I am so very excited to be taking part in the blog tour for the wonderful The Last Namsara! I adored this book and I was so excited when I got the chance to pick Kristen Ciccarelli's brain for more information about her book! If you haven't read The Last Namsara, I really can't recommend it enough! There be dragons in it! Dragons!!!
But first, here is my interview with the lovely Kristen Ciccarelli!
Hi Kristen! Thank you so much for answering all my
fangirly questions! It’s a real pleasure to have you here today!
Thank you for asking
them! It’s a pleasure. :)
For those who haven’t read The Last Namsara, can you tell us
a little about your wonderful book?
The Last Namsara is
about a dragon slayer who must hunt down the deadliest dragon of all and bring
her father its head, or she’ll be forced into a political marriage!
The Last Namsara has the most amazing setting - I adore your
world building! Especially the fact that, in this world, certain stories
are dangerous and can get you killed. Where did the idea for the world
and story come from?
Thank you so much! I
essentially stole the story from my own life. I’ve spent a lot of my life being
ashamed of the things I love most: creativity, imagination, and storytelling.
So when I started writing The Last Namsara, I wanted to explore a world where
these things actually were shameful. So I made them dangerous things that get
people hurt. That way I could write a protagonist who was a) good at wielding
these stories and b) ashamed of herself as a result—like I was. That was how it
started. And then I built the world around that character and concept.
Ok, so anyone who knows me is aware of my dragon obsession
(it’s alarming, honestly). Where did you get the inspiration for the
dragons in your story?!
I was completely
dragon-obsessed growing up. So obsessed, in fact, that my art teacher actually
banned me from drawing them for all of high school (I kept sneaking them into
my projects). I first fell in love with Smaug, then Draco (from Dragonheart—I
can still recite the old code off by heart, lol) and Toothless. So in lots of
ways, my dragons were influenced by the dragons I grew up loving. Where my
dragons differ, though, is in the fact that they’re lured by stories. They
covet stories the way traditional dragons covet treasure.
The Last Namsara has a cast of amazingly badass girls!
Are they inspired by yourself, anyone you know or a kick-arse girl of
YA?
All of the above, but
most especially: I wanted to write the kinds of girls I needed growing up. I
will never forget the day I read the chapter in LotR when Eowyn defeats the
Witch King. Eowyn gets hardly any page time in that series, and yet there she
was, a girl doing what no one else could do. Vanquishing a monster. It felt
like Tolkien was throwing me a bone, you know? I clung to that bone. I clung to
all the girls wielding weapons and going up against monsters and tyrants
(Eowyn, Sabriel, Lyra—to name just a few). These girls were my mirrors. They
showed me what I was capable of.
I know it’s like making you choose between your babies, but
do you have a favourite character in The Last Namsara?
Definitely Asha. She’s
so strong and fierce and ambitious, yet so wounded and vulnerable. I feel a bit
protective of her. Torwin is a close second, though. :)
You are an amazing writer - do you have a favourite thing
about being an author?
You are very kind! And
this is a really good question. I think my favourite thing about being an
author is hearing from readers—especially young adult readers. It’s amazing to
me knowing there are people out there (sometimes on the other side of the
world!) reading my story and getting what they need from it.
What advice would you give to all the aspiring fantasy
writers out there?
Don’t be afraid of
failure. (All the best things come out of failure.) And definitely don’t let it
stop you. If you write because you love it, if you truly deeply believe in your
stories, if you stay hungry & improve your craft, then you’ll make it. It
might take a while, but you’ll get there.
While we’re on the topic of authors and writing, what has
been your top read of 2017 so far? The Last Namsara is one of my
favourites!
Oh gosh. This is such
a tough question! Most of my favourite reads this year are actually books
coming out in 2018, so it doesn’t feel fair to list them here. I think my top
read of 2017 is FIRE BLOOD by Elly Blake. If you like Kristin Cashore’s books,
chances are high that you’ll like this book too.
A suitably fantastical penultimate question: If you could
have any mythical creature as a pet, which would you have? And, to the
surprise of no one, I would have a dragon.
Definitely a dragon! I
mean, it could a) protect me, b) fly me places, and c) keep me warm by making
fires. ;)
Finally... what can we expect from book two of the trilogy?
Any chance we could get a little spoiler?
Book two, The Caged
Queen, picks up right where The Last Namsara leaves off, only its told from
Roa’s point of view. You get more of Asha and the dragons, but you also get to
learn who the mysterious Roa is, why
she makes a certain deal with Asha’s brother in book one, and what the
consequences of that deal are.
---
Ah, I can't wait for The Caged Queen! Thank you so much for letting me pick your brain, Kristen! And everyone, go read The Last Namsara! I know I've already said this, but it bears repeating: There are dragons!
Everyone, definitely check out Kristen's website, follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and add The Last Namsara to your Goodreads TBR ASAP list!
Oh, and check out the awesome The Last Namsara official book trailer too! God, I love this book!
Happy Reading Everyone!
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