I've been anticipating the moment I could share this with you guys for quite some time. I'd never heard of Last Song Before Night before learning that Rockstar Book Tours was looking for blog tour stops. After I read the synopsis, I simply knew that I had to try to get a spot. Everything about this book, from the synopsis and beginning chapters (which you can read at Tor.com) to the cover drew me in.
I'll be honest, I didn't read the answers to any of my interview questions until I began formatting this article. I'm thrilled with some of the answers she gave both as a reader and a writer; this interview really has something for both (which was the goal) and I very much enjoyed getting a peek into Last Song Before Night's journey. My thanks goes to Rockstar Book Tours for letting me in on the awesome blog tour, to Miss Myer for answering my questions, and to Tor for giving us the chance to read this novel!
Don't forget to stick around for the giveaway. Three finished copies of Last Song Before Night are up for grabs so make sure you enter the giveaway, and check out the other tour stops.
Published by Tor
Publication Date: September 29th, 2015
Pages: 416
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A high fantasy following a young woman’s defiance of her culture as she undertakes a dangerous quest to restore her world’s lost magic.
Her name was Kimbralin Amaristoth: sister to a cruel brother, daughter of a hateful family. But that name she has forsworn, and now she is simply Lin, a musician and lyricist of uncommon ability in a land where women are forbidden to answer such callings—a fugitive who must conceal her identity or risk imprisonment and even death.
On the eve of a great festival, Lin learns that an ancient scourge has returned to the land of Eivar, a pandemic both deadly and unnatural. Its resurgence brings with it the memory of an apocalypse that transformed half a continent. Long ago, magic was everywhere, rising from artistic expression—from song, from verse, from stories. But in Eivar, where poets once wove enchantments from their words and harps, the power was lost. Forbidden experiments in blood divination unleashed the plague that is remembered as the Red Death, killing thousands before it was stopped, and Eivar’s connection to the Otherworld from which all enchantment flowed, broken.
The Red Death’s return can mean only one thing: someone is spilling innocent blood in order to master dark magic. Now poets who thought only to gain fame for their songs face a challenge much greater: galvanized by Valanir Ocune, greatest Seer of the age, Lin and several others set out to reclaim their legacy and reopen the way to the Otherworld—a quest that will test their deepest desires, imperil their lives, and decide the future.
Interview
Let me just say that Last Song Before Night’s synopsis had me hooked from the moment I read it. What was the inspiration behind the novel?
Thank you, Stephanie. By the way, any devotee of Lord of the Rings is all right with me! (Good to know. I shall remember this, Miss Myer.)
There were multiple inspirations for Last Song Before Night, like ingredients in a stew. There was my encounter with Celtic myth, specifically with their idea of poets who wielded power in society. There was my longtime fascination with the troubadours of medieval France. And binding these was my complicated relationship with writing--this unreasonable thing I needed to do, that dictated every life choice and meant I was working in a dead-end job and living in a basement apartment with roommates. Exploring this need to create, through the vehicle of mythology and fantasy, was my original inspiration.
Are there any authors who have directly or indirectly helped you keep going when you may have wanted to give up? Or did you never hit that point with this novel?
Because the book was so many years in the writing—I was building a journalism career and doing whatever I could to pay bills at the same time—there were many times when after a long forced break from the novel, I’d feel disconnected from it, unable to see what had drawn me to work on it on the first place. Every time this happened, I would read the entire manuscript again from the beginning. The outcome was always the same: I would be reminded why I was writing the book in the first place.
What was your approach to writing and revising? Did you develop the characters first? The world? Plot?
I’d say it all developed pretty simultaneously. I started with some ideas for the world, a few characters, and started plotting out the story. I’d plot a few steps ahead, write, repeat. Most of that first draft survives only in bits and pieces throughout the final novel—I revised it several times.
How long did it take you to write Last Song Before Night - from the planning stages/first draft to the final product?
It took seven years to write Last Song Before Night from beginning to end, then a year or so more of revisions.
I don’t generally read excerpts, but I took the opportunity to read part of the first chapter. Right off the bat, it looks like there are quite a few moving parts in Last Song Before Night. Can you reveal any additional information about the characters or the book that the synopsis doesn’t offer?
Your perception is right—there’s a lot going on. One thing I delight in is surprising the reader, so I don’t want to reveal much. But I will say that Last Song Before Night is a journey in more than one sense—the characters end up in places that are not apparent at the start.
There is a lot to look at with the book’s cover. Personally, I adore it and it really sets quite the tone for the novel. Do you feel like it’s an accurate representation of your work?
I could not have been luckier with the cover—sometimes I have to pinch myself. It is absolutely accurate in terms of atmosphere, almost to an eerie degree.
You may have already answered this next question somewhere but, if you have, I couldn’t find the answer. Can we expect a sequel or series of novels, or is Last Song Before Night a standalone novel?
The answer is: Both! Last Song Before Night is an independent story with its own beginning, middle, and end—but it is also the first of a trilogy.
About the Author
Ilana C. Myer has written for the Globe and Mail, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Salon, and the Huffington Post. Previously she was a freelance journalist in Jerusalem for the Jerusalem Post, the Jewish Daily Forward, Time Out Israel and other publications. She lives in New York City.
Ilana was born in New York but grew up in Jerusalem, Israel, where she spent her teen years haunting secondhand bookstores in search of books written in English—especially fantasy. It was in one of these shops that she discovered David Eddings and realized that epic fantasy continued after Tolkien, and from there went on to make such marvelous discoveries as Tad Williams, Robin Hobb, and Guy Gavriel Kay.
Since learning to read, Ilana had decided she would write books, but during college in New York City was confronted with the reality of making rent, and worked as a receptionist, administrative assistant, and executive assistant where she on occasion picked up dry cleaning. She afterwards found more fulfillment as a journalist in Jerusalem where she covered social issues, the arts, and innovations in technology, and co-founded the Middle East environment blog, Green Prophet. It was during these years in Jerusalem, on stolen time, that Last Song Before Night took shape.
She writes as Ilana Teitelbaum for various outlets, but decided early on—since the days of haunting bookstores, in fact—that “Teitelbaum” was too long for a book cover. “Myer” is a variation on the maiden name of her grandmother, whose family was exterminated in Germany. It is a family with a long history of writers, so it seems appropriate to give credit—or blame—where it’s due.
Week One:
9/21/2015- Library of a Book Witch - Interview
9/22/2015- A Book and a Latte - Guest Post
9/23/2015- A Trail of Books Left Behind - Review
9/24/2015- Working for the Mandroid - Review
9/25/2015- Chasm of Books- Interview
Week Two:
9/28/2015- Galleywampus - Review
9/29/2015- DanaSquare - Guest Post
9/30/2015- Fic Gal - Review
10/1/2015- The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club - Interview
10/2/2015- History from a Woman's Perspective - Review
*Please be aware that Chasm of Books is not responsible for distributing the prize and is not privy to any information you enter into the rafflecopter form, nor is it liable for the use of any information provided therein.*
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