Today I would like to welcome Anne Leonard author of Moth & Spark to Book Flame!
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It’s an adult fantasy novel with the things one expects to find in a fantasy novel – dragons, kings, wizards, wars – but it tweaks the tropes here and there. The setting is like Jane Austen’s England instead of like the Middle Ages, and the male and female lead characters share the stage equally. It’s character-driven and includes a love story, but does have plenty of adventure.
2. What inspired you to write Moth and Spark?
I had been writing a lot of novels that were being hijacked by a love story when I didn't want one, so I decide I was just going to actually write one and get it out of my system so I could move on to something else. Initially I was writing the book I wanted to read when I was fifteen. As I wrote, the plot developed and I pulled ideas from lots of different places.
3. Who do you think is the most complex character in your novel?
I think probably Tam, because she’s only twenty, so there’s a lot she doesn't know about herself yet. She still has potential to go in many different directions in her life. She’s also in a patriarchal world that she finds very flawed, so she’s set apart from the other women who don’t question the social order at all. But on the other hand she doesn't do anything to actively change it. She probably undergoes the biggest changes of anyone in the story.
4. Do you see yourself in any of your characters?
Well, there’s a little bit in everybody. Tam is very curious, which is probably the trait I share the most with any character, but her personality is different from mine.
5. If you could jump into a book and live in that world which book would it be?
That’s a tough question, because so many of the books I really like are actually about worlds that are pretty awful and would not be fun to live in at all. The wizarding world of Harry Potter is probably the one that I would enjoy the most. I’d like to go to Le Guin’s Earthsea too.
6. What is the one quote that inspires you above all others?
There’s no particular quote that I live by or am inspired by personally, but I have a few favorites. My favorite writing-related one is from Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White: “It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.” Most of the novels that I really like have at least one or two lines that I love for the language (I’m a sucker for good language), and there are some statements in political speeches or significant court decisions that really resonate with me as a human being. Thoreau had some really good things to say too.
About the book
Viking Adult; on sale: February 24, 2014
Purchase:Amazon/B&N/Book Depository
A prince with a quest. A commoner with mysterious powers. And dragons that demand to be freed—at any cost.
Prince Corin has been chosen to free the dragons from their bondage to the Empire, but dragons aren’t big on directions. They have given him some of their power, but none of their knowledge. No one, not the dragons nor their riders, is even sure what keeps the dragons in the Empire’s control.
Tam, sensible daughter of a well-respected doctor, had no idea before she arrived in the capital that she is a Seer, gifted with visions. When the two run into each other (quite literally) in the library, sparks fly and Corin impulsively asks Tam to dinner. But it’s not all happily ever after. Never mind that the prince isn’t allowed to marry a commoner: war is coming to Caithen.
Torn between Corin’s quest to free the dragons and his duty to his country, the lovers must both figure out how to master their powers in order to save Caithen. With a little help from a village of secret wizards and a rogue dragonrider, they just might pull it off.
About Anne Leonard
Anne Leonard lives in Northern California. She has degrees from St. John’s College, the University of Pittsburgh, Kent State University, and University of California-Hastings College of Law. Leonard began MOTH AND SPARK while attending the University of California-Hastings College of Law (where she graduated cum laude) eking out a few hours on weekends or a half hour on the bus, or wherever she had the chance. After 3 years, she had a draft, but ultimately decided to practice law first. At last readers will be introduced to the deadly harsh steppe lands of Sarian, to the white-barked tree-lined streets of Caithenor.
Connect with the author
ANNE LEONARD WILL BE TOURING TO:
Petaluma, CA COPPERFIELD'S BOOKS /7PM February 24
San Francisco, CA THE BOOKSMITH / 7:30pm February 25
GIVEAWAY
One copy of Moth & Spark is up for grabs to one lucky winner
Open to US Residents Only
No P.O. Boxes
To enter fill out the form below
