I am really excited to welcome Jodi Meadows to the blog. Jodi kindly agreed to do an interview with me, and she's a wonderful author. I'll leave her official bio below, but Jodi has written the Newsoul trilogy. This series is incredible- I have a review of Incarnate posted here, but it is fantastic. I have never read such a uniquely designed world, and Ana is an incredibly protagonist. She has an amazing intrinsic strength despite opposition. This series is full of characters that are interesting to read about. With the release of the last book in the trilogy, Infinite, upon us, I've truly enjoyed participating in the readathon! There's currently a readathon of this series going on, which is how I've discovered and fallen in love with these books, so I would definitely suggest you pick them up! Also, the covers for this series are some of my favorites, so enjoy! The trilogy consists of three full length books and a novella, Phoenix Overture.
Here's a little bit about Jodi from her website!
The official stuff:
Jodi Meadows lives and writes in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, with her husband, a Kippy*, and an alarming number of ferrets. She is a confessed book addict, and has wanted to be a writer ever since she decided against becoming an astronaut.
*A Kippy is a cat.
The unofficial stuff:
Like many writers, I’ve always wanted to do this professionally. You know, after I decided against being an astronaut.
Unlike many writers, I didn’t skip straight from picture books to adult novels. I have fond memories of going to Bookstop every month for the latest Baby-Sitters Club (which I kept reading, even after I realized they were never going to let the paranormal elements be real), and even fonder memories of hanging out in my middle school library. The librarians probably knew exactly what they were doing when they suggested book after book and discussed them with me at length. I, of course, had no clue they were turning me into a book addict, but it worked out for the best. Once I found the books where magic and other fantastic elements were real, I was hooked.
When I was twenty, I met a boy, moved 1,500 miles, and married him all within six months. I now realize that was crazy and dangerous, but it seemed natural at the time and, again, worked out for the best. Not only did we stay madly in love, he worked full time at a hard job so I could stay home to write books and, hopefully, one day get published.
The other crazy thing we did was fall in love with ferrets. They have their own bedroom.
My hobbies, aside from spending all my money on books and Kippy/ferret treats, revolve around yarn. I love crocheting, knitting, and spinning. In addition to several handspindles, I share my living room with a spinning wheel named Bob.
Visit Jodi Meadows's Website
And now, to the interview!
Hi! Thank you so much for taking the time to join us!
Congratulations on Infinite's release! This is an incredible series, and
reading along and the live shows have been such a great way to discover this
world.
Which character was the easiest, and which the most difficult to
write?
Ana was probably both
of those. Her voice came naturally to me, but emotionally she was often very
difficult to write; she's been through so much abuse. Digging into her
motivations, reactions, emotions, and fears was really sad. Fortunately, she's
a very strong person and she began overcoming her past!
Did any of your characters develop differently than what you'd
expected as the story progressed?
Absolutely. I didn't
expect Cris to play such a large role in the story, but in the beginning of
ASUNDER when he walked on, I knew that something was
going to happen with him.
How did writing the Incarnate series help you grow as an author?
It taught me a lot
about writing what I love, and not worrying what other people might think about
my story. It's my story first, and if I don't enjoy
writing it, no one is going to enjoy reading it. Later, when I've revised it
and had time to begin separating myself from the story -- then it can belong to
other people, too. But first it has to be mine.
What does your writing process look like?
It's different with
every book! There's a saying that goes something like, You don't learn to write
books; you just learn to write this book.
That's really true for
me, too. But with a lot of books lately, I do better if I plan ahead what's
going to happen, what kind of things need to be revealed, and what the ending
will be like. I don't need to know everything, and there is certainly room for surprises,
but I need to have a solid roadmap before I start.
What inspired the idea of sylph?
The sylph just sort of
appeared in the first chapter as I was daydreaming the beginning. I knew there
had to be something in the woods that would frighten Ana and get her into
trouble. It took a while before I figured out what they were, or even what to
call them. (There are actual mythological creatures called sylph -- spirits of
the air -- but there's so little lore on them, I felt comfortable making them my
own.)
What is one aspect of your books you wish existed in our world?
Dragons!
I suppose that's going
to be an unpopular answer.
I know you mentioned your love of dragons in the last live show,
are there any dragon characters you've read that are your particular favorites?
Oh gosh, yes, I love
lots of fictional dragons. Smaug, of course (he's been on my mind), and the
dragons from SERAPHINA by Rachel Hartman, and . . . I don't know. There are so
many excellent dragons, and I'm blanking on names right now. *gulps coffee*
Congratulations on your new duology! The Orphan Queen releases
in 2015, and while the synopsis sounds awesome, is there anything more you can
tell us about the protagonist?
Yay, thanks! I'm super
excited about this story. Umm, the protagonist. Well, she's really good with
daggers. And with pens. She has an obsession with forgery and writing in other
people's handwriting, so because of her, I ended up buying a lot of dip pens and
ink to learn more about what she was doing.
How has it felt to start a new series after Infinite?
Good! A little scary.
There's always the worry that people won't like it as much as the INCARNATE
trilogy, but . . . it's a good second series, I think. And I really hope people
will like it.
What are some of your favorite YA books you'd recommend?
I have a huge list of
recommendations! But some I'm doing events with soon:
EVERNEATH by Brodi
Ashton
DEFIANCE by CJ Redwine
HOURGLASS by Myra
McEntire
THESE BROKEN STARS by
Meagan Spooner and Amie Kaufman
I've seen quite a lot of ferret love from you on Twitter and you
said you would dress as a ferret for the Incarnate masquerade. When did you get
your ferrets?
I've
had ferrets for a little over ten years now! I don't know. They just seemed
like my kind of pets.
Thank you to Jodi Meadows for stopping by. I real love reading this series, so I was so excited to be able to have an interview with you!
Now, for everyone, I'm going to leave you with the summary and link to the first book. Hope you enjoyed this interview, and if you've read the Newsoul trilogy, I'd love to discuss it!
NEWSOUL
Ana is new. For thousands of years in Range, a million souls have been reincarnated over and over, keeping their memories and experiences from previous lifetimes. When Ana was born, another soul vanished, and no one knows why.
NOSOUL
Even Ana's own mother thinks she's a nosoul, an omen of worse things to come, and has kept her away from society. To escape her seclusion and learn whether she'll be reincarnated, Ana travels to the city of Heart, but its citizens are afraid of what her presence means. When dragons and sylph attack the city, is Ana to blame?
HEART
Sam believes Ana's new soul is good and worthwhile. When he stands up for her, their relationship blooms. But can he love someone who may live only once, and will Ana's enemies—human and creature alike—let them be together? Ana needs to uncover the mistake that gave her someone else's life, but will her quest threaten the peace of Heart and destroy the promise of reincarnation for all?
Jodi Meadows expertly weaves soul-deep romance, fantasy, and danger into an extraordinary tale of new life.
Incarnate on Goodreads
From the paper world,
V
Raffe is hilarious, strong, and surprisingly tender throughout Angelfall. He has some really adorable moments, but he is also a tough warrior with a very sarcastic side. The banter between him and Penryn is probably one of my favorite aspects of this novel, and I would love to travel around with Raffe and trade wit. He's also got a soft side, and there are glimpses of that throughout the book that made me want to hug him. So, I think that Raffe would definitely have to be one of my book boyfriend picks thus far in 2014.
Ah, another hilarious and sarcastic one with a sweet side. Yes, Thorne made himself my favorite character in this book. He's got a very dry wit, yet also is capable of gentleness and compassion. Thorne is a character that I love because he's very funny and snarky, but also because he's more than what many people think of him. He's brave and intelligent, very resourceful, and even if he isn't the best at something he's determined to try. Thorne radiates charisma and charm, but beneath all the fluff he's also got a lot of strong qualities. I can't wait to read more about him in Winter!
Ok, so I'm reading this book now, and I'm only just over 50 pages in. But, Warner has been a favorite of mine since Shatter Me. Before Destroy Me even came out I wanted to know more about Warner because who Juliet thought he was didn't seem to match with some of what Warner said and did. He is passionate and complicated, but he's also got a sensitivity and understanding to him that makes him an even more amazing character. And yes, I'm loving him so far in this book and will continue to do so. Warner is a fantastic book boyfriend! Also, thus far in Ignite Me, he has stolen every scene he is in and definitely remained my favorite character in this series- Warner is absolutely wonderful!
Look who is number one on the book boyfriend list. Morpheus, you aren't even surprised, are you? If you look in some other blog posts, you'll see constant mentions of Splintered, Unhinged, The Moth in the Mirror, and general Morpheus love. I've even written a love letter to him as a challenge for the Love-A-Thon. Morpheus is witty, dark, mysterious, and yet is loving and loyal. One can never guess what Morpheus will do, but he has certainly swept me off my feet. He will probably be my number one book boyfriend for a long time to come, so Morpheus will certainly be staying around the blog and fluttering through more posts! Also, this cover features Morpheus!
