Colleen Houck Book Club discussion
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Reawakened
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Reawakened Q & A with Colleen Houck
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Colleen
(last edited Jun 22, 2015 04:23PM)
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Jun 22, 2015 04:22PM
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I can't wait for Reawakened! so excited :-)
I'm so excited!!! I love the Tigers Curse series. :) what do Kelsey and the new heroine of your book have in common?
How has writing this been different than your previous series? Is it hard to get new characters and places in mind when you had so much already figured out as you wrote the end of the series?
Hi!!! :) What was your inspiration to write this series?
I am so excited for Reawakened. Can't wait to start reading.
I had the great luck of already reading this book and I thought it was amazing! Who's your favorite of the 'brothers?'
How do you come up with the title for a book?Is the title you select ever kept by your publishers?
When sitting down to write a new book, how much of the entirety of the story do you "know" at the beginning?...or, is it generally a process in which you have an idea, but decide later to add something else in?
(I guess, I am wondering if you have any particular tendencies; I understand fully that it is different for each individual.)
I'm dying I still have to wait 14 days for the book!!!!
When will the 5th book in the Tiger's Curse series be released?
Only three days to go!! :)
Hi Colleen! How are you now? I've talked to you so many times, and dispite I fell sky about my questions I always apreciate it, because you teach me a lot. Well, about Reawakened, I haven't read it yet, but I will soon. How does your inspiration come to write a mythological story? What makes you choose a kind of mythology, like egyptian? I think for us, readers, when we are reading that kind of story we travel to another world and for writters maybe is the same. :)I hope to meet you in Rio next month and have my books signed haha
Hi Colleen! How many books will be in the Reawakened series including novellas?
Hi Colleen!Just finished Reawakened and loved it! My first question is of course, when will Book 2 come out?!
Additional questions:
You clearly did a lot of research about Egyptian mythology - Did you use what you researched as a foundation, and then expanded from there to create the story? I am wondering how much of what is written is true to the mythology, and how much is altered for the story?
Although the Tiger Saga is no stranger to death, this series has death as a much bigger theme. What made you want to explore death more in this book? Is it to show how love and death are related, or that love endures beyond death (the end where Lily had to kill Amon, and the brothers' love for each other throughout the millenniums, both come to mind)?
I can't help but compare and try to draw parallels between your two beloved series. Do you wish this series was considered alone, without comparison to your other work?
Thank you!
Lily and Amon are such interesting characters! I can't wait for more books so that I can find out more about who they are what makes them do/think/behave certains ways. Lily is so different from Kelsey, and I often found myself perplexed by her actions and thoughts. What aspects of Lily and her personality do you plan to explore in future books in this new series?
What is the difference between Kelsey and Lily, did you plan them to be different or did it just come naturally?
Will we see more of Ahmose in Recreated?????
I was a mess of tears at the end of the last chapter, but when I read the epilogue, I felt hope. Can we expect more Ahmon and Lily interactions? Will Dr. Hassan appear in the future books? How many books do you plan to write in this series? Are we going to see more Gods in the future books? Maybe even Goddesses? Do you have any idea in 2016 we can expect Recreated? Will there be any way to get an arc? (as you can see I am EXTREMELY anticipating this sequel)
I already finished the book, love it by the way! But something in the epilogue make me wonder... Ma'at wanted to judge Amon a little too much. I know she said it was because he had been bound to Lily and for the balance of the universe but to me she seemed too much interested in his judgement and that make me suspiscious. Does Ma'at had an ulterior motive for wanting to go through with Amon's judgement?PS: pardon my sloopy writing, I'm from Puerto Rico so English isn’t my forte. :) Hugs and kisses from a fan living in the Caribbean!!
Hello Colleen I am a huge fan! I have been waiting a long time for a decent Egyptian romance to come along. So how many books will there be? Who inspired the cute and funny brothers? And was Aladdin an inspiration? Lily reminds me of Jasmine so much. Have a great day!
Could the mythological worlds in Reawakened and the Tiger's Curse series coexist in the same universe (theoretically), or should they be considered strictly separate?Also, how did you do your research on the settings and myths in Reawakened?
Hello I have two more questions how did the order of the Sphinx come to mind and are we going to read about it more in future books? Also are we going to hear more about the brothers and Lily? Thanks again. I feel like there is quit a bit of foreshadowing going on with in the metaphor and similes. Thank you again!!
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Have you read it yet? Not sure how many of you have already finished the book.
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Wow, okay so I'd say they are both courageous, both girls feel a little bit alone. Kelsey is more like me than Lily but I'd like to think the three of us would be friends, at least after a while. =) Sadly, Lily is not as into chocolate as me and Kelsey. Oh! But both girls had/have awesome grandmas.
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just wondering if there will be any appearances from Baste, or character crossovers from the Tigers Curse series like Anamika."
Not Baste but it is not outside the realm of possibility for these two worlds to intersect. I'm not saying I'm writing a cross over, just that it's something that might be possible.
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Absolutely. I lived with the tigers in their world for so long that creating a new one felt daunting. Would I love these new characters as much? Would my readers connect with them? One thing I've learned though is that I definitely have a writing style. It becomes obvious when you step into these new books. It was really cool though to explore a whole new world and this time wrap my heads around gods and goddesses. You get to meet them more in book two but they were interesting to flesh out.
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The inspiration was the number three. I sketched out pyramids and came up with using the symbols of the sun, the moon, and the stars. Then I researched all the myths based on threes, so this will come up over and over again in the series. The main myth for the tiger series was based in Indian mythology even though I borrow freely from other cultures. I do the same in Egypt but the main story isn't actually Egyptian. Not fully.
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Actually right now it's Asten. =) I have a serious soft spot for this one.
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Is the title you select ever kept by your publishers?"
All the tiger books were my titles. For this one, my original title was The Eye of Horus which would make sense for those of you that read the book. We went back and forth on this for a while and the title The Girl and the Golden Prince was suggested. I didn't like that one. I tried out The Temple of the Crocodile but they didn't go for that. We went back and forth for a long time until my editor suggested Reawakened. I agreed to it as long as we had a gorgeous artistic cover that was definitely Egypt. (I didn't want Reawakened to be confused with Sleeping Beauty) Book two, Recreated was my idea. We haven't announced the title of the novella or the third book yet. We'll have to wait and see.
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...or, is it generally a process in which you have an idea, but decide later to add some..."
I usually plot out the main points and jot down a long list of cool ideas or themes I'd like to use. I know where I want to go but I give myself the freedom to explore different roads along the way if that makes sense. I'm a flexible sort of plotter, I guess you'd say.
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This is the number one question I get asked. My current plan is to write book three for Egypt since its all in my head and then head back to Tiger's Dream. You'll know when I'm actively writing it cause I'll be putting out teasers on teaser Tuesdays on Facebook. My best guess is that I should be able to get back to writing it in 2016.
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I study a lot of world mythology books, then I have huge reference books on dreams, spells, magical creatures, etc. I also search for stuff on the internet and study symbols.
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It will be wonderful to meet you in Rio! So excited about that trip! Well, I actually was pitching some sci-fi next but couldn't find a buyer. My editor at Delacorte really wanted to sign me so I sent her a list of my ideas and they picked the Egypt one. I've always wanted to write something about Egypt. The mystery and the danger and the mummies have always fascinated me. In this case I wanted to turn mummy stories on their head and make them the good guys.
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Three and a novella.
Hello everyone,Just a short appearance since I haven't read the book yet even if I found the synopsis intriguing and the Egyptian world is fascinating.
When you read, do you often stop, thinking to yourself it may have been more interesting if the author has done this and that instead and found that way an idea ?
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Just finished Reawakened and loved it! My first question is of course, when will Book 2 come out?!
Additional questions:
You clearly did a lot of research about Egyptian mythology - Did you use what you researched as a foundation, and then expanded from there to create the story? I am wondering how much of what is written is true to the mythology, and how much is altered for the story?
Although the Tiger Saga is no stranger to death, this series has death as a much bigger theme. What made you want to explore death more in this book? Is it to show how love and death are related, or that love endures beyond death (the end where Lily had to kill Amon, and the brothers' love for each other throughout the millenniums, both come to mind)?
I can't help but compare and try to draw parallels between your two beloved series. Do you wish this series was considered alone, without comparison to your other work?
"
Book two, Recreated, will be out next summer or early fall. I just saw the cover and its gorgeous!
Egyptian mythology is very complicated since several gods and goddesses were merged together. It took me a long time to wrap my head around them. You'll see a lot more of the gods in book two and the novella is exclusively about them.
As far as how accurate I am, I'd say not terribly. I think my goal isn't to teach you mythology so much as to make you interested in picking up a book and learning more.
You're right that death is a big theme in this series but its a big theme for Egypt so it makes sense. I am not surprised at all by comparisons to the tiger series. I think that's a natural thing. My hope, as is the hope with every author, is that I convert my tiger fans into Colleen Houck fans. It's a hard thing to do but I do want to keep writing and I have a lot of stories to tell.
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Lily is so different from ..."
Lily is very different and I wanted to make sure of that. I still needed to empathize with her and came to love her just as much, especially in Recreated when she is really asked to sacrifice a lot. I'd say in the future you'll get to see Lily really come into her own and go for the life she wants to have.
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I planned them that way. Lily is much more world savvy than Kelsey and confident outwardly. At the same time they are both very lonely girls who are looking for their path in life.
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Definitely!
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Thanks Robin! The answer is YES to all of those questions. Recreated will come out next summer or early fall.
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I need an invite to the Caribbean! Yes, Ma'at is very judgy but that is part of her personality. You'll see more of her in book two and if you thought she was a little too much in the epilogue wait till you meet her in Recreated!
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I love Aladdin! He didn't really inspire my mummies but love him and Jasmine. There are three books and a novella. The brothers just kind of happened =) They aren't based on anyone in particular.
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Also, how did you do your res..."
Yes they could definitely overlap. They don't, at least not yet, but it's possible. The research takes me about a week prior to writing and then I continue to investigate little things along the way and add notes as I go.
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Yes you will learn more about the brothers and Lily for sure though I think I'll be taking you in a direction you might not be expecting. I always foreshadow as best I can. This is where it helps to have an idea of where you're going in a story.
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Just a short appearance since I haven't read the book yet even if I found the synopsis intriguing and the Egyptian world is fascinating.
When you read, do you often stop, thinking..."
I always analyze as I read and watch tv. It's sad sometimes that I can't always enjoy things just to enjoy them but that's part of what being a writer is. I guess the same would be true of any job. A guy who makes hamburgers would probably be picky about ordering one. It's just the way it goes.
Will you do quotes with reawakened once the tiger curse series quotes are done?
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Yes but that might be a long while in coming. I'm currently still on Tiger's Quest! =)
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So the Metropolitan museum have been there? I love the t there and the description is very well written. Also are there more museums that will be talked about?
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