Two Chicks On Books: Blog Tour- DISRUPTOR by Arwen Elys Dayton An Interview

Hey everyone! Happy Valentine's Day! I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the blog tour for DISRUPTOR by Arwen Elys Dayton! I have an interview with Arwen to share with you today!

Haven't heard of DISRUPTOR? Check it out!

Title: DISRUPTOR

Author: Arwen Elys Dayton

Release Date: February 7, 2017

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Pages: 372

Formats: Hardcover, paperback, eBook, audiobook

Find it: Amazon, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Goodreads

For readers of Sarah J. Maas and of Marie Lu’s Legend trilogy comes Disruptor, the sequel to Traveler, the thrilling conclusion to the Seeker series.

Quin has spent her life as her father’s pawn. She was trained to kill and manipulated to guarantee her family’s power. And now that she’s broken free of that life, she’s found herself trapped again, hostage to a plot that has been centuries in the making.

It’s taken generations for the pieces to come together, and finally all is in place. Her best friend Shinobu’s mind has been corrupted, the Young Dread has aligned with her enemy John, and the bloodthirsty Watchers are being awakened and gathered. Now there is nothing that can stop the force of time.

But Quin will no longer be a pawn. Quin is a Seeker. She stands for light in a shadowy world. She will face the vengeance of the past and its enemies and save herself and the ones she loves, or she will die trying.

Now on to the interview!

Hi Arwen! First I want to say welcome back to Two Chicks on Books! DISRUPTOR was absolutely fantastic and I can’t wait for everyone to read it! And am so happy that you could stop by for a visit!

Thank you so much for having me again, and I’m so glad you enjoyed Disruptor!

For the readers: can you give us a little recap of the SEEKER series and the characters?

In the Seeker series, a teenage girl called Quin has spent most of her life training for what she believes is a noble purpose, only to discover that her family is turning her into an assassin instead.

Quin has grown up in the remote Scotland Highlands, where she and two boys her age—one her oldest friend (Shinobu), and one her boyfriend (John)—have spent years preparing to inherit two ancient artifacts, which have been handed down in their families for hundreds of years.

These artifacts allow them to do astonishing things, including appear and disappear from anywhere in the world. Quin expects to inherit this power for noble purposes, but her father intends to use her as an assassin, plain and simple.

The story is set in the near future, in a world where the hooded cloaks of Seekers and ancient Scottish ruins live comfortably next to futuristic airships and advanced medical techniques. It’s into this world that we watch Quin try to escape when she discovers the fate that’s waiting for her. And it is in this world that Quin is followed, helped, betrayed and abandoned by those she trusted the most.

Is this the end of the SEEKER series? And if so how was it writing the finale? And what are you working on now?

With Disruptor, the story of Quin, Shinobu, John and Maud (the Young Dread) is brought to a satisfactory close. Unfortunately, “satisfactory” for an author can mean frustrating, surprising, delightful, or any of a lot more adjectives. I’m not promising that everything is rainbows and unicorns at the finish. Yet we definitely get to see where Quin and the others have ended up, for better or for worse, and it happens in a rather eventful way.

There are many other potential stories set in the world of SEEKER, but Disruptor finishes up this particular story.

Were any of the characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?

I’m always jotting down the personality quirks of my friends and acquaintances (and my own, if I’m objective enough to spot them), so pieces of people I know are in these characters. Once you start writing a character inside the world of a story, though, he or she runs off ahead and becomes a new person, regardless of your original intention.

Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?

Maud, the Young Dread, was my favorite to write from the very beginning of the series. I love her sense of honor and the way she moves through time—very fast or very slow, depending on the situation. Over the course of three books, we get to watch Maud change into something more human than she was at the start. I’ve loved every step of this.

My least favorite character to write is a woman called Maggie, who is John’s grandmother. She has a small, rather innocuous, part in the first book, but even then I was gearing up for her much larger role in Disruptor. As you will see, she is a piece of work.

What is your favorite passage/scene in DISRUPTOR?

I have a particular fondness for the character Nott, a twelve-year-old boy who’s been raised by the Middle Dread to be a ruthless fighter. Only Nott is still a hapless and amusing twelve-year-old underneath the Middle Dread’s training. He’s also very dirty. Near the beginning of Disruptor there is a chapter in which Nott has been ordered to take a bath, which is a life-changing event for him. This particular scene makes me smile every time I read it.

What kind of research did you have to do for the story?

Most of my research was about locations, because this series takes us to quite a few far-flung places, including, most prominently, Hong Kong and the Scottish Highlands. There are also important pieces of the story that occur beneath Mont St. Michel in France, in Iceland, and in a variety of other places. I’ve been to a lot of these locations, but not all, so Internet image searches were helpful.

Who is your ultimate book boyfriend?

Is it weird to say Kvothe from The Name of the Wind?

What inspired you to write YA?

I don’t think I’m intentionally choosing YA as a genre; it’s just that I am completely fascinated with the teen years. There’s so much raw energy, embarrassment, love, lust, hope and despair in a typical week of teen life, that it’s hard to choose any other age to write about. In the Seeker series, I took great pleasure in pairing teenage characters with the frightening stakes of the life they are asked to lead. Quin has all the stresses of being a teenager PLUS the challenges of the world she’s living in. Honestly, I couldn’t get enough of that.

Lightening Round Questions

What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?

Folding Beijing, which won a Hugo. Near future sci-fi.

What Hogwarts House would the Sorting Hat place you in?

Ravenclaw!

Twitter or Facebook?

I really like Facebook, because there is so much personal interaction with friends and fellow writers and readers.

Favorite Superhero?

I have to go with Wonder Woman because I grew up watching the old TV show and was enchanted both by her modern life and the story of the island where she grew up. I spent a lot of time as a kid imagining what her childhood was like. (I also thought I was unique in being frustrated that her large glasses made it impossible for anyone to recognize her.)

Favorite TV show?

The Americans!

Sweet or Salty?

Oh, both, absolutely. If given my way, I would snack constantly. Bad Arwen!

Any Phobias?

I’ve outgrown most of my phobias somehow, though I am still a bit scared of ocean riptides. But that’s only logical, isn’t it?

Song you can’t get enough of right now?

Still listening to The 1975’s “Paris” a lot.

2017 Movie you’re most looking forward to?

The Dark Tower!

Wonder Woman (of course)

Murder on the Orient Express

Thanks so much Arwen for answering my questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read DISRUPTOR!

Thank you again for having me back!

About Lesley:

About Arwen:

ARWEN ELYS DAYTON is the author of SEEKER and TRAVELER. She spends moths doing research for her stories. Her explorations have taken her around the world to places like the Great Pyramid at Giza, Hong Kong and its many islands, and lots of ruined castles in Scotland.

You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter @arwenelysdayton, and check out her video series about writing, 1 QUESTION, 2 MINUTES, at arwendayton.com and on YouTube bit.ly/1mLcdIn.

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