Author Interview and Blog Tour Giveaway: Author Gita Trelease and Everything That Burns Giveaway

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!