The Last Changeling
Author: Chelsea Pitcher
Series: Faerie Revolutions
#1
Release date: November 8th
2014
Publisher: Flux
Synopsis via Goodreads:
A Kingdom at War . .
.
Elora, the young princess of the Dark Faeries, plans to overthrow her
tyrannical mother, the Dark Queen, and bring equality to faeriekind. All she has
to do is convince her mother’s loathed enemy, the Bright Queen, to join her
cause. But the Bright Queen demands an offering first: a human boy who is a
“young leader of men.”
A Dark Princess In Disguise . .
.
To steal a mortal, Elora must become a mortal—at least, by all
appearances. And infiltrating a high school is surprisingly easy. When Elora
meets Taylor, the seventeen-year-old who’s plotting to overthrow a ruthless
bully, she thinks she’s found her offering . . . until she starts to fall in
love.
Buy Links:
Amazon
GUEST POST
Writing Icons
Amazon
GUEST POST
Writing Icons
Today I
get to talk about one of my favorite things: writing icons! The Last Changeling
was influenced by so many wonderful writers, and I will never be able to pay
them back for all the important things they’ve taught me. But I can
try!
First on
the list is Francesca Lia Block, a veritable goddess of magical realism in YA. I
started reading Block’s work back when I was in high school, and my mom handed
me a copy of I Was a Teenage Fairy: the story of a girl who befriends a tiny,
mouthy fairy that only she can see, after suffering abuse at the hands of a
photographer. This juxtaposition of wonder and horror was something that struck
me about Block’s work right away. Why did she choose to intertwine horrific
real-life events with magical, otherworldly experiences? Why did it work so
well? Was it because people suffering at the hands of wicked humans were so
desperate to find beauty in the world that they tried to invent some? Or was it
because these people were so alienated by the real world that they actually saw
a world of magical beings hiding beneath the surface? These questions fascinated
me, and would go on to influence my work for many years.
After
that I discovered Holly Black, and my love affair with faerie books continued.
Rather than the magical realism I’d gotten used to with Francesca Lia Block,
Black’s work was straight-up urban fantasy, gritty, witty, and filled with
faeries that existed whether humans believed in them or not—and possibly wanted
to kill us. I was hooked! I read all three books in the Modern Faerie Tales
series, and went on to read about magical con artists in The Curse Workers.
Black has such a talent for blending real teen problems with paranormal
intrigue, and her characters are fabulous and fierce.
After
that, I discovered the genius that is Libba Bray. Bray is well known for her
Gemma Doyle trilogy, but I fell in love with her humorous contemporary, Beauty
Queens. Beauty Queens is part satire, part social commentary, and all hilarity.
That book is so funny! I was laughing the entire time, and yet, all the while
Bray weaves in so many important points about what it means to be a girl in our
society. I’ve never seen anyone so perfectly articulate the way young girls are
sexualized by other people, while at the same time shamed for having any desires
of their own. Reading the book was a liberating experience, confirming so many
things I’d felt or suspected, but never explicitly read. Bray lays it all out:
the way young women are raised, shamed, controlled—and the way they can empower
each other and themselves. When you hear the premise—beauty queens stranded on
an island—it sounds like a parody, but Beauty Queens is so much more. It will
make you re-evaluate the way you see yourself and others, and keep you laughing
the whole time.
So, now
that we’ve established that my writing icons all have last names that start with
B (ha!), I want to mention all the writers who helped to launch the
#WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign (as well as the bloggers and booksellers!) Not only
are these authors working hard to write their own fantastic books, but they’re
going out of their way to bring representation to all the kids out there who
want and deserve to find themselves in a book. I am so, so humbled by the
awesomeness of these people, and so honored that I’ve been able to work with
them. They are more than icons to me. They are heroes.
Thank
you so much for having me today, and for letting me gush about these wonderful
people!
Chelsea Pitcher is a native of Portland, OR where she received her BA in English Literature. Fascinated by all things literary, she began gobbling up stories as soon as she could read, and especially enjoys delving into the darker places to see if she can draw out some light.
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One copy of The Last Changeling (US & CAN).
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