I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the blog tour for BURY THE LIVING by Jodi McIsaac! I am super excited to read this one! I have an interview with Jodi to share with you today! And make sure to enter the awesome giveaway for a finished copy of the book!!
Haven't heard of BURY THE LIVING? Check it out!
Author: Jodi McIsaac
Pub. Date: September 6, 2016
Publisher: 47North
Pages: 302
Formats: Paperback, eBook, audiobook
Find it: Amazon, Barnes& Noble, iBooks, GoodreadsRebellion has always been in the O’Reilly family’s blood. So when faced with the tragic death of her brother during Northern Ireland’s infamous Troubles, a teenage Nora joined the IRA to fight for her country’s freedom. Now, more than a decade later, Nora is haunted by both her past and vivid dreams of a man she has never met.
When she is given a relic belonging to Brigid of Kildare, patron saint of Ireland, the mystical artifact transports her back eighty years—to the height of Ireland’s brutal civil war. There she meets the alluring stranger from her dreams, who has his own secrets—and agenda. Taken out of her own time, Nora has the chance to alter the fortunes of Ireland and maybe even save the ones she loves. In this captivating and adventurous novel from Jodi McIsaac, history belongs to those with the courage to change it.
Now on to the interview!
Check out an excerpt!
1. For
the readers: can you tell us a little bit about BURY THE LIVING and the
characters? This is a series yes? And if it’s a series do you have a title for
book 2 yet?
Absolutely! Bury the Living is about a former IRA
fighter from Belfast named Nora O’Reilly who goes back in time to 1923, at the
height of the Irish Civil War. She’s looking for a stranger who has been
appearing to her in her dreams, asking for help. But when she finally finds him,
it turns out he has secrets of his own. Nora and the stranger set out to try
and change the outcome of the war, a move they hope will prevent the Troubles
in Northern Ireland from ever happening.
Yes, Bury
the Living is the first book in the Revolutionary series. The second book, Summon the Queen, takes place in the
1580s during the Tudor conquest of Ireland and features the infamous pirate
queen Grace O’Malley. Summon the Queen
comes out in January and is already available for preorder on Amazon. And I’m
currently working on the third book, which takes places in 1002 during the
reign of High King Brian Boru.
2. Were
any of the characters in the book inspired by people from your real life?
Not the
characters themselves, but some of the circumstances, yes. For example, in the
first chapter a teenaged Nora is taken in for questioning by the IRA because
she’s suspected of selling drugs in her school. This actually happened to a
friend of mine while I was waiting tables in Belfast back in the day. My friend
was innocent, but Nora ... not so much.
3. Who
was your favorite character to write? What about your least favorite?
I
adored writing Pidge Gillies, Nora’s newfound friend in 1923. Pidge is young,
spunky, gritty, and full of revolutionary zeal. She’s a composite of so many
amazing women I read about during the course of my research—women who refused to stay home and
let the men do the fighting, but instead fought passionately for the cause they
believed in.
As for
least favorite? I’m not a huge fan of Mick O’Connor, the man who bullies Nora
into signing up with the IRA as a teenager. Like Pidge, he’s a revolutionary,
but his zeal has taken on a nasty, power-hungry edge. Pidge loves her country;
Mick hates his enemies. I think there’s an important difference there.
4. What
is your favorite passage/scene in BURY THE LIVING?
Any of
the scenes in Kilmainham Gaol, where Nora and Pidge are sent after being
arrested for their revolutionary activities. I love the camaraderie of the
women there as they try to make life as normal as possible given their
confinement.
5. What
kind of research did you have to do for the story?
So.
Much. Research. I read every book I could get my hands on, obviously. (Thank
goodness for inter-library loans). I also watched documentaries and movies and
listened to Irish history podcasts. I interviewed Irish Catholic women who had
grown up in Belfast during the Troubles to get a better understanding of what
it must have been like for Nora. I talked to humanitarian aid workers who had
worked in Sudan (Nora grows up to become a relief worker in Darfur), and poured
over UNHCR manuals about how to properly set up a refugee camp. And, best of
all, I spent two weeks in Ireland doing on-the-ground research, including an
amazing tour of Kilmainham Goal.
6. Who
is your ultimate book boyfriend?
I’ve
never been asked that before! Hmm. I suppose Mr. Darcy is everyone’s ultimate book boyfriend, so I’ll have to go with Jamie
Fraser. Or Gale Hawthorne. I love my revolutionaries.
Lightning
Round Questions
1. What
are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to
read?
Irish Kings and High-Kings by F.J. Byrne. (Research for the
third book in the Revolutionary series.) I’m also reading volume six of the
graphic novel, Saga.
2. What
Hogwarts House would the Sorting Hat place you in?
According
to Pottermore, Slytherin. Which is funny because years ago a friend knit me a
Slytherin scarf. So I guess she knew what she was doing! But I’m not evil ...
really ...
3. Twitter
or Facebook?
Facebook
4. Favorite
Superhero?
Captain
America (See? I’m not evil.)
5. Favorite
TV show?
Battlestar
Galactica
6. Sweet
or Salty?
Salty
7. Any
Phobias?
I
wouldn’t call them phobias, but I’m not thrilled about heights, dinosaurs, and
spiders.
8. Song
you can’t get enough of right now?
I’m
still in love with “Take me to Church” by Hozier.
9. Winter
Movie you’re most looking forward to?
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them
BURY THE LIVING excerpt:
©2016, Reprinted with permission from 47North
On Monday morning
Nora walked to school with a couple of friends. She tried to nod and laugh in
all the right places as they nattered on, but her mind was fixated on the bags
of cocaine stuffed deep into her rucksack. She’d decided there was no point in dumping
it, not when she could still make a fair sale of it. Then her family wouldn’t
have to wait to leave town. She’d sent a message to Ernie Farrell, saying she’d
sell him the lot at half price. He’d been Robbie Grady’s only competition in
this part of town. There was no way he would say no. Then it would be out of
her hands.
At the lunch
break she waited in the stacks at the library, just as she’d promised to do in
her message. The Irish-history section, which was always empty. She read the
titles with interest while she waited. Her school, like many others, preferred
to focus on European and world history. Irish history was too controversial, to
close to home. But Eamon’s love for it had rubbed off. He was always throwing
obscure bits of history into their conversations or telling her about great
battles and chieftains who’d lived hundreds of years ago. She’d soaked it all
in—a
sparkling vision of Ireland that was a sharp contrast to her own bleak reality.
Nora waited
the entire lunch hour, but Ernie never came. Had he even been to school that
day? She hadn’t seen him. Maybe he was sick. Maybe he’d chickened out after
hearing about Robbie.
She left the
library and headed back to class. She was late enough that the hallways were
empty. Then she heard heavy footsteps behind her. She glanced back and stopped
dead in her tracks. Paddy Sullivan was standing in the hallway, grinning at
her.
“Hiya, Nora,”
he said.
“What the
hell are you doing here?”
“Ach, don’t
be like that, Nora. We’ve some more questions for you.” He jerked his head
toward the front door.
“I’ve
answered your questions,” she said, clutching her rucksack close to her
stomach. “Youse said you’d leave me alone.”
“Things
change. C’mon. Let’s go.”
“I’ve got to
get to class. I’m late.”
“We’re on the
way to see your brother. Don’t you want to come?”
Nausea swept
through her. He was bluffing, sure he was. But
what if he means it? “I told youse to leave Eamon out of this! What do
youse want him for?”
“Ernie never
showed up to your little meeting, did he?”
Nora felt
faint. “I just…wanted
to talk to him.”
“Uh-huh.
Seems you didn’t take our warnings seriously. Now come on. We don’t want to
make a scene here in the school, do we?”
Nora felt as
though her legs were embedded in the ground. All she could do was stare at
Paddy, unable to move, while the world spun around her. She had to ditch the
bag, somewhere, somehow.
“I…I
just have to…I
have to use the bogs first,” she stammered.
“I’m sure you
can hold it,” he said. His hand clamped on to her arm, and he marched her out
of the side door, where a car was waiting. She shifted her rucksack to one hand
and prepared to drop it in the bushes, but he grabbed it.
“For a petty
criminal, you’re pretty daft, Nora.”
“Wait,
please, you don’t understand— ”
“You’ve got
balls, I’ll give you that. Thought you’d just pick up where Robbie left off?”
“No! I was
just trying to get rid of it, I swear.” Nora tried to wrestle herself from
Paddy’s grip, panic building in her like a smoking volcano. “Don’t take me to
Mick. You can have the coke—it’s
worth a lot of money.”
“Mick’s
interested in something far more useful to him than coke,” Paddy answered as he
stuffed her into the back of the car. He got in the front seat, then turned
around. “I think he’ll be wanting to make a deal.”
Nora drew
back against the upholstered seat, horror spreading across her face. “He’ll not…be
wanting…”
Paddy grinned
again. “To pimp you out? Is that what you’re afraid of? You’re an attractive
girl, Nora, but Mick’s not like that. He’s a decent lad.”
“Then what?”
“You’ll find
out.”
About Jodi:
Jodi McIsaac is the author of the Irish contemporary fantasy series The Thin Veil (47North) the thriller A Cure for Madness (Thomas & Mercer) and the forthcoming historical Revolutionary series, starting with Bury the Living (47North).
She grew up in New Brunswick, on Canada's east coast. After abandoning her Olympic speed skating dream, she wrote speeches for a politician, volunteered in a refugee camp, waited tables in Belfast, earned a couple of university degrees, and started a boutique copywriting agency. She loves geek culture, running, and whisk(e)y.
She grew up in New Brunswick, on Canada's east coast. After abandoning her Olympic speed skating dream, she wrote speeches for a politician, volunteered in a refugee camp, waited tables in Belfast, earned a couple of university degrees, and started a boutique copywriting agency. She loves geek culture, running, and whisk(e)y.
Giveaway Details:
3 Finished copies of BURY THE LIVING (US Only)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tour Schedule:
10/8: Fiction Fare - Q&A
10/11: Avid Reader - Excerpt
10/13: Two Chicks On Books - Q&A
10/16: Novelgossip - Excerpt
10/21: The Worn Bookmark
- Review
10/22: The Book Return - Review
