Hey everyone! I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the blog tour for AIRWOMAN by Zara Quentin!
I have an interview with Zara to share with you today! And make sure to enter the giveaway below!
Haven't heard of AIRWOMAN? Check it out!
Title: AIRWOMAN
Author: Zara Quentin
Pub. Date: October 25, 2016
Publisher: Zara Quentin
Pages: 316
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Find it: Amazon, Amazon UK, Amazon Australia , Kobo, Smashowrds, B&N, iBooks, TBD, Goodreads
A father murdered by magic. A daughter’s cosmic quest for clues could make her the next victim…
Jade Gariq dreams of a new calling. While she wishes she could join the elite force that protects her home world from interdimensional threats, she’s stuck working for the family business. But everything changes when her father is found dead with traces of magic on him… magic that should only belong to the mythical Dragon-Gods…
To uncover the mystery behind her father’s murder, Jade must follow the clues to an uncharted world. Beyond the portal, treacherous jungles, surprising betrayals, and a killer bent on tying up loose ends stand in her way of the truth. It’ll take every ounce of Jade’s cunning to solve her father’s death, but can she avoid his fate?
Airwoman is a high-flying YA fantasy novel set in a stunning new Dragonverse. If you like fascinating worlds, memorable characters, and a dash of romance, then you’ll love Zara Quentin’s action-packed adventure.
Buy Airwoman today to let your imagination take flight!
For a free preview of Airwoman, find it at: http://www.zaraquentin.com/
Now on to the interview!
Hey Zara!! First I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on Books I’m glad
you could stop by for a chat! AIRWOMAN sounds
AWESOME and I can’t wait for everyone to read it!
For the readers:
can you tell us a little bit about AIRWOMAN and the characters?
Airwoman is about a young
woman—Jade Gariq—who dreams of
exploring the Dragonverse. All her life, she’s heard stories of
far-flung worlds, that she’s never been able to visit. That’s because Jade is stuck
working in the family business that she’ll one day inherit—a large,
cross-portal trading company. Her future
is set, though it’s a life she doesn’t want.
She dreams of joining the Traveller Force—the elite Taraqans
who traverse the Betwixt, filled with terrifying beasts, and who protect and
patrol the Dragonverse. Despite having been Travellers themselves once, Jade’s
parents refuse to risk their daughter’s life. When Jade’s father dies suddenly,
she inherits Gariq Industries, with all its assets and social responsibilities.
It seems her fate has, once again, been decided.
Meanwhile, Axel—her close friend and secret crush—disappears without
a trace. Then Jade discovers the circumstances surrounding her father’s death are not what they seem—there are whispers
of impossible magic—and her uncle Zorman suspects foul play.
To uncover the mystery behind her father’s murder, Jade must follow the
clues to an uncharted world. Beyond the portal, treacherous jungles, surprising
betrayals, and a killer bent on tying up loose ends, all stand in the way of
the truth. It will take every ounce of Jade’s cunning to solve her father’s
death, unless his killer finds her first…
How many books do
you have planned for the series?
I plan for the series to be a trilogy. Originally, I had planned for
about five books, but I decided to shorten it—partly because
when I looked at the series arc, I thought it worked better as a trilogy, and
partly because there are other writing ideas that I want to explore too!
However, I really like the world of Airwoman
and I think it lends itself to other stories, so I’m open to writing more from
the perspective of other characters too…Watch this space!
Were any of the
characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?
None of my characters are specific people that I know, but some of
their personality traits come from people I know. For example, Zorman is a very
charismatic character who has the kind of charm that makes everyone in the room
believe they’re his best friend. This aspect of Zorman’s character was inspired
by a friend of mine who has a similar trait. However, my friend also has many other
traits that make her different to Zorman. While I see aspects of people I know
in some of the characters—because when authors invent characters
they are drawing on their experience with people in real life—but none of my
characters are completely based on any one person in particular. They’re unique that way.
Who was your
favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?
I also really enjoyed writing Namaje who is a native Premyan woman. The
Premyan people use a ‘finger-language’ (like sign language), rather than verbal
speech, so when they interact with Taraqans, their language is not at the same
level as a native speaker. I found it challenging to convey her meaning and
ideas in a way that was not verbal. I couldn’t have her explain things in the
way that other characters might do, so I had to be inventive in the way that I
had her express complex ideas. I enjoyed that challenge.
I’m not sure any of the characters were really my least favorite. I
found some characters harder to write at times, such as Axel. I think I found
him a little more difficult because, though he’s front and center in the story,
as a reader, we experience him through Jade more than we experience him through
his own words and actions. He’s also more of a secretive, quiet type, so it was
a challenge to create depth for him.
What is your
favorite passage/scene in AIRWOMAN?
I really like Magnus Gariq’s funeral scene (Jade’s father). The way
people bury their dead says a lot about their culture and beliefs so I got to
bring in a lot of elements of Taraqan society that wouldn’t have had any other
place in the book. I really enjoy the world building process and a lot of the
elements of world building that I’d done came together in this scene—elements of the
Dragon-God religion, social strata, burial rites, the differences between
air-based peoples and land-bound peoples. I mostly pantsed (as in, wrote it by
the seat of my pants) this scene (though I knew it would be in the story from
my outline) and really enjoyed letting my imagination loose. Interestingly, it
was also one of the few scenes that I barely touched in revision.
What kind of
research did you have to do for the story?
One of the great things about writing fantasy is that I don’t have to
do a lot of real world research (which I hate). However, I do have to do a lot
of world-building (which I love) and that involves asking myself lots and lots
of questions about how the world works, and why. I consider this to be my
“research”. I like my worlds to evolve organically. In the real world, usually
a species has evolved to deal with their environment in a particular way because
it improves their chances of survival. So, when I was developing the world of
the Dragonverse, I did a lot of work to make sure that it made sense.
For example, if a species of people had wings, it wouldn’t make sense
for them to build their houses on the ground where they could be attacked by
land-based predators. They would probably build towns and cities in places
where they would be easily accessible by air. So, Ingresston (the capital of
Taraqa) was situated at the top of the cliffs, below the sky-based Portal that
links Taraqa to the other worlds of the Dragonverse. Another reason I set the
Taraqan homes in the clifftops, rather than in treehouses in a forest, for
example, was because people roughly the same size as humans would need an
immense wingspan to be able to fly. Therefore, a forest would likely be too
dense to accommodate many winged people. That’s also why, when Jade goes to
Premye (a densely forested jungle), she is forced to walk more than she’s used
to, because her wingspan is too large to navigate between the trees.
Who is your
ultimate book boyfriend?
Rhysand from A Court of Mist and Fury, by Sarah J Maas—he’s a great example of someone who is comfortable enough with themselves
to value an equal partner in the relationship, who respects and values his partner’s
decisions, and he’s intelligent and funny with a keen moral compass.
What inspired you
to write YA?
When I first started to love reading—really fell in
love with it—I was reading YA books. I remember reading voraciously
at that time in my life (I’d like to do that now too, but I have less time for
it!). Devouring books in days or less, because I was so immersed in the
experience.
Also, I think that, at about the age people start to read YA, they are
in a place where they can choose to read or choose to do something else. By
this I mean that they don’t have parents and teachers breathing down their neck
to read a chapter of their reader every night. While I have no hard data for
this assertion, from my experience and my observation of others, it seems that
in this period of their lives, kids either become people who voluntarily read
because they love it, and people who may only pick up a couple more books in
the rest of their lives.
Whether you like to read YA fiction or adult fiction, I think the
experience of reading fiction (as opposed to reading non-fiction) is important
to foster empathy, understanding and imagination. I’m passionate about getting
kids reading (and adults). When people tell me that they don’t read much, I
feel so sorry for them because I know what they’re missing out on.
So I write because I want to recreate that experience for other
readers, and especially those who might be sitting on the fence between loving
books and being one of those people who will only pick up a book if they’re
forced to. If I can be part of an enjoyable reading experience for someone who
might not otherwise read, then that makes me happy!
Lightening Round
Questions
What are you
reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
I’m currently reading an anthology—Myths and Magic—because I’m keen to discover some new authors and I find anthologies a great way
to do that. I’ve also got Dragons of Nova (Loom Saga #2)
by Elise Kova on my TBR that I’m dying to read.
What Hogwarts
House would the Sorting Hat place you in?
Hufflepuff.
Twitter or
Facebook?
Facebook
Favorite
Superhero?
Wonder Woman—mainly because I really liked the Wonder
Woman movie and I thought her backstory was interesting!
Favorite TV show?
At the moment, it’s got to be a tie between Game of Thrones and
Outlander.
Sweet or Salty?
Sweet. Mmmm chocolate…
Any Phobias?
That global warming is going to send cocoa and coffee plants extinct
and I’ll have to live in a world without chocolate or coffee… eek! Ok, if I’m
honest, I’m more immediately frightened of spiders and heights.
Song you can’t get
enough of right now?
Feels by Calvin Harris and Supercut by Lorde
2017 Movie you’re
most looking forward to?
I hardly ever get to the movies so I barely even know what’s coming out
this year! Probably, the next Kingsman movie—the first one was
hilarious, so I have high hopes for the next one too.
Thanks so much Zara for answering my questions! I can’t wait for
everyone to read AIRWOMAN!
About Zara:
Zara Quentin is the author of Airwoman, the first book in the Airwoman
series. She was raised in Adelaide, Australia, with one younger sister. Zara
grew up with a strong sense of adventure, which she inherited from her parents,
who took her and her sister on trips to the United States, Europe, and Asia.
She also inherited a love of reading from her mother. Throughout her
childhood she explored fictional places through books, and in particular,
through fantasy novels. She’d turn the black and white text on the page into
the colourful worlds of her imagination.
After graduating from high school, Zara studied at the University of
Adelaide and has lived in France, London, and Auckland, New Zealand. She is
always determined to fit in as much travel as possible, spending time in
Europe, the United States, southern Africa, Morocco, Peru, the Pacific and
south-east Asia.
Zara now resides in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and three
children. She is currently working on the next instalment in the Airwoman series.
Find Zara:
Giveaway Details:
2 winners will receive a $25 Gift Card to the book retailer of their
choice from Amazon, B&N, or TBD, International.
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
10/30/2017- Mythical Books- Interview
10/30/2017- Blushing
Bibliophile- Review
10/31/2017- Rabid
Readers Book Blog- Excerpt
10/31/2017- To Be Read- Review
11/1/2017- BookHounds YA- Guest
Post
11/1/2017- jrsbookreviews- Review
11/2/2017- Maddie.TV- Interview
11/2/2017- My Creatively
Random Life- Review
11/3/2017- Books,Dreams,Life- Excerpt
Week Two:
11/6/2017- The Hermit
Librarian- Guest Post
11/6/2017- J Heart Loves Books- Review
11/7/2017- YA and Wine- Interview
11/7/2017- Lori's Little House of
Reviews- Review
11/8/2017- Hooked To Books- Excerpt
11/8/2017- Two Chicks on Books- Interview
11/9/2017- Spilling Words- Excerpt
11/10/2017- Daily Waffle- Interview
11/10/2017- Perspective
of a Writer- Review
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