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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Blog Tour- SHADOW SCALE by Rachel Hartman An Interview and A Giveaway!


I am so excited to be able to host a stop on the SHADOW SCALE Blog Tour! I loved SERAPHINA and the finale in the duology was just as awesome!! I have an interview with Rachel today. Make sure to enter the giveaway below for a copy of the book courtesy of Random House!

Haven't heard of SHADOW SCALE? Check it out!


Title: SHADOW SCALE
Author: Rachel Hartman
Pub. Date: March 10, 2015
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Pages: 608
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook
Seraphina took the literary world by storm with 8 starred reviews and numerous “Best of” lists. At last, her eagerly awaited sequel has arrived—and with it comes an epic battle between humans and dragons.

The kingdom of Goredd: a world where humans and dragons share life with an uneasy balance, and those few who are both human and dragon must hide the truth. Seraphina is one of these, part girl, part dragon, who is reluctantly drawn into the politics of her world. When war breaks out between the dragons and humans, she must travel the lands to find those like herself—for she has an inexplicable connection to all of them, and together they will be able to fight the dragons in powerful, magical ways. 

As Seraphina gathers this motley crew, she is pursued by humans who want to stop her. But the most terrifying is another half dragon, who can creep into people’s minds and take them over. Until now, Seraphina has kept her mind safe from intruders, but that also means she’s held back her own gift. It is time to make a choice: Cling to the safety of her old life, or embrace a powerful new destiny?

Now on to the interview!



Thanks so much Rachel for answering my questions! I can’t wait to read SHADOW SCALE!

Hi Rachel! First I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on Books! I loved SERAPHINA and can’t wait to read SHADOW SCALE and am so happy that you could stop by for a visit!

For the readers: can you tell us a little bit about the amazing world you’ve built and the characters?

Goredd is a medieval realm where dragons are able to take human form. As you might imagine, this causes a great deal of trouble. Dragons and humans have been at peace for forty years, but it’s been a strained relationship, and by the end of SERAPHINA, both sides have reached a breaking point. SHADOW SCALE sees the dragons at war with each other -- a conflict between those who want to preserve peace with humans, and those who want to annihilate them -- and the war is likely to spill south into human lands unless Seraphina can find a way to prevent it.


For those of us who have read SERAPHINA can you spill any secrets about SHADOW SCALE?


It’s hard not to be spoilery, but I think I can say that Seraphina finally goes searching for the people in her head. Her journey takes her across the Southlands, through Porphyry and into dragon territories, and even into the darkest and most hidden corners of herself. 


Were any of the characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?

There’s no one-to-one correspondence, no. On the other hand, almost every character has qualities stolen from real life. It’s as if I took everyone I ever met, shook them up together in a bag, and reassembled them from different pieces.


Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?


Orma has always been my favourite, both in Seraphina and Shadow Scale. He comes to me quite naturally. I don’t know that I’d call anyone my “least favourite,” exactly, but certainly the hardest character to write was Jannoula. It took me a long time to get her personality exactly in balance so she wasn’t too over-the-top or too obscure.


What is your favorite passage/scene in SHADOW SCALE?


It’s hard to answer this without spoiling! However, I think my very favourite scene is the epilogue. I occasionally felt at sea with this book, and it was like my star in the storm, leading me toward the place I knew I had to go.


What kind of research did you have to do for the story?


I read a lot of feminist, post-colonial, and social justice essays, which I hope won’t scare anyone off. Everything I read is thrown in the mulch hopper, and it comes out thoroughly fermented on the other side. You’ll hardly know it’s there.


What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?


I just started Sex and Violence,by Carrie Mesrobian, which is terrific so far. I was in the middle of TerryPratchett’s Dodger, but he just died and so I think I’m going to have to set that one aside for a while. It makes me too sad right now.


Who is your ultimate Book Boyfriend?


Oh, golly, I’m afraid my tastes in literary men are pretty old-fashioned. I quite like Will Ladislaw, from Middlemarch. Although as I get older, I almost prefer Mr. Farebrother.


What inspired you to write YA?


I wanted to write for teens because that’s the age I was when reading seemed most magical, when a single book still had the power to change the course of my life.


Lightening Round Questions

Twitter or Facebook?

I use them but I sort of hate them both. I guess right now I lean toward Twitter, where I enjoy having writing sprints with friends

Favorite Superhero?

Ajax! Whaddaya mean ancient Greeks don’t count?

Favorite TV show?


Sweet or Salty?

Don’t make me choose!

Any Phobias?

I am afraid of fuzzy caterpillars. Stop laughing. It’s sad and true.

Song you can’t get enough of right now?


Fall Movie you’re most looking forward to?

I was about to protest that I know nothing of upcoming movies, but then I remembered that I heard there’s a new Terminator coming. Even though I was pretty meh on the last one, I am always  a sucker for Terminator.








About Rachel:
Rachel Hartman’s first YA fantasy novel, SERAPHINA, will be published by Random House on July 10th, 2012.

Rachel was born in Kentucky, but has lived a variety of places including Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, England, and Japan. She has a BA in Comparative Literature, although she insists it should have been a BS because her undergraduate thesis was called “Paradox and Parody in Don Quixote and the satires of Lucian.” She eschewed graduate school in favour of drawing comic books. She now lives in Vancouver, BC, with her family, their whippet, and a talking frog and salamander (who fight zombies)(really. There are a lot of zombies in the Pacific Northwest).

Follow her on Facebook or Twitter!


Giveaway Details:


1 Finished copy of SHADOW SCALE! US/Canada Only.

14 comments:

  1. I've been reading a lot of good comments about this book, looking forward to it :)

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  2. I had so much fun learning new words in Seraphina, and I am looking forward to reading Shadow Scale for the same reason.

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  3. Like every one I'm waiting to get my hands on Shadow Scale, thanks for the chance to win it. Rachel's answer to Sweet or Salty? is a lot like mine - Yes, please.

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  4. I loved Seraphina so much!!! I've been looking forward to this book for two years! Thanks for the giveaway :)

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  5. I've loved reading about Goredd since I discovered Amy unbounded in Linda Medley's Castle Waiting comics. Your writing just keeps getting better. So looking forward to this book!

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  6. I think that this series looks and sounds fantastic :) thanks for sharing!

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  7. Aw, I love this post :D Rachel is so adorable. <3 Thank you both so much for sharing this awesome tour post :) these books are perfect. <3

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  8. Great post! I love this cover even more than the first. You have very talented cover artist. Thank you :)!

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  9. This duology is so fantastic. The characters and the world are so expertly crafted and the pacing is amazing. I loved that the story was allowed to breathe and it took its time to develop. It was slow, but never dragged or lost my interest. Also, Kiggs. He is enough of a reason to love this series, but luckily for us there are so many more!

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  10. I can't wait to read Shadow Scale!!
    Thanks for the chance to win!

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  11. Loved seraphina so much and can't wait to read shadow scale.

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  12. It sounds like I have to get reading! These books sound exciting and I can't wait to find out how you developed characters who are half human and half dragon.

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  13. I just finished listening to the SERAPHINA audiobook and it was seriously the most beautiful book I've ever read/listened to! THe writing is fantastic, the songs were amazing...I just can't wait for SHADOW SCALE <3 <3

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