I am thrilled to be hosting a spot
on the AFTER THE FALL by Ellen Parent Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out
my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!
About The Book:
Author: Ellen
Parent
Pub. Date: December
3, 2024
Publisher: Fitzroy
Books
Formats: Paperback,
eBook, Audiobook
Pages: 266
Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/AFTER-THE-FALL-Parent
"A gripping, visceral,
post-apocalyptic story brimming with adventure and heart." - Kirkus
Reviews
So much is forgotten in the Republic: the way the seasons used to turn like
pages in a book, the technology that once made life easy for everyone, even the
art of reading. For fifteen-year-old June, the forgetting goes even deeper,
ever since a mysterious accident six years ago stole her mother and her memory.
When a strange circus with ties to her family comes through town, she follows
them without a second thought. In the outside world, June has to navigate a
landscape and society pushed to the edge by the powerful forces of climate
change, and to decide who she can trust in a world where everyone seems to have
secrets. Can she believe the grizzled deputy who somehow knows more about her
past than she does? What about the circus performers, who push her away even as
they beguile her best friend? Only when she finally uncovers a truth that
threatens to change the Republic forever, will she know who her true family is—
and whose life is worth saving.
Interview:
1. What gave you the inspiration to write
this book?
Lot’s of
things, all unrelated. Here’s one: I was hiking with my parents in northern
Vermont. We saw the Canadian border: A 50-foot-wide swath cut out of the
wilderness. I wondered what would happen if I crossed it– would anyone notice?
There were no buildings in sight, just trees and this wide open no-man’s-land.
Then, for some reason, I looked at my dad–a quiet man who can name every plant
in the forest, make a stew out of them, and build a comfortable cabin to eat
them in– and thought, “what if he was a detective in a post-apocalyptic
wilderness?”
2. Who is your favorite character in the
book?
I am partial
to the barman in New Rutland, who only appears for a few scenes. He’s obsessed
with things from Before– American money, television sets, Hawaiian shirts. He
tries to bring a little comfort and nostalgia into a dangerous world. He also
helps June, even though she doesn’t have much to offer in return.
3. Which came first, the title or the
novel?
I am
terrible at titles, at least when it comes to my own work. In this case, it
came dead last.
4. What scene in the book are you most
proud of, and why?
I’m most
proud of the chapter when June recalls vital details about her life with her
mother. It’s like a dream sequence, and writing it felt like one, too. It just
flowed out of me (at a point when nothing about writing felt easy) and when I
read it back I knew I’d got it right.
5. Thinking way back to the beginning,
what’s the most important thing you've learned as a writer from then to now?
It’s a slog,
guys. It’s also really easy to talk yourself out of it, or to think you’re
writing when really you’re just delaying or avoiding. There’s a lot of
sentiment out there about taking it easy on yourself and celebrating minor
victories– and that’s true. But if you don’t put your nose down and do the work
at some point, then you won’t achieve your goal.
6. What do you like most about the cover of
the book?
I love the
tree growing out of a car. It captures the setting I was trying to build really
well. The colors have also grown on me– at first I was really confused about
why my publisher had gone with bright red, when all the colors in the novel are
muted nature tones. But it captures the sense of danger and unreality really
well.
7. What new release book are you looking
most forward to in 2025?
I haven’t
yet read Tana French’s new book The
Hunter, which came out in 2024 but that I’ll probably get to in 2025. I
loved The Searcher, and have no end
of admiration for her ability to build these slow burn mysteries built on
character and nuance.
8. What was your favorite book in 2024?
I just
finished reading The Ministry of Time
by Kaliane Bradley. It was billed as a fun time travel romance book, but I
found it was really more than that. Highly recommend.
9. Which part of the writing process do you
enjoy more: Drafting or Revising?
Revising! I
get so energized by seeing my writing in front of me. The drafting phase is
often a torturous process full of self-doubt and procrastination, but when I’m
revising I really feel like a writer.
10. What’s up next for you?
Having a baby in April! I tried to write consistently through the birth and newborn phase of my first child, and it made me feel like a failure on multiple fronts. So I’m giving myself one year of a guilt-free break from writing this time. I’m trying to get as far as I can with my current project, a small-town murder mystery, before the baby comes. Then I’ll pick it up again when I’m getting more than 3 hours of sleep in a row.
About Ellen Parent:
Ellen Parent
has been telling stories since the mid-nineties, when she started whispering
them down to her sister on the bottom bunk. Her poetry has been published in
Bloodroot, Vermont Magazine, Birchsong, and was shortlisted for the 2014
Vermont Writers Prize. After the Fall is her first novel. She lives in rural
Vermont with her delightful husband, her precocious daughter, and two eccentric
cats.
Website | Instagram | Goodreads
| Amazon
Giveaway Details:
1 winner
will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card, International.
Ends December 17th, midnight EST.
a Rafflecopter giveawayTour Schedule:
Week One:
|
12/2/2024 |
Excerpt |
|
|
12/2/2024 |
Book Review Virginia Lee Blog |
Excerpt/IG Post |
|
12/3/2024 |
Two Chicks on Books |
Excerpt/IG Post |
|
12/3/2024 |
Daily Waffle |
Excerpt |
|
12/4/2024 |
@callistoscalling |
IG Post |
|
12/4/2024 |
IG Post |
|
|
12/5/2024 |
Fire and Ice Reads |
Excerpt/IG Post |
|
12/5/2024 |
Excerpt/IG Post |
|
|
12/6/2024 |
Edith's Little Free Library |
IG Post/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post |
|
12/6/2024 |
@fiction._.fuss |
Review/IG Post |
Week Two:
|
12/9/2024 |
@enthuse_reader |
IG Review/TikTok Post |
|
12/9/2024 |
@evergirl200 |
IG Review/TikTok Post |
|
12/10/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
|
|
12/10/2024 |
Kim's Book Reviews and Writing Aha's |
Review/IG Post |
|
12/11/2024 |
Lifestyle of Me |
Review |
|
12/11/2024 |
rolo_the_book_lover- |
IG Review/TikTok Post |
|
12/12/2024 |
Review/IG Post |
|
|
12/12/2024 |
A Blue Box Full of Books |
IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post |
|
12/13/2024 |
Deal sharing aunt |
Review |
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