Check out a Q&A for The Beholder by Anna Bright (Interview)


Welcome! This book looks and sounds amazing (you can read the first three chapters here)! I'm
happy to welcome the author to my blog today to answer some questions, so check that out below...

The Beholder
(The Beholder #1)
By Anna Bright
YA Fantasy, Retelling
Paperback & ebook, 448 Pages
June 4th 2019 by HarperTeen

Summary

Selah has waited her whole life for a happily ever after. As the only daughter of the leader of Potomac, she knows her duty is to find the perfect match, a partner who will help secure the future of her people. Now that day has finally come.

But after an excruciatingly public rejection from her closest childhood friend, Selah’s stepmother suggests an unthinkable solution: Selah must set sail across the Atlantic, where a series of potential suitors awaits—and if she doesn’t come home engaged, she shouldn’t come home at all.

From English castle gardens to the fjords of Norge, and under the eye of the dreaded Imperiya Yotne, Selah’s quest will be the journey of a lifetime. But her stepmother’s schemes aren’t the only secrets hiding belowdecks…and the stakes of her voyage may be higher than any happy ending.

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Author Interview

THE BEHOLDER has such an interesting and unique cover. What was the inspiration for it?

I was absolutely floored the first time I saw THE BEHOLDER’s cover. The incredible artist who conceptualized it, Michelle Taormina, rendered the figurehead exactly as I’d imagined and described it, which gave me, you know, minor heart palpitations. The rose gold accents were an idea that came up when I was goofing around with author/vlogger Lily Meade at YALLfest in 2017! We were tossing around daydream cover ideas and one of us blurted out ROSE GOLD FOIL. I still can’t actually believe the idea materialized as part of the actual cover design!

Would you tell us all a little more about your protagonist?

Selah is the seneschal-elect of Potomac—meaning, she’ll be the seneschal of her country one day. Seneschal is an old term meaning steward that occurred to me, I think, when I was thinking a lot about alternative (non-monarchical) government structures and also possibly a lot about LOTR and Gondor.

So basically, Selah is training to be the steward of her country one day, and she takes that responsibility incredibly seriously, and at the start of the book it’s been the single most influential factor in shaping her habits and personal life. She’s naturally pretty introverted, a reader, and also really religiously devout, and the life she sees ahead of her—leading her country, looking after its justice system and helping it make the most of its resources—mean she just dove at a really young age into things like farming and academics that would help her someday.

All told, Selah desperately needs to be shaken up and also to maybe, like, laugh sometimes, so. I tried to offer her some opportunities to do that. 😊

If Selah was to give us three tips on sailing across the Atlantic, what would she say?

Pack a book large enough to crush a man. Garden. Learn to cook. (Also, assemble a fantastic crew who can tell you stories and give you sage advice and routinely piss you off.)

What do you love most about THE BEHOLDER?

Selah’s a very emotional character in the larger scheme of a very emotional book. I wrote her that way, because I feel things fully and sometimes it’s a lot for people, but I don’t think anyone should be ashamed by their feelings. I also don’t think being shrewd and hardworking and also a person who feels deeply are mutually exclusive.

What are you working on next?

THE BEHOLDER 2. Send me your thoughts and prayers, pls.

What are you looking forward to watching (show or series or movie) and reading this year?

SO SO MANY THINGS! Obviously TATBILB2. Also, once I’ve got deadline stuff under control, I’m going to watch season 2 of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, The Perfect Date (aka the new Noah Centineo on Netflix), The Last Summer (also when it drops on Netflix), and the last season of GOT. Unrelated: I love TV.

As far as reading—my TBR is sky-high. It could crush a man. But I’m particularly psyched to read a bunch of #novel19s DON’T DATE ROSA SANTOS (Nina Moreno), I WANNA BE WHERE YOU ARE (Kristina Forest), THE BECKONING SHADOW (Katharyn Blair), SERPENT AND DOVE (Shelby Mahurin), A THOUSAND FIRES (Shannon Price), and THE TENTH GIRL (Sara Faring). Also the new Sarah Dessen bc duh.

Tour Schedule
About the Author


I believe in woods, mountains, highways, cobblestones, roller coasters, dancing, concerts, cherry Pop Tarts, books, and magic.

When I'm not reading or writing on my couch, I'm dragging my husband off on an adventure, communing with Salem (my kitten/spiritual familiar), or causing trouble at One More Page Books, where I work.



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