Court of Fives Blog Tour: Interview with Kate Elliott

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming author Kate Elliott to the blog as part of the promotional tour for her first foray into YA fiction, Court of Fives. Kate was nice enough to answer a few questions for me about Jes, Kal, and all things competitive sports, and I was even able to pry from her a 5 word sneak peek at what's in store for us in the next installment. *pats self on back* I hope you guys enjoy the interview, and be sure to check the bottom of the post for the full list of participating blogs!

If Jes was helping you train to compete in The Fives, what would the first words out of her mouth be on day one when she evaluated your fitness and strategy?

“I have so much respect that you have come to train, Honored Lady, but at your age I have to suggest that you might think twice about setting your sights on the highest levels of competition.”

What was Kal’s first thought when he saw Jes first compete in The Fives?

How does she DO that???

If Jes lived in our modern world, what are the top three Olympic sports she’d be dying to compete in?

Jes would be dying to compete in American Ninja Warrior, of course! As for the Olympics, she would leap at the chance to try out the snowboard halfpipe with its twists and tricks, as well as the one sport the Olympics finally just last year allowed women to compete in: the ski jump. Nothing like the adrenalin rush of flying!

The social and gender divide in this world was enough to make me want to throttle a few select characters for their treatment of another human being. What’s the last book you read that made you spitting mad (the good, “I’m so involved in this story” kind of mad)?

Can I change the medium? I adore the television show Nashville, and probably the last time I got spitting mad with a narrative in the “I am so incredibly involved in this story and in these people’s lives that I have lost all perspective given they aren’t even real” has been with Nashville. Whether it’s Jeff, or Juliet, or Deacon, or even stubborn Rayna (why did you dump Luke???), I love this show exactly because I get exasperated with the characters in the same way I might with people I know in real life. That’s the magic of narrative!

If Jes could ask an Oracle what she’ll have to face in the next book, what are a few of the words she might hear in the Oracle’s answer?

poet

desert

cheat

murder

heart

Cheat and murder do not sound good. *bites nails* Thanks so much for answering my questions Kate!

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COURT OF FIVES

The greatest danger is that she might win.

In this imaginative escape into an enthralling new world, World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott's first young adult novel weaves an epic story of a girl struggling to do what she loves in a society suffocated by rules of class and privilege.

Jessamy's life is a balance between acting like an upper-class Patron and dreaming of the freedom of the Commoners. But away from her family she can be whoever she wants when she sneaks out to train for The Fives, an intricate, multilevel athletic competition that offers a chance for glory to the kingdom's best contenders. Then Jes meets Kalliarkos, and an unlikely friendship between two Fives competitors--one of mixed race and the other a Patron boy--causes heads to turn. When Kal's powerful, scheming uncle tears Jes's family apart, she'll have to test her new friend's loyalty and risk the vengeance of a royal clan to save her mother and sisters from certain death.

Amazon • B&N • IndieBound • Goodreads

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KATE ELLIOTT

Kate Elliott has been writing stories since she was nine years old, which has led her to believe that writing, like breathing, keeps her alive. As a child in rural Oregon, she made up stories because she longed to escape to a world of lurid adventure fiction.  She now writes fantasy, steampunk, science fiction, and YA.

It should come as no surprise that she met her future husband in a sword fight. When he gave up police work to study archaeology, they and their three children fell into an entirely new set of adventures amid dusty Mexican ruins and mouthwatering European pastry shops.  Eventually her spouse's work forced them to move to Hawaii, where she took up outrigger canoe paddling. With the three children out of the house, they now spoil the schnauzer.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Tumblr • Goodreads

 

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BLOG TOUR

 

8/18 - Two Chicks on Books & The Book Smugglers
8/19 - Once Upon a Twilight
8/21 - Eater of Books
8/22 - Adventures in YA Publishing
8/24 - Brittany’s Book Rambles & Flying Through Fiction
8/25 - Supernatural Snark
8/26 - Read. Breathe. Relax.
8/28 - A Reader of Fictions
9/3 - Dark Faerie Tales
9/8 - The Book Smugglers
9/14 - Diversity in YA