Books for YA!: Author's Slambook: Jay Kristoff + Giveaway

Author Bio
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Jay Kristoff is the author of THE LOTUS WAR trilogy, a Japanese-inspired steampunk fantasy published by Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press & Tor UK. The first installment, STORMDANCER, is out now. Part 2, entitled KINSLAYER, will be released in September 2013.

Jay is 6’7 and has approximately 13870 days to live. He abides in Melbourne with his secret agent kung-fu assassin wife, and the world’s laziest Jack Russell.

He does not believe in happy endings.

Favorite

1. What is your favorite color? Black

2. Favorite food? My wife’s homemade pizza

3. Favorite movie of all time? All time? Wow. Um, let’s go with Empire Strikes Back.

4. Favorite song? New Day by Karnivool.

5. Favorite book of all time? Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak

All about Writing

1. How did your interest in writing originated?

I used to write for fun – I used to do a lot of gaming, and I basically learned how to world build by playing D&D. I also used to write for a living, working in an advertising agency. But using my mad skillz to try to coerce people into buying crap they don’t need with money they don’t have seemed a little hollow. So I decided to write for myself.

2. What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

If I’m not sleeping, working, eating, walking the dog or hanging out with my wife/friends, I’m writing. I probably average 5 hours a day. I write pretty much all day on weekends. But starting out, I just used to write an hour a day. STORMDANCER was basically written on my lunchbreaks at work.

3. Do you work with outline or just write?

Mostly just write. I like surprising myself.

4. What was the hardest part in writing your book? The easiest?

The easiest part was the first chapter. The hardest was writing “THE END”. Starting to write a book is really easy. Getting through it and actually finishing it is the tough part.

5. What do you like to do when you're not writing?

I’m a huge nerd. Anything nerdy, I’m probably into it. I wish there was two of me, so one of me could spend his time playing video games and cards. Alas! Cloning is illegal!

Finish the sentence

1. The difference between fiction and reality is subjective.

2. Research is what I'm doing when starting.

3. I can write better when it’s dark.

4. Sleep is an excellent way to waste time.

5. A room without a book is a really bad library.

Books

Title: Stormdancer (The Lotus War #1)
Genre/s: Young Adult, Steampunk, Science Fiction
Publisher: Thomas Dunnes Books
Date Published: September 18, 2013
Buy: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Book Depo
Synopsis:

A DYING LAND

The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever.

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST

The hunters of Shima’s imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.

A HIDDEN GIFT

Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.

But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.

Title: Kinslayer (The Lotus War #2)

Genre/s: Young Adult, Steampunk, Science Fiction

Publisher: Thomas Dunnes Books

Expected Publication: September 17, 2013

Buy: Amazon | Barnes&Noble | Book Depo

Synopsis

A SHATTERED EMPIRE

The mad Shōgun Yoritomo has been assassinated by the Stormdancer Yukiko, and the threat of civil war looms over the Shima Imperium. The Lotus Guild conspires to renew the nation’s broken dynasty and crush the growing rebellion simultaneously – by endorsing a new Shōgun who desires nothing more than to see Yukiko dead.

A DARK LEGACY

Yukiko and the mighty thunder tiger Buruu have been cast in the role of heroes by the Kagé rebellion. But Yukiko herself is blinded by rage over her father’s death, and her ability to hear the thoughts of beasts is swelling beyond her power to control. Along with Buruu, Yukiko’s anchor is Kin, the rebel Guildsman who helped her escape from Yoritomo’s clutches. But Kin has his own secrets, and is haunted by visions of a future he’d rather die than see realized.

A GATHERING STORM

Kagé assassins lurk within the Shōgun’s palace, plotting to end the new dynasty before it begins. A waif from Kigen’s gutters begins a friendship that could undo the entire empire. A new enemy gathers its strength, readying to push the fracturing Shima imperium into a war it cannot hope to survive. And across raging oceans, amongst islands of black glass, Yukiko and Buruu will face foes no katana or talon can defeat.

The ghosts of a blood-stained past.