Enjoy the interview and enter the tour giveaway below...
Rune's FollyBy Garen Glazier
YA Fantasy
Paperback & ebook, 288 Pages
February 5th 2019 by Only Child Press
Summary
By day, Tansy McCoy is a florist making charmed bouquets for the citizens of Junonia, capital of the Kingdom of Terranmar. By night, she’s an assassin and the keeper of the Dangerous Garden where deadly blooms grow. Together with the town tailor, butcher, baker, and metalsmith (just don’t call her a candlestick maker), she is part of the Guild, a secret group of spell-wielding thieves and mercenaries. Their task: consolidate all that remains of the realm’s fading magic under the ruthless King Zeno’s control.
Impetuous loner Tansy chafes under her Guild demands. She longs to quit her town and trade and head for the hills. Unfortunately, King Zeno has other plans. He wants to marry off his daughter to Terranmar’s famously reclusive wizard, Rune Hallows, and he’s willing to have the Guild kidnap him to make it happen. Fail to deliver the wizard and the consequences will be swift and deadly.
Reluctant but determined, Tansy sets out on the long journey to faraway Wentletrap and Rune’s desolate tower by the sea. To get there she must cross a swamp full of sinister surprises, battle a werewolf, and outrace a bloodthirsty band of revenants, while she wrestles with her own magical powers that seem to be expanding in unpredictable ways.
But reaching Rune’s tower is only the beginning. When Tansy learns the real reason behind the king’s contest, she’ll need to decide whether to give in to the growing forces of magic ready to reclaim Terranmar or embrace her newfound powers to save the kingdom.
Author Interview
Q: Would you tell us a little more about the main characters from RUNE’S FOLLY?
A: RUNE’S FOLLY is really the story of two characters. First, there’s Tansy McCoy. She’s a little snarky and prickly. She’s haunted by feelings she can’t quite explain. But she’s also smart and loyal and good at what she does: growing and using poisonous plants. She shares the spotlight with Rune Hallows, a wizard with the ability to conjure ghosts. He’s brash, sarcastic, and not a little self-important, but hiding behind his witty quips and good looks is a broken heart.
Q: What is the Guild and who are the members that most interact with Tansy?
A: When the Kingdom of Terranmar was a kingdom of magic, the Guild was an elite but secret group tasked with carrying out special missions for the Crown. Now in the days of the Great Fade, when magic is rare and the kingdom a shadow of its former self, the Guild has, like all good things in Terranmar, deteriorated. Now they’re not much more than a group of ambitious hustlers with a modicum of magic at their disposal running dubious jobs for a selfish king.
Besides Tansy there’s Mallo, the ringleader and a shady sort of necromancer; Stap, the newest member with a suspicious taste for blood; Cava, part-dwarf and fully badass lady metalsmith; and Bert, a shifter that can bake a mean cookie.
Q: What one piece of advice would Tansy give about traveling to Wentletrap?
A: If possible, stick to the main road. If, to save time on your way to that godsforsaken village, you need to cut through the Melampus swamp, take a buddy and watch out for snakes. When you get to the Farn, don’t burn the grass.
I guess that was more like three pieces of advice, but Tansy’s not very good at following the rules.
Q: What is your favorite thing about the book’s cover?
A: Oh, this is a tough question because I love everything about the cover, but if I absolutely had to choose it would be that wonderous golden orb that’s both a shell and a flower and so perfectly captures in an image the mystery and magic that runs through the book.
Q: What part or aspect of this story do you love the most?
A: I think Rune’s tower is a strong contender. It’s almost a character in itself – brooding and enigmatic. I love it’s setting out on the water, and how it’s only reachable when the tide is out. And I love how the inside is covered in an impossibly intricate mosaic of shells. Mostly, though, I love that the tower is really Rune’s tribute and his penance to someone he has lost, and in so being, it’s become so much more: a portal to a dark new world.
Q: What challenged you about writing RUNE’S FOLLY?
A: Writing Rune’s Folly was a lot of fun, but finding the time to sit down and get it out on the page was hard. I’m a SAHM with two young daughters and at the end of the day I’m just about done. But those evening hours are my writing time so even it felt like my creative juices had evaporated in the friction inherent in parenting little ones I had to rally and put my time in with my laptop and my story.
Q: Do you have any specific snacks you eat or music you listen to when you write?
A: I love a big, steaming mug of peppermint tea. Then I put on my headphones and listen to music that I know well enough that it won’t be a distraction, but that I still find inspiring. For Rune’s Folly it was usually Michele McLaughlin. She does solo piano and her sound is just haunting and magical and enchanting so it made for a perfect companion to RUNE’S FOLLY.
Q: What advice would you give to aspiring authors?
A: Do not give up! The writing life isn’t easy. Facing the blank page is daunting. Once you get past that and get your story down, the editing process can be just as tough. Then there are so many hurdles on the path to publication and after your book is finally published it can be tough to spread the word and get it in the hands of readers. When it’s in readers’ hands you need to brace yourself for critical reviews.
Each step on the path is a challenge, a moment that will test your dedication, but stick with it. The reward of putting out a book you’re proud of and connecting with readers who have embraced your story is worth the struggle.
Q: What 2019 book(s) are you anticipating reading this year?
A: Well, I know I’m a bit late to the party on this one, but I am devouring Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer. I haven’t even finished it, and I know I’ll be picking up Muse of Nightmares as soon as I turn the last page. I’m also really looking forward to Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House, her adult debut.
Q: What are you working on next?
The sequel to Rune’s Folly! I’m hoping to have it out by the beginning of fall this year.
About the Author
I have always called Seattle home and find the perpetual gloom to be a wonderful writing ally. I like coffee shops, bookstores, dancing in my living room and singing in my car. The opening scene of Up makes me cry. Three Amigos makes me laugh. Fashion magazines, croissants, and long, long baths are my guilty pleasures. They might occur separately or together. I prefer boxing classes to yoga, and I get some of my best ideas when I’m running. I loved school and spent more time than one really should getting a business degree in marketing and a master’s in art history. In an ideal world I’d go to bed at 2am and wake up at 10am. I’ve never been an early bird, and I feel strongly that alarm clocks kill dreams.
Tour-Wide Giveaway
2 winners will receive a signed copy of Rune’s Folly
Open to US/CAN
Ends April 25, 2019
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