Diane’s Book Blog: 2015 debut authors bash:Sarah Ahiers: Author and Character Interviews & Giveaway

Assassin's Heart

by Sarah Ahiers

In the kingdom of Lovero, nine rival Families of assassins lawfully kill people for a price. As a highly skilled member of one of these powerful clans, seventeen-year-old Lea Saldana has always trusted in the strength of her Family. Until she awakens to find them murdered and her home in flames. The Da Vias, the Saldanas’ biggest enemy, must be responsible—and Lea should have seen it coming. But her secret relationship with the Da Vias’ son, Val, has clouded her otherwise killer instinct—and given the Da Vias more reason than ever to take her Family down.

Racked with guilt and shattered over Val’s probable betrayal, Lea sets out to even the score, with her heart set on retaliation and only one thought clear in her mind: make the Da Vias pay.

With shades of The Godfather and Romeo and Juliet, this richly imagined fantasy from debut author Sarah Ahiers is a story of love, lies, and the ultimate vengeance

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Interview

Please welcome Assassin's Heart author Sarah Ahiers to Diane’s Book Blog.

What is your favorite part of the story, Assassin's Heart?

There are a lot of scenes I really love in ASSASSIN’S HEART, but there’s a specific scene, smack dab in the middle, where Lea has to face her estranged uncle, Marcello, for the first time. I really love Marcello as a character, and I really love the emotions in this scene and the beginning of the relationships that start to build from that point on.

What's your favorite book-turned movie?

I think HOLES by Louis Sachar is both a fantastic book and a utterly amazing movie adaptation.

How do you overcome writer’s block?

I don’t ever really have writer’s block, per se. There are times when I don’t feel like or want to write, but that’s not due to being stuck, somehow in the story. I think because I do a lot of prework for my novels, as well as an outline, I tend to avoid being stuck.

What book are you reading now?

I’m reading INTO THE DIM, a 2016 release by Janet B. Taylor. It’s about a girl who finds out her mother isn’t actually dead, but a member of a secret society of time travelers and is trapped in the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine. I really love the well-researched history as well as the tangle of mysteries and secrets.

What do you prefer paperback, hardcover, or ebooks?

It varies. Hardcovers are wonderful because, let’s be real here, they look SO NICE on a bookshelf. But if they’re too big, they can be hard to read, which is where a paperback can be superior (trade or mass market) And i love my ereader because I can set it flat on a table and still read it, and because it changes pages with a touch, I can turn the page with my elbow or nose if my hands are full (with food or something. I like to read on my lunch break)

Character Interview

Please welcome Oleander Saldana from Sarah Ahiers' Assassin's Heart to Diane’s Book Blog.

What is your full name? Do you have a nickname?

Oleander Saldana, because my mother is a master poisoner and wanted to name me after a poison. But everyone calls me Lea.

What is your hair color? Eye color?

I’m blond and have brown eyes.

How old are you?

Seventeen.

Where were you born? Where have you lived since then? Where do you currently call home?

I was born in the city of Ravenna in the country of Lovero. I was born in the house my Family still lives in, hidden under the streets of Ravenna to keep us safe from our enemies.

What is your most treasured possession?

My bone mask, which I wear when I clip people in the name of Safraella.

What is your favorite journey?

We don’t travel. Outside the walls and borders of Lovero the angry ghosts haunt the dead plains at night, stealing people’s souls. Also the Saldana territory only encompasses the city of Ravenna. I would not be welcome outside of our territory.

What is your motto?

Revenge is all that remains.