Blog Tour- THE BEAUTY OF DARKNESS by Mary E. Pearson A Post About the Map

I think by now everyone knows my love of high fantasy so I am stoked to be on this blog tour! I adore this series! I have Mary E. Pearson here with an awesome guest post about the map in the book! In my opinion it's not a proper high fantasy unless there's a map so I had to get the dish. 
Haven't heard of THE BEAUTY OF DARKNESS? Check it out!

Title: THE BEAUTY OF DARKNESS(The Remnant Chronicles: Book Three #3)

Author: Mary E. Pearson

Release Date: August 2, 2016

Hardcover: 688 pages

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) 
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, audiobook
Find it: Goodreads |Amazon | B&N | iBooks

Lia and Rafe have escaped Venda and the path before them is winding and dangerous - what will happen now? This third and final book in The Remnant Chronicles is not to be missed.

Bestselling author Mary E. Pearson's combination of intrigue, suspense, romance and action make this a riveting page turner for teens.

Now on to the post! I asked Mary..

QUESTION FOR MARY: Welcome back to Two Chicks on Books! You stopped by to speak about the map during the blog tour for KISS OF DECEPTION! So here's my question! Has the map changed at all and is it still how you pictured it in your head and if it's not how's it different?

Thanks for having me back Jaime!  No, the map hasn’t changed at all. I spent a long time working on it for the first book, and the details were fairly cemented in place, but I can give you a little trivia about the map. There are twelve kingdoms in all in the Remnant Chronicles: The three majors, Morrighan, Dalbreck, and Venda, and the nine Lesser Kingdoms, all seen on the map (pictured below):

1.     Gastineux
2.     Cortenai
3.     Candora
4.     Terquoi Tra
5.     Gitos
6.     Azentil
7.     Cruvas
8.     Reux Lau
9.     Eislandia

Wait a minute. Eislandia?  Where is that on the map? Well it is there, but you just can’t see it.  Eislandia was always one of the Lesser Kingdoms on my original map, but when the artwork for the map was finished, the designer still had to plop in the type to identify the various kingdoms and key places.  But there was the little issue of “congestion” when it came to one of the kingdoms, and that one was Eislandia.  See those “clouds” tucked between the words Morrighan and Tribe of Gaudrel? Right behind those clouds is the tiny kingdom of Eislandia.  I talked with designer and we agreed that there was just a bit too much happening in that one area to include another label, so it was left off.  It became the mystery kingdom lost in a cloud bank! But it was always there in my mind, and in The Beauty of Darkness, readers will hear it mentioned, so now they will know just where it is.

Another bit of trivia—many of the lesser kingdom names are derived from real places—bastardized versions of names, that is. I played with how a name might evolve over several centuries. So some of those names might bear some distant resemblance to real places.


And one last bit of trivia. Even though I had sent the designer the coats of arms I had created for the kingdoms, I wasn’t sure he would include them, so it was cool the way he fit them in, but those two awesome veiled figures at the bottom? Complete surprise. I was blown away. They are so beautiful and mysterious. I’m not sure what they represent--hidden truths and knowledge?  Or the goddess Isis and the secrets she holds? But I love them. What do you think they stand for?

Click on the map to enlarge

About Mary:

Mary E. Pearson is the award-winning author of The Jenna Fox Chronicles, The Miles Between, A Room on Lorelei, and Scribbler of Dreams.  She writes full-time from her home office in California where she lives with her husband and two golden retrievers.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

THE BEAUTY OF DARKNESS Blog Tour Schedule

July 23 - Adventures of A Book Junkie - "Kaden" 

July 24 - Bookiemoji - Response to annotated chapters 

July 25 - Step Into Fiction - "True Love" 

July 26 - Tales of A Ravenous Reader - "Rafe" + promo for Hicklebee's event

July 27 - Dark Faerie Tales - Fancasting

July 28 - Stuck In YA Books - Review of first chapters, comments on series as a whole + Giveaway!

July 29 - Two Chicks on Books - "The Map" 

July 30 - The Book Hookup - "Love Triangles"

July 31 - That Artsy Reader Girl - "World-Building"

August 1 - Jenuine Cupcakes - "Lia" 

August 2 - My Friends are Fiction - Review of first chapters, comments on series as a whole + Giveaway!

August 3 - Mundie Moms  - "The Covers"

August 4 - Eater of Books - Swoon Thursday Post 

August 5 - Belle of The Literati - "Love Triangles" 


Grab the books on the series!

Blog Tour- AN EMBER IN THE ASHES by Sabaa Tahir A Post about the Maps!

I am so excited to be hosting a spot on AN EMBER IN THE ASHES Blog Tour! I freaking loved this book! It's easily my one of my favorite of 2015 so far! If you want to see my review go HERE. I have a post about the maps in the books and I am geeking out! I LOVE maps in books!
Haven't heard of AN EMBER IN THE ASHES? Check it out!

Title: AN EMBER IN THE ASHES

Author: Sabaa Tahir

Pub. Date: April 28, 2015

Publisher: Razorbill

Pages: 464

Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Goodreads

Set in a terrifyingly brutal Rome-like world, An Ember in the Ashes is an epic fantasy debut about an orphan fighting for her family and a soldier fighting for his freedom. It’s a story that’s literally burning to be told.

LAIA is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire’s greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.

ELIAS is the academy’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias is considering deserting the military, but before he can, he’s ordered to participate in a ruthless contest to choose the next Martial emperor.

When Laia and Elias’s paths cross at the academy, they find that their destinies are more intertwined than either could have imagined and that their choices will change the future of the empire itself.

Check out the book trailer!

Now on to the post!

 I’ve loved maps since I was a kid. Probably because, growing up in the Mojave desert, I sometimes felt like there was nothing beyond the sand and mountains that surrounded me. Looking at maps reminded me that there was, in fact, a whole world out there. To this day, my most prized non-fiction tome is the National Geographic Atlas in my study.

Fantasy maps are my favorite kind of map. A good fantasy map helps the reader orient herself in whatever new world she is experiencing. It contains all the relevant locations—cities, villages, borders, islands, ports. The best maps even offer tantalizing hints about where the author might take you in future books.

One of the first things I did when I began writing EMBER in 2007 was draw a couple of (hideous) maps. One was of the Empire and another was of Blackcliff, the military school where EMBER’s action takes place.

These maps sufficed until 2012, when, between EMBER drafts, I decided I needed maps that I wouldn’t be humiliated to show to beta readers. With the help of a web site called the Cartographer’s Guild, I created a couple of maps with Photoshop. They are basically the mapmaker’s equivalent of stick figures—but better than what I had before.

Fast forward to the summer of 2014: My editor informed me that not only would EMBER be getting maps of Blackcliff and the Empire, but that those maps would be created by Jonathan Roberts, who created the maps for Game of Thrones’ The Land of Ice and Fire.

Jon began by creating rough sketches based off of my maps, fixing some embarrassing geographic errors I’d made. Rivers that should have split when running into the sea were shifted. A conifer forest was transformed into a more geographically appropriate deciduous forest. I gave Jon details about the type of desert I intended for both the Great Wastes and the Tribal Desert, as well as the size and architectural style of each of the cities in the world of Ember. I sent a few images to him, both of Serra and of Raider’s Roost, which is based on a similar rock formation near my hometown.

At the same time, Jon took my, er, minimalist Blackcliff map and created something beautiful: the black slash that represented Blackcliff’s front gate became an imposing entry gate and courtyard; the simple lines that marked watchtowers became fortified, Romanesque towers. Jon also added outbuildings within the school and extensive neighborhood structures for the area beyond Blackcliff’s walls.

Over the course of a few weeks, EMBER’s maps went from my cave-man-esque design, to spare and beautiful sketches, to detailed line art, to the colored and shaded magnificence that you can see on EMBER’s web site or, as the black and white endpapers in Ember’s hardcover edition.  

Watching the evolution of the maps was one of the most fascinating and fun parts of working on EMBER. Jon’s detailed, gorgeous maps somehow managed to capture what I saw in my head with far more clarity than anything I’d have ever come up with.

If you’d like to learn more about Jon—please check out his web site, which is packed full of excellent tutorials: http://www.fantasticmaps.com/

If you’d like some step-by-step instructions on how to create your own fantasy map on photoshop, try the Cartographers Guild at www.cartographersguild.com.

About Sabaa:

Sabaa Tahir grew up in California’s Mojave Desert at her family’s 18-room motel. There, she spent her time devouring fantasy novels, raiding her brother’s comic book stash and playing guitar badly. She began writing An Ember in the Ashes while working nights as a newspaper editor. She likes thunderous indie rock, garish socks and all things nerd. Sabaa currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family.

WEBSITE| TWITTER | PINTEREST | GOODREADS | TUMBLR  |INSTAGRAM

Check out the This Week's Schedule!

5/11 - Read.Breathe.Relax. – interview

5/12 - Mundie Moms – guest post

5/13 – Two Chicks on Books – guest post (HERE)

5/14 - The Children's Book Review – interview

5/15 – Bookhounds - Top 5: Things I HAVE to Do Before I Die

Blog Tour- SNOW LIKE ASHES by Sara Raasch and a Giveaway

Hey y'all I'm so excited to have Sara Raasch here today to talk about the map in SNOW LIKE ASHES!! This book is one of my absolute favorites of 2014 it's an amazing high fantasy with a badass MC and swoonworthy boys! Plus Sara is an awesome writer and I have a feeling I'll be adding this series to my list of top 10 high fantasies of all time! Oh and make sure to stick around and enter the giveaway! 
Haven't heard of SNOW LIKE ASHES? Check it out!

Title: SNOW LIKE ASHES

Author: Sara Raasch

Pub. Date: October 14, 2014

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Pages: 432

Formats: Hardcover, audio, eBook

Find it: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads

A heartbroken girl. A fierce warrior. A hero in the making.

Sixteen years ago the Kingdom of Winter was conquered and its citizens enslaved, leaving them without magic or a monarch. Now, the Winterians’ only hope for freedom is the eight survivors who managed to escape, and who have been waiting for the opportunity to steal back Winter’s magic and rebuild the kingdom ever since.

Orphaned as an infant during Winter’s defeat, Meira has lived her whole life as a refugee, raised by the Winterians’ general, Sir. Training to be a warrior—and desperately in love with her best friend, and future king, Mather — she would do anything to help her kingdom rise to power again.

So when scouts discover the location of the ancient locket that can restore Winter’s magic, Meira decides to go after it herself. Finally, she’s scaling towers, fighting enemy soldiers, and serving her kingdom just as she’s always dreamed she would. But the mission doesn’t go as planned, and Meira soon finds herself thrust into a world of evil magic and dangerous politics – and ultimately comes to realize that her destiny is not, never has been, her own.

Now on to the post!

Today, I would like to share with the lovely readers of Two Chicks on Books a behind-the-scenes trip into one of my favorite parts of SNOW LIKE ASHES:

The map!

The lovely map you see in copies of SLA today was not always so lovely. It, like the book, evolved over many drafts.

The first one came when I was a wee authorling authoring the first draft of SLA. I was INTO IT in an intense, over-the-moon obsessed way. I spent HOURS drawing pictures, sketching maps, constructing castle layouts, etc.

Thus, this first map is DETAILED. And really, really wrong for how the world is laid out now. Like the only thing similar to how Primoria actually is are a few of the kingdoms and the positions of the bodies of water.

The next attempt came once I started rewriting SNOW LIKE ASHES a few years back. I had to rework the map, and as such, a better attempt at a map was born…

And by better, I mean...only slightly. This is what happens when you take someone who thinks they have graphic design skill and give them Microsoft Paint.

LOOK AT MY BLOBBY TREES. I'm sorry, but those are the most realistic blobby trees I've ever seen.

And, for the final map...*drum roll*

Somehow, out of all that craziness, the amazing artist Jordan Saia created this work of gloriousness that made me tear up just as much as my cover.

Okay, okay, his trees are WAY better. Really, his everything is way better. I MEAN LOOK AT IT.

Thanks Sara for the awesome post! I love the backstory for the map the final product is gorgeous!

About Sara:

Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then — her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Her debut YA fantasy, SNOW LIKE ASHES, the first in a trilogy, comes out October 14, 2014 from Balzer + Bray. It does not feature her hand-drawn pictures.

Find Sara Online:

Tumblr | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page | Pinterest | YouTube

Giveaway Details:

4 Winners will receive SNOW LIKE ASHES swag packs Two post cards, two bookmarks, SLA buttons, and a bag of instant snow.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the Tour Schedule for more awesome posts!

Week One:

10/6/2014- Bookish- Interview

10/7/2014- Magical Urban Fantasy Reads- Review

10/8/2014- Bewitched Bookworms- Guest Post

10/9/2014- Fictitious Delicious- Review

10/10/2014- Adventures of a Book Junkie- Interview

Week Two:

10/13/2014- Fiction Freak- Review

10/14/2014- Dark Faerie Tales- Interview

10/15/2014- Fiktshun- Guest Post

10/16/2014- IceyBooks- Review

10/17/2014- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post

Blog Tour- THE KISS OF DECEPTION by Mary E Pearson and a Giveaway!

I think by now everyone knows my love of high fantasy so I am stoked to be on this blog tour! This is one of my favorite books of 2014. I have Mary E. Pearson here with an awesome guest post about the map in the book! In my opinion it's not a proper high fantasy unless there's a map so I had to get the dish. And if you love high fantasy as much as I do stick around to win a copy of the book!
Haven't heard of THE KISS OF DECEPTION? Check it out!

THE KISS OF DECEPTION (The Morrighan Chronicles book #1)

Mary E. Pearson

Release Date: July 7, 2014

Hardcover: 496pages

Publisher: Henry Holt (Macmillan) 

ISBN: 978-0805099232

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes& Noble

Read an excerpt of Kiss of Deception now!

In this timeless new trilogy about love and sacrifice, a princess must find her place in a reborn world.

In a society steeped in tradition, Princess Lia’s life follows a preordained course. As First Daughter, she is expected to have the revered gift of sight—but she doesn’t—and she knows her parents are perpetrating a sham when they arrange her marriage to secure an alliance with a neighboring kingdom—to a prince she has never met.

On the morning of her wedding, Lia flees to a distant village. She settles into a new life, hopeful when two mysterious and handsome strangers arrive—and unaware that one is the jilted prince and the other an assasin sent to kill her. Deception abounds, and Lia finds herself on the brink of unlocking perilous secrets—even as she finds herself falling in love.

Now on to the post!

Click on the map to enlarge

The Map

The Kingdom of Morrighan came first.  Originally, in my mind’s eye it was just a tiny little kingdom on a vast continent, with some very specific features, like forests and rolling hills, all nestled up against a great ocean. But as the other kingdoms came into play, it grew.  

Venda and Dalbreck came next, and then the many lesser kingdoms and all the places in between. I tend to be a very visual person, and with numerous kingdoms to juggle, I almost immediately began drawing maps.  I needed to understand the kingdoms my characters spoke about, exactly what their borders were, just how long it would take to travel between them, and what physical features would be passed along the way.  By having a map, no matter where I was in the book, I could look at it and be consistent in my descriptions. 

I actually drew simple maps of Terravin, and the Vagabond camp too—very basic ones but enough for me to visualize how things were laid out—but the whole world of The Remnant Chronicles was much more specific because of distances and several other reasons.  I revised my map over and over again as I wrote the story and changed details. 

The map that I drew was only for me to keep things straight in my head, but then my publisher decided to put one in the book.  I was thrilled to say the least, and practically doing backflips when I found out Keith Thompson was going to be drawing it! So I gave the Macmillan design department detailed descriptions of the kingdoms, important physical features in the Remnant world, and of course my very roughly drawn map.

I was pretty much blown away when I got the initial sketch. Keith Thompson turned my descriptions into pictures and added surprise elements that were simply gorgeous—details like shields, books, and veiled figures at the bottom. I swooned. There were just a couple of changes I requested in the final so the map would be in sync with the story.  When it came back, more swooning ensued, and Anna Booth in the Macmillan art department  got to work laying in the type which was no small task trying to balance all the labels with the artwork and she did an incredible job.

I was so excited just to have a map inside the book, but then my publisher made a poster of it too! Can I use the word gorgeous again?  I can’t wait to frame it and hang it in my office.

Of course, the map isn’t just about beautiful artwork but it also serves  a very practical purpose.  I think with a book that is so long and spans so many places, it’s very helpful for the reader to have their own map, just as I had one to refer to as I was writing the book.

I hope this answered your questions. Thanks so much for having me at your blog, Jaime!

This is awesome! Thanks Mary!!!!

About Mary:

Mary E. Pearson is the award-winning author of The Jenna Fox Chronicles, The Miles Between, A Room on Lorelei, and Scribbler of Dreams.  She writes full-time from her home office in California where she lives with her husband and two golden retrievers.

Website/Twitter/Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

1 finished copy of THE KISS OF DECEPTION. US/Canada Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Kiss of Deception Blog Tour Schedule

Monday July 7

Icey Books (Review)

The Starry-Eyed Revue (Guest Post)

Tuesday July 8

Adventures of a Book Junkie (Review)

Cuddlebuggery (Guest Post)

Wednesday July 9

FicFare (Review)

Two Chicks on Books (Guest Post)

Thursday July 10

Winterhaven Books (Review)

Tales of a Ravenous Reader (Guest Post)

Friday July 11

MundieMoms (Review)

Alice Marvels (Guest Post)

Monday July 14

YA Bibliophile (Review)

Bewitched Bookworms (Guest Post)

Tuesday July 15

That Artsy Reader Girl (Review)

Jenna Does Books (Guest Post)

Wednesday July 16

ExLibris (Review)

My Friends are Fiction (Guest Post)

Thursday July 17

Birth of a New Witch (Review)

Good Books and Good Wine (Guest Post)

Friday July 18

Google Hangout with Mary Pearson hosted by Belle of the Literati (More info to come)