Spring YA fantasy covers take wing!

Angels and mermaids still rule in young adult fantasy, and cover artists have to exercise all their creativity to come up with new ways to depict them.  (The creators of wings--whether angelic or fae--were especially inventive this season.)

Meanwhile, YA covers continue to love gorgeous dresses and tresses. (Who doesn't?) Also one-word titles. Unearthly light. Well-toned torsos.

And, of course, nothing says "uh-oh" like a good mist.

This spring's round-up includes books whose pub dates were January through June. Once again, we're so overloaded with wonderful cover art that we're going to spread this post over two days. Tune in for more great covers tomorrow!

In today's groupings, I admit to a fondness for the kick-butt females in the bottom grouping--not to mention the GRAVE MERCY lady who has both a great dress and a crossbow. (You really won the sweepstakes on that one, Robin!) On the other hand, you can't beat DRAGONSWOOD for sheer weird resplendence.

Click "read more" to see the covers. Which ones are your favorites?

Interview with Zoë Marriott, author of SHADOWS ON THE MOON

Today we welcome author Zoë Marriott to the Inkpot to talk about her newest YA fantasy novel, SHADOWS OF THE MOON, a beautifully rich and detailed story inspired by the traditional Cinderella fairytale, but set in a fantasy world reminiscent of feudal Japan.

If you are a fan of fairy tale retellings, beautiful prose, and/or strong, complicated heroines, please find yourself a copy of this book! It's a compelling exploration of revenge and love, and though the main character endures much, I was left cheering for her and her companions.

Sixteen-year-old Suzume is a shadow weaver, trained in the magical art of illusion. She can be anyone she wants to be -- except herself. Is she the girl of noble birth, trapped by the tyranny of her mother’s new husband, Lord Terayama? A lowly drudge scraping a living in the ashes of Terayama’s kitchens? Or Yue, the most beautiful courtesan in the Moonlit Lands? Even Suzume is no longer sure of her true identity. But she is determined to steal the heart of the Moon Prince, and exact revenge on her stepfather for the death of her family. And nothing will stop her. Not even her love for fellow shadow weaver Otieno, the one man who can see through her illusions...

There's also a fabulous book trailer:

SHADOWS ON THE MOON is available now in stores, in both the UK and North America! You can read the first chapter for free here (note: link is a pdf). You can also learn more about Zoë and her books at her website!

Thanks for joining us here, Zoë! You've stated that SHADOWS ON THE MOON is inspired by the Cinderella fairy tale, and the question: "What if Cinderella wasn't a wimp? What if she was strong and brave and out for revenge all along?" Your first book, THE SWAN KINGDOM, is also inspired by a fairy tale. What is it about fairy tales that draws you to re-interpret them like this? Why do you think fairy tale retellings are so popular? 

I've been in love with fairytales my whole life. As a child - right up until I left home, in fact - my walls were plastered with dozens of sketches and photocopies of illustrations from books of traditional fairystories, Greek and Norse myths, Chinese and Japanese folklore, Beowulf, Arthurian legend, the Mabinogion: I craved those ancient stories in a way I can't even describe. Nothing made me happier than finding a huge book of fairytales and hiding away on a windowsill or staircase and reading until my legs went numb or some member of my family rooted me out. Looking back I really was a very strange child! I couldn't have cared less about the boybands my contemporaries screamed for; I was in love with Gawain and Tristan, Cupid, Orpheus, Cuchulain, the Beast (and with George, King of the Rogue, from Tamora Pierce's Lioness Rampant Quartet).

Recently I did a blog-post where I talked about the dark, scary origins of many fairytales, the rape and filicide and wickedness that was excised from traditional stories in the Victorian era to make them clean and 'child friendly'. I got into trouble with some people who thought I was saying that I didn't like fairytales, or that they weren't suitable for children. Nothing could be further from the truth! I think our desire to keep those ancient stories alive, to reinterpret them, find new meaning in them, and create within them all the individual romances and enchantments that speak to us personally is a fundamental part of what makes us human!

So I'm a fairytale addict, basically. When I read a fairytale or any piece of folklore or mythology my mind immediately begins to seek out the shadowed gaps and jagged edges of the tale - all the places where we're told what people did but not why, what someone said but not what they felt, who someone was but not how they became that way in the first place. I call these the liminal spaces of a story. They're what fascinate me, and they're the reason I'm drawn to retell fairytales, because they hold so many endless possibilities for creating new meaning within the framework of powerful archetypes which are a part of our collective unconscious.

TOTW: Ogres and Trolls

It occurred to me the other day that the wild things in Maurice Sendak's most famous picture book are actually a version of trolls or ogres. This makes sense when you recall how Sendak himself described the inspiration for the wild things:

Then, very gradually, these other people began to appear on my drawing paper, and I knew right away that they were my relatives. They were my uncles and aunts. It wasn't that they were monstrous people; it was simply that I didn't care for them when I was a child because they were rude, and because they ruined every Sunday, and because they ate all our food. They pinched us and poked us and said those tedious, boring things that grown-ups say, and my sister and my brother and I sat there in total dismay and rage. The only fun we had was later, giggling over their grotesque faces—the huge noses, the spiraling hair pouring out of the wrong places. So I know who those "wild things" are. They are my Jewish relatives.

The Shameless Side of the Moon

It's just barely still Saturday here on the west coast, so I feel justified in slipping this Shameless Saturday post in under the wire!  And it's a good thing I did because we're got some awesome stuff this week!

Whenever I have news, I usually save it for the end of the post.  But this time, I'm being all...um...shameless and putting it first.  Why?  Well (a) it's pretty awesome and (b) it involves our very own Nancy Holder.  Because I've got two shiny new blurbs for TEN!

Also, they're FREAKING AMAZING.

"Gretchen McNeil's TEN is my new number one! I jumped at every creaking floorboard in my house and on the page. This is sure to be a teen thriller classic!" (Nancy Holder, Bram Stoker Award winning author of THE SCREAMING SEASON)

"TEN is a real page turner! Gretchen McNeil knows how to plot a thriller: Her setup is flawless and the suspense kept me on the edge of my seat." (Christopher Pike, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the THIRST series and REMEMBER ME)

I know, right?

And on the heels of these blurbs, I found out TEN will be published in Spain by Maeva. It was an awesome week!!!!

Speaking of Nancy Holder,participated in one of the thirty events held in thirty days about Edgar Allan Poe. Together with an acting team from Read Out Loud, she talked about Poe and his connection to horror. She and the team also passed out copies of Poe books for World Book Night. Also, Blonde Ambition, a hardback collection that includes stories from her Domino Lady comic books, went on sale. The cover is pretty awesometastic.

Nancy's not the only one with a new book out. Sybil Nelson's fifth Priscilla the Great book is out May 1st. That's next week!!!!  WOO HOO!!!!

Plus, Lena Coakley's paperback of WITCHLANDERS will be out this fall and Scholastic has licensed it for their fall book club.

And last but not least, Kate Milford's Kickstarter campaign we mentioned two weeks ago?  Yeah, it got a massive write up in Publisher's Weekly.  Go, Kate! Go!

That's it. "It."  Hahaha.  So much good news this week!  *dances*

Enchanted Interview: Bethany Griffin, author of MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH

I first "met" Bethany Griffin back when we were both soon-to-be debut novelists as part of the Class of 2k8/2k9, when her contemporary YA novel Handcuffs was getting buzz. When I learned that her long-awaited new book would be a retelling of Edgar Allen Poe's "Masque of the Red Death," well, I think my squee was audible from the next county over!

From the author's website:

Everything is in ruins.

A devastating plague has decimated the population. And those who are left live in fear of catching it as the city crumbles to pieces around them.

So what does Araby Worth have to live for?

Nights in the Debauchery Club, beautiful dresses, glittery make-up . . . and tantalizing ways to forget it all.

But in the depths of the club—in the depths of her own despair—Araby will find more than oblivion. She will find Will, the terribly handsome proprietor of the club. And Elliott, the wickedly smart aristocrat. Neither boy is what he seems. Both have secrets. Everyone does.

And Araby may find something not just to live for, but to fight for—no matter what it costs her.

So I'm delighted to present our conversation with Bethany Griffin about her fantasy debut. ;)

 

I am a big, big fan of retellings, so this one has been in my TBR list for a long time!  So let's start with your inspiration for this novel, Edgar Allen Poe's short story by the same title. What drew you to it, and how did you go about adapting it into the original, full-length novel it became?

I think most of the re-imagining happened in the planning, and then I wrote the book without thinking too much about Poe (too intimidating). I knew the theme of the story (no one, no matter how wealthy, can escape death) so the story immediately had to deal with class warfare issues, and because of the plague had to be post-apocalyptic. Everything else sort of fell into place? The short story is so atmospheric and dark, which was exactly what I wanted the novel to be! So within the framework of Poe's plague and a world defined by that plague, I came up with the characters and the plot.

The setting of MASQUE is wonderfully dark, atmospheric, and beautiful, with touches of steampunk and Victoriana, as well as traces that feel startlingly modern. What went into building Araby's post-apocalyptic world--how much was Poe, and how much is pure invention? What about those crocodiles?!

 I'm terrified of all reptiles, more snakes than anything, but having killer crocodiles roaming the streets was terrifying to me, and repulsive, so I threw it in there! Building the world, well, in the very first partial, it was actually futuristic...the Debauchery Club was a dance club (in that version I think it was called the Morgue, which was a Poe reference, in the actual book, the Morgue was the club next door). But, as I considered the book and the idea for the book, I was also reading a biography of Poe, so it occurred to me to make the book somewhat historical, and then I was like, historical/post-apocalyptic, is that a thing? Turns out it's rather popular in video games, but not done so much in books, so the setting of the book grew from there. The elevator in the Akkadian towers is somewhat anachronistic in that the time period I was imagining would have only had very primitive elevators, but...I left it in there.

Many of Poe's tales are a natural fit for young readers attracted to the gothic and the macabre, and this month's release of the film "The Raven" will no doubt fuel lots more interest in his work. Do you have any particular recommendations for kids who loved your novel (or the movie) and want to read more? Are there any other Poe-inspired novel adaptations you can suggest?

Oh, well Nevermore by Kelly Creagh is a lot of fun and the sequel, Enshadowed comes out later this year. And I haven't read it yet, but I love the idea of Annabel by Mary Lindsey, so lots of Poe inspired YA books all of a sudden (which is great).

Your first novel, 2009's HANDCUFFS, was a straightforward contemporary. Speaking as a fantasy fan, I'm delighted you've crossed over! But what inspired the switch of genres, and how did you find the process? What are your plans for future books? Do you find one or the other a more natural fit for you, as a writer?

I don't think my agent will be pleased if I make another huge change! Honestly, my first love in books were always speculative, and on top of that I spent my middle school years reading all these gothic thrillers that my mom may or may not have given me because they were very tame from a sexual standpoint, but lots of atmosphere and dark settings, so having read so many mixtures of things, mixing genres came pretty easy to me. I feel like a lot of people can do what I did with Handcuffs (tell a high school story) and probably do it as well if not better.  But, what I did in Masque, which some readers at least have loved, is sort of my own mix of crazy influences, so I feel like I've sort of found my thing? And I'll probably stick with some mix of dark, speculative literature for the next few books.

In addition to writing, you're also a high school teacher. How does that demanding and rewarding career play into your writing for young adults? Do your students share your affinity for Poe?

Well, I teach 10th grade and Poe is technically 11th grade, so oddly I don't teach that much Poe, but I do touch on the poems, and maybe a bit of The Tell-Tale Heart, which I think is Poe's most accessible story. And it's always a mix, some love Poe, some not so much. 

Araby's story has such a surprising ending--please tell us we'll see more of her adventures!

Book 2 will be out in 2013, so yes, everyone can read on, go to the Masque and see if a certain young man can redeem himself! 

Thanks, Bethany, for stopping by the Enchanted Inkpot!

***

Elizabeth C. Bunce is the author of A Curse Dark as Gold and the THIEF ERRANT novels, StarCrossed and Liar's Moon. 

Visit Elizabeth at www.elizabethcbunce.com