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.
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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.
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
Until the next time,
I like that we both had every different questions, so it was interesting to read more about Danielle and her book :D I would love to see the glass gardens, especially with those lights. Sounds like such a magical place.
OdgovoriIzbrišiYeah I love that too! :) Me too I'd enjoy there. Thanks Mel :)
IzbrišiTrolls, esp with romance are unusual in the fantasy scene
OdgovoriIzbrišiThey are indeed :)
IzbrišiFantastic interview, Tanja! I can definitely see how that image inspired the troll caves - I had a similar picture in mind while reading. I've loved both SERAPHINA and Rae Carson's debut trilogy, so I definitely need to get my hands on SABRIEL soon - I've heard so much about it! Thanks for sharing this, Tanja - I thoroughly enjoyed it.
OdgovoriIzbrišiYes it seemed like that too me ti. I didn't enjoy Seraphina that much. It was interesting but I didn't love it. I hope you'll enjoy Sabriel. Thanks Keertana :)
IzbrišiGreat interview! I love that the author choose to write about not only something you don't see a lot of in the genre, trolls, but she also put a different spin on them.
OdgovoriIzbrišiYes it's interesting. Thanks Ali :)
IzbrišiTrolls, that something different! Love the quote she mentioned. :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiI'm glad you like ti Sara :)
IzbrišiEeeek, I loved reading this interview almost as much as I loved reading stolen songbird [; It was quite interesting to see the author answer to these questions, gave me a deeper understanding of the novel. I never actually really considered the time period for this novel, it's interesting that the 18th century was chosen. Awesome interview (:
OdgovoriIzbrišiOh that's very sweet of you Larissa :) I'm so happy to hear that. Thank you ;)
IzbrišiLovely interview! Trolls are definitely creatures you don't see much often. LOVE the quote she chose, because I'm a huge fan of Oscar Wilde and his lovely sayings.
OdgovoriIzbrišiI love that quote too! Thank you Lauren :)
IzbrišiTrolls sound like an interesting subject! It's obvious the author did a fabulous job creating a unique world.
OdgovoriIzbrišiThank you for sharing!
She did, indeed. Thanks Andrea :)
IzbrišiAhhhhh! I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH! I love that picture, it's definitely fits with what I had in my head when reading, and it makes me want to spend some time in Trollus myself. With the option of being able to go outside in the sun of course. I wouldn't last too long in the dark:) This was a fantastic interview ladies, thank you for sharing!
OdgovoriIzbrišiYes Jenny! :)) We're both big fans of this book. Yeah I'd love to visit for a while, but I'd miss the sun. Thanks girl :)
IzbrišiI don't think I've ever read a book that is focused on trolls. I've been really curious about this book because I've been seeing it everywhere.
OdgovoriIzbrišiJanina @ Synchronized Reading
I truly hope you'll give it a try. Thanks Janina :)
IzbrišiThat is a gorgeous picture to draw inspirations from :) I also like hearing that this has trolls in it!
OdgovoriIzbrišiI'm glad you like it. Thanks Lily :)
IzbrišiI do like being grounded in a time period, so I'm glad she shared that bit. I'm really excited to read this book. I love fantasy and some of her favorites are mine as well! I love the idea of the Trolls and I love the picture she shared!
OdgovoriIzbrišiI know that some people like that so I'm happy to help :) I hope you'll read it soon. Thanks Candace :)
IzbrišiEVERYONE IS LOVING THIS SO HARD. "Everyone thinks about the creatures in The Hobbit or Harry Potter, and mine are obviously quite a bit different." that's what so intriguing about this all :) Yikes! I'm a huge control freak so I think me and Tristan would get along just fine. Ooh, I'm going to read The Girl of Fire and Thorns soon. I hope. It's great to know that you like this series, Danielle:) Thanks so much for sharing this great interview with us, Tanja!
OdgovoriIzbrišiI'm so happy to see all the love that this book gets :D I'm sure you'd go along. Thank you, Siiri :)
IzbrišiI love this interview! The troll aspect of the novel sounds pretty cool, and it seems like the characters have more good than bad qualities to them. That quote is great, too :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiI'm really happy you like it. Thanks Montana :)
IzbrišiWonderful interview Tanja!! I really need to read books focusing on trolls. I need to get my hands on this book soon.
OdgovoriIzbrišiI truly hope you'll enjoy it. Thanks Inis :)
IzbrišiWonderful interview, ladies! I love a positive protag that doesn't let her pride get in the way so I'm happy to hear Cecile is that type of heroine. I do love my fantasy reads so I'll have to keep this in mind. :)
OdgovoriIzbrišiI like that type of heroine as well. I hope you'll enjoy it. Thanks Rachel :)
IzbrišiI JUST finished the book on monday so it was definitely fun reading this review. I love hearing what she has to say about her own book (and getting to know that it was based in the 18th century.. kind of). Also I love her inspiration image.
OdgovoriIzbrišiWonderful Interview, Tanja!! :)
Rashika @ The Social Potato
I cannot wait to see what you think of the book Rashika. Thanks! :)
IzbrišiDanielle has great taste in YA fantasy, so I think I'm going to like her sensibility. I really want to read this, everyone seems to love it, and the premise sounds really intriguing. Love that pic that inspired the world too. Thanks for sharing this lovely interview!
OdgovoriIzbrišiI truly hope you'll get to read this and enjoy it as well. Thanks Lauren :)
IzbrišiLove the Oscar Wilde quote and the author has done a great job with the world-building here. I love it when it's unique and strong. Awesome interview!
OdgovoriIzbrišiSarika @ The Readdicts
Thanks Sarika :))
Izbriši