Blog Tour Guest Post & Giveaway: What is Hidden by Lauren Skidmore

Welcome to my tour stop for What is Hidden by Lauren Skidmore! I really enjoyed this book! You can see my review here. Lauren is having some fun today talking about the masks that play such a large role in her storybook world. What kind of mask would you wear?

What is Hidden

by Lauren Skidmore

YA Fantasy
Paperback, 256 Pages
May 13th 2014 by Cedar Fort Publishing & Media

Summary

In a land of masquerades and mystery, Evie is a mask maker in Venesia, where masks represent rank and identity. When a cryptic bandit strips away Evie’s mask and destroys her home, she goes into hiding at the palace to find both a new identity—and revenge. Fantasy lovers will be caught up by the mystique, romance, and magic of "What Is Hidden."

You can read more about What is Hidden here, here, and here.

    

Guest Post: How to Design Your Mask

There are five main categories of masks that we are introduced to in What is Hidden, separated by color.

Green is for artisans, or anyone whose trade revolves around creating something. Musicians and writers would wear green.

Blue is for fishing and agriculture, or those who deal with food and providing it.

Red is for doctors, teachers, and intellectuals.

Purple is for the nobility.

Grays (including silver) are for those in service positions, including both servants and public service positions. Black and white are both considered part of this scale. Black is for law enforcement. White is for royalty.

The material used to make masks starts as a dark grayish color, so the shade of color indicates rank - the paler or more vibrant the color, the more expensive the mask, and therefor the higher ranked you are. For example, a navy blue would be lower ranked than a sky blue, but both would be in the fishing/agriculture industry. Colors not listed can be used, but are often more expensive or difficult to get.

A pure white mask is reserved solely for the royal family, but those who work closely with them are allowed white accents such as pearls or white feathers. Servants who work in the palace have silver masks, as opposed to the dark gray of servants outside of the palace.

Masks can be more than one color. For example, a nobleman who owns boats or oversees fisherman would have a purple and blue mask. If they're very successful at it, the mask would be lavender and sky blue. If they're not so successful, plum and navy.

Young people will rarely have more than one color, as they have yet to earn enough money or standing to obtain different colors. The exception would be nobility, where the families can afford more elaborate masks for their children.

Each class is very proud of their colors and will very rarely wear a color not associated with their trade or class.

Now for the interactive part - if you live in Venesia, what would your mask look like? Post your designs in the comments below!

About the Author

Lauren Skidmore grew up in Kansas, with stints in Ohio and New York, and currently lives in Utah. She attended Brigham Young University where she earned a BA in English Teaching with an emphasis in Teaching English as a Second Language and Japanese. She then spent a year in Japan teaching and travelling. She hasn’t made it to Europe yet, but it’s on the list and has been to 30 states in the U.S. so far. When she’s not exploring new places, you can probably find her on the internet with fifteen windows open and looking at just one more thing before actually getting something done.

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Giveaway

Ebook of What is Hidden
Ends May 30th

a Rafflecopter giveaway