Event: Marie Lu & Kiersten White Signing in San Diego [Warcross tour]

Hello! It’s been a while since my last post, this due the giveaway I was organizing, I didn’t want that entry to get lost so more people could see it and participate.

Last Saturday, September 23, I attended the last signing of Marie Lu for the Warcross tour, for this one she was going to chat with author Kiersten White. 

Warcross Summary

For the millions who log in every day, Warcross isn’t just a game—it’s a way of life. The obsession started ten years ago and its fan base now spans the globe, some eager to escape from reality and others hoping to make a profit. Struggling to make ends meet, teenage hacker Emika Chen works as a bounty hunter, tracking down players who bet on the game illegally. But the bounty hunting world is a competitive one, and survival has not been easy. Needing to make some quick cash, Emika takes a risk and hacks into the opening game of the international Warcross Championships—only to accidentally glitch herself into the action and become an overnight sensation.

Convinced she’s going to be arrested, Emika is shocked when instead she gets a call from the game’s creator, the elusive young billionaire Hideo Tanaka, with an irresistible offer. He needs a spy on the inside of this year’s tournament in order to uncover a security problem . . . and he wants Emika for the job. With no time to lose, Emika’s whisked off to Tokyo and thrust into a world of fame and fortune that she’s only dreamed of. But soon her investigation uncovers a sinister plot, with major consequences for the entire Warcross empire.

Marie Lu.

I arrived kind of late, the event had just started and I had to pick up the book I had preordered online to get a ticket for the signing line. The whole event was a chat between both authors, which have a super nice chemistry making everything fun and interesting.

Marie Lu talked mainly about her new book, Warcross. She mentioned that she wanted to write something lighter because the books she had been working on were dark (the Young Elites), and so she wrote Warcross for herself. She decided to challenge herself writing a duology instead of a trilogy, that way she could get rid of the middle book that’s always hard to write, but she didn’t think the structure would change that much. She mentioned that writing a duology turned out to be harder because she has to combine two books into one.

Lu also mentioned that right now Emika, Warcross main character, has become her favorite because she put so much of her own personality into Emika, so she identifies with her a lot. And finally she said that she would like to see Warcross adapted as an anime, she is currently watching Sword Art Online, an anime with a similar story about immersion videogames.

Evento: Fiesta de lanzamiento de Now I Rise de Kiersten White

Kiersten White.

¡Hola! Hoy les hablaré un poco sobre un evento al que asistí la semana pasada: La fiesta de lanzamiento de Now I Rise.

Now I Rise es la segunda novela en la trilogía de Hija de las Tinieblas (And I Darken). El evento se realizó en la librería independiente Mysterious Galaxy en San Diego a las 7:00 pm.

La primera parte del evento fue una plática de la autora, Kiersten White, y después siguió una sesión de preguntas y respuestas.

Durante el evento la autora platicó sobre diversos temas relacionados a sus libros y principalmente sobre Hija de las Tinieblas. Antes de continuar les dejo la sinopsis de hija de las tinieblas:

Nadie espera que una princesa sea brutal. Pero Lada, la hija de Vlad Drácula, siempre lo fue. En cambio, su hermano Radu es un joven gentil, inteligente y sensible. Todo lo que Lada y su padre desprecian.

Cuando Drácula condena a sus hijos al destierro y los deja en manos del sultán otomano, Lada y Radu conocen a Mehmed. Por primera vez, Radu siente que tiene un verdadero amigo y Lada tal vez encuentre en él a alguien por quien valga la pena sentir algo. Para Radu, el imperio otomano es su hogar. Para Lada, el enemigo. Ella será capaz de sacrificarlo todo con tal de volver a su amada tierra.

Lada, Radu y Mehmed crean un triángulo oscuro y apasionado, que desafiará todas las reglas, lealtades y sentimientos.

Como pueden notar por la sinopsis, Hija de las Tinieblas es ficción histórica, White menciona que se inspiró para escribir esta historia tras realizar un viaje a Romania en 2010 al lado de su esposo que habla el idioma. En Romania aprendió mucho de Vlad el empalador.

 

Una de las cosas que más se le complicaron al escribir estos libros fue que la ficción histórica depende del punto de vista en el cual se escribe, así que White hizo su mejor intento por estar en terrenos neutrales. Hija de las Tinieblas ocupó mucha investigación para ser lo más precisa posible, le tomó un año escribirlo.

White comentó que ya están listos el título y la portada del tercer libro, pero aún no los puede revelar. El libro final saldrá a la venta en Estados Unidos el próximo año, 2018,  junto con otros dos libros, incluido el de Buffy la Cazavampiros.

Este mes otro libro de la autora saldrá a la venta, es un libro infantil titulado Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scarytales, una compilación de retellings de historias clásicas con un final divertido e inesperado, el libro es ilustrado. Ella asistirá este mes a San Diego Comic Con y estará en el panel titulado What’s Hot in YA junto con Lish McBride, Jason Reynolds, Nicola Yoon, Brendan Reichs, Beth Revis, Megan Whalen Turner, Jen Armentrout, S. Jae Jones, y moderado por Nathan Bransford.

White dijo que se divirtió escribiendo Hija de las Tinieblas y Now I Rise, pero que su experiencia más memorable ha sido escribiendo Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scarytales, ya que fue el que se le ha hecho más fácil de escribir y que disfrutó del proceso con sus hijos.

Para finalizar dijo que quería que su siguiente proyecto fuera sobre espías, pero su editor le dijo que siguiera con la fantasía. La autora está dispuesta a escribir cualquier género menos contemporáneo, puesto que se siente muy alejada de esa experiencia de juventud y que su historia seria poco creíble, además de que tampoco continuaría sus historias pasadas puesto que su estilo ha cambiado junto con su vida.

Después de la plática y de la sesión de preguntas y respuestas empezó la firma de autógrafos, White se tomaba el tiempo con cada uno para platicar un poco, yo le regalé algunos dulces mexicanos y lleve los dos libros en pasta dura en inglés y el libro edición de VRYA Hija de las Tinieblas. Ella me dijo que los dulces mexicanos le gustaban más que los estadounidenses y que el idioma español se le hacía más bonito que el inglés, sus palabras fueron “me gusta más el español porque es como música,” eso me lo dijo en español. Me comentó que estudió español en la universidad pero que lo ha ido olvidando con el tiempo, si se toma el tiempo de pensar en las palabras si lo puede hablar un poco. Aparte de eso me dijo que el libro que llevé era el primero que firmaba en español y me regaló un print extra de Lada porque le dije que… ese libro lo compré para hacer un sorteo, así que espérenlo :D

El evento estuvo muy divertido, la autora es muy simpática y toda la audiencia se la pasó riendo en un ambiente muy relajado y aunque White dijo que tenía todas sus bromas ensayadas para pretender ser espontanea, si logró hacer reír a la gente, creo que no había reído tanto en un evento así. No puedo esperar para empezar la trilogía And I Darken.

Event: Now I Rise Launch Party

Kiersten White

Hello everyone, today I’ll talk a little about an event I attended last week: Now I Rise Launch party.

Now I Rise is the second novel in the And I Darken trilogy. The event took place in the indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego at 7:00 pm.

The first part of the event was a talk by Kiersten White followed by a Q&A session.

During the event the author talked about different topics about her other books and And I darken, but after I continue I will provide you with the synopsis of And I darken.

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwlya likes it that way. Ever since she and her gentle younger brother, Radu, were wrenched from their homeland of Wallachia and abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman courts, Lada has known that being ruthless is the key to survival. She and Radu are doomed to act as pawns in a vicious game, an unseen sword hovering over their every move. For the lineage that makes them special also makes them targets.

Lada despises the Ottomans and bides her time, planning her vengeance for the day when she can return to Wallachia and claim her birthright. Radu longs only for a place where he feels safe. And when they meet Mehmed, the defiant and lonely son of the sultan, Radu feels that he’s made a true friend—and Lada wonders if she’s finally found someone worthy of her passion.

But Mehmed is heir to the very empire that Lada has sworn to fight against—and that Radu now considers home. Together, Lada, Radu, and Mehmed form a toxic triangle that strains the bonds of love and loyalty to the breaking point.

As you may notice by the synopsis, And I Darken is historical fiction, White says she was inspired to write this story after she traveled with her husband to Romania in 2010. There she learnt a lot about Vlad the impaler.

One of the most difficult things about writing historical fiction is that historical writing depends on the point of view the author takes, but White did her best to remain on neutral grounds.

And I Darken took a lot of research work to be as accurate as possible; it took a year to write.

White commented that there is already a cover and title for the third installment, but she can’t reveal any of them yet. The final book in the trilogy will be released next year, 2018, along with two other books.

This month, another book of Kiersten White will be released; it’s a middle grade book titled Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scarytales. This book is a compilation of retellings that end in a funny and unexpected way, and it’s illustrated. She will attend this year San Diego Comic Con and be on a panel titled What’s Hot in YA alongside Lish McBride, Jason Reynolds, Nicola Yoon, Brendan Reichs, Beth Revis, Megan Whalen Turner, Jen Armentrout, S. Jae Jones, and moderated by Nathan Bransford.

White said that she had fun writing And I Darken and Now I Rise, but that her most memorable writing experience has been Beanstalker and Other Hilarious Scarytales, because is the book that was easiest to write and she enjoyed the process with her children.

To finalize she said that she wanted to write spies series next but her editor told her to stick with fantasy. She is very open to write every genre except for contemporary, she feels she is very far from those experiences now and that wouldn’t be able convey the feeling or be believable. Her writing style has change during the years because her life has changed.

After the talk and Q&A session, it was time to the signing, and she was giving each person an exclusive print of Lada. I talked with her mainly about Comic Con and as I gift her some Mexican candies and had a Latin American copy of And I Darken (Hija de las Tinieblas), she told me that she used to study Spanish when she was in college and that she can speak it if she takes her time to think what to say.

The event was such a good experience; it was a fun night full of laughter and a relaxed vibe. I can’t wait to start reading the And I Darken trilogy.