Thursday, December 18, 2014

This Shattered World Blog Tour: Interview + Giveaway

http://www.themidnightgarden.net/2014/12/thisshatteredworld.html

I'm thrilled today to be a part of the promotional tour for This Shattered World, the second book in the Starbound Trilogy by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner. I fell madly in love with These Broken Stars last year and could barely summon up the patience to wait until This Shattered World released, but somehow I pulled from patience reserves I never knew I had and endured until I was lucky enough to get my hands on a copy. So good.

Now I have the pleasure of welcoming Amie and Meagan back to the blog to answer a few questions, so I hope you all enjoy the interview! Be sure and check out the bottom of the post for all the details on a giveaway as well as the full list of participating blogs.

Given Lee and Flynn are on opposite sides of Avon's rebellion, there's a forbidden aspect to their romance. What are your top three fictional forbidden or starcrossed romances?

Oh, soooooo many to choose from! Given the influence their story had on this book (it’s set on planet Avon, after all), we have to choose Romeo and Juliet. We love a story about secret allies from two warring factions, and the agony of conflicting loyalties that comes with it. (We’re basically awful people. We just like agony.)

We also love the movie 10 Things I Hate About You—also, interestingly enough, a Shakespearean play in film form. There’s just something about their banter that stuck with us, and it’s that back and forth that we always try to give to each of our couples in each book. Especially with Flynn and Jubilee, who get along like matches and gasoline. (Explosively. Also: hot.)

And finally, what better starcrossed romance is there than Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy? No one would’ve ever picked those two for a couple, and yet they just end up working. Unlikely couples are our favorites.

If you were to find yourself under Lee's military command, what are a few of the words she might use to describe your physical abilities in her initial evaluation of your combat readiness?

Oh man, you had to ask. Let’s just say we’re both significantly better at writing about great feats of physical prowess than we are at performing them. A few phrases on our personal reports would include ‘noodly-armed’, ‘a danger to themselves and others’, ‘constantly daydreaming’ and ‘too busy talking to take orders’. We would also suck at getting up in time for the morning parade.

If you lived in the world of the Starbound Trilogy–where interstellar travel is commonplace and numerous planets are inhabitable–and found yourself on a previously unknown planet with your dream environment, what would that environment consist of and what would you name your new world?

Oooh, good question! The two things we love to do most together are write stories and go out on road trips, so those would shape our dream planet. We’d find ourselves surrounded by breathtaking scenery—some of our favourite places to explore were the Grand Canyon and Yosemite National Park—though we have to be honest, our dream environment would also involve a comfy house to kick back after our days of exploring.

When we need to work on a story, we love to head somewhere beautiful to walk and brainstorm, whether that’s the luxurious hot springs just outside Melbourne, or the amazing Biltmore Estate outside Asheville. So, sounds like our dream planet would be magnificent in its natural beauty, with just a touch of luxury. And hopefully some very easily harvested food. We’re not survivors like our characters!

What would we call our planet? Home.

Let's say that tomorrow you board a ship for an entirely new planet, with little to no knowledge of what awaits you in terms of food, living conditions, amenities, etc. What one aspect of this world or the comforts of your current life would you miss most?

As outlined above, we really do like our creature comforts! The truth is, though, that we’re both okay roughing it when we need to. As long as we could take our families (and our pets) with us, then the one thing we’d miss most would be our bookshelves! With comfy beds a close second ;)

If Lee and Flynn were told their lives were the subject matter for a piece of fiction, what would their first immediate reactions be? Would they want to read their story?

Flynn would absolutely love it! He comes from a long tradition of Irish storytelling, and one of the things we get to see in This Shattered World is his cousin Sean re-telling an old Irish legend about a couple called Niamh and Oisín, complete with modern touches like space shuttles. Flynn would probably prefer to hear the story told with all the embellishments you could manage, but he’d definitely want to read it too.

Jubilee’s a little more no-nonsense than Flynn (A little? A lot…) and would probably just say that she’s already lived it, she knows how it ends, and she’d rather focus on the future than spend time rehashing the past. That said, she’d probably end up reading it to humor Flynn, and we bet she’d enjoy it, even if she did critique everyone’s tactics.

A huge thank you to Amie and Meagan for taking the time to answer my questions!

• • • • • • • • • • • 

THIS SHATTERED WORLD


Jubilee Chase and Flynn Cormac should never have met.

Lee is captain of the forces sent to Avon to crush the terraformed planet's rebellious colonists, but she has her own reasons for hating the insurgents.

Rebellion is in Flynn's blood. Terraforming corporations make their fortune by recruiting colonists to make the inhospitable planets livable, with the promise of a better life for their children. But they never fulfilled their promise on Avon, and decades later, Flynn is leading the rebellion.

Desperate for any advantage in a bloody and unrelentingly war, Flynn does the only thing that makes sense when he and Lee cross paths: he returns to base with her as prisoner. But as his fellow rebels prepare to execute this tough-talking girl with nerves of steel, Flynn makes another choice that will change him forever. He and Lee escape the rebel base together, caught between two sides of a senseless war.



 
• • • • • • • • • • •

AMIE KAUFMAN + MEAGAN SPOONER


Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner are longtime friends and sometime flatmates who have traveled the world (but not yet the galaxy), covering every continent between them. They are sure outer space is only a matter of time. Meagan, who is also the author of the Skylark trilogy, currently lives in Asheville, NC, while Amie lives in Melbourne, Australia. Although they currently live apart, they are united by their love of space opera, road trips, and second breakfasts.

Visit the These Broken Stars website for the latest news on the series and follow the authors on Twitter at @AmieKaufman and @MeaganSpooner. This Shattered World is available for pre-order (with fun swag!) and will be released in North America on December 23, 2014.

Find Amie:

Find Meagan:

• • • • • • • • • • • 

GIVEAWAY

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monday, Dec.8 - The Midnight Garden - Secrets of Starbound: Characters           
Tuesday, Dec.
- The Book Smugglers - Making an Audiobook
Wednesday, Dec. 10
- Ivy Book Bindings - Secrets of Starbound: Science and Settings
Thursday, Dec. 11
- Cuddlebuggery - How Amie & Meagan Met
Friday, Dec. 12
- Little Book Owl - Video Interview
 

Monday, Dec. 15 - Mundie Moms - Shooting the Cover
Tuesday, Dec. 16
- Xpresso Reads - Starbound Inspirations
Wednesday, Dec. 17
- A Book Utopia - Video: Your New Book Boyfriend
Thursday, Dec. 18
- Supernatural Snark - Q & A
Friday, Dec. 19
- Love is Not a Triangle - Gender in Science Fiction



27 comments:

  1. I have a feeling this is a great series, I have the first book but still didn't read it :D great post

    ReplyDelete
  2. And I totally forgot what to say..something about the hot guy

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOVE how Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth are reimagined in a space trilogy!!

    And I completely agree with how you'd imagine your dream plantet.

    But I'm suprised you'd let her call you noodly-armed! Your brawn is in your brain - and you should put her in a scene where she learns how it's valuable!!

    Lovely interview :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am looking forward to picking this book back up…hopefully during the holidays! I loved this interview, too! Thanks for the great giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Haha, I'm so much better at READING physical feats of prowess than doing them. I love visiting the Grand Canyon and Yosemite (just got back from Yosemite trip recently), I'm always struck by how beautiful and rather otherworldly they look. It's cool that they provided inspiration for these worlds. Lovely interview!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Aw. Flynn sounds adorable, loving stories. I can't wait to read all about the heritage they put in for him and the stories.
    And "A danger to themselves and others" so funny :P

    ReplyDelete
  7. These two ladies are seriously amazing!! I love how they aren't ashamed to say that they like being cruel to characters (and readers) when it comes to the romance!

    Fantastic interview Jenny!! I'm sooooo dying to read this one!! Is it Jan yet? Cause my copy won't ship till Jan!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. So many people are taking part in the tour and reading this and all of them love it. I just know I am going to have to break down and try book one Jenny. If you love it so much then I know it will be a must read for me.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lol at the answer to question two :) Also, 10 Things I Hate About You is one of my favourite movies so I'm glad Amy and Meagan picked it as one of their top three fictional forbidden romances.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AHH I Love this interview! I'm loving all the promo for this review stop! It's so interesting and intriguing! I loved this one and I can't wait to FINALLY be able to post my review and just let EVERYONE know how awesome this one is.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love that Amie and Meagan drew some of their characters' banter from "10 Things I Hate About You." Now that I know this about their books, I can see it in certain moments of "These Broken Stars," and that particular approach to writing Tarver's and Lilac's relationship made it all the more fun to read. I also love the description of their planet, Home. It sounds like a beautiful place!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great interview! I especially love the last question and answer - definitely sounds like Flynn and Jubilee!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

    ReplyDelete
  13. Awesome interview! I can't wait to meet Flynn and Jubilee. I'm sure this one will just as amazing as the first!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I need to pick up this book soon, Jenny. I didn't fall in love with book 1 but this sounds like it will be more up my alley. Thanks for sharing! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I also loved These Broken Stars and have been eagerly waiting for the release of this book. I have been saving my copy for the Winter Break and now that the break begins at the end of this week, I can't wait to dive in!

    ReplyDelete
  16. As always, such awesome interview questions! I can't wait to read the first book, I really need to squeeze it in already!

    ReplyDelete
  17. So fun to read their responses. I am a big fan of this series, and I loved this one, not quite as Broken Stars, but still so good. I cannot wait for book three and I am thrilled that Amie is releasing a book with Jay Kristoff.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great questions! I'm so excited to read this :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Those were very interesting questions, so it was really fun to hear their responses! Can't wait to read the book :D

    ReplyDelete
  20. Jenny! You officially write the best interview questions EVER. I especially appreciate them since I read This Shattered World and can understand where the questions came from! :)

    Amber Elise @ Du Livre

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ooh, these questions are so good, Jenny! I love the answers from Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner - giving us some great entail on this very Romeo and Juliet inspired couple. I'm thrilled to take a look here, as I'm just finishing up the story - and what a awesome ride.

    Thanks for sharing Jenny, Amie, and Meagan: )

    ReplyDelete
  22. These are some great questions! I especially loved the last one about what they would think about their lives being a book!

    Danielle

    ReplyDelete
  23. 10 Things I Hate About You is one of my favorite starcrossed romance movies too! (Flynn and Jubilee, who get along like matches and gasoline. (Explosively. Also: hot.))--if this doesn't make me want to read this book more, then idk what should be said to achieve this, but luckily it works and whooop! My copy was dispatched a few days ago, so I hope it arrives here soon:) Elizabth and Darcy just asdfghjkl!! Bestest! Ha! I agree with the gorgeous scenery, but a comfy house :P Oh! I had no idea that Flynn was Irish origin. That's awesome! I love these two already and as always, what an awesome interview, Jenny!

    ReplyDelete
  24. There is just nothing better than star-crossed lovers. I loved Lee's comments on the physical capabilities of the authors! So funny! And the way the characters are defined in their answers about reading the story - I can't wait to get further into this book and discover them. Gotta get my earbuds in and keep listening to the audiobook!

    ReplyDelete
  25. My favorite response is calling a planet with beautiful scenery "Home." I also agree I would miss my bookshelves the most, with beds a close second.

    ReplyDelete