The
Jealousy Glass
"We
came to stop a war before it came to Cercia. And it seems the war
has come to us."
Responsibility
and patriotism spur Cercia's new leader, Quentin, to protect his
beloved country at all costs and he assigns Asahel and Felix to serve
as ambassadors and secret agents to Anjdur. Their journey quickly
turns awry and Asahel and Felix barely escape a devastating
shipwreck, walk a tightrope of political tension, and rescue an
empress before they learn they must face an enemy closer to them than
they thought.
Will
they be able to uncover an assassin's plot before it's too late? Will
Asahel be able to unearth a secret that is vital to their mission?
Will Cercia survive its own revolution? In The Jealousy Glass,
Perkins boldly continues a series of unforgettable characters and
events that will leave you begging for more.
Interview
If
you could work with any author who would it be?
I'm
actually writing a series of short stories and a novel right now with
my dream collaborator, Wilson Fabián Saravia. (I'm still not
exactly sure how on earth I managed to convince him to write with
me!) He's just the greatest person to work with—a brilliant
conceptualist, fantastic artist, and our minds seem to always fall
beautifully into sync. There is honestly no one that I would rather
work with more.
If
I had to pick someone else? Either R.S. Hunter, Brandon Sanderson or
Peter Straub—Hunter and Sanderson for their amazing worldbuilding
abilities and Straub because his writing style is so poetic and
lyrical. (Though I note, they're all completely different authors.)
What's
your favorite part of a book?
In
terms of writing, my favorite part of a book is the middle. This
seems to be a bit unusual among writers I know but the middle is
where I really get to know my story and go tearing ahead. I struggle
with beginnings (in fact, I've been accused of starting my books in
the action and that's a just accusation) and I dislike the end
because well, it's the end. But I love being right in the middle of
what's going on and bringing a tale to its climax and conclusion.
When
naming your characters, do you give any thought to the actual
meaning?
It
really depends on the character and on the story. A few of the
characters in the Artifacts series were named after inspirations of
mine or from names that other people suggested to me. With the other
series that I'm collaborating on (Efimera), we've put a lot of
thought into the etymology of words and names. Pretty frequently,
even "throwaway" names or concepts have a hidden meaning
and a reason that the names were chosen.
What
advice would you give to people who "run out of creativity"
when writing?
Change
your environment. Get up and take a walk. Visit a museum or art
gallery or even a place filled with objects and pick up things, look
at them, think about them. If it's a long dry spell, think about the
things inhibiting you and ask whether you need to make bigger
changes.
What
books have most influenced your life most?
This
is a constantly shifting list but right now, I would say the works of
Octavia Butler, particularly Parable of the Sower. C.S.
Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, the Lord of the Rings by
J.R.R. Tolkien, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, the
Pern series by Anne McCaffrey, The Dark is Rising
by Susan Cooper and Fritz Leiber's short stories are all fantasy
works that were really important to me from the time I remember
reading. Mary Doria Russell's The Sparrow and Children of
God are also key works on my bookshelf, as are Ender's Game,
Antigone, Shadowland… the list goes on and on!
What
are your current projects?
Right
now, I'm working on more novels in the Artifacts of Empire series—a
hint of the third can be seen at the end of Jealousy Glass.
I'm also working on a collaboration to produce short stories and a
novel in a series with the working title of Efimera (which is
quite a bit more steampunk than my Artifacts novels are). I'm having
a lot of fun with that since my collaborator Wilson is so much fun to
work with—we've come up with some of the craziest ideas and I
really think people are going to be intrigued by our universe.
If
you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your
latest book?
Let's
see what happens when the reviews come in. Right now, I'm actually
pretty happy with it—I think if I added anything, it might be to
throw in a dash more humor. I really enjoyed having a few
light-hearted scenes in The Jealousy Glass as I think it
enhanced the more serious elements of the book to have that contrast
there.
What
was the hardest part of writing your book?
Chapter
23. I won't say anything more than that. J
When you read the book, I think you'll understand that answer.
Did
you learn anything from writing your book and what was it?
I
thought a lot about tolerance and what it means to accept other
people in spite of your difference. It's possible for anyone to close
their mind and not be aware of it, even those of a less privileged
class. I explore that a bit in Jealousy Glass and it will
come more to the forefront in the book that follows, The Oracle
Bones.
What
were the challenges (research, literary, psychological, and
logistical) in bringing it to life?
I think the biggest
challenge that I faced, and continue to face, in this series is
dealing with issues that are sensitive to many people and doing so in
a manner that will cause others to think about the world around them.
Fantasy is a great genre for discussing these kinds of topics
although I think that it's not an obvious one. I've learned much
more about life from Tolkien and Lewis than I have from authors
considered more "literary."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Gwen Perkins has always regarded the deep rainforest of the Olympic Peninsula as the one place that she feels most at home. Gwen grew up in small towns across the Pacific Northwest, going to slug races and strawberry festivals when she wasn't scribbling on any scrap of paper she could come by. She boasts the dubious distinction of going to a public school with only eight students, learning Irish sea chanteys from a man who sang with the Clancy Brothers, and catching tadpoles during classes.
Her adult life is generally just about as much fun.
She lives in the City of Destiny (better known as Tacoma, Washington). Her hobbies include wandering beaches, baking pies and lampworking. In between all of this, Gwen has written two novels in the Artifacts of Empire series: The Universal Mirror and The Jealousy Glass. The Universal Mirror has been nominated for a 2013 Endeavour Award.
She is presently at work on future novels in the Artifacts of Empire series while working on another series in collaboration with Wilson Fabián Saravia.
GIVEAWAY:
In conjunction with the release of The Jealousy Glass, Gwen is running a giveaway for an autographed, first edition paperback of The Universal Mirror through Goodreads here. Open Internationally. The giveaway officially ends on December 21, 2012—the author's birthday and supposed date for the oncoming apocalypse.
No comments:
Post a Comment