Welcome back to this year's Debut Authors Bash.
The Debut Authors Bash is an annual event that YA Reads started in 2013 to promote debut authors through reviews, guest posts, interviews, promo posts, etc. It's an exciting chance to get to know a little more about the year's incredible authors and their brilliant books!
This year's Bash runs from June 1st through June 30th. To view the rest of the tour schedule click here. I also recently featured an interview with the lovely Lucy Keating, author of Dreamology, as a part of the Bash. You can view it here.
This year's Bash runs from June 1st through June 30th. To view the rest of the tour schedule click here. I also recently featured an interview with the lovely Lucy Keating, author of Dreamology, as a part of the Bash. You can view it here.
The author I'm featuring today is the lovely Riley Redgate!
I got the chance to chat with Riley about her novel Seven Ways We Lie (which I read and really enjoyed), different POVs, and the seven deadly sins.
Along with the interview is a giveaway you don't want to miss thanks to Riley Redgate and the wonderful people over at YA Reads, so be sure to check that out if you love books and free things I mean who doesn't?!
Now let's get this Bash going!
Riley Redgate. Author. Songwriter. 22. Part of that Liberal Media your parents warned you about. Responsible for a Nietzsche-themed Call Me Maybe parody, and utilizes free time well, obviously.
Her debut novel, SEVEN WAYS WE LIE (Abrams/March '16), is out now wherever books are sold.
Connect with Riley via her:
Twitter | Website | Goodreads
Her debut novel, SEVEN WAYS WE LIE (Abrams/March '16), is out now wherever books are sold.
Connect with Riley via her:
Twitter | Website | Goodreads
Booknut: Seven Ways We Lie features one of my favourite covers for 2016. It’s so unique! What inspired the concept(s) behind the book’s title and cover?
Riley Redgate: I love it too! My designer is a goddess. Both the title and the cover aimed to incorporate the central concept of the book, the seven deadly sins as narrators. By doing that legwork in the title/cover, we didn’t have to use the flap copy to communicate the theme too explicitly.
Booknut: What motivates you to write and to be an author?
Riley Redgate: From a personal standpoint, I love the activity of writing itself, the challenges and catharsis of it. As for motivation, I find that every day in the overwhelming size of the world. I feel that writing is incredibly important--it creates a record of the way we live and think and coexist these days, and (crucially) helps us all feel empathy for other human beings from an inside perspective.
Booknut: Your novel Seven Ways We Lie features 7 different POVs. Which was your favourite to write and why?
Riley Redgate: I cannot pick between my children! I will say that the easiest to write was a close call between Kat--maybe it’s all the pent-up aggression?--and Olivia, who’s nearly as much of a smartass as I am.
Booknut: Juniper’s POV was my personal favourite. I loved its poetic nature and the level of emotion flowing through every line. What inspired you to write in that particular form for Juniper?
Riley Redgate: Thank you! Olivia describes Juniper as being a certain type of unattainable from the beginning of the story. I think I felt that since her character required more distance than the others, a stylistic shift toward something less grounded would be appropriate. Also, I think I was searching for a way to communicate syntactically that she’s pretty shattered in a lot of ways and attempting to put herself back together.
Booknut: If you could pick a character from literature/movies/tv to represent each of the 7 sins, who would they be?
Riley Redgate:
Pride: Dolores Umbridge, Queen of Hell Greed: Spider from Anansi Boys Lust: Samad from White Teeth Envy: Sam from Before I Fall Gluttony: Bilquis from American Gods, which … yikes Wrath: Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows Sloth: Quentin from The Magicians
Booknut: Which quote from Seven Ways We Lie do you love the most?
Riley Redgate: That’ll have to be a quote from an epiphany scene that Matt (the character of Sloth) has:
“Sometimes you go a long time having fooled yourself into thinking that you're as grown-up as you'll ever be, or that you're more mature than the rest of the world thinks you are, and you live in this state of constant self-assurance, and for a while nothing can upset you from this pedestal you've built for yourself, because you imagine yourself to be so capable. And then somebody does something that takes a golf club to your ego, and suddenly you're nine years old again, pieced together from humiliation and gawky youthfulness and childlike ideas like, Somebody please tell me what to do, nobody taught me how to handle this, God, just look at all the things I still don't understand, and you can't muster up the presence of mind to do anything but stand there, stare, silent, sorry.”
Booknut: What are you most excited for readers to experience in Seven Ways We Lie?
Riley Redgate: Mostly, I’m hope it’s enjoyable for readers to weave into and out of the characters’ heads. Since the novel’s so character-driven, I think its success is chiefly going to fall on whether people connect to those characters and how much they care to see what their exteriors are like versus the interiors.
Booknut: What’s next in the world of writing for you? Can readers expect more books to read and love?
Riley Redgate: Yes! I have a 2017 and 2018 book lined up with Abrams, both YA contemporary. Can’t say much at the moment, but the first is of a musical nature, which I’m excited to share.
Booknut: Thank you so much for sitting down with me - it was wonderful having you on the blog! Congratulations on Seven Ways We Lie and I wish you the best of luck with all your future writing :)
Riley Redgate: Thanks so much for having me!
Pride: Dolores Umbridge, Queen of Hell Greed: Spider from Anansi Boys Lust: Samad from White Teeth Envy: Sam from Before I Fall Gluttony: Bilquis from American Gods, which … yikes Wrath: Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows Sloth: Quentin from The Magicians
Booknut: Which quote from Seven Ways We Lie do you love the most?
Riley Redgate: That’ll have to be a quote from an epiphany scene that Matt (the character of Sloth) has:
“Sometimes you go a long time having fooled yourself into thinking that you're as grown-up as you'll ever be, or that you're more mature than the rest of the world thinks you are, and you live in this state of constant self-assurance, and for a while nothing can upset you from this pedestal you've built for yourself, because you imagine yourself to be so capable. And then somebody does something that takes a golf club to your ego, and suddenly you're nine years old again, pieced together from humiliation and gawky youthfulness and childlike ideas like, Somebody please tell me what to do, nobody taught me how to handle this, God, just look at all the things I still don't understand, and you can't muster up the presence of mind to do anything but stand there, stare, silent, sorry.”
Booknut: What are you most excited for readers to experience in Seven Ways We Lie?
Riley Redgate: Mostly, I’m hope it’s enjoyable for readers to weave into and out of the characters’ heads. Since the novel’s so character-driven, I think its success is chiefly going to fall on whether people connect to those characters and how much they care to see what their exteriors are like versus the interiors.
Booknut: What’s next in the world of writing for you? Can readers expect more books to read and love?
Riley Redgate: Yes! I have a 2017 and 2018 book lined up with Abrams, both YA contemporary. Can’t say much at the moment, but the first is of a musical nature, which I’m excited to share.
Booknut: Thank you so much for sitting down with me - it was wonderful having you on the blog! Congratulations on Seven Ways We Lie and I wish you the best of luck with all your future writing :)
Riley Redgate: Thanks so much for having me!
Seven students. Seven (deadly) sins. One secret.
Paloma High School is ordinary by anyone’s standards. It’s got the same cliques, the same prejudices, the same suspect cafeteria food. And like every high school, every student has something to hide—from Kat, the thespian who conceals her trust issues onstage, to Valentine, the neurotic genius who’s planted the seed of a school scandal.
When that scandal bubbles over, and rumors of a teacher-student affair surface, everyone starts hunting for someone to blame. For the seven unlikely allies at the heart of it all, their seven ordinary-seeming lives results in extraordinary change.
Paloma High School is ordinary by anyone’s standards. It’s got the same cliques, the same prejudices, the same suspect cafeteria food. And like every high school, every student has something to hide—from Kat, the thespian who conceals her trust issues onstage, to Valentine, the neurotic genius who’s planted the seed of a school scandal.
When that scandal bubbles over, and rumors of a teacher-student affair surface, everyone starts hunting for someone to blame. For the seven unlikely allies at the heart of it all, their seven ordinary-seeming lives results in extraordinary change.
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I love everything about this post. I so need to read this book!
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited for this book! I had seen many positive reviews for this book so I'm very interested to see how this holds up!
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds really suspenseful. I'd love to read it!
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