Q+A with Kate Avery Ellison + Giveaway

Please welcome today's guest author Kate Avery Ellison!  Kate is the author of the Frost Chronicles and the Secrets of Itlantis series, including OF SEA AND STONE.

Keep reading for a chance to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card!

Q+A with Kate Avery Ellison

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Kate:  I began writing when I was about eight, I think. I wrote “books” that had chapters and a beginning, middle, and end, although they were only a few pages long. I was a big Nancy Drew fan so I started out writing a mystery series that had a total of fourteen books in it, I believe.

I began writing seriously with the intent to publish when I was about seventeen. Health problems got in the way for a while, but I published my first book around age 24.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Kate:  I’ve always loved the fantastic. I think sci fi and fantasy make it easier to explore difficult concepts in an abstract and less threatening way, so they’re good for writing on topics relating to justice and change, and for pushing the boundaries of thinking and understanding. And hey, dragons and magic are a lot of fun. Also, I just like to let my imagination run wild. I like to look at the world and think, what if ___ were different? How would we live? How would we think?

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be?

Kate:  So if I could have one supernatural talent, it would be the ability to always give the perfect gift, just exactly what the person wants to receive and the most appropriate and touching/meaningful/useful thing.

Why?  I think it would make birthdays and holidays a lot easier, and I like to make people happy. Also I don’t think it’s very easily exploitable by, say, a government or terrorist organization, so it wouldn’t make my life complicated or dangerous.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Kate:  Well, my two newest releases are A Gift of Poison and the 4th book in the Secrets of Itlantis series, For Wreck and Remnant. A Gift of Poison is one of my favorite books I’ve ever written, and readers who like dragons, magic, sword fights, tales of vindication/cleverness/proving oneself against huge odds, or steampunk fantasy should really enjoy it. The main character Briand is really scrappy and she has a lot of grit. She’s “enlisted” (basically kidnapped) into helping a secret group of fighters who serve the true prince as they use dragons in the war against a psychopathic ruler. I have another book coming out in the same world very soon called The Season of Lightning.

Readers who are enjoying the Secrets of Itlantis series should like For Wreck and Remnant because it has some nice romantic elements between a certain two characters, as well as a LOT of answers about some of the biggest mysteries of the series.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Kate:
Aemi – Jessica Szohr, as she can do that sharp, kind of wild look that really makes me think of Aemi, and the actress has a diverse ancestry like Aemi.
Nol – Jake Abel. I think he has the right “handsome but snobby/broody look” Nol has going on for the first part of the book.
Kit – Blake Lee, only with really curly thick hair and more of a tan than normal.
Lyssia – Jena Malone. She’d make a good Lyssia.
Tob – Thomas Brodie-Sangster. He was so loveable in The Maze Runner, and Tob is a very loveable character to me. He has a good energy to him too.
Merelus – Liam Neeson, he has the right gravitas mixed with kindness.
Annah – Nicole Galicia is probably way too young to play Senator Annah, but I like her.

Of Sea and Stone (Secrets of Itlantis #1) by Kate Avery Ellison

All her life, clever Aemi has been a slave in the Village of the Rocks, a place where the sea and sky meet. She’s heard the stories about the fabled People of the Sea, a people who possess unimaginable technology who live below the waves in the dark, secret places of the ocean. But she never dreamed those stories were true.

When a ship emerges from the ocean and men burn her village, Aemi is captured, and enslaved below the waves in Itlantis, a world filled with ancient cities of glass and metal, floating gardens, and wondrous devices that seem to work magic. To make matters worse, her village nemesis, the stuck-up mayor’s son Nol, was captured with her, and they are made servants in the same household beneath the sea.

Desperate to be free, Aemi plots her escape, even going so far as to work with Nol. But the sea holds more secrets than she realizes, and escape might not be as simple as leaving...

Release Date: February 2, 2014
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Add to Goodreads.

Thank you Kate for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

You can learn more about Kate Avery Ellison and her books by visiting her website.

Kate Avery Ellison Book Giveaway

The author is giving away print copies of stand-alone novel A Gift of Poison (US/CA) and a $25 Amazon Gift Card (INTL)!

To enter, use the Rafflecopter form below.   This giveaway is part of the Of Sea and Stone Book Tour, so giveaway winners will be selected by the author or publisher.  Giveaway ends February 19, 2015.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!