Title:BECOMING JINN
Author: Lori Goldstein
Author: Lori Goldstein
Release Date: April 21, 2015
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Named “One of the Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, or Horror of 2015” by VOYA Magazine
"This well-written title . . . will not stay on the shelf."
-- VOYA Starred Review
"The only thing it left me wishing for was the sequel!"
-- New York Times best-selling author Anna Banks
"A fresh, gently subversive tale with a new strain of paranormal problems at its core."
-- B&N Teen Blog
“[Azra's] struggles with family and impending adulthood ring true and will likely cultivate a loyal, sequel-hungry audience.” ―Booklist
Azra has just turned sixteen, and overnight her body lengthens, her olive skin deepens, and her eyes glisten gold thanks to the brand-new silver bangle that locks around her wrist. As she always knew it would, her Jinn ancestry brings not just magical powers but the reality of a life of servitude, as her wish granting is controlled by a remote ruling class of Jinn known as the Afrit.
To the humans she lives among, she's just the girl working at the snack bar at the beach, navigating the fryer and her first crush. But behind closed doors, she's learning how to harness her powers and fulfill the obligations of her destiny.
Mentored by her mother and her Zar "sisters," Azra discovers she may not be quite like the rest of her circle of female Jinn . . . and that her powers could endanger them all.
Now on to the interview!
What about the sequel? Do we have a title yet?
Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?
What is your favorite passage/scene in BECOMING JINN?
What kind of research did you have to do for the story?
What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
Who is your ultimate Book Boyfriend?
What inspired you to write YA?
For
the readers: can you tell us a little bit about BECOMING JINN and the characters?
First, thank you! I’m delighted to be here!
Becoming Jinn is a modern spin on the
traditional tale of wish-granting genies. So there are no lamps or bottles, no
flying carpets, and no three wishes. The genies in my book are Jinn, which are
spirit beings prominent in North African and Middle Eastern cultures. Becoming Jinn mixes the lore of the
genies we know with that of the Jinn and is set in our contemporary world, in
my home state of Massachusetts. The story follows my main character, Azra, from
the day she wakes up on her sixteenth birthday and receives the magical silver
bangle that forces her to start granting wishes. And I say force because the
tradeoff of being able to use magic is that she’s now also tied to the Afrit,
the dictatorship-like council that rules over the Jinn world. There are five
other Jinn girls who Azra’s grown up with who feature strongly in the novel.
There’s also Henry, a human and Azra’s next-door neighbor; the two share a past
and rekindle their friendship at the start of the novel. And there’s a love
interest, Nate, who, despite his underwear model exterior, is as unsure of
himself and struggling to find his way as everyone else is.
What about the sequel? Do we have a title yet?
All of those characters and a couple of new ones
find their way into the sequel, which was a blast to write. The tentative title
is Circle of Jinn, but don’t hold me
to it!
Were any of the characters in the
book inspired by people from your real life?
I think I’m like most authors in this that there are
bits and pieces of people I know, including myself, in most of my characters,
but none of them are exactly this person or that person. Azra loves sweets,
much like I do, but she also loves coffee, unlike me. Personality traits or
quirks of others manifest themselves in my characters as do names, including
those of my grandparents, my sister, even my first pet. These are little Easter
eggs that few people besides my immediate family will recognize, but they make
it fun as I’m writing.
Who was your favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?
Yasmin is a lot of fun to write. As the “villain,”
she gets to say and do things that most of us don’t have the guts to say and
do. It’s a departure from normal life to get to live vicariously through her
for a bit. My least favorite? Ack, that’s a hard question. I guess if I have to
choose, it might be Laila. While I adore her, she’s probably more loyal and
forgiving than I am, and so to tap into that and inhabit that for her character
was more difficult for me.
What is your favorite passage/scene in BECOMING JINN?
It’s a spoiler so I can’t say, but it comes toward
the end of the book when Azra is at a party at the beach and learns something
about her past. It breaks my heart still.
What kind of research did you have to do for the story?
I wanted a flavor of Jinn in the book. Because it’s
a contemporary fantasy and I mix up the genie tropes we know and toss in some
magic, I didn’t want to go completely true to any specific lore or stories of
Jinn. But I read through Legends of the Fire Spirits: Jinn and Genies from Arabia
to Zanzibar, a very academic examination
of Jinn, and pulled bits and pieces to add to the book. The same with a book
called Encyclopedia of Spirits, which,
completely opposite of the first book, details how to summon particular
spirits, including Jinn. While nothing is overt, they both added some backbone
to the Jinn history I made up.
What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
I’m reading my good friend N.K. Traver’s Duplicity, which released March 17. I
read it as a critique partner, and it’s a thrill beyond words to read the
finished book. Aside from the fact that it’s simply awesome.
Who is your ultimate Book Boyfriend?
This is a spoiler for below, but I’m going to have
to say Damon Salvatore.
What inspired you to write YA?
It was a natural fit for what I like to watch and
read. I watch YA shows and read YA books, and that’s the culture I love and
wanted to write in and for. Write what you know, right?
Lightening
Round Questions
Twitter
or Facebook?
TWITTER!
Favorite
Superhero?
Wonder Twins. Are they superheroes?
Favorite
TV show?
The Vampire
Diaries.
Sweet
or Salty?
Sweet.
Any
Phobias?
Snakes. Bridges. Crowds (I’m short and get buried!).
Song
you can’t get enough of right now?
“This Love” by Taylor Swift is my newest obsession.
Fall
Movie you’re most looking forward to?
If
I don’t say the new Star Wars movie,
my husband will make me move out.
Thanks
so much Lori for answering my questions! It was a pleasure to have you on the
blog!
About Lori:
My debut novel, the Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy Becoming Jinn, is a modern spin on the traditional tale of wish-granting genies. It will be released on April 21, 2015, by Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s. The sequel will follow in Spring 2016. I am represented by Lucy Carson of The Friedrich Agency.
Too much of my day involves chatting books, obsessing over The Vampire Diaries, and perfecting the art of efficient writing through Twitter. Find me at @loriagoldstein and follow my blog at www.lorigoldsteinbooks.com or my Tumblr at http://lorigoldsteinbooks.tumblr.com. Like my author page on Facebook for fun book-related photos, tidbits, and happenings as well as news on Becoming Jinn.
