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Wednesday, July 2, 2014

By Jove by Marissa Doyle: Interview & Giveaway

By Jove
Marissa Doyle

Book Synopsis: For Theodora Fairchild, graduate school is a dream. The professors are fighting over her, she gets to study Latin and explore her knowledge of Greek gods with others who share her passion…and she meets Grant Proctor. He's as shy as she is, and oh so handsome.
As she gives in to her feelings for the man who's stolen her heart, someone seems determined to keep them apart—no matter the consequences. There are evil forces at work, and they have plans for Theo that don’t include Grant. When Grant disappears, surviving the semester becomes the least of Theo’s worries. Her knowledge of ancient mythology may be her best weapon, and relying on her wits and wisdom may be the only thing to help her save her true love.
Goodreads * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Entangled




Author Bio:

Marissa Doyle graduated from Bryn Mawr College and went on to graduate school intending to be an archaeologist, but somehow got distracted. Eventually she figured out what she was really supposed to be doing and started writing. She’s channeled her inner history geekiness into a successful young adult historical fantasy series, and is now also happily writing contemporary romantic fantasy. She lives in her native Massachusetts with her family, including a pair of bossy but adorable pet rabbits, and loves quilting, sailing, gardening, and collecting antiques. Oh, and coffee.


Interview:

Please welcome Marissa Doyle to Diane's Book Blog:

What is your favorite part of the story, By Jove?

Hmm. I love the symposium scene, the faculty party that my main character, Theo, gets invited to, because it was such fun to write. One of the best parts of writing By Jove was salting in all the little clues about just who the faculty in the Classics Department are, and I get to do a lot of that in this scene.


How long did it take you to write By Jove?

Only about two months. The first draft just poured out of me...but of course, after that comes revisions and edits and rewrites...and then By Jove lurked on my hard drive for years while I focused on writing my YA novels.  But I love this book, and I’m thrilled that Liz at Entangled Publishing loved it as much as I do and gave it the chance to see the light of day at long last!


If you could be best friends with one of your characters, who would it be?

I like Theo in By Jove a great deal because she’s so human (despite everything that happens to her in the story!) and cares about learning from her mistakes and being a better person as a result. I like her dry sense of humor and her fondness for cats. And of course, as a recovering Latin geek, I share her passion for her subject—I wish I had time to brush up on my Latin and re-read The Aeneid, but there are all these pesky books I want to write that keep distracting me!


How do you overcome writer’s block?

When I get blocked, it’s almost always because I’ve made a misstep in a story and need to backtrack and rewrite. Sometimes I don’t want to believe that and try to muscle through, but after a day or two of little progress and a growing feeling of unease, I’ll give in and go back to start a scene over, and once I do so and figure out where the scene should really be going, it all falls back into place again and the writing goes full steam ahead.


Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about her work?

Um...I have, like, a dozen favorite writers, and my answer will change from hour to hour, depending on my mood. So I’ll have to cheat and give you three who are pretty consistently my tops: Georgette Heyer, for her laugh-out-loud humor and very serious research into history for the Regency novels she wrote; Diana Wynne Jones, for her sheer wild imagination and how much she respected her audience—children—and forced other writers to do so as well, and Connie Willis, who’s won more awards for her science fiction than just about anyone and who can write books that manage to be laugh-out-loud funny, thought-provoking, and profoundly moving at the same time.


What book are you reading now?

I’m going to be flying cross-country this week, and I’ve loaded my ereader up with a bunch of very different books:The Martian by Andy Weir (science fiction), Long Mars by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (science fiction), The Late Scholar by Jill Paton Walsh (historical mystery featuring Lord Peter Wimsey), Written in Red by Anne Bishop (fantasy),Authority by Jeff Vandermeer (fantasy) and Dark Star by Alan Furst (historical thriller). I like to be prepared because flying is probably one of the most boring activities ever.


What do you prefer—paperback, hardcover, or ebooks?

I like ‘em all!  Over the last year I’ve found that I prefer to read fiction on my Nook tablet because (1) it’s great for reading on the elliptical machine at the gym (2) it’s great for reading in bed because you can turn pages one handed, and (3) OMG the instant gratification of downloading a book you want NOW is just so awesome. But for non-fiction, which I also enjoy and read a lot of both for pleasure and for research, I really prefer a physical book—it’s just easier to flip back and forth to check facts and names and so on, and I’ve discovered that I remember what I read better when it’s on a printed page.

Giveaway:

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