The Sorceress and The Squid BLOG TOUR
June 22, 2017
Hey guys! I'm SO EXCITED FOR THIS! XD
When I fell upon this lovely author's book I was instantly hooked. Not only was the idea unique and interesting but knowing the fun, humorous, writerly Emily...I KNEW this would be an amazing read and I know you will love it too.
I am so pleased to be participating in her Blog Tour and featuring an Interview! If you strive to be an indie publisher, write books, or want to write books this is a wonderful interview because Emily answers a lot of questions about the building of this book as well as some exclusive content on characters and content! Getting a peak into a published author's life will not only give you more appreciation for their work but also give you insight for yours. Read on!
In the magical land of Perth, divisions between the Old Kingdom and the New have waged for centuries. The humans have long harbored a mistrust of the spell-casting Fae and vice versa. In the midst of this conflict, Estrella the Sorceress lays waste to the Training Academy for Human Warriors, making an enemy in the soldier, Jalen. During their standoff, Jalen is turned into a squid and Estrella, unable to restore him to his original form, takes pity on him and travels west across the Sea to bring him to the Wizard in hope he can be saved. But is there more to the unrest in Perth than meets the eye?
Emily Mundell is a 19 year old author, artist, horsewoman and lover of the wonders of the wide world. She hails from the Great White North of Canada and has spent her life growing up in the heart of rural Alberta in a close-knit farming community - though she has often entertained fantasies of inhabiting the Shire.
Writing is her true passion – though horses and art take a close second. With fantasy as her primary genre, Emily has been writing stories since the tender age of eight when she finished her first “book.” She is currently working to complete her Creative Writing Certificate through the University of Calgary. An avid bookworm, true country-mouse, and unconventional tree-climber, Emily can usually be found on a horse, working on one of her half-dozen projects, chasing a loose cow, or being swept off her feet by the man she calls her own personal “hobbit.”
Writing is her true passion – though horses and art take a close second. With fantasy as her primary genre, Emily has been writing stories since the tender age of eight when she finished her first “book.” She is currently working to complete her Creative Writing Certificate through the University of Calgary. An avid bookworm, true country-mouse, and unconventional tree-climber, Emily can usually be found on a horse, working on one of her half-dozen projects, chasing a loose cow, or being swept off her feet by the man she calls her own personal “hobbit.”
EMILY'S SOCIAL MEDIA
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THE SORCERESS AND THE SQUID
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EMILY: First off, thank you so much Anna for featuring me on your blog! I’m so excited to be here answering these fabulous questions. Let’s get started, shall we?
ANNA: How was the "Sorceress and the Squid" born, what inspired you to write it?
EMILY: It’s a really funny story, to be honest. A really weird one as well. The very first seed of the story was planted in my head way back in September of 2014. I was having a very very serious conversation with Jonathan (my then-not-yet-boyfriend-now-fiance) about his secret identity as a “ninja squid” who had trained a whole school of ninja squidlings to take over the world. Shortly after this transpired, he asked me to be his girlfriend (rather I kind of forced his hand into coming out and saying that he liked me and then subsequently asking me to be his girlfriend). In the weeks following the craziness of my first boyfriend/dating experience, we followed up on this conversation by titling me as a sorceress who had turned him into said squid and the story just spiralled from there. Downhill or uphill, not really sure. XD
ANNA: How long did it take you to complete this book from first draft to publishing?
EMILY: As stated the story began in late 2014 but I did not start actually writing it until late 2015, which took me through into February of 2016. From there I started editing. I worked quite slowly because I take about four months off of writing in the summer for summer camp. Edits carried over into 2017 until I found an editor, Erin Lodes, to do a copy-edit/proofread for me. She was very thorough and prompt and I had it back in April. Then I got my cover art and started working on the publishing/marketing process for the June 18th release. I had to push the date back once but once things got in motion, it was a fairly smooth process. And now, here we are! So I guess the short answer to that question would be almost two years, but of course I could have probably done it a lot faster if I didn’t have so many other things taking up my attention.
ANNA: What was the hardest thing about writing this book? What blocks did you encounter and how did you fix them…
ANNA: What was the hardest thing about writing this book? What blocks did you encounter and how did you fix them…
EMILY: With this book, the growth the story experienced while I was writing was a bit difficult to handle. It was originally planned to be very short, not very serious at all. Just a fun little side-project. As you can see, that did not happen. Honestly, this is not the book I would have pictured being my first publishing venture - yet here I am. As the story got bigger it kept messing up what I was doing, so I had to go back and change/fix things a lot. Also, by the time I finally got through with all the editing I’d probably read it through a million times and was sick to death of reading it! That made proofreading a really difficult thing for me as well.
ANNA: Tell us about your main characters!
ANNA: Tell us about your main characters!
EMILY:
Well,
I have two main characters: Estrella the Sorceress and Jalen the human
warrior/squid. I suppose Estrella is the primary main character, she has
the most development while Jalen remains more of a foil to her
character. Estrella is over a century old and trained under the Wizard
as his pupil in magic for many decades. As his student she became very
well-versed in the ancient magic arts and would use her power mainly to
help her people. She lived alone in an isolated cabin on a mountainside.
As years passed she grew more threatened by an outlying human warrior
academy at the base of her mountain and decided to do something about it
(against the Wizard's express orders) and that is where the story
starts for her. Jalen is a young twenty-something human who was orphaned
young when his mother died after bringing him to be trained at the
Academy. He has lived there ever since, learning the duties of a soldier
to defend his people from the dangerous creatures of the Fae kingdom
(Estrella's people). However, he is more of a pacifist at heart and does
not want to obliterate them like the rest of the men do. Estrella is a
bit on the grumpy side. She does not like dealing with people,
especially humans. She is always very thoughtful and has some
insecurities caused by a messy past that the book delves into a little.
Jalen, always among the best warriors, is very optimistic, bright and
cheery - exactly the opposite of Estrella - and the two can occasionally
clash. Jalen has many questions about his history and his true trust
and loyalty is hard to win because of past experiences with abandonment.
As the two grow closer on their journey they begin to build off one
another and I think that's one of my favorite parts of the story."
ANNA: What was your favorite part of writing "The Sorceress and the Squid"?
EMILY: Well, originally it was planned to be, as I said, just a silly side project. So I enjoyed the freedom I had in that to just simply enjoy the writing process. I had never really done that before and it was totally relaxing and enjoyable to write. I also really fell in love with the main characters, Estrella and Jalen. They have grown on me since beginning the book and have developed far beyond my original picture of them.
Another enjoyable part of the writing process was (loosely, very loosely) basing the characters on real people in my life and creating a fantasy caricature of them. I think they all enjoyed it and even though it goes against that cardinal rule of not writing about people you know, I enjoyed it too and I think it worked well.
ANNA: What is your advice or suggestion for aspiring authors and self publishers?
ANNA: What is your advice or suggestion for aspiring authors and self publishers?
EMILY: Such a big question! I think one of the main things is to not give up. Even if it takes years and years for you to get to the publishing point. Relax and enjoy the process, fall in love with stories and characters, don’t be in too big a hurry to finish them and move on. Let yourself learn from them, it’s kinda weird how that works, but it does. As for self-publishing, I’m like, the worst person to ask cause I legit don’t know what I’m doing. XD But I think the main thing, especially for your first time, is to know you can’t really do it all yourself - despite it being called “self-publishing” - and don’t be afraid to ask for help, to get people involved, and to tap into the wonderful writing community that the internet has to offer. I have found an enormous niche of Christian young people (like me) who blog and who write, and that’s been super encouraging and helpful. Look for your “group”, your “tribe,” and stick with them!
ANNA: And last! Your favorite quote or snippet from "The Sorceress and the Squid"?
ANNA: And last! Your favorite quote or snippet from "The Sorceress and the Squid"?
EMILY: This is tricky...there are a lot of parts of the story that I really like. Some for their humor and some for their seriousness. It’s so hard to choose one without giving away spoilers as well!
One of my favorite quotes that I can share without spoilers is “It’s hard to separate fact from fiction when you weren’t around - it’s hard enough even when you were.”
Probably my favorite scenes/snippets take place at the end of the book in the final few chapters. I really like the flashback scenes into Estrella and Jalen’s past, as well as when Estrella comes to grips with her history and makes a choice (for those of you who have read the book you will know what I’m talking about). I’m afraid I did not write this book to be very quotable at all! XD
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What's left now? GO BUY THE BOOK and REVIEW IT and CHECK OUT WONDERFUL AUTHOR, EMILY MUNDELL'S SOCIAL MEDIA.
What do you think of "The Sorceress and The Squid"? Have you read it? Share Below, your comments are always appreciated and please remember to drop by Emily's blog and follow her!
13 comments
Awesome interview. I'll look into the book soon. It sounds like a fun one.
ReplyDelete<3
Do that! It's awesome! <3
DeleteThis book is everywhere on the blogosphere! I really need to read it... XD
ReplyDeleteWoah, you changed you picture.
Delete<3
I know! :) Definitely read it! It's a wonderful book and I mean what a cool idea? Emily is definitely an awesome writer. :)
DeleteThis book has caught my eye! I need to read it!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad it did! Do that for sure and review it too! Let me know if you do that, I will love to check it out :) <3
DeleteI am new writer and about to finish my book. Anna, thanks for this interview, this will help me a lot to have my book published someday. Well, all your blogs are amazing. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'm so glad it served you well! :) And I hope all future blog posts keep helping you and others out. I have learned a lot from this experience with other bloggers, it will be great for my own book when it publishing time comes.
DeleteAgain thanks, this comment is very encouraging :)
Great interview!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa!
DeleteAHH! This is so great and the comments are so so encouraging. I love it! Thank you, Anna!
ReplyDeleteAHHH I'm so happy you like it! And the comments made me so happy too! Rock on Emily! <3
DeleteHi! Thank you so much for your comments, they always make my day. I allow anonymous users to comment on my blog, but any crass, profane, pointless criticism and mean comments will be deleted. Remember to check back or click notify because I reply to all of my comments!
Have a Blessed day <3