Kate Elliott's Blog, page 8
August 22, 2015
Kate Elliott Interview – Adventures in YA Publishing
Thanks to Adventures in YA Publishing for the recent interview on Kate Elliott’s YA debut, COURT OF FIVES!
What scene was really hard for you to write and why, and is that the one of which you are most proud? Or is there another scene you particularly love?
The hardest scenes to write were those in which Jes is running the Fives. It’s difficult to combine describing a sport that doesn’t exist with the physical effort and emotion of a person playing it, and I worked over and over again on the Fives scenes to make them feel immediate and emotional, and to give the reader a visceral sense of Jes on the court. I wanted readers who love playing and/or watching sports to be excited by what’s happening on the obstacles, while also giving an emotional hook to draw in people who might otherwise skim over that kind of action scene.
I’m most proud of the final scene in the book, but if I told you why it would be a spoiler!
Mirrored from I Make Up Worlds.
August 21, 2015
Eater of Books Guest Post
Continuing on her COURT OF FIVES blog tour, Kate Elliott discusses “Creating a World with Regressed Women’s Rights” at The Eater of Books:
I’ve seen a few readers refer to the novel as a dystopia. That surprised me because I did not write it as a dystopia, and I never intended to write a book that fit into the dystopian genre of YA…
In fact over and over again I rarely needed to make up ways in which the women of the Court of Fives world labor under regressed rights. All I had to do was borrow from actual historical legal traditions.
Read the full post at The Eater of Books.
As always, COURT OF FIVES is now available at your local independent bookstore, Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other online and bricks and mortar stores TODAY (USA & Canada only).
Mirrored from I Make Up Worlds.
August 19, 2015
Five Inspirations for COURT OF FIVES at Once Upon a Twilight
Kate Elliott is at the Sasquan 73rd World Science Fiction Convention in Spokane, WA this week (see her schedule or follow her adventures on Twitter), but you can still learn about the inspirations for her YA debut novel, COURT OF FIVES (available now in the USA & Canada) over at review blog, Once Upon a Twilight.
These five things are at the core of Court of Fives: In a world of magic and peril, four sisters try to make a difficult transition to adulthood in a society suffocated by rules of class and privilege. Fierce, determined Jes wants nothing more than to make her mark in the most popular game in the country, but disaster is about to strike her family, one that will bring her into stunning contact with her long-buried heritage.
One of the great pleasures of writing fantasy is being able to combine many very different elements and create something new.
Find out what these five inspirations are at the link!
Mirrored from I Make Up Worlds.
August 18, 2015
Book Smugglers Guest Post + Two Chicks on Books Author Playlist
Want to know more about the influences for COURT OF FIVES (available today!)? Head over to The Book Smugglers to read Kate Elliott’s guest post on history and myth-making, the life and myth of Cleopatra, and the setting of Greco-Roman Egypt as Efea’s template.
“As I was writing I took to heart the story of Cleopatra. People often say that history is written by the conquerors and that history has an agenda. This is true of how the Romans wrote about Cleopatra and certainly true of how later historians and tale tellers turned Cleopatra into the seductress queen rather than the hard-headed, ambitious, and fiercely intelligent woman she obviously was.
It’s that gap between myth and history that is part of what inspired me to write Court of Fives…”
Read more at the link and enter to win a copy of COURT OF FIVES!
Also, be sure to check out Kate Elliott’s handpicked playlist, “I Am the Best,” for COURT OF FIVES at Two Chicks on Books.
I write to music, and I love to create unique playlists for each of my series…The key is to set a mood that matches the feelings I hope to evoke. For Court of Fives, a fantasy story set in a world of Patrons and Commoners, with a heroine who is a fierce competitor in a sport she is not supposed to be participating in, I needed a playlist that reflects the conflicts and the range of emotions in the book.
Listen while you follow Jessamy’s story in COURT OF FIVES, which you can pick up at your local independent bookstore, Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other online and bricks and mortar stores TODAY (USA & Canada only)!
Thank you so much to The Book Smugglers, Two Chicks on Books, The Book Wars, and The Artsy Reader Girl for all the COURT OF FIVES love. (P.S. Check out The Book Wars’ latest review of COURT OF FIVES, too!)
Mirrored from I Make Up Worlds.
COURT OF FIVES – AVAILABLE TODAY
It’s here! Kate Elliott’s YA debut novel, COURT OF FIVES, is out TODAY in the USA and Canada!
COURT OF FIVES is available at your local independent bookstore, Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other online and bricks and mortar stores!</p>
On the Fives court, everyone is equal. And everyone is dangerous.
In this imaginative escape into an enthralling new world, World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott begins a new trilogy with her debut young adult novel, weaving an epic story of a girl struggling to do what she loves in a society suffocated by rules of class and privilege.
Jessamy’s life is a balance between acting like an upper class Patron and dreaming of the freedom of the Commoners. But at night she can be whomever she wants when she sneaks out to train for The Fives, an intricate, multi-level athletic competition that offers a chance for glory to the kingdom’s best competitors. Then Jes meets Kalliarkos, and an unlikely friendship between a girl of mixed race and a Patron boy causes heads to turn. When a scheming lord tears Jes’s family apart, she’ll have to test Kal’s loyalty and risk the vengeance of a powerful clan to save her mother and sisters from certain death.
Recent reviews:
“Elliott immediately thrusts the reader into Jes’ head and heart, and the result is a wonderful immersion in both familial love and the tensions at work within these relationships. […] What makes this such an outstanding novel is Elliott’s experienced hand at revelation and building compelling characters. […] the woman knows how to write and tell a damned fine story, and those skills translate seamlessly into this YA tale.” – Robert H. Bedford, Tor.com
“Elliott’s ability to create intricate societies with tangled social, political, and economic realities that generate obstacles for her characters is one of her great strengths, and this book highlights it wonderfully. This is a sharp, gorgeous, brutal story about familial love and the complex nature of trust, and an excellent beginning to a new series.” – Renay Williams, Barnes and Noble
“Jes will remind readers of fearless Katniss with her skill and strategy for games. But it’s the fascinating descriptions of traditions, royal interactions, and, of course, the intensities of the Fives that will enthrall readers most of all. Let the games continue!”―Booklist, starred review
Mirrored from I Make Up Worlds.
August 17, 2015
COURT OF FIVES availability in UK/Australia/NZ/Commonwealth
I’m sorry to report that COURT OF FIVES isn’t currently available in the UK or Commonwealth. The 18 August publication date is for the US/Canada market only.
My agents are working hard on this. The moment I have news for my UK/Oz/NZ/Commonwealth readers (you know I love you!!!), I will post it here and on all my social media.
Mirrored from I Make Up Worlds.
August 16, 2015
Debut (YA) Author Challenge at The Artsy Reader Girl
COURT OF FIVES comes out in TWO DAYS — 18 Aug. 2015. In celebration of Kate Elliott’s YA debut, That Artsy Reader Girl interviewed Elliott, John R. McKay, and Alexandra Sirowy about their upcoming releases.
The Debut Dish, a Debut Author Challenge feature, is where you go for the scoop on some pretty awesome debut authors and their new books!
Elliott reveals a little more about COURT OF FIVES and some of her surprising favorites:
Describe your book in five words or less.
Jes is a fierce competitor.
Why should readers pick up your book?
A fantasy novel about sisterhood and family loyalty in the wake of treachery, a conquered country ruled within a rigid social hierarchy, a popular game that’s more than it seems, and one girl’s challenge to run the Fives even though it is forbidden to her.
Mirrored from I Make Up Worlds.
August 13, 2015
Five SFF Stories Complicated by Intact Family Relationships
In Kate Elliott’s first Young Adult novel, COURT OF FIVES, protagonist Jessamy comes from a family with a complicated background. Elliott describes the novel as “Little Women meets American Ninja Warrior in a setting inspired by Greco-Roman Egypt,” hinting at important familial relationships amidst all the action.
For Tor.Com, Elliott has compiled a list of Five SFF Stories Complicated by Intact Family Relationships. In it, she says:
[W]ith Court of Fives I specifically wanted to write a story in which the main character’s family is intact and present, and therefore plays a part as one of the complicating factors in her journey. What happens when a choice we need to make will hurt someone we care about? How much will we risk for those we love?
See which five families she picked at the link!
Remember: COURT OF FIVES releases in five days on 18 Aug. 2015! You can pre-order online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Indiebound (USA and Canada only)
Mirrored from I Make Up Worlds.
August 11, 2015
The Book Wars Guest Post – The Writing Process: How One Writer Works
Be sure to check out Kate Elliott’s recent guest post for The Book Wars, in which she discusses her drafting and writing process, world-building, and her experiences writing her debut Young Adult novel, COURT OF FIVES (out 18 August 2015!).
“Frankly, working through my first YA novel has taught me a great deal about delineating a world with fewer words, and I think I was able to put some of the lessons learned about pacing and incisive worldbuilding details into good use in my forthcoming adult epic fantasy Black Wolves (coming this November from Orbit Books). Overall I would say writing YA has helped me in writing adult fiction because it has enhanced my ability to judge how well images and emotions in my head are coming across on the page. Clarity is hard, but clarity is vital: Where the reader’s vision connects with mine is where the magic happens.”
Stay tuned for more guest posts and interviews by and with Kate Elliott as we ramp up to the release of COURT OF FIVES!
Mirrored from I Make Up Worlds.
August 10, 2015
Sasquan 73rd World SF Convention Schedule
Kate Elliott will be attending the Sasquan 73rd World Science Fiction Convention, held 19 Aug. – 23 Aug. 2015 in Spokane, WA. Worldcon celebrates the best works and creators in the speculative fiction field and culture.
Kate Elliott’s events:
Thursday, 20 Aug. 2015
Reading – 4:30PM – 5:00PM
Friday, 21 Aug. 2015
Narrative Structure and Expectation – 4:00PM – 4:45PM
How do we enter stories? By what techniques do narratives pull us in? How do the expectations we have influence how we respond? I’ll break down some narrative techniques used in openings, and then go on to discuss how openings that match expectations can encourage us to keep reading while expectations that aren’t fulfilled can sometimes cause us to stop reading. How big a part does familiarity play in how well we can understand and adjust to a story? Finally, how do the things that we think we know but may be wrong about (as in history) make it easier or harder to be drawn into a book if our beliefs aren’t met?
(Elliott adds, “This is not a panel but a lecture, with entertaining Powerpoint (almost all image/video slides, and only two text slides). I debuted this presentation at SFeraKon in Croatia and it went over so well I decided to offer it to Sasquan.”)
Saturday, 22 Aug. 2015
Fantasy Creation for the Bold (With Ken Liu) – 12:00PM – 12:45PM
What are some of the bolder and more interesting worldbuilding decisions you’ve made? What kind of details, often neglected, can end up being extremely important? How do you make use of historical knowledge and anthropological insights to free your worlds rather than constraining them to well-trodden paths? The dialog discusses techniques and approaches that have paid off as well as pitfalls and traps.
(“Not a panel but a dialogue between me and award winning SFF author Ken Liu.”)
Diversity within YA & Middle Grade Fiction (With Cynthia Ward, Cassandra Rose Clarke, Fonda Lee, and Wesley Chu) – 1:00PM – 1:45PM
Everyone is talking about diversity within science fiction and fantasy, but how are we doing with diversity within the young adult and middle grade subgenres? What writers should we be reading? What characters should we be looking to as examples? And what new fiction are we looking forward to reading?
Sunday, 23 Aug. 2015
Autographing (With Kendare Blake and Karl Schroeder) – 12:00PM – 12:45PM
Worlds We Believe: YA Building (With Lauren Roy, Jennifer Brozek, and Jessica Rising) -1:00PM – 1:45PM
Have you ever sympathized with trudging through Professor Trelawney’s divination classroom? Does living in a Hobbit hole, spaciously provisioned seem not so far-fetched? Which district do you live in? What about traveling through a worm hole at warp speed? Worlds that are easy to picture become a part of invested creators. What makes a believable world? What have past and present authors done right? Come visit other worlds with us.
See you there!
Mirrored from I Make Up Worlds.
