We want to welcome back Yasmine Galenorn, NYT best selling author of the Otherworld/Sister of the Moon series. We previously interviewed Yasmine (click HERE to read interview), and this year we’re excited again to interview Yasmine.
Last year, Yasmine’s debut title of her new Indigo Court series, Night Myst, was released (click HERE to see review). Night Veil, the second title in the series which is released in June, carries on the story of Cicely Waters, a witch who can harness the power of the wind, but who has recently discovered she’s also one of the shifting fae. Here is the blurb for Night Veil:
Cicely Waters had always through she was simply one of the magic-born-a witch who can control the wind-but recently she discovered she’s also one of the shifting Fae. Now she must perfect her gift. Because Cicely and her friends may have escaped from Myst and her Shadow Hunters, but Myst has managed to capture the Fae Prince who holds Cicely’s heart.
Book Pushers: Welcome back to the blog Yasmine! We’re thrilled to have you here again. Can you tell us what Cicely is getting up to in Night Veil, and will there be anymore shocks in store for her? (without giving away spoilers of course ;-))
Yasmine: Oh yes. In Night Veil, Cicely finds out that not all her allies are on her side. The tables turn, allies become enemies, enemies come to her aid. The Indigo Court world is one where illusion runs rampant, where you can’t ever expect anything to stay the same. It’s a world filled with half-truths and shadows. Cicely also discovers more about her paternal heritage—something she’s been wondering about since she was born, and especially since she found out she’s part Cambyra Fae.
Book Pushers: You have stated before that you write for both yourself and for the readers who enjoy your work. What are you hoping your readers get out of Night Veil?
Yasmine: I am striving to create the sense that things can simultaneously get worse and better. To create a world where layer upon layer of realities all blend together. Traveling through the world of the Indigo Court is like traveling in a dream, it’s a world of dimensions colliding, of magic being the norm. In an odd way, the world of the IC reminds me of the movie Inception as far as sorting out what is happening in which reality.
Even the “yummanii” (the “humans”) have their own innate psychic powers. I want people to feel like they’re being sucked deep into a world unlike their own—a world where dark powers rise against each other, where hope is sometimes all you have—but it’s enough to carry you through. I’ve been accused by some reviewers of making my books “too magical” or “too complex” but that’s my voice, my style. That’s what my world vision is like, and my readers seem to love what they read. I write for myself, for my readers…not for the critics.
Book Pushers: How much research do you do for your books? What was the most interesting piece of information you found while researching for Night Veil?
Yasmine: Most of the research for my books comes from my background. I’ve got years of study behind me in magic (modern) and mythology. I’m a trivia buff, so have quite an array of odd facts tucked away in my brain. One of the biggest things that helped me while writing Night Myst—and stood true through Night Veil—was the webcam I watched of Molly the Owl. I watched her from the first clutch, through the second. I watched the owlets push out of egg, I watched her feed them, watched them grow and fledge and leave the nest. Twice. I watched the webcam every day, for hours in the background as I worked. I studied Molly and her children, and really came away with a sense of ‘owlness’—of what an owl’s life is like. In fact, I feel I owe her so much that I dedicated Night Veil to her, though she’ll never, ever know how much she helped me.
Book Pushers: Are you able to tell us any information about the 3rd Indigo Court book?
Yasmine: Not much, except that I had a revelation not long ago about what the heart of the story of Night Seeker will be. I know what needs to happen for the major plot arc now. Since I write organically, and I haven’t started the book, it really hasn’t happened yet. The worlds evolve as I write—I don’t plan out more than the major highlights and some of what I can ‘see’ needs to happen to the characters because I find that I stifle my vision by attempting to plot too heavily.
Book Pushers: Totally off topic of your upcoming release, but what made you and Anya Bast decide to team up for a combined blog “Between Fire and Ice”? I for one am glad you two were able to bring it back. http://fireandicefantasy.blogspot.com/
Yasmine: Anya and I always seem to have similar release dates, we have similar audiences, we usually have the same cover artist, and we both write for Berkley (she also writes for other pubs). I had recruited her into the Witchy Chicks when I was overseeing that blog with my co-founder Linda Wisdom, but the blog ran its course and we closed down. While I am doing a lot of blogging on my personal blog—Life on the Fringe—I do enjoy having a blog with other authors, and it occurred to me it might be fun to start up the Fire & Ice one again with Anya. She liked the idea so we decided to make it simple: two posts a week, one from each of us, and we’ll go from there. We also get along, and that’s a plus.
Book Pushers: Looking over your bibliography, outside of nonfiction, you seem to favor series. What is it that attracts you to the multiple book format over a stand alone novel?
Yasmine: While I have some stand alones I’d like to eventually write, I really do love writing series. When I get to know a character, I like to see how they evolve, where they go. And most of the ideas I have are for a longer series with overreaching story arcs. Most of the stories I want to tell can’t be fully told in 100,000 words. Each book has it’s own story that usually wraps up in that book, but also each book furthers the overall story arc. And I love worldbuilding and it seems like I’ve barely touched the surface of—say—Otherworld, or the Indigo Court world.
Book Pushers: You have been lucky enough to mainly have the same cover artist Tony Mauro for the majority of your books. He has done some incredible artwork! What is the process you go through in regards to your covers, and has that process changed over the years of working with Tony?
Yasmine: I adore Tony’s work and consider myself incredibly lucky to have my books assigned to him. He’s done all of the Otherworld and Indigo Court books. When I received the cover art for Witchling—the first OW book—I cried, I was so happy. He captured Camille down to the core, and I looked him up, emailed him to thank him, and we began to correspond. I began sending him descriptions and excerpts from the books to give him an idea of what was going on, what the mood was. Then I commissioned him to do—for me—pictures of Camille’s husbands—Smoky, Morio, and Trillian, as well as of Maggie (the baby calico gargoyle). I now have postcards of those for people if they want to get them. Instructions on how to send for them can be found on my web site.
The process at first was me sending him a few descriptions and hoping for the best. After awhile, my editor began to talk to me about ideas for the covers. Technically, I get no say in them—most authors never do. But my editor and I talk over what might be cool for the cover and she takes the suggestions to Marketing/the Art Department, and they have the final say.
Book Pushers: Do you have a favourite character of yours that you’re always super excited about when it comes to their story?
Yasmine: Actually yes. Two, in fact. One is Camille—I love Camille, she’s probably the most like me of any of the characters, and while I enjoy writing Menolly’s and Delilah’s books, Camille’s are my favorites. But also—Cicely. Though I’d have to say it’s the Indigo Court world as a whole that I enjoy writing, rather than just her. The series is darker than Otherworld, harsher, and I love to play in the shadows.
Book Pushers: With the influx of Urban Fantasy authors going down the YA genre route, is that something you would ever consider doing in the future?
Yasmine: I thought about it, had thought about trying to make the Indigo Court series a mid-teen read, but you know what? I don’t have that talent. I tend to enjoy the dark too much. I write for adults, though a lot of teens read my work. I don’t have children and my own teen years were screwed up pretty badly. I skipped high school and went straight into college at age fifteen, so I don’t have much to identify with in terms of kids. I don’t think I could do a YA series justice—meaning I don’t think it would come off sounding ‘real.’ I’d always feel like I was having to restrain my nature.
Book Pushers: And our final question: If you could have one power that your characters have in your series, what would it be, and why?
Yasmine: Oh joy, that is a hard one. I think…it would be a toss up between Menolly’s athleticism and strength, and ability to heal up rapidly, and Smoky’s ability to travel through the Ionyc Seas. I don’t know how many times I’ve longed for teleportation, but the scientists are just lagging behind those damned machines! LOL
Thank you for having me. I’d be glad to offer a prize of a $15 Amazon or BN.com gift card to one winner who leaves me a comment or a question (their choice of which store).
Big thanks to Yasmine for the giveaway! I’ll also be giving away a copy of Night Veil from The Book Depository to wherever it ships. Contest is open until the 21st June.
Who is your favorite author and have they influenced your writing?
really looking forward to reading this book and others
I love your books and can’t wait for the next ones to come out. Please keep them coming and I look forward to reading them all. In fact I have my co workers reading them as well. Thank you so much
I am very bad at thinking up questions on the spot, so I’ll just say THANK YOU for being awesome. WITCHLING is amazing so far, I love Camille, and I’m really happy that she ends up (and continues) with three husbands. It’s always fabulous to see positive polyamory in media; I hope it happens more and more often in the future.
I absolutely adore your books and am anxiously awaiting your latest ones.
Have you ever suffered from writer’s block and if so how to you break through it?
Also who would you say inspired your writing the most?
Hey Yasmine! For starters, I’d just love to say how much I love your world! I get sucked in and I LOVE IT!!!
As for my question, how did you know that writing was your “path” in life?
I absolutely love your books and get each one as soon as it comes out. My son also loves them and we both try to read the new one first but I usually get them first just because I am the one that buys them so I can start it before he gets home. Thank you for all the great books.
Hi Yasmine. Great interview. Night Veil sounds good. I love the cover.
Crystal816[at}hotmail[dot}com
Thanks, everybody! Glad to be here today.
To answer a couple questions:
My favorite author/biggest influence: Ray Bradbury. He taught me that words can sing like music.
Writers block: No, I don’t have a problem with that. Now and then when I feel stuck, it’s because the story’s gone off track. I go back to where it was working and go from there and fix it. But that doesn’t happen often.
Thrilled you love the books. I hope to keep them coming. 😉
Yasmine
Hi Yasmine! So, I’m interested in where the character of Maggie is going to end up. Do you have something cool in store for her?
Completely awesomesauce. My question is, how hard was it for you to initially get published? You say you write around three books a year, is that tough on you or do you just seem to never run out of steam?
Hello Yasmine!
Congratulations on the release of Night Veil! I love the blurb and cover! I can’t wait to see how Cicely gets her prince back.
My question is silly and girly but I’ll kick myself if I don’t ask it. Who made that awesome lipcolor you are wearing in your author photo? I love that color. Like I said, silly/girly question. LOL Thanks! 😉
Great giveaway! I’ve been looking forward to more of Cicely’s story for a while now:)
Good reading ~ Escape by Fiction 🙂
Ionyc Seas!? Now that just sounds perfect right now! I need to start reading these books 🙂
Heidi: Maggie will grow very very slowly, since gargoyles in my world mature at a very slow rate. She won’t be out of toddler stage for decades, so probably in the life of the series, she won’t be advancing too much beyond where she is. That isn’t to say I won’t ever write a story set in the future where she grows up. 😉
Dez: It took me many years to get pubbed, I have 7 novels in the closet I wrote before ever getting my first book contract. I wanted to be a writer from the time I was 3 so took me a long time to develop my skill. And yes, writing three books a year is taxing on me. I work between 55-80 hours a week. But I enjoy the pressure, for the most part.
Stacie: It’s M.A.C.’s pro lustre longwear lacquer in alta moda, which is a discontinued color. I stocked up and have enough for a few more years, thank the gods. LOL
Thanks for all the comments.
Yasmine
I loved Night Myst and was very surprised at how much darker it was compairing to OW series. Also loved your vampires – they were so creeptastic! :))
Thank you for the giveaway!
Karina
Hi Yasmine – best wishes on the new release. I’m up to date on the Sisters of the Moon series, but I haven’t tried the Indigo Court yet. I love darker stories, so I really should give it a try. I’m glad you chose to keep it as an adult series. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of YA and it seems that so many authors are going that route lately due to publishing pressures.
Are there any authors out there that have written characters that you’d like to see interact with any of yours in a story?
Teleportation! I would love to be able to do that! *_* It could be so useful…sigh
Oh! And I would also love to be able to time travel!
Thank you for the interview and giveaway! 😀
Giada M.
Hi Yasmine, great to learn more details in each interview about you and your writing style. I think I’m going to read Night Myst when the sun is shining the whole day. Do you also plan on having postcards of Menolly, Camille and Delilah?
kara-karina: in my worlds, yes, vampires are predators above and beyond anything. They aren’t just humans with funny teeth.
JenM: I am glad I kept it an adult series too. That’s what I write best.
Leni: No. I don’t like mashups, to be honest.
Giada: LOL, yes, I’d LOVE to have teleportation.
Yasmine
I enjoyed the interview, and I’d love a teleportation machine too, or just the ability to teleport even. It would make life so much easier.
Barbed1951 at aol dot com
This is a new series for me…it sounds very addicting!
mmafsmith at gmail dot com
Thank you for introducing the series and author to me. The intertiew really gave me a sense of where the author is coming from and where she is going in her stories. “Knowing” the author is something that really resonate with me when I am reading a book. Thank you Yasmine!
I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this series, and I hope to win Night Veil.
cambonified (at) yahoo (dot) com
Would you ever do a series of paranormal in the historical or future tense? Thanks!
Hollybwright at comcast dotnet
Nice to see more people here!
Holly–I would probably consider a future-oriented paranormal series. Not sure about historical but I wouldn’t rule it out altogether.
Yasmine
I am so glad that you are so up front and accessible to your fans! You are not only an amazing writer, but an amazing person to share so much of your self to the world! Thank you for being you!!
Looking forward to reading this book. Sounds great!
Thanks for taking the time to do this interview and offering a giveaway. The new book sounds awesome and I’ve got it on my to read list. By the way, I loved your blog on getting immersed in your writing.
i am (joyfully) amazed at how you bring to life your otherworlds. my question is, how do you keep seperate your personal life/world & the otherworlds of camille & cicely?
Once again you have given us another peek into your world. Thank you!
The ARC for Night Veil was wonderful. Hexed was fabulous.
I am constantly amazed how you ‘become’ the Characters. Iris has so much going on and you just hit every time with each of them.
Thank you for sharing yourself with us!
Jenni
Great interview!
I’m really looking forward to reading your next book.
Love love love the OW series…I just bought the first book in the Indigo Court series, and can’t wait to get involved in that world as well. Thanks so much for feeding my addiction!!
I love your books! I was hooked from the beginning and your books just keep getting better and better. Congratulations on your newest release!
Jonquil: LOL, well, I don’t go out demon hunting, and I don’t have three husbands, and I don’t hang out with vampires, so keeping the worlds separate isn’t that hard. 😉 But seriously, a writer’s always writing.
Thanks everybody–so glad you like the books!
Yasmine
I haven’t read any of your books yet, but I do have five of the first six books of the Otherworld series and book one of the Indigo Court series on my TBR shelf in my library! So I will get to them and can’t wait to read them!
Your books are amazing! Thank you for keeping me on the edge of my seat! It is great to find such powerful women in books!
So cool to see how many more people are as excited about this Author as I am 🙂
Shows how great she is !
What a great interview, I like it! I would love to be entered in the giveaway.
Have a wonderful day:-)
mysteriousrose.blogspot.com
Yasmine! Love your books!!!! My question to you (I know you’ve asked it of your readers before so I’m turning the tables on you *giggles in glee*) What animal would you want to shift into, if you could shift?
ladyd2206 at yahoo dot com
I always really enjoy your books Yasmine! I’m rereading OW now and waiting for Night Veil!
Hi Yasmine =) I have not read any of your books (yet) =) They are new to me and by what I’ve been reading around the blogs..they’re really good. I do like paranormal. I love the cover of your recent book. Very yummy! I look forward to reading some of your books. Thanks so much for sharing and the giveaway.
I knew I should have taken Magic 101 at school! =)
Yasmine, if you could have a literary/fictional crossover, which character would you like to borrow for a bit and welcome to your series as either a best friend, villain, nemesis or love interest? 🙂
Thank you for the great giveaway!
stella.exlibris (at) gmail (dot) com
Realy enjoyed this interview .Have a fantastic weekend
flanagan@mebtel.net