Hi all, happy April! Hope everyone is doing well in self isolation :)) today I'm presenting to you a newly released book by a dear friend of mine, who was actually the first person whose book I was an advanced reader for. in addition, I have a little interview with her about her writing process—enjoy!
tell us a bit about who you are, and what have you been up to since you last visited my blog for the TSatS blog tour?
Wow! It's certainly been awhile since TSatS came out in 2017. Since then I've gotten married, moved a few times, written a couple more manuscripts (including Faithless), blogged, ridden horses, and kinda just lived my usual life, haha. But I'm super excited to be back here on your blog, Lisa! You were certainly instrumental in making my debut publishing experience as awesome as it was. :)
Tbh, I started writing this book just because I was inspired. I was fascinated by the idea of someone experiencing the betrayal that Saagar suffered at Damien's hands, of wrestling with the complex emotions that would create. Once I started writing I kind of tumbled headlong into the story, and it took me on an intense journey through some of the dark parts of my own heart and mind, and certainly gave me a lot to reflect on. While Saagar is by no means any kind of caricature of me, I do think the appeal of her character is how despite the fact that she isn't really a very good person, aspects of her experience really resonate with the reader, and we begin to see reflections of our less desirable selves in her thoughts and actions. Coming out the other end of a messy first draft, I realized that the strength of Saagar's character was not her likability, but in fact the opposite, and how victimhood and self-pity are chains that hold you back from true healing, and from realizing what you CAN do for yourself and others. It's a hard lesson, and a dark one, but important I think. Also, again, I just super liked the premise when it crossed my mind, and I wanted to play with these dark themes and morally complex individuals while remaining honest to the severe aspects of the story and neither glossing over or glorifying them.
It's hard to forget the past when it's been written over your body.
Katarian refugee and dignitary, Sagaar Remus, is reunited with her husband, Damien Sparr, a convicted war criminal in the Outer Reach whose coup destroyed her country, her home, and her family. After seven years of separation she meets him in his prison cell, aghast by the atrocities he has committed in the name of his people. With her husband facing the executioner's block and conspiracy swimming around her, Saagar must decide whether to place her trust in the dangerous hands of her allies or with the man who left her to burn. But thrown into a world of terror and intrigue, can she even trust herself?
- the q&a -
tell us a bit about who you are, and what have you been up to since you last visited my blog for the TSatS blog tour?
Wow! It's certainly been awhile since TSatS came out in 2017. Since then I've gotten married, moved a few times, written a couple more manuscripts (including Faithless), blogged, ridden horses, and kinda just lived my usual life, haha. But I'm super excited to be back here on your blog, Lisa! You were certainly instrumental in making my debut publishing experience as awesome as it was. :)
why did you write Faithless?
Tbh, I started writing this book just because I was inspired. I was fascinated by the idea of someone experiencing the betrayal that Saagar suffered at Damien's hands, of wrestling with the complex emotions that would create. Once I started writing I kind of tumbled headlong into the story, and it took me on an intense journey through some of the dark parts of my own heart and mind, and certainly gave me a lot to reflect on. While Saagar is by no means any kind of caricature of me, I do think the appeal of her character is how despite the fact that she isn't really a very good person, aspects of her experience really resonate with the reader, and we begin to see reflections of our less desirable selves in her thoughts and actions. Coming out the other end of a messy first draft, I realized that the strength of Saagar's character was not her likability, but in fact the opposite, and how victimhood and self-pity are chains that hold you back from true healing, and from realizing what you CAN do for yourself and others. It's a hard lesson, and a dark one, but important I think. Also, again, I just super liked the premise when it crossed my mind, and I wanted to play with these dark themes and morally complex individuals while remaining honest to the severe aspects of the story and neither glossing over or glorifying them.
what does this story mean to you and what do you hope it will be for others?
Similar to above, I think it paints a portrait of some of the darkest parts of ourselves, and I think it presents an opportunity for myself (and the audience, hopefully) to take an honest look at who they are, like Saagar had to, and realize that sometimes your own worst enemy is yourself.
I also wanted to explore how war and trauma truly affect people, and how a corrupt leader or leaders can destroy a society, family, or country down to the core. In the characters of Saagar and Damien particularly, but also nearly all the others, I also wanted to show what it means to be really human, not black or white, but a mixture of the two, often selfish and frightened and just trying to survive the things we've been thrown into. How it is to be human, and to have empathy for those around you, even those who have wronged you, or those who hate you.
All in all, this is a story about humanity at its worst, and how even in the midst of terrible evil and suffering, it is within each of us to choose to make the things right that we can.
when were you inspired to write this?
In late 2015, I dreamt that Jonathan (my husband, then boyfriend) had confessed to me that he was actually a horrible murderer, and I was screaming and raging at him, feeling completely betrayed by the person I had thought I'd known. That's all I remember of the dream, but it definitely planted the initial seeds in my mind for the story of Faithless. I became obsessed with this plot bunny, character names came to me, and the image of a woman who was burned and brutalized. I scrawled the scene where Saagar and Damien are reunited after seven years in Damien's cell in a notebook while I was sitting and eating at camp, and I wrote and rewrote and wrote until I had what you guys have today.
how did the writing process go - was there anything that surprised you?
The writing process was wild. Like, harder than anything I've done before. And yes, there were a lot of surprises. When I initially conceptualized the character of Saagar, I had envisioned her as a soldier in the Tokaran army, fighting back against the rebels in a real, tangible way. But, the more I tried to write this version of her, the more she seemed to rebel. Eventually, I realized that Saagar was NOT a soldier, that she was tragically just a victim, and she was not going to be the typical warrior protagonist/vengeful anti-hero. She was something entirely different. Discovering her was a process, and definitely a struggle. It took time to find her true voice, but once I did, she spilled onto the page.
There were a couple other spoilery plot-related difficulties that I had, but after a lot of crying and head-banging, those came together too. *sighs in relieved*
can you give us three fun facts about this book that no one knows about yet?
Oooh, three fun facts...let's see.
1) It took me about 8 drafts to get this book where I wanted it to be. And doing my last rounds of edits, I probably reread it at LEAST that many times in the span of the last week. Luckily, it was -40 in Alberta then so I had nothing better to be doing!
2) I "stole" the name Saagar from the chestnut mare in The Black Stallion Returns movie. It might not be spelled or pronounced quite the same, but that's where the idea came from.
3) The aforementioned reunion scene scribbled down in my notebook at dinner is almost word-for-word the same in the finished product as it was when initially written.
Thank you so much for hosting me, Lisa! It's honestly so great to have you on my blog tour again, thanks for being so awesome!
thank you so much for being here Emily :)
and thank you to everyone for reading. find the book here.
let me know if you've read any of Emily's books, and how you're doing, in the comments !!
xx lisa
So I actually just heard about this book? Sounds so interesting!
ReplyDeleteStories that come about after a dream are always cool. :)
Fun interview -- the book looks super cool!
ReplyDeleteThis was such a fun interview to read!! I just finished Faithless today and really enjoyed reading more about how the book came to be!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing!
Hanne || losingthebusyness.wordpress.com
I loved hearing more about how Faithless came to be written! It was fascinating to hear its origins after reading the story. :) Thanks for the interview!
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting to read some background for the story! And I think Emily really captured a feeling of "what it means to be really human, not black or white, but a mixture of the two".
ReplyDelete(I was a TSatS arc reader too - it doesn't feel like very long ago!) Thanks for hosting this interview, Lisa. :)
This sounds like a really interesting read! And that dream-- I can definitely see how something that intense would spark a story idea, haha.
ReplyDeleteOoh, The Black Stallion Returns! I don't remember hearing that name in the movie, but it's nice to find someone else who's seen it! :D
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