Blog Tour- THE KISS OF DECEPTION by Mary E Pearson and a Giveaway!

I think by now everyone knows my love of high fantasy so I am stoked to be on this blog tour! This is one of my favorite books of 2014. I have Mary E. Pearson here with an awesome guest post about the map in the book! In my opinion it's not a proper high fantasy unless there's a map so I had to get the dish. And if you love high fantasy as much as I do stick around to win a copy of the book!
Haven't heard of THE KISS OF DECEPTION? Check it out!

THE KISS OF DECEPTION (The Morrighan Chronicles book #1)

Mary E. Pearson

Release Date: July 7, 2014

Hardcover: 496pages

Publisher: Henry Holt (Macmillan) 

ISBN: 978-0805099232

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes& Noble

Read an excerpt of Kiss of Deception now!

In this timeless new trilogy about love and sacrifice, a princess must find her place in a reborn world.

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assasin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

Now on to the post!

Click on the map to enlarge

The Map

The Kingdom of Morrighan came first.  Originally, in my mind’s eye it was just a tiny little kingdom on a vast continent, with some very specific features, like forests and rolling hills, all nestled up against a great ocean. But as the other kingdoms came into play, it grew.  

Venda and Dalbreck came next, and then the many lesser kingdoms and all the places in between. I tend to be a very visual person, and with numerous kingdoms to juggle, I almost immediately began drawing maps.  I needed to understand the kingdoms my characters spoke about, exactly what their borders were, just how long it would take to travel between them, and what physical features would be passed along the way.  By having a map, no matter where I was in the book, I could look at it and be consistent in my descriptions. 

I actually drew simple maps of Terravin, and the Vagabond camp too—very basic ones but enough for me to visualize how things were laid out—but the whole world of The Remnant Chronicles was much more specific because of distances and several other reasons.  I revised my map over and over again as I wrote the story and changed details. 

The map that I drew was only for me to keep things straight in my head, but then my publisher decided to put one in the book.  I was thrilled to say the least, and practically doing backflips when I found out Keith Thompson was going to be drawing it! So I gave the Macmillan design department detailed descriptions of the kingdoms, important physical features in the Remnant world, and of course my very roughly drawn map.

I was pretty much blown away when I got the initial sketch. Keith Thompson turned my descriptions into pictures and added surprise elements that were simply gorgeous—details like shields, books, and veiled figures at the bottom. I swooned. There were just a couple of changes I requested in the final so the map would be in sync with the story.  When it came back, more swooning ensued, and Anna Booth in the Macmillan art department  got to work laying in the type which was no small task trying to balance all the labels with the artwork and she did an incredible job.

I was so excited just to have a map inside the book, but then my publisher made a poster of it too! Can I use the word gorgeous again?  I can’t wait to frame it and hang it in my office.

Of course, the map isn’t just about beautiful artwork but it also serves  a very practical purpose.  I think with a book that is so long and spans so many places, it’s very helpful for the reader to have their own map, just as I had one to refer to as I was writing the book.

I hope this answered your questions. Thanks so much for having me at your blog, Jaime!

This is awesome! Thanks Mary!!!!

About Mary:

Mary E. Pearson is the award-winning author of The Jenna Fox Chronicles, The Miles Between, A Room on Lorelei, and Scribbler of Dreams.  She writes full-time from her home office in California where she lives with her husband and two golden retrievers.

Website/Twitter/Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

1 finished copy of THE KISS OF DECEPTION. US/Canada Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Kiss of Deception Blog Tour Schedule

Monday July 7

Icey Books (Review)

The Starry-Eyed Revue (Guest Post)

Tuesday July 8

Adventures of a Book Junkie (Review)

Cuddlebuggery (Guest Post)

Wednesday July 9

FicFare (Review)

Two Chicks on Books (Guest Post)

Thursday July 10

Winterhaven Books (Review)

Tales of a Ravenous Reader (Guest Post)

Friday July 11

MundieMoms (Review)

Alice Marvels (Guest Post)

Monday July 14

YA Bibliophile (Review)

Bewitched Bookworms (Guest Post)

Tuesday July 15

That Artsy Reader Girl (Review)

Jenna Does Books (Guest Post)

Wednesday July 16

ExLibris (Review)

My Friends are Fiction (Guest Post)

Thursday July 17

Birth of a New Witch (Review)

Good Books and Good Wine (Guest Post)

Friday July 18

Google Hangout with Mary Pearson hosted by Belle of the Literati (More info to come)