So ya'll know that I'm a big fan of 'Spark', debut novel of kiwi writer Rachael Craw (reviewed here - MAD PROPS to Miriam of Create Hope Inspire for recommending this series!). Well I have the total honour of joining the blog tour launch the sequel title, 'Stray', and I'm pleased as punch.
Okay, that's a pretty short review but I really don't want to spoil ANY of it! 'Spark' and 'Stray' are such FUN YA/Sci-fi/Mystery/Thriller/Romance crossovers! I just want you to hurry out and read them both asap, and THEN we can talk about what happens at the end of book two. Trust me, you'll need to talk about it with someone...
"It’s hard to remember hating anything as much as I hate Affinity; a
bone-deep loathing for the faceless unknown and the concrete walls of
my own DNA."
Evie is a Shield: designed to kill in order to protect, and the Affinity Project have finally come for her.
But Evie isn’t ready for the sinister organisation to take control of her life, her body, her mind. She
isn’t ready to follow their rules about who may live and who must die – not when it condemns the
innocent. She has one option: risk losing everything and everyone – including Jamie – and run.
As far as sequels go, 'Stray' is at the top of the pile. It expanded the world of 'Spark' beautifully, with heightened tension, a ton of character development, and some truly lovely writing. The humour got me, and I read most of the book while sitting at the hosp. bed of a loved one, so I needed a bit of that. The book itself was a bit of a lifeline, actually. #grateful.
'Stray' starts in on the action asap - you'll find yourself hooked from the opening pages and then you'll read a teeny few pages more and then you'll look up and it's 10pm and you've forgotten to feed and bathe your children.
I loved getting to know the characters better, and especially enjoyed the dynamic between Evie and Kitty, which has markedly changed since book one (in the BEST way). Evie and Jamie have some really tender moments too, as well as some pretty painful ones. In fact there are a few gut-punches in 'Stray', character-wise, but I'll have to leave ya'll to find those out for yo'selves.
'Stray' starts in on the action asap - you'll find yourself hooked from the opening pages and then you'll read a teeny few pages more and then you'll look up and it's 10pm and you've forgotten to feed and bathe your children.
I loved getting to know the characters better, and especially enjoyed the dynamic between Evie and Kitty, which has markedly changed since book one (in the BEST way). Evie and Jamie have some really tender moments too, as well as some pretty painful ones. In fact there are a few gut-punches in 'Stray', character-wise, but I'll have to leave ya'll to find those out for yo'selves.
Okay, that's a pretty short review but I really don't want to spoil ANY of it! 'Spark' and 'Stray' are such FUN YA/Sci-fi/Mystery/Thriller/Romance crossovers! I just want you to hurry out and read them both asap, and THEN we can talk about what happens at the end of book two. Trust me, you'll need to talk about it with someone...
I was pretty excited to ask Rachael all my burning questions, but then of course I totally blanked and couldn't think of much beyond 'what t.v. shows do you watch?' Yar, I'm totes awesome. Go on, TRUST me with your interviewee! Gracious Rachael went ahead and answered them anyway, which only made me like her more :-D
(I've peppered her interview with some top quality cartooning *wink* - I'm ready to quit my day job, everybody!)
Hi Rachael! I'm so psyched to have you here at The Golden
Adventures! 'Spark' fans are in
for such a treat with 'Stray' (I know that my 15 year old niece is going to
FLIP OUT!), what a perfect sequel!
Thank you so much! I’m thrilled you enjoyed
it and delighted to be visiting your blog! Look I’ve already started on the
exclamation marks!!!
I never felt like you took the obvious plot
route in either 'Spark' or 'Stray'. This was super exciting as a reader, there
was no way I would've guessed where things were gonna end up, in either
book. Did this come down to
meticulous planning, or did you find yourself surprised along the way,
too?
I am a pantser by nature while doing my
best to learn to plot (I’m not very good at it) it’s more like external
processing – I don’t know if I want to go a certain way until I write it. It’s
long winded and painful but currently that is my way of doing things. It may
change. However, yes, I was constantly surprised by things happening,
characters suddenly doing or saying things I hadn’t expected, characters
appearing out of nowhere – the whole bit. I wrote the very first draft of Stray
in the same year I wrote the first draft of Spark so it sat there for nearly 6
years before it got it’s re-write. I found it immensely challenging and
constraining and many times wanted to can it and start fresh but I was too
chicken and bound to a very firm deadline. However, I fought my way through it
and I’m pleased and proud of the outcome.
How long did this series sit in your head
before you started writing?
Not long at all. I woke up from a dream and
started working on it that day but getting it to a readable standard to a
loooong time as I had to learn how to write. I am still learning.
Which is your favourite step in the 'from-idea-to-published-text' process?
Hmmm, such a good question and I would
struggle to choose. There is something incredibly thrilling about first draft
writing, the unknown, the rush of something appearing on the page that you
didn’t expect. I find it very addictive. However, I deeply love the crafting
process, my obsessive personality gets to wallow in a sentence and agonise over
making it perfect. I crave perfection, I’m parched for it. I never reach it but
it is a deeply driving motivation. A gorgeous sentence releases some kind of chemical
joy in my brain. Word lust or something.
Do you ever find Evie (or any of the
other characters) strongly reflecting aspects of yourself, or do they feel
quite separate from you?
I feel intimately bound to all of my
characters. Sometimes I feel like they are all me but in fragments. Miriam is
probably my closest reflection, except for my total lack of ninja moves and
being a complete wuss. I have Kitty’s temperament and sense of humour, Evie has
my pride – my loathing for being made a spectacle of and the echo of my
teen-angst. Though, I wasn’t as together as Evie at 17. She knows her own mind.
I love that about her.
If you were casting director for a film
adaptation of 'Stray', who would you cast as the main players?
Evie and Jamie are up for grabs – I feel
like they would need to be up and comers. I would love Jamie to be properly
English. Miriam I have always fantasized as being played by Jennifer Connelly.
I adore her. In Stray there is a character named Ethan Tesla and I picture him
as someone with the look of Eric Bana or Henry Cavill. I
did a post for Jeann at Happy Indulgence with character profiles for the main
characters and fan-casting/photos to show the look.
I don't get the feeling Evie is really the telly watching type, but if she had a favourite TV guilty pleasure, what would it be?
Ha! Poor Evie, not much time for telly. If
she did, I think she would watch the Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Breaking
Bad. You know, stuff with happy endings. ;-)
And finally, what are your TV/book/music
guilty pleasures?
I don’t have guilty pleasures, mostly
because I am utterly shameless. I super LOVED The 100! I can’t wait for that to
come back on! I ship Bellarke hard! (Clarke & Bellamy). Most people know I
am a ginormous Buffy the Vampire Slayer fangirl. This year I have just started
watching Supernatural. HOLY MOLY, I am beside myself addicted to that show. I
cannot even believe what I have been missing out on!!! I am so profoundly in
love with Dean Winchester I don’t even know what to do with myself … and
Castiel. I cannot take how much I love Cass. I binge watch on Netflix at least
2 episodes a night before I fall asleep. I watch it in the dark on my laptop
with my earphones in and I drive my husband mental by laughing so hard I wake
him up. They do the BEST ever meta-stories where they go into parallel
dimensions where they find themselves as actors in a show called Supernatural,
or stuck in a sitcom, or stuck at a Supernatural convention where everybody is
dressed like them and larping a hunt (Live Action Role Play). It kills me. I
love it so much I just downloaded ‘Carry On My Waywards Son’ as my text alert
and my ringtone is Sam and Dean yelling things like, ‘Answer the freaking
phone’. I’m up to season 7 and season 11 was just released in the states! So
much to look forward to.
In terms of books I have been trying to
broaden my reading in YA fantasy and I am excited for Sarah J Maas next book,
Queen of Shadows. Currently I am reading Garth Nix’s Lirael and really enjoying
it.
Awwww, thanks Rachael! And thank you so much for the opportunity to be part of this tour! Can't WAIT for 'Sheild'! Check out the other interviews and guest posts below x
Stray Blog Tour
September 1
September 2
September 3
September 4
September 5
September 6
September 7
This was such a fun post, Stella. You are hilarious. I love the pics and cartoons!! Amazing :-D
ReplyDeleteGreat review! Love the shout out too, so glad you enjoyed it and you are the finale for the the tour. Standing ovation to you both xx
ReplyDeleteJust ONE THING???!!! WHERE DO WE GET IT???!!! And when. I cannot WAIT.
ReplyDelete