Author Interview: Danielle L. Jensen

Hi all. Today I have a special guest on my blog. Yup, the amazing Danielle L. Jansen or some of you may know her as the author of Stolen Songbird, which I have reviewed last week in case you want to check out my review for it. And in case you somehow missed the book let's first introduce you to it. Then I asked her few questions and check out what she said.

Pre-order the book at 

Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

Book summary:

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined.Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. Only the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time, wait for the perfect opportunity.But something unexpected happens while she’s waiting – she begins to fall for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and married. She begins to make friends. And she begins to see that she may be the only hope for the half-bloods – part troll, part human creatures who are slaves to the full-blooded trolls. There is a rebellion brewing. And her prince, Tristan, the future king, is its secret leader.As Cécile becomes involved in the intricate political games of Trollus, she becomes more than a farmer’s daughter. She becomes a princess, the hope of a people, and a witch with magic powerful enough to change Trollus forever.

Author interview: 
Hello Danielle. Welcome to Ja čitam, a ti?. I'm really happy to have you here today and I have some questions for you so shall we start.

1.      I must say that I was really surprised with the idea of trolls in this book so I'm really curious what inspired you to write about them? 

It's a bit weird, isn't it? I get a lot of raised eyebrows when I tell people I wrote a YA fantasy romance about trolls. Everyone thinks about the creatures in The Hobbit or Harry Potter, and mine are obviously quite a bit different. The idea for the setting - a city buried by rubble - came first. The trolls came into being when I started thinking about what sort of creatures would inhabit such a place. They grew along with the plot until they became the characters everyone is now reading about.

2.      Both our protagonist Cécile and Tristan are quite different than usual. What do you think their best and worst qualities are?

Best Qualities: Cécile never lets her pride get in the way of admitting that she was wrong or that she screwed up. She's a glass-is-half-full kind of girl, and even when everything goes wrong for her, she keeps her chin up. Tristan is extremely ambitious, but despite what he pretends, his motivations are quite selfless. He believes if only he plans well enough and works hard enough that he can make life better for his people.  

Worst Qualities: Cécile often acts before thinking about consequences. Tristan is a bit of a control freak.

3.      As the world-building in this book is amazing do you have any pictures that inspired you?

Well, thank you! I don't have an inspiration board or anything like that, but this was the photo on my desktop while I was first drafting the novel.

(source)

4.      If you found yourself in Trollus what's the first thing that you'd visit?

The glass gardens, and I'd get one of the trolls to light them up for me.  

5.      Are you a fantasy lover yourself and if you are what are your favorite fantasy books? I'm a huge fan of everything that has to do with fantasy and new worlds. 

As far as YA goes, my favourite fantasy books that take place in alternate worlds are Seraphina by Rachel Hartman, Sabriel by Garth Nix, and The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson.

6.      Maybe the only thing that I missed in your book was time setting. Can you tell us which century we're dealing with or we'll discover that in sequel(s) to come?

Well, the novel was written so that it would be ambiguous as to whether it was an alternate world or an alternate history, and that won't change.  But if you really want to be grounded in a specific time, the 18thcentury is probably the best place to land.

7.      Speaking about sequel(s) - how many do you plan and maybe when can we expect them?

There will be three novels in The Malediction Trilogy. The second will be released in 2015 and the third in 2016.

8.      I tend to finish my interviews with author's favorite quote or message for my readers. So can you share yours?

Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. - Oscar Wilde

That's one of my favorite quotes as well. Thank you Danielle!

About the author 

Danielle was born and raised in Calgary, Canada. At the insistence of the left side of her brain, she graduated in 2003 from the University of Calgary with a bachelor’s degree in finance. But the right side of her brain has ever been mutinous; and in 2010, it sent her back to school to complete an entirely impractical English literature degree at Mount Royal University and to pursue publication. Much to her satisfaction, the right side shows no sign of relinquishing its domination.

Author's 

Webiste / Facebook / Twitter

Until the next time,