A Christmas With… Maria V Snyder

I’m a huge huge fan of Maria’s work and I was really pleased that she accepted to stop by the blog to celebrate the release of Touch of Power, the first book in her latest series!

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1- I'm a huge fan of your Study and Glass series, and with the debut of your new series, Touch of Power, I can't help but wonder how different this new magical world will be?

A) One difference is the world is recovering from a deadly plague, which killed over two-thirds of the population.  The survivors are trying to pull together, but without police and government and with the criminal element running wild, it’s a struggle.  Also the world had Fifteen Realms, but after the plague, two leaders who had survived, Tohon of Sogra Realm and Estrid of Ozero Realm wish to conquer the others and form just one Realm.  The magic system is different as well as magic is a gift from certain elements like fire, water, earth, the sun, etc…

2- Avry, your main character has the power to heal yet it comes with a price, how did you decide what would be the cost of such power?

A) I dabbled with that type of healing power in my first book, Poison Study.  Yelena also has the power to heal by assuming the person’s injury or illness and then healing herself.  This was just a part of her magic, so I wanted to explore this in more depth. The ability to heal with magic is very appealing to me.  As a mother, I hate to see my children sick or injured and always wish I could make it all go away.  I also have to give credit to an old Star Trek episode titled The Empath about a race of healers/empaths who would can take on the injury or illness of another.  The empath eventually takes on Dr. McCoy’s injuries and then dies.  I watched all the Star Trek episodes, but this one just stayed with me.

3- I'm a romantic at heart, is there a love story developing in this first encounter?

A) You know me, it wouldn’t be any fun without a little romance J

4- How many books are planned in the Healer series? Scent of Magic will release in January 2013, do you have tentative titles of the following books?

A) There will be three books for now.  The third is called, Taste of Death, due out January 2014.

5- As mentioned before, I love the study series, and I'm wondering if you are thinking of revisiting those characters? I'd love a story from one of the man's perspective!

A) I do plan to write another Study book with Valek and Yelena.  However, it will probably be more from Valek’s point of view than Yelena’s and it will include some flashbacks about Valek’s early years.  Don’t get too excited.  There are no definite plans as to when this will be published – I haven’t discussed this with my editor yet. J  I’d also like to follow Reema and Teegan from Spy Glass.

Now onto some Christmas-y questions!

6- What's a typical Christmas like in the Snyder family?

A)  I decorate the house in early December and we get a live x-mas tree around mid-December.  We have my husband’s family over at our house on x-mas eve, and my parents come up for x-mas dinner.  I always cook a tenderloin, mashed potatoes, and corn.  We open presents in the morning.  I always make sure the kids have at least five boxes to open.  It’s pretty standard type stuff.

7- What's your favorite Christmas song?

A) The Little Drummer Boy by Bing Crosby

8 - What's your best Christmas memory?

A) My son’s first x-mas.  My husband and I had been trying to decide where to go – his parent’s or my parent’s house and I was stressed about doing all the things we used to do when I was a kid.  When my husband said, “We’re a family now, we’ll make our own traditions, ”  it just took all the stress away and made the holiday fun again.

9- What's the best Christmas gift we could offer Avry?

A) 9 lives!  LOL

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If it got you curious, here’s a bit more about Touch of Power

Laying hands upon the injured and dying, Avry of Kazan absorbs their wounds and diseases into herself. But rather than being honored for her skills, she is hunted. Healers like Avry are accused of spreading the plague that has decimated the Fifteen Realms, leaving the survivors in a state of chaos.

Stressed and tired from hiding, Avry is abducted by a band of rogues who, shockingly, value her gift above the golden bounty offered for her capture. Their leader, an enigmatic captor-protector with powers of his own, is unequivocal in his demands: Avry must heal a plague-stricken prince—leader of a campaign against her people. As they traverse the daunting Nine Mountains, beset by mercenaries and magical dangers, Avry must decide who is worth healing and what is worth dying for. Because the price of peace may well be her life….

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

Maria is offering 2 copies of Touch of Power (1 INT – 1 US & Canada only)

Open Internationally

Giveaway Ends January 4th, 2012.

All you have to do is fill the Rafflecopter form below.

The only mandatory entry is to provide your name and email addy =)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Maria lives with her family and a black cat name Valek (a.k.a. the bug assassin!) in Pennsylvania where she is at work on another book and/or a short story (yes this is purposely vague - as you can see, Maria is very busy and updating her website takes time that she just doesn't have. Oh, all right, but if this information is out of date, don't blame Maria :). Actually, Maria is hard at work...well not at this very second...on a new fantasy series featuring a healer in a world recovering from a horrible plague.TOUCH OF POWER the first book is expected to be published in January 2012, and she's working on the second book, SCENT OF MAGIC, well...that's what she told her editor ;>

You can visit Maria here.

 

More of Maria V Snyder‘s books:

Posted by Tynga at 06:27

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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.

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