Today on the blog, I am pleased to welcome author, Joss Stirling, to tell us seven secrets about herself and her new book, Misty Falls,
Secret 1 – The inspiration for the South African section of the book were the penguins – no, really! My husband went to see the colony on a business trip and I couldn’t believe his stories about penguins in Africa so had to find out more about them. I liked the correlation between the funny little birds and my gawky but sweet heroine. She feels like a penguin next to black swan that is Alex.
Secret 2 – The second key place in the book is Cambridge. At eighteen, I went to university there and had my first romances. I was drawing on that when I wrote the scenes on the Backs and on the punts.
Secret 3 – I have a wonderful teenage daughter who makes me laugh by the ways she expresses her enthusiasm for life. The way she talks has been an inspiration for Misty more than any of my other heroines. You’ll find some of her speech mannerisms dotted throughout the story.
Secret 4 – The savant series was never planned as a series. I wrote Finding Sky as a one off. You may have noticed I started with the youngest Benedict. When the book was successful, I then had the challenge of working my way up the brothers by reverse age. I got as far as Xav and saw I was leaving teenage years behind. I then had to come up with a strategy to provide endings for the older brothers and this new book is the result. I’m hoping people will like the stories of Misty, Angel and Summer, as well as the next chapters for Victor, Will and Uriel.
Secret 5 – My first ever ‘finished’ novel was called The Tapestry Room, written when I was 10. It involved an old house with a huge tapestry that changed magically from day to day. It was also a doorway to another world.
Secret 6 – My first job was in an old fashioned sweet shop. I had to serve sweets from big jars – aniseed twists, coconut mushrooms, chocolate éclairs - adding up a running total in my head, so I now associate mental arithmetic with candy.
Secret 7 – My favourite place in the world is Oxford – it is also the city where I live so that’s pretty good news for me! What I like about it is the mixture of beauty and history, but it is also a small enough city for it to feel personal.
Misty Falls was published by Oxford University Press in October 2014
Summary
Misty is a one-girl disaster zone. Born with a Savant 'gift' that means she can never tell a lie, her compulsive truth-telling gets her into trouble wherever she goes.
So when she meets Alex: gorgeous, confident, and impossibly charming, Misty instantly resolves to keep her distance . . . Someone so perfect could never be hers, surely?
But a dark shadow has fallen across the Savant community. A serial killer is stalking young people who have these special mental powers. Soon one of them will be taken to the edge of death . . . and beyond.
So when she meets Alex: gorgeous, confident, and impossibly charming, Misty instantly resolves to keep her distance . . . Someone so perfect could never be hers, surely?
But a dark shadow has fallen across the Savant community. A serial killer is stalking young people who have these special mental powers. Soon one of them will be taken to the edge of death . . . and beyond.
To find out more about Joss Stirling:
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