Virtual Igniting Darkness Tour!

Wednesday, August 5

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Okay guys, here it is–the Igniting Darkness virtual book tour details!

Aside from getting a chance to talk with some of my favorite people, one of the reasons I’m so excited about these events is we’ve decided to treat each one like a panel with different topics for discussion. Please note, some of these events require registration, so be sure to check the links!

At Mysterious Galaxy (via Crowdcast) Mary Pearson, Stephanie Garber, and I will talk about: To Love and Die in YA, discussing the hugely popular themes of love and death in books for teens and why they resonate.  Link: https://www.mystgalaxy.com/event/robin-lafevers-virtual-launch-event


Then at Third Place Books (also via Crowdcast) the amazing Leigh Bardugo and I will be chatting about the craft of writing! One of my favorite subjects in the world with one of my favorite people in the world. Win – Win!  Link to register: https://www.thirdplacebooks.com/event/virtual-event-robin-lafevers-conversation-leigh-bardugo-igniting-darkness

Next, Wellesley Books (via Zoom) will be hosting Julie Dao and I as we talk about Mean Girls, Queen Bees, and Savvy B!!ches: exploring the concept of the unlikable heroine. Because let’s face it, we desperately need to broaden our concept of heroines.

Link to register :https://www.wellesleybooks.com/event/robin-lafevers

Direct link to Zoom event registration page: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lHGye8PPSpaZh6axVIQomA

Then lastly we will wrap up the tour at Politics and Prose (also via Zoon) with the incredible Sabaa Tahir! She and I will discussing the joys and sorrows (and yes, the pain, but whether ours or the readers is for you to find out) of wrapping up a long running series. Link: : https://www.politics-prose.com/event/book/pp-live-robin-lafevers-igniting-darkness-in-conversation-sabaa-tahir

I can’t wait to talk with all these fabulous authors and hope that you are as excited as I am! Feeling very lucky and blessed to have such amazing author friends! ❤️

Are you excited?? I am!!

TO PREORDER: INDIE BOUND B&N BOOKS A MILLION POWELL’S AMAZON

TO ADD TO GOODREADS

🚨PRE-ORDER ALERT!🚨

The details of the IGNITING DARKNESS pre-order are now live!

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And how much do I love this pin! (Orange! Glitter! Enamel!) And honestly? BURN IT ALL could pretty much be the motto for 2020.

Details of the pre-order and where to submit your receipt can all be found here: bit.ly/IDpreorder .

And as always, deep heartfelt gratitude to all of you who do pre-order the books. More and more, they make any an enormous difference, so thank you!

 

Also, my publisher is sponsoring a reread of His Fair Assassin and Courting Darkness. We started with GRAVE MERCY on 6/7/20, just wrapped up DARK TRIUMPH last week and are now reading MORTAL HEART! If you were wanting to get caught up before the next book comes out, please join along! At the end of each book we will have an Instagram live hosted by moi so we can talk about the book. These have been immensely fun so far. I hope you’ll join us!

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(Speaking of which, if you’re not following me on Instagram, you might want to. It’s where I am the most active online.)

Mining Our Characters’ Wounds

Thursday, April 30

Mining

While we can certainly be forgiven for not seeing our personal wounds as jewels, our most powerful wounds often have as many facets and hidden depths as an exquisitely cut gemstone. They are sharp, with hard edges that not only reflect back light but distort it somewhat.

As writers, we know that our character’s wounds are some of the most fertile ground for creating a rich, fully realized protagonist. But before we can explore this with our characters, we have to understand it ourselves. And because we have all been wounded in some way—and those places are always tender—it can be uncomfortable to look too closely.

In order to use our characters’ wounds to full effect, we need to understand that wounds aren’t simply an attribute to be filled in on a worksheet. They are the rocket fuel for our character’s backstory, the backstory that drives their motivation and colors their world. It must be deeply organic to that character and so intricately woven into their emotional DNA that it distorts the way the see the world and themselves.

While everyone’s wounds are uniquely theirs, they are also universal in that they’re something we all share.  What differs is their nature, how we carry them, and the many—often unexpected—ways they shape us and our behavior.

Because of course the impact of any given wound isn’t limited to that initial injury. I was reminded of that last week when I was out walking and twisted my ankle. It was nothing serious, but by the time I’d limped around favoring it for a day or two, everything else was out of whack as I contorted my body to accommodate the injury.

Emotional wounds are just like that, only worse by orders of magnitude. [click to continue…]

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Hoping to find an ally from the convent, Sybella instead discovers yet another initiate who has been misled and misused by the former abbess of Saint Mortain. But with long held secrets exposed and allegiances revealed, Sybella must form an uneasy trust borne of desperation to combat enemies at the French court who would have them branded as traitors and heretics.
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Some mistakes cannot be fixed—that is Genevieve’s growing fear. Though she may have been a fool, she is no coward and will do whatever it takes to set things right and ensure her Queen’s—and Sybella’s—safety. It will take all of Genevieve’s strength of will and cunning, along with Sybella’s willingness to embrace her growing power. But even that may not be enough.
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Plans fail, fragile loyalties are tested, and bridges burn in this riveting conclusion to the Courting Darkness duology. Here, the Daughters of Death finally embrace the full depth of their power—and try to make whole that which has been broken, including themselves.

 

Want to read more? You’re in luck! My publisher is providing an e-sampler of the first eleven chapters. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it! (And if you get so excited that you feel like pre-ordering the book–be sure to save your receipts! There will be a pre-order gift. Details coming soon!)

The Charbonnerie and the Dark Mother

January 29, 2019

As I wrote Dark Triumph, I wanted to be sure and populate the book with some of the colorful characters from the Middle Ages that I had come across in my research, and yet it had to feel organic to the story and not wedged in there. As Sybella and the wounded knight were racing […]

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HFA Refresher: The Mythology of the Nine

January 27, 2019

While the Nine Old Gods of Brittany are my own invention, they were built on a number of historical, geographical, and ancient theological precedents, so I thought I’d share some of those here for those of you who are curious to know what my inspirations for world of His Fair Assassin were. As the Catholic […]

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HFA Refresher: Anne of Brittany

January 24, 2019

Anne of Brittany was a real historic person. At twelve years old, upon the death of her father, she inherited one of the last remaining duchies in Western Europe. By all accounts, she was a remarkable girl. Groomed since birth to inherit the duchy, she was reading and speaking Greek and Latin by the time […]

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HFA Refresher: Legends of Brittany

January 23, 2019

In preparation for the publication of COURTING DARKNESS, and because I realize not everyone has time for a re-read of the original trilogy, I thought I would put up some “refresher” posts to help readers reacquaint themselves with the His Fair Assassin world before diving back in. First up: the legends and folklore of Brittany […]

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FAQ: Do I Need To Read The HFA Trilogy Before Reading Courting Darkness?

January 21, 2019

I get asked this a lot, so thought I’d try to address it here. Courting Darkness is meant to be able to be read without having read the original His Fair Assassin trilogy. But it is not the first book of Sybella’s adventures. If you read an ARC and were lost—I’m sorry. That is one […]

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