Happy Wednesday Everyone! Today I’m excited to be part of Gita Trelease’s blog tour for Everything That Burns, the second book in her Enchantee series. This is a YA fantasy set in the French revolution. I interviewed Gita when she debuted as an author in January 2021. You can read that interview here.
Here’s a blurb of Everything That Burns from Goodreads:
Camille Durbonne gambled everything she had to keep her and her sister safe, and now the Vicomtesse de Seguin seeks a new life in Paris. But revolution roils the bloody streets and “aristocrat” is a dangerous word. Safety may no longer be possible.
Following in her father’s footsteps, Camille
prints revolutionary pamphlets, sharing the stories of girls.
A Conversation with Gita Trelease
Author of Everything
That Burns
Q: Everything That Burns continues a transporting story of forbidden
magic and the French Revolution that began in All That Glitters (previously
published as Enchantée).
Where did the idea for this duology come from?
A: Books come to me over a long
period of time, with lots of pieces held in suspension until there’s finally a click
that makes all the rest come together. For a year I’d been playing with the
idea of a dark fantasy set at Versailles that revolved around gambling and
social inequality, but it was a book I read about 18th-century science—its chapter
on 1780s balloon mania included a real-life account of an aeronaut rescued by a
milkmaid—that gave me the idea to add hot-air balloons to the story. Risk and
gambling and magic felt suddenly more complex and compelling. And that girl
haunted me. No one had ever interviewed her to ask: Why did you risk your life
when others ran away? Around that question, I created the character of Camille.
Q: What was the biggest difference between writing the first
book and the sequel?
A: The biggest difference between
writing the first book and the second was the pressure! Not just the time
constraints of being on deadline, but also wanting to create a book that did
justice to the first one and, to the best of my ability, met expectations for
the readers who loved All That Glitters. And as a writer, I always want to grow
in my craft, so that inner pressure was there, too.
Q: The Parisian setting and backdrop of the turbulent French Revolution is as dazzling in Everything That Burns as it was in All That Glitters. Why did you want to center this story in the midst of the French Revolution, and did you have to do any research to evoke the feeling of the city at that moment in history?
A: For me, the French
Revolution—with its turbulent events, vivid real-life characters, glamorous and
gritty locales, and morally complex issues—is the perfect setting for a
coming-of-age story. The questions Camille wrestles with—Who am I? Who do I
want to be? What should I do with my life?—are also the questions that fuel the
revolution.
Writing historical fiction, I do want
to get the facts straight, but it’s just as important to me to create an
immersive experience for my readers, and for that I depend on research. For
this book, I read letters and journals written by people who survived the
revolution, as well as historians’ second-hand accounts. I studied 1789 Paris fashion
and the city’s sewers; I studied the history of the Seine, Parisian theaters,
and public executions. I was lucky enough to have lived, a long time ago, in
one of the oldest parts of Paris, where many of the atmospheric parks and
buildings I write about still exist. On a more recent visit, I explored the elegant
mansions of the Marais, including the Hôtel Carnavalet. The mansion is now a
museum dedicated to the history of Paris and houses a fascinating collection of
artifacts from the French Revolution. For me, though, the research is like the
framing of a building—it’s scaffolding to hold up my imagination and my own
experience. That’s what makes the story feel immersive and real.
Q: Who was your favorite character to write this time around? Was it the same as your favorite character from All That Glitters?
A: My favorite characters to write in All That Glitters were the Marquis de Chandon, because he’s magic
—a witty and charming mentor for Camille at the court of Versailles. The villain in that book, the Vicomte de Séguin, was also deliciously fun to write. But in Everything That Burns, it was Camille who was my favorite: she undergoes such an enormous change, both inwardly and outwardly, from the beginning of the novel to the end, and it was satisfying to create terrible obstacles for her to overcome. On a more personal level, my own mother died when I was about Camille’s age, and writing the scenes in which she wrestles with her memories of Maman comforted me in ways I could never have expected.
Q: Can you tell us a little about your writing routine?
Where and when do you most like to write? Has the ongoing pandemic changed that
at all?
A: I love to get up in the morning,
make some coffee, and go out to my writing house—preferably without talking to
anyone in my family! That dreamy, early-morning state of mind is precious to
me. I’ll work for a few hours, take a break to eat, and work a few more hours. This
year I stopped using word or page counts as motivation; I realized that for me,
they’re counterproductive. I discovered that daydreaming, brainstorming, and research
are such a huge part of my process and there’s no way to quantify that. I end
the day by writing a note to myself about what I plan to work on for tomorrow,
or pose myself a question I need answered. Then I’ll let my subconscious work
while I go for a walk in the woods. Because of the way I’m wired, I can’t help
but think a lot about anything that comes into my brain, so I try to be
intentional about what I let in. That’s been much harder during the pandemic.
Q: What books are currently on your nightstand?
A: Peacock and Vine by AS Byatt; All
the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders; Weather by Jenny Offill; The Game
of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett; a book of Russian fairy tales; and a couple of
cookbooks: In My Kitchen by Deborah Madison and Simple Cake by Odette Williams.
I find cookbooks the most relaxing to read before bed!
Q: We have to ask—what are you working on at the moment? Anything
you can tease for readers who can’t wait to read whatever you write next?
A: Right now I’m working on a new YA
fantasy. The mood is gilded autumn in New England, deep shadows at its edges.
It’s personal, as I’ve lived in New England much of my life, and though it
takes place in a version of the present, fans of the Enchantée series will find
that some of my obsessions remain: people who move between worlds; darkly
compelling magic; a mysterious, gothic setting; a romance that is both
delicious and dangerous; and plenty of yearning for the things you’re supposed
to want—as well as those that are forbidden.
Thanks for sharing all your
advice, Gita. You can find Gita at:
Purchase link: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250295552
Website: https://www.gitatrelease.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gitatrelease
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17337861.Gita_Trelease
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gitatrelease/
Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Gita-Trelease/e/B07L1CQXH9/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1
Giveaway Details
Gita’s publisher has generously offered a hardback of Everything
That Burns for a giveaway. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower of my
blog (via the follower gadget, email, or bloglovin’ on the right
sidebar) and leave a comment by February 13th. If your e-mail is
not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest.
Please be sure I have your email address.
If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog
and/or follow me on Twitter, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an
extra entry for each. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This giveaway
is U.S.
Upcoming Interviews and Giveaways
Monday, February 1st I’m participating in the
February of 2021 Book Giveaway Hop
Wednesday, February 3rd I have an interview with
debut author Jennifer Gruenke and a giveaway of her YA fantasy Of Silver
and Shadow and my IWSG post
Monday, February 8th I have an interview with
debut author Kristy Boyce and a giveaway of her YA contemporary Hot
British Boyfriend
Wednesday, February 10th I have an agent
spotlight interview with Abigail Frank and a query critique giveaway
Monday, February 15th I have an interview with
debut author Emily Victoria and a giveaway of her YA fantasy This Golden Flame
Tuesday, February 16th I’m participating in the
Wish Big Giveaway Hop
Wednesday, February 17th I have an agent
spotlight interview with Pam Gruber and a query critique giveaway
Monday, February 22th I have a guest post by
debut author Sam Taylor and her agent Allison Hellegers and a giveaway of
Sam’s YA fantasy We Are the Fire and a query critique giveaway by Allison
Hope to see you on Monday!
