PHE - Interview with Jeffe Kennedy + Giveaway

 

I am super happy to have Jeffe Kennedy on the blog today to celebrate the release of the second book in The Twelve Kingdoms series! I LOVED the first book, Mark of the Tala, so it's a great honor to host this interview. Please welcome her warmly, and read along to discover a giveaway :)

 



1. I really fell in love with Andi and Rayfe, will we see more of them in Tears of the Rose even though this novel focuses on Amelia?

I love them, too! You will see Andi in The Tears of the Rose, but not Rayfe. However, in book 3, The Talon of the Hawk, you will see quite a lot of both of them together.

2. I wasn't fond of Amelia's husband, but his death totally shocked me. How will Amelia deal with the loss?

You weren’t fond of Hugh?? Aww, but he was so NOBLE! No, I get it. He was good for a first love, but not for who she needs to become. It’s really hard for Amelia for a long time. She feels abandoned – her mother died when she was born, her beloved older sister Andi lives in a faraway kingdom and then Hugh died. She feels all alone and, for the first time in her life, unloved. The acclaim she’s always counted on for her extraordinary beauty feels false and hollow. She has to learn to value and love herself before she can overcome her grief.

3. How many novels are planned in the series? Is there already a title for book 3?

Oops, I jumped ahead! Yes, The Talon of the Hawk, Ursula’s book, comes out in May 2015. That’s all we have contracted for right now, but we are in talks to maybe do three more after this. Think good thoughts!

4. Would the priests allow a celebration such as Halloween?

That’s an interesting question. The world of The Twelve Kingdoms doesn’t have Halloween, per se. The goddess Glorianna has two feast days – one at the spring equinox and the other at the autumnal equinox. The autumn one would be about a month ahead of our Halloween, however, and is more of a harvest festival. The feast day for the goddess Moranu occurs at the winter solstice, so two months later than that. I suspect the priests and priestesses would look the other way, if someone introduced the concept of Halloween.

5. I'm sure Rayfe's people would just love this celebration, how do you think it would manifest?

Since Rayfe’s people, the Tala, look to Moranu who is the goddess of the moon and the night, I think you’re right! They’re also mischievous people who are shapeshifters and magicians. Can you imagine the disguises and trickery? I think they’d be all over it!

6. Would you have a personal Halloween story to share?

I’ve always loved Halloween as one of my favorite holidays. I decorate the house – always with scary stuff. I love coming up with creative costumes, too. I grew up in Denver and trick-or-treating was very hit or miss for us. More miss than hit as it inevitably seemed to snow on Halloween. The worst year was when I was a hula dancer – and my mother made me wear boots and a parka over my costume! I wised up after that and picked costumes that worked with winter-weather.

------------------------------

Thank you Jeffe for visiting us!

More about The Tears of the Rose:

Three sisters. Motherless daughters of the high king. The eldest is the warrior-woman heir; the middle child is shy and full of witchy intuition; and the youngest, Princess Amelia, she is as beautiful as the sun and just as generous.

Ami met her Prince Charming and went away to his castle on the stormy sea-cliffs—and that should have been her happily ever after. Instead, her husband lies dead and a war rages. Her middle sister has been taken into a demon land, turned into a stranger. The priests and her father are revealing secrets and telling lies. And a power is rising in Ami, too, a power she hardly recognizes, to wield her beauty as a weapon, and her charm as a tool to deceive…

Amelia has never had to be anything but good and sweet and kind and lovely. But the chess game for the Twelve Kingdoms has swept her up in it, and she must make a gambit of her own. Can the prettiest princess become a pawn—or a queen?

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

Where it all started:

-----------------------------

Jeffe is offering two copies of The Tears of the Rose, a print for US only and an ecopy internationally!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

------------------------------

Jeffe Kennedy is an award-winning author with a writing career that spans decades. Her works include non-fiction, poetry, short fiction, and novels. She has been a Ucross Foundation Fellow, received the Wyoming Arts Council Fellowship for Poetry, and was awarded a Frank Nelson Doubleday Memorial Award. Her essays have appeared in many publications, including Redbook.

She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with two Maine coon cats, plentiful free-range lizards and a very handsome Doctor of Oriental Medicine.

Jeffe can be found online at her website: JeffeKennedy.com, every Sunday at the popular Word Whores blog, on Facebook, and pretty much constantly on Twitter @jeffekennedy. She is represented by Foreword Literary.

Posted by Tynga at 01:21

 giveaway, Paranorm'All Hallows Eve  19 People left their mark

Tynga is a 32 years old mom of two, from Montreal, working as a lab technician in an hospital specialized in heart disease. In her free time, she enjoys reading all things Paranormal and photography.

Follow Tynga on: Facebook | Twitter