Book Tour Q&A: Birth of the Storm by Valerie Storm
Today we're taking part in the book tour organized by Escapist Book Tours for Birth of the Storm by Valerie Storm! Continue reading for the book blurb and a Q&A with the author.
About the book
Kari, a young wolf demon, learns her parents’ isolation is justified when they’re killed by humans from the village near their mountain home—humans who found them because of Kari’s carelessness. With her dying breath, Kari’s mother orders her to shift into human form so that the humans might spare her. Kari allows herself to be rescued from the snowy woods, vowing to seek revenge one day.
As she grows older and stronger, Kari befriends Kiki, a village outcast who accepts Kari for who she truly is and what she’s vowed to do. The girls plan to see the world together once Kari can fulfill her need for vengeance…but destiny has another plan in mind.
On to the interview...!
This is one of our standard podcast opening questions, so we’ll include it for written interviews as well! Tell us something great that’s happened recently! :)
Lately there’s been sooo much! Specifically I got a new job at a school, which is where I’ve wanted to work since I started going to university!
What are you currently reading or what’s up next on your TBR? What made you pick up this book?
I’m reading quite a few books, honestly. I started Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber, but I’m also reading a lot of indie books like Embers of Fate, Keeper of the Fallen, and Children of the Outback.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what inspired you to start writing?
I’m Valerie, or Jen! I love video games (particularly of the RPG type, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Disgaea), reading, and obviously writing. I also watch a lot of anime, which is part of what got me started on writing. I fell in love with Inuyasha and wanted to make my own version, essentially.
Writing is a hard and lonely affair in the best of circumstances. How do you achieve a good work/life/writing balance?
I’ve made a lot of friends in the Writing Community on Twitter, and that has helped a LOT with the lonely side. In real life it’s a little harder because my family didn’t really “get” the whole writing thing; after I published, though, they kind of took it more seriously! My husband’s understanding has really lightened the load on my shoulders, just by giving me the confidence.
In your opinion, what kind of reader would like this book?
Readers who are okay with hardship and darkness, someone who wants a companion to face the tough parts of life with. Possibly most anime fans too, I think!
What would you like readers to take away from this book?
I want readers to read Birth of the Storm and realize that while the world is hard, we have to face our inner darkness and find the light, and sometimes we need help to do it.
How much do you plan when you write? What’s your writing process like?
I kind of write off-the-cuff. I may plan a skeleton outline, but usually I let the characters do what they want and rein them in later.
Is this your first book? If so, what lessons have you learned from writing it? If not, what lessons did you learn from writing earlier books that you brought into this one?
Technically Birth of the Storm is my first book, but I’ve written much more in the process of editing and preparing BotS for publishing. In writing more of the series at once, I learned the importance of planning for longer series. Even just writing those skeleton stories helped me realize points I had to nail down in the beginning for it all to tie together.
Do you usually write to background noise, music, etc. or do you prefer silence?
Usually I use music for my planning, especially if I’m stuck on a scene! When I’m actually writing, I pretty much need silence.
How much of yourself do you write into your stories?
Almost all of me. Every character has a piece of me. Kari has the majority, but major and side characters have splashes of my personality stretched to different situations.
They say to never judge a book by its cover and maybe that’s true in the philosophical sense, but it certainly happens with books. Can you tell us about the idea behind the cover of your book?
I wanted Birth of the Storm’s cover to be pensive, maybe a little bit melancholy with a hint of a “brighter future.” I wanted there to be many colors and far sights, smaller details that second-time readers might pick up on.
One of our favorite things is sharing quotes from what we’re reading that really resonate with us. Do you have a favorite quote from your book that you can share with us? What about this quote in particular makes it your favorite?
My preference for these shifts all the time. Right now I’m loving:
“I saw the arrow on the door and figured they must have missed. Honestly, they’re terrible shots.”
This is a line from late in the book, and it’s the beginning of a bit of a running joke throughout the series wherein Lord Ari’s men are all terrible at archery, no matter how much they train.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer a few questions for us! We always enjoy this little peek behind the curtain. Do you have any parting thoughts or comments you’d like to leave for our readers?
I’m so happy to be able to do things like these! I’d want to tell readers thank you, thank you for supporting writers like me, even just by following us on Twitter and reading blogs like these! It means the world to us to know our words are reaching other people.
And finally, where can you be found on the internet if our readers want to hear more from you?
I’m mostly on Twitter at @Valerie_Storm!
Where to buy the book:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Birth-Storm-Demon-Book-ebook/dp/B09ZZ9HJPZ/
Publisher Direct: https://shadowsparkpub.com/valerie-storm/#birth