Blog Tour- LAST STAR BURNING by Caitlin Sangster An Interview & Giveaway!

Hey everyone! I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the blog tour for LAST STAR BURNING by Caitlin Sangster! 

I have an interview with Caitlin to share with you today! And make sure to enter the giveaway below!

Haven't heard of LAST STAR BURNING? Check it out!

Title: LAST STAR BURNING

Author: Caitlin Sangster

Pub. Date: October 10, 2017

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 400

Formats: Hardcover, eBook

Find it: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD, Goodreads

Sev is branded with the mark of a criminal—a star burned into her hand. That’s the penalty for being the daughter of the woman who betrayed their entire nation.

Now her mother’s body is displayed above Traitor’s Arch, kept in a paralyzed half sleep by the same plague that destroyed the rest of the world. And as further punishment, Sev is forced to do hard labor to prove that she’s more valuable alive than dead.

When the government blames Sev for a horrific bombing, she must escape the city or face the chopping block. Unimaginable dangers lurk outside the city walls, and Sev’s only hope of survival lies with the most unlikely person—Howl, the chairman’s son. Though he promises to lead her to safety, Howl has secrets, and Sev can’t help but wonder if he knows more about her past—and her mother’s crimes—than he lets on.

But in a hostile world, trust is a luxury. Even when Sev’s life and the lives of everyone she loves may hang in the balance. 

Now on to the interview!

Hey Caitlin!! First I want to say welcome to Two Chicks on Books I’m glad you could stop by for a chat! LAST STAR BURNING was awesome and I can’t wait for everyone to read it! 

Thanks! I’m so glad you liked it!

For the readers: can you tell us a little bit about LAST STAR BURNING and the characters?

For sure! LAST STAR BURNING is a book about a girl named Sev who lives in an extremely rigid society attempting to survive a plague called Sleeping Sickness. Because of some nasty things her mother did, Sev has been categorized as a threat and has to spend most of her time being reeducated or working in the city factories. She’s best friends with a boy named Tai-ge who happens to be a high-ranking military member. A bomb goes off inside city limits, and Sev is blamed for the blast, so she has to escape from to Outside, where Sleeping Sickness is running rampant. She finds help in an unlikely quarter, from a boy named Howl who had been looking to leave the city too, but once they get Outside, he won’t tell her why he wanted to get out or where he’s taking her. 

So book 2! Is there a title yet? 

Yes! I love the title for book two, and I’m so excited to share it, but I can’t yet!

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

Not particularly. There are little things inspired by real people, mannerisms and thought processes or ways of speaking, but no one is wholly inspired by anyone real.

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

June (a character Sev meets once she’s Outside) was my favorite to write. I usually ended up writing dialogue for her and then had to go cut most of it out and replace it with other ways of communicating. It was really fun to get her to speak without actually speaking.

What is your favorite passage/scene in LAST STAR BURNING?

So, Sev actually has Sleeping Sickness, and has weird hallucinations as a result . . . and they were super fun to write. There’s something about making the walls melt and shadows turn into monsters that’s more exciting than it probably should be.

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

Well, I have a degree in Asian Studies, so I pulled out some of my old primary sources from the Cultural Revolution for a general feeling of what it was like to live in a similarly structured and strict society. I had fun reading THE DICTATOR’S HANDBOOK for ideas about leadership, I read a lot about encephalitis lethargica.

And, of course, there are lots of google searches that probably has my IP address under FBI surveillance. How fast bodies decompose under different sorts of conditions. Different kinds of bombs and how to make them. You know, the usual.

Who is your ultimate book boyfriend?

Howl from Howl’s moving castle. You can’t really beat coating an entire house in green goo because your hair dye-job came out a little ginger.

What inspired you to write YA?

It’s a really hopeful and interesting genre to write. Young adults are in a place where they’re deciding what and who they want to be, venturing out by themselves and seeing the world through their own eyes for the first time. It still deals with real issues and real responsibility, but happy endings are much more likely to occur.

Lightning Round Questions

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

At the moment, I’m reading FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS by Julie Dao (also coming out on October 10th!) which is fabulous. Books I’m looking forward to… I’m dying to read Patrick Rothfuss’s last book in the Kingkiller Chronicles. I don’t know if it counts as TBR if the book doesn’t even have a release date, but add my name to the thousands of other people hoping it comes soon. Also looking forward to Brandon Sanderson’s next installment in the WAY OF KINGS series.

What Hogwarts House would the Sorting Hat place you in?

I’m probably a Ravenclaw. Badgers are cool.

Twitter or Facebook?

Ha . . . Neither? Public-facing, Twitter. Family circle and friend-facing, Facebook.

Favorite Superhero?

1960’s Batman.

Favorite TV show?

Firefly is the best. Stranger Things was awesome. Very much looking forward to the second season. 

Sweet or Salty?

Salty, all the way.

Any Phobias?

Not that I know of.

Song you can’t get enough of right now?

I just picked up Muses’s last album, “Drones” again after giving it a rest. It is now firmly back on repeat.

2017 Movie you’re most looking forward to?

I don’t usually watch movies until way after they come out, so the movies I’m looking forward to, everyone else has already seen. I still haven’t even seen Wonder Woman. It’s on my to do list.

Thanks so much Caitlin for answering my questions! I can’t wait for everyone to read LAST STAR BURNING!

Thanks for having me!

About Caitlin:

Caitlin Sangster grew up in the back woods of California and would rather go hiking, running, swimming, or general outdoorsing than just about anything else. If there aren’t any mountains, it doesn’t count as a real place. At eighteen, she moved to XinJiang, and at twenty-one it was Taiwan. She did eventually buckle down and graduate from Brigham Young University with a BA in Asian Studies and is now that person you avoid at parties because she'll probably start talking about Shang dynasty oracle bones.

Caitlin has been writing since middle school. She always thought of it as a silly sort of compulsive habit until she realized that people like reading stories and she liked writing them and there wasn’t much silly about that.

She currently lives in Utah with her husband and four children.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Giveaway Details:

3 winners will receive an ARC of LAST STAR BURNING, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

10/2/2017- YA and Wine- Interview

10/3/2017- Seeing Double In Neverland- Review

10/4/2017- Tales of the Ravenous Reader- Guest Post

10/5/2017- Take Me Away To A Great Read- Review

10/6/2017- Two Chicks on Books- Interview

Week Two:

10/9/2017- Omg Books and More Books - Review

10/10/2017- The Candid Cover- Excerpt

10/11/2017- Nerdophiles- Review

10/12/2017- YA Book Madness- Interview

10/13/2017- Mundie Moms- Review

Blog Tour: THE LAST MAGICIAN by Lisa Maxwell A Deleted Scene & A Giveaway!

Hey everyone! I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the blog tour for THE LAST MAGICIAN by Lisa Maxwell! I freaking love this book!!!

I have a deleted scene to share with you today! And make sure to enter the giveaway below!

Haven't heard of THE LAST MAGICIAN? Check it out!

Title: THE LAST MAGICIAN

Author: Lisa Maxwell

Release Date: July 18, 2017

Pages: 512

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Formats: Hardcover & eBook

Find it: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | iBooks

Stop the Magician.
Steal the book.
Save the future.

In modern day New York, magic is all but extinct. The remaining few who have an affinity for magic—the Mageus—live in the shadows, hiding who they are. Any Mageus who enters Manhattan becomes trapped by the Brink, a dark energy barrier that confines them to the island. Crossing it means losing their power—and often their lives.

Esta is a talented thief, and she's been raised to steal magical artifacts from the sinister Order that created the Brink. With her innate ability to manipulate time, Esta can pilfer from the past, collecting these artifacts before the Order even realizes she’s there. And all of Esta's training has been for one final job: traveling back to 1902 to steal an ancient book containing the secrets of the Order—and the Brink—before the Magician can destroy it and doom the Mageus to a hopeless future.

But Old New York is a dangerous world ruled by ruthless gangs and secret societies, a world where the very air crackles with magic. Nothing is as it seems, including the Magician himself. And for Esta to save her future, she may have to betray everyone in the past.

Now on to the deleted scene!

Note to the reader: I wrote this scene in an early draft and it was one of the darlings I had to kill. Still, I love it, and I love just how badass Esta is here, and in the rest of the book.

The ginger-haired Mooch gave a sharp nod of his chin, directing Esta to follow him toward the back of the saloon, where a dark, scarred wooden door led up a narrow flight of steps. “Ladies first,” he said with a bow that felt to Esta more like a taunt than actual courtesy.

Esta narrowed her eyes at the boy, but without a reason to refuse, she started to mount the narrow steps. They were poorly made, with their risers all slightly different sizes and the treads made from warped or knotted wood. She hadn’t even reached the first landing when she felt the boy close behind her. Too close. But she ignored it, continuing on as though she hadn’t noticed anything inappropriate in the way his hand brushed against the edges of her skirts.

When they made it to the landing, a narrow strip of stairway that turned sharply to climb higher into the building, he made his move, and Esta found herself pinned face-first to the corner, the boy’s stale breath hot against her neck. His body pressed into her back.

“You’re a pretty one, ain’t you?” he said, his breath smelling of ale and onions as he laughed at her. “Fine clothes like yours don’t usually show up at Dolph’s door. Not unless they’ve done something to deserve it,” he said, his mouth close to her neck.

She stayed still, calm. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, not letting her voice waver.

“Of course you don’t.”” He leaned into her again. “They never do. You’re a good girl, ain’t you? You wouldn’t never do nothin’ wrong would you? But you had to do something. Good girls don’t end up begging Dolph Saunders to keep them.”

“I didn’t beg.”

“I s’pose you’re right,” he said, mock surprise lighting his voice. “But we can change that easy enough.” He pressed himself into her.

She didn’t move her head even an inch back. She’d bite the nose off his face before she gave him the satisfaction of knowing he’d affected her. “Please, Mooch—” she started to say.

“Please, is it?” he leaned more of his weight against her, his leg pressing between hers so he could get even closer. “I like the sound of that, I do. Say it again, proper like: Please, Morris…” he taunted her, his breath heavy with too much ale and the sickly-sweet scent of teeth on the verge of rot. “That’s my name, you know. Only my friends call me Mooch. You want to be my friend, beautiful?”

Esta cursed inwardly as she felt his hand pulling her back into his chest, climbing higher up her torso, like he was trying to find something beneath her corset worth groping.

She really shouldn’t… she was so close. It would be idiotic to sacrifice the progress she’d made with Dolph Sunders for some stupid boy who thought anything in a skirt was his for the taking. But then his hand closed over her breast, and she reacted the way she’d been trained to. She grabbed him by the wrist, and before he could even laugh again at her attempt to stop him, she pulled his forearm down and back, twisting it around, leveraging his own weight against him, until she had him turned, pinned against the wall. His face contorted in pain as she pressed his arm into an unnatural angle.

“Let’s be clear, Mooch,” she said, bringing her face close to his cheek. She was about his height, and he wasn’t as broad as some of the other boys had been. It was easy enough to use her size to keep him in place once she had him at a disadvantage. “I’m not an easy mark. I’m not here for you to look at or touch or even think about.” She twisted his wrist harder, felt the bones beneath her grip grind and start to pop as he whimpered and cursed her. “I’ll forgive your lack of manners this once, since you don’t seem smart enough to know any better. I won’t break your wrist. This time. But if you so much as look sideways at me again, I can’t promise I’ll be so nice.”

She let him go, and he turned viciously—rubbing at his sore wrist. “You bloody bitch,” he snarled, cornering her again. “You think you can get away with putting your claws on me?”

“I think I just did,” she said calmly.

His face hadn’t quite regained its color, despite his rage. She wasn’t worried, though. His hand wouldn’t be good for much until the blood started flowing in it again. But Esta understood Mooch and his like. If she didn’t draw a line in the sand now, under her own terms, he’d keep wasting her time. 

As though to prove she was right about him, Mooch started to take a step toward her. Before he could, Esta slipped through time, around and behind him. She tapped him on the shoulder, and when he turned, his eyes wide with confusion and fury, she smiled sweetly. Then she grabbed him between the legs, twisted and pulled, hard. Just like Dakari had taught her.

It worked like a charm. Mooch’s breath seemed to stop in his lungs as he made a surprised, incoherent gurgling sound and then dropped to his knees on the floor. He writhed there for a moment, moaning incoherently as he tried to breathe through the pain of her attack. Esta watched for a second, not at all impressed at how easy he’d been. Then stepped closer to him and crouched down to give a couple of sharp slaps on the cheek.

When he opened his eyes to glare at her, she made her voice as pleasant as her smile. “I trust we understand each other now. Tell your friends, would you?” She gave him a less-than-friendly pat on the cheek.

About Lisa:

Lisa Maxwell is the author of Sweet Unrest, Gathering Deep, Unhooked, & The Last Magician (Simon Pulse, Spring 2017). When she's not writing books, she's an English professor at a local college. She lives near DC with her very patient husband and two not-so patient boys.

Find Lisa: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest | Tumblr | Instagram

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a signed finished copy THE LAST MAGICIAN & swag, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

7/10/2017- YA and Wine- Interview

7/11/2017- Here's to Happy Endings- Review

7/12/2017- Novel Novice- Guest Post

7/13/2017- What the Cat Read- Review

7/14/2017- Stories & Sweeties- Excerpt

Week Two:

7/17/2017- NovelKnight- Review

7/18/2017- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post

7/19/2017- Forever 17 Books- Review

7/20/2017- Wishful Endings- Interview

7/21/2017- Ohana Reads- Review