes are a great sort of fuel to write I'm sure!!
ReplyDeleteI would absolutely love to read these books! Exciting too that she's starting to write adult books too. Thank-you for this awesome chance. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the interview. It's interesting to get the author's insight.
ReplyDelete