I am
thrilled to be hosting a spot on the WHERE ANGELS CAN'T FOLLOW by Jessi
Kallison Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About The Book:
Title: WHERE ANGELS CAN'T FOLLOW
Author: Jessi Kallison
Pub. Date: September 22, 2020
Publisher: Jessi Kallison
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 308
It all started with an inexplicable slab of marble.
And now I can’t get her out of my head. It’s more than
inspiration. It’s compulsion.
I see her in my dreams. And I wake up covered in marble dust,
her statue more complete in front of me.
I can’t stop sculpting, and I can’t save the angel girl.
Now iconoclasts, a quartet of archangels, and a voodoo
queen—along with the plague of little old ladies running my life—are all far
too interested in the outcome.
I miss normal New Orleans. (Yeah, I said it.)
But there’s no going back until I free her and get the
literal heavenly host out of my life. And maybe there’s no going back then.
Interview:
Hey, Jessi!
First, I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on Books. I’m glad you could stop by
for a chat! WHERE ANGELS CAN'T FOLLOW sounds AWESOME, and I can’t wait for
everyone to read it!
For the readers: Can you tell us a little
bit about WHERE ANGELS CAN'T FOLLOW and the characters?
Where Angels Can’t Follow begins as
my main character, Nate, is compelled to carve an angel. And as the story
continues, he has no control over that decision. I’ve had so much fun mixing
mythologies in this book. Where Angels Can’t Follow has archangels,
furies, iconoclasts, voodoo, and Medusa, combined with heaping doses of the
older women’s Catholicism. Similarly, I’ve mixed generations and belief systems
throughout, sometimes to comedic effect, sometimes to make my reader cry for
justice with me.
My main character, Nate Jacoby, is a scrappy, emancipated orphan who’s
been taken in by an elderly lady who needs help with chores and errands to keep
out of a nursing home. His best friend, Kiah Craft, is also living with one of
the ladies and spends so much of her time trying to blend in and not be who she
really is. She struggles with her sexuality and her fear of rejection
throughout.
What are you working on now?
I am working on Iron Spirits, the second book in my Weaver series,
which is also YA Urban Fantasy.
Were any of the characters in the
book inspired by people from your real life?
None of the characters in my book are a carbon copy of anyone I know,
rather bits and pieces are drawn from my life’s experiences. I hope you read
the pages and feel like you know someone like my characters.
Who was your favorite character to
write? What about your least favorite?
My favorite character to write—oh, that’s hard. I really enjoyed writing
a few of them. Marge and Nate’s interactions made me the happiest. The
generation gap that they were bridging badly, at times, provided levity.
My least favorite was Grace, Kiah’s guardian. She rigidly adhered to
tradition and misunderstood those around her.
What are your favorite passages/scenes
in WHERE ANGELS CAN'T FOLLOW?
I can’t get enough of the scenes between Nate and Marge, bickering about
marble messes and whether Michelangelo’s David is actually lewd. I also
wanted my readers to feel that some of the monsters were in everyday society
and not supernatural at all. So, the
Cotillion scene with Kiah was well done; some of what Kiah faces from ordinary
people as a black, lesbian girl is as difficult to overcome as the supernatural
elements in the story.
What kind of research did you have to
do for the story?
I spent some time in New Orleans when I was writing Where Angels Can’t
Follow, and I think it gives it a strong sense of place. I also did some
digging into mythology, researched Renaissance art quotes, and read up on
sculpting marble.
Who is your ultimate book boyfriend?
This question was unexpectedly thought-provoking. I realized I would have
dumped a lot of major characters. Edward from Twilight. Jacob, too. Adam and
Warner from the Shatter Me series. If we go literary with it, I was offended by
a great many of those men, too. Romeo was immature. I finally settled on
Aragorn from Lord of the Rings. He went through so much and reluctantly
embraced a legacy he was uncertain of while loving Arwen unfailingly.
What inspired you to write YA UF?
When I wrote my debut novel Iron Shards, I don’t know that I was
setting out to write YA urban fantasy. The genre I most adore just comes out on
the page. I love magic and mythology blending with science and modern settings
so that my readers can imagine a world not so different from their own, with a
twist. I want my readers to lose themselves in the possibility of myths and
magic surrounding them without having to hold a whole new world in their minds.
So, urban fantasy was a natural choice.
Lightning Round Questions
What are you reading right now? Or
what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
I am currently reading Restore Me, the fourth book in the Shatter
Me series by Tahera Mafi. My TBR shelf is vast. Yikes. But I am anxious to read
Jim Butcher’s Peace Talks soon and Ransom Riggs’s A Map of Days.
Instagram, Twitter or Facebook?
Facebook
Favorite Superhero?
Captain Marvel
Favorite TV show?
Firefly
Sweet or Salty?
Sweet
Any Phobias?
Spiders
Song you can’t get enough of right
now?
“Hallowed Ground” by Bishop Briggs
Fall/Winter 2020 Movie you’re most
looking forward to?
Black
Widow. (Marvel is a
shut-up-and-take-my-money situation.)
Thanks so
much, Jessi, for answering my questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read WHERE
ANGELS CAN'T FOLLOW!
About Jessi:
Jessi Kallison is a young adult urban fantasy author and
poet. Her first novel Iron Shards is currently available, with upcoming
releases of Where Angels Can’t Follow and Hell and High Water scheduled for
Fall 2020. She is working on her third novel when she’s not exploring caves,
prying her kids away from computer screens, running, or gardening. In addition
to that rather time- consuming list, Jessi is enthusiastic about sci-fi and
anything with enough caffeine to give her heart palpitations.
Giveaway Details:
3 winners
will receive a paperback of Jessi’s book IRON
SHARDS, US Only.
Tour Schedule:
9/14/2020
|
Interview
|
|
9/14/2020
|
Interview
|
|
9/15/2020
|
Guest Post
|
|
9/15/2020
|
Excerpt
|
|
9/16/2020
|
Guest Post
|
|
9/16/2020
|
Excerpt
|
|
9/17/2020
|
Guest Post
|
|
9/17/2020
|
Guest Post
|
|
9/18/2020
|
Review
|
|
9/18/2020
|
Excerpt
|
Love the cover and the premise makes me want to read this book.
ReplyDeleteNew author for me.
ReplyDelete