Book Giveaway and Author Interview: Spirits of Glory by Emily Devenport

 About Spirits of Glory:

One morning the people of the North woke up and the people of the South were gone. That's the first thing every child learns on the colony world of Jigsaw. But for one girl, knowing about The Disappearance is not enough. Hawkeye wants to know why.

That's why she spent half her life researching The Disappearance. And that's also why eight Neighbors show up on her doorstep, demanding that she accompany them into the Forbidden Cities ruled by the Southern gods to speak with the Spirits of Glory. Everyone thinks Hawkeye is an expert on Neighbors, these almost-humans who move, talk, and think as if they were born inside one of the Time Fractures. But she can't imagine what they want to ask the ghosts of their ancestors, or why they need her to go along. The Southern gods caused every human inhabitant of the Southern cities to disappear overnight; what else might they do?

But the Northern gods say Hawkeye should go and her curiosity won't let her refuse, even though she's going into more danger than she can imagine. Pain and puzzlement wait along the broken interstate, along with scavengers who want to kill them all. Hawkeye's questions only generate more questions as they move farther and farther into the South, right into the heart of the Disappearance, until Hawkeye's questions have all been answered.

Thank you Emily for taking the time to join us and answer some questions!

--The Twitter version: tell us about your book in 140 characters or less.

One morning, the people in the North woke up and the people in the South were gone. Hawkeye wants to know why. Her curiosity takes her to the Forbidden Cities, even though she's going into more danger than she can imagine.

--How did you get the idea for the story?

I dreamed about this world and these characters.  A lot of my novels take form that way – I have a vivd dream, and I start to think about it, try to figure out why things are happening and what could happen next.  I wrote about this process on my blog: http://www.emsjoiedeweird.com/2011/06/notes-from-dreamed-life.html

--Which character would you most/least like to have dinner with?

I like the Neighbors a lot, but it could be kind of nerve-wracking to have supper with them.  Hawkeye would be pleasant company, especially with Wolfy and Brat in tow.  But the character I would most like to have a conversation with is one of the side characters, the writer John Davies.  I think he would be really interesting to talk to.

--What are some of your favorite books? Do you still have much time to read?

My mind always goes blank when people ask me to list favorites, but some of My old favorites are Dragonwyck, The Haunting, The Hobbit, Watership Down,  and Poe's Tales Of Terror.  If I listed my favorite authors, the list would be ridiculously long.  I love audio books, because I actually don't have as much time for reading.  I blogged about some of my favorites: http://www.emsjoiedeweird.com/2011/09/how-sarah-vowell-saved-my-sanity.html

I'm a geology student these days, so my eyeballs are getting fried by a huge amount of course work. 

--Do you have any other works in progress? Any teasers or release dates?

I always have multiple works in progress.  The two that are the closest to completion are YA fantasies: The Order Of The Dragon and Lord Monkey.  I've got an adult novella ebook coming out in the next month or so titled Pale Lady, and I'm hoping to have one of my backlist titles, Belarus, out in ebook by the end of the year.

--If a fairy godmother told you your life could be like a favorite book for 24 hours, which book would you pick and why?

The fairy godmother would have to be extremely patient with me.  First my mind would go blank (the pressure!), then I would worry that my favorite books might actually be really scary places to be.  And then I would worry that if I picked a wonderful place, I would feel really bad when I had to leave it again.  I wish my mind didn't work that way, but it does.

--Do you need anything to write (music, coffee, etc)? Are there any songs on your playlist- songs that inspired you or that were playing while you wrote?

I can't listen to any music with lyrics while I'm actually writing, but songs can inspire me.  At the beginning of Spirits Of Glory, I have a quote from a Patty Griffin song, Useless Desires:  “Goodbye to all the window panes, shining in the sun, like diamonds on a winter's day, goodbye, goodbye to everyone.”  When I heard this it made me think of The Disappearance in my story, when everyone in the North woke up one morning and found out that everyone in the South had vanished off the face of the world.  All of the windowpanes shining in the sun were the empty windows of the Forbidden Cities.

I also felt very inspired by The Lark Ascending, a classical piece by the British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams.  So I named one of the Forbidden Cities Lark.

--If you could have any superpower what would you choose?

To be able to fly.  I don't want to fight super-villains, I want to be able to visit canyons and mountains, and explore the sheer rock faces and the hard-to-reach spots.

--Besides writing, what do you like to do in your free time?

I love to travel in the Southwest U.S.  I love to hike and garden.  I love geology, but right now my classes are really tough chemistry classes, and I'll be really glad when they're done.

--Is there anything else you want to add or say to your readers?

Publishing is going through some drastic changes these days, and a lot of people hate the idea of reading a book on a device instead of holding a physical copy in their hands.  But there is an up-side to this revolution.  As a reader, you'll have a lot more books to choose from, and you'll have the option to sample them first before you commit your money and time.  Right now, big publishing houses are charging a lot for their ebooks, but eventually you'll see those prices go down – and they're not the only game in town.  Many of your favorite authors will eventually be publishing on their own, at least part (if not all) of the time. 

My philosophy about pricing is simple.  When I was a kid, I used to be able to go into a store and pick up books for $1 to $2 apiece, so I could get lots of them.  I loved it.  That's why I'm charging $.99 for my ebooks – I want readers to be able to afford them.  You shouldn't have to choose between buying books and paying your gas bill.

And now for the giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway