I had the honor of talking about The Weeping Empress, life, writing, and all things books with Ann Haines‘. I was the first interviewee in her new Author Interview section on her blog. Thanks Ann! Check is out here: Your imagination is your preview of life’s coming attractions.
The book started with Chiyo not knowing where she was or what was happening, and as I went through the same emotions, it had an effect on me as if I was there, going through the same situations. That created an emotional bond with Chiyo, which intensified as the story progressed.
I’m a huge fan of Japanese world, their tradition, and sense of morale and duty, so I was rather susceptible to this kind of story, and was enchanted by the dance of the good and bad Sadie created. It really makes you think how you’d react, you are pulled deep into character’s psyche, you start to understand their reasoning and motivations behind their doings, and although they are killing people, that doesn’t bother you. Somehow, I viewed them as the “good guys” and fell in love with their personalities.
The biggest thrill this book caused was my own redefinition of good and bad. I was so happy that the characters were not typically goodish or notoriously bad, that they walked the edge of grey, as well as the fact that the book did not end in a perceivable way. What creeped me out is how much I was in tune with the characters, how their actions were not so odd to me, how much I felt as part of their group. Well, I guess that makes me a weirdo. 🙂
There’s nothing beautiful in being ripped out of your happy, cozy life, losing everything and everyone you loved. But there is something beautiful in surrendering to the beast inside of you, in grotesqueness of killing, in mind’s power over the body, and the self-discipline. In a very dark and destructive way, you find out who you truly are, what you’re capable of, what you’re made of. If I compare her previous happy life and this one, I say she was given an opportunity of a lifetime. She could have had a normal, happy life, but what’s so spectacular about that?
I have added three books to the TBR list this week. The first I am really excited about. I traded books with another author. You see I adore autographed books. I’m a bit of a fan girl in that respect, and all authors are celebrities to me. It occurred to me one day that I fall in that same category. Yes I am an author, and if others like signed books too, then they might be willing to send me one of theirs in exchange for one of mine. I thought I had come up with a truly brilliant idea. I got really excited about it actually, but only one person took me up on the offer.
I think people are afraid that an offer of equal exchange must be a scam of some sort; that I’ll wait for their book to arrive in the post and never send them one in return. We all still pay for those copies after-all, and when working with a stranger there is no guarantee of honest reciprocation. (I refuse to allow myself to think that its just that no one was interested in The Weeping Empress.) I can understand their hesitancy. I certainly considered the possibility of loosing several copies of my own book with nothing to show for it, but I decided to go ahead with the offer.
I’m disappointed that more people didn’t respond. I was prepared to exchange half a dozen of my own books for 6 (or so) great signed summer reads. But I can’t complain about the one that came through. Y.I. Less has sent me a copy of
The Shadowed Valley, a dark fantasy with close to 4.5 stars on both Goodreads and Amazon. This is just up my alley. Here is the description:
“In The Shadowed Valley, nothing is quite what it seems. What Celia faces here is worse than anything she experienced in the land of Dauthus. The evil residing in the valley messes with your mind.”
I’m really looking forward to this read, and The Weeping Empress is soon to be in the mail to Y.I. just as promised.
The other two books are also awful enticing. They are both Goodreads first-reads wins. This week I offer for consideration More Deaths Than One and Rainwater.
More Deaths Than One looks like a thought provoking middle-eastern adventure. Here is the description: “Thomas Thornton has settled down to expatriated family life in Saudi Arabia. Wrongfully caught up in shariah law on drug-dealing charges, he discovers injustice is a bitter–and potentially fatal–pill.” I like thought proving.
Rainwater, by Sandra Brown promises to be a bittersweet love conqures all story. It has a very long description, but here is a taster: “The year is 1934. With the country in the stranglehold of drought and economic depression, Ella Barron runs her Texas boardinghouse with an efficiency that ensures her life will be kept in balance. Between chores of cooking and cleaning for her residents, she cares for her ten-year-old son, Solly, a sweet but challenging child whose misunderstood behavior finds Ella on the receiving end of pity, derision, and suspicion.” It looks really promising.
I came to a revelation this weekend. I couldn’t figure out how I had won five books in such a short amount of time. Then I realized it is a factor of living in the UK. There are far fewer Goodreads giveaways available to us on the island, but those that are have a far smaller pool of applicants. GB isn’t that big after-all, and only a fraction of the population is registered for GR, and even fewer enter the contests. As an example, last week I mentioned winning The Whipping Club. The author was giving away 100 copies of the book, and 107 people entered. It would have been more surprising not to have won.
This is my point. Giveaways open to the US and beyond attract entries in the thousands, those only open to GB and the surrounding areas usually only a hundred or so. I recently ran a giveaway. I offered 5 books, and the contest ran for a whole month, open only in GB. 143 people entered. That’s a 1 in 28 chance of getting a book, not too steep. So, I look forward to reporting lots of first-read books here. I will diligently read and review each one in time, so look forward to it.
