Two Chicks On Books: Blog Tour- SNOW LIKE ASHES by Sara Raasch and a Giveaway

Hey y'all I'm so excited to have Sara Raasch here today to talk about the map in SNOW LIKE ASHES!! This book is one of my absolute favorites of 2014 it's an amazing high fantasy with a badass MC and swoonworthy boys! Plus Sara is an awesome writer and I have a feeling I'll be adding this series to my list of top 10 high fantasies of all time! Oh and make sure to stick around and enter the giveaway!
Haven't heard of SNOW LIKE ASHES? Check it out!

Title: SNOW LIKE ASHES

Author: Sara Raasch

Pub. Date: October 14, 2014

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Pages: 432

Formats: Hardcover, audio, eBook

Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads

A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making.

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, and serving her kingdom just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

Now on to the post!

Today, I would like to share with the lovely readers of Two Chicks on Books a behind-the-scenes trip into one of my favorite parts of SNOW LIKE ASHES:

The map!

The lovely map you see in copies of SLA today was not always so lovely. It, like the book, evolved over many drafts.

The first one came when I was a wee authorling authoring the first draft of SLA. I was INTO IT in an intense, over-the-moon obsessed way. I spent HOURS drawing pictures, sketching maps, constructing castle layouts, etc.

Thus, this first map is DETAILED. And really, really wrong for how the world is laid out now. Like the only thing similar to how Primoria actually is are a few of the kingdoms and the positions of the bodies of water.

The next attempt came once I started rewriting SNOW LIKE ASHES a few years back. I had to rework the map, and as such, a better attempt at a map was born…

And by better, I mean...only slightly. This is what happens when you take someone who thinks they have graphic design skill and give them Microsoft Paint.

LOOK AT MY BLOBBY TREES. I'm sorry, but those are the most realistic blobby trees I've ever seen.

And, for the final map...*drum roll*

Somehow, out of all that craziness, the amazing artist Jordan Saia created this work of gloriousness that made me tear up just as much as my cover.

Okay, okay, his trees are WAY better. Really, his everything is way better. I MEAN LOOK AT IT.

Thanks Sara for the awesome post! I love the backstory for the map the final product is gorgeous!

About Sara:

Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then — her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Her debut YA fantasy, SNOW LIKE ASHES, the first in a trilogy, comes out October 14, 2014 from Balzer + Bray. It does not feature her hand-drawn pictures.

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