The time it was about Wintersong

Posted January 30, 2017 by Stacee in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Interviews | 8 Comments

As soon as I saw the words “Goblin King” in the synopsis of Wintersong by S. Jae Jones, I was sold.  I didn’t even need to read more.  I loved Labyrinth when I was younger {I haven’t seen it in years} and I was ridiculously excited to read it. So when I saw the blog tour invite, I couldn’t sign up fast enough.

Before we get to the interview with JJ, let’s check out the book!

Title: Wintersong
Author: S. Jae-Jones
Pub. Date: February 7, 2017
Publisher: A Thomas Dunne Book for St. Martin’s Griffin
Pages: 448
Find it: Macmillan | Indiebound | B&N | Amazon

Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.

Sounds good, right?

1. Please give the elevator pitch for Wintersong.

When Liesl’s sister Käthe is stolen by the Goblin King, she journeys to the Underground to rescue her, only to discover that she may be the one in need of saving.

2. Where did the idea come from?

There’s no one place an idea comes from, at least not for me. It’s not a flash of lightning, but the slow accretion of a lifetime of loves. For me, Wintersong was born of my love of all things goth, Mozart, music, Germanic fairy tales, underworld stories, the trope Death and the Maiden, and of course, the movie Labyrinth.

3. Why do you love Elisabeth and why should we root for her?

I can’t help but love Elisabeth because she, like all my characters, is a part of me. I gave something of myself to each and every character in the book, but the trait that Liesl and I share is that we are both creators with bipolar disorder. I didn’t do this intentionally…until I did. Like me, Liesl experiences both mania and melancholy, but this doesn’t define her. I don’t want it to define her, just as I don’t want it to define me.

4. What was the weirdest thing you googled while researching?

Never ask a Ravenclaw about research questions because she can go on and on and on! This tidbit isn’t weird, per se, but I did go down a rabbit hole researching some of the music that’s in Wintersong. One of the favorite things I read that Bach’s famous Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (typically heard in cheesy horror films—it contains that ominous-sounding organ riff?) may have originally been written by someone else, and written for the violin. Andrew Manze, who is a conductor and a violinist, transposed the original from D minor to A minor, which may have been the piece’s natural key and recorded a version of it. I highly recommend looking it up!

5. Without spoilers, what was your favorite scene to write?

Any of the scenes with Liesl’s brother Josef. I have a soft spot for him. The ball was also a ton of fun to write. J

Speed [ish] round:

1. You get the call/email/letter that says you’re being published for the first time. Describe the next 5 minutes.

Trying not to get into a car accident. My agent called me as I was driving to the airport to fly home for Christmas, saying we got The Offer.

2. What three things would you take to a desert island?

If all my physical needs were taken care of (food, water, shelter, tools, plumbing, etc.), I would bring my partner Bear, my dog Goober Dog, and my stuffed seal White-Harp.

3. You can only read one book for the rest of your life. What is it?

THIS IS UNFAIR. Does an entire set of encyclopedias count?

If not, probably HIS DARK MATERIALS by Philip Pullman (I AM COUNTING THE TRILOGY AS ONE BOOK).

4. What book character would you want to date and who would you want to be your BFF?

In all of fiction? I think I would want Anne Shirley to be my BFF; we’re kindred spirits, I just KNOW we are. The dating question is harder, mostly because I don’t really think of characters in terms of who I would want to date so much as who I want them to date. (Shipper 4eva.)

5. What is the one thing about publishing you wish someone would have told you?

I went into publishing as an author pretty well-informed; I was an acquiring editor of YA at a Big 5 house before this. So there’s not much about the entire process I don’t already know, although I will say that despite the imposter syndrome my writer friends warned me about, I got blindsided by it anyway.

6. You wake up and discover you are Bella in Twilight. You know how it plays out. What do you do differently? {Huge thanks to Bookish Broads for letting me use this question!}

Date Alice Cullen instead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

S. Jae-Jones, called JJ, is a voracious and indiscriminate reader, an avid traveler, and something of an adrenaline junkie.

Born and raised in sunny Los Angeles, she lived in New York City for 10 years before relocating down to Dixie, where she is comfortably growing fat on grits and barbecue. When not writing, she can be find rock-climbing, skydiving, taking photographs, drawing pictures, and dragging her dog on ridiculously long hikes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Huge thanks to Rockstar Book Tours for the invite and to JJ for taking the time.  Make sure you’re checking out her website, following her on Twitter and Instagram, liking her Facebook page, and adding her books to your Goodreads TBR.

Definitely check out the rest of the blog tour and keep scrolling for a giveaway!

**Good Luck!!**

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tags: , , , , ,


8 responses to “The time it was about Wintersong

  1. danielle hammelef

    I’ve been waiting for this book for a long time and it sounds so much fun to read with music, muse, a Goblin King and a high price to pay. The cover is stunning!!

  2. Stunning tour post sweetie :D I’m pretty curious about this book. <3 Hopefully reading it very soon :) It's so gorgeous. Your post make me even more excited about it. <3

Leave a Reply

(Enter your URL then click here to include a link to one of your blog posts.)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.