We recently caught up with SpireHouse’s debut author Cheri Lasota to ask her a few questions about her upcoming novel, Artemis Rising. Her answers may shock you, and they may rock you, but they will certainly get you excited about this new young adult title. As previously mentioned on this blog, Artemis Rising is a mash-up of well-recognized (and maybe not so well-recognized) Arthurian and Greek mythologies and a group of young people who believe they are fated to live them out.
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1. How does it feel to finally have Artemis Rising ready for publication?
A lot of writers feel a sense of loss when they finish writing/editing a book, because they feel they have to let go of their beloved fictional world and characters. I never had this feeling myself. Instead, I feel like I’m finally freeing my characters and story from their gilded cage. They’ve been locked away so long—first in my head, and then on my hard drive—I feel as if I’m finally giving them their freedom at last. FREEDOM! *cue sweeping music from Braveheart*
2. How did you know the book was ready to be published?
Oh, my book was ready from draft one.
*awkward cough*
No, really!
*…*
Okay, okay. That’s a load of codswallop. But I really did think that many, many times. Until some kind soul would come along and smack me in the head and tell me that my plot needed finessing or my characters needed an overhaul. I’ll paraphrase the prevailing wisdom: A book is never finished until you pry it from the author’s grasping, white-knuckled fingers (or something to that effect). I suppose I felt “comfortable” with letting Artemis Rising out into the world around spring of last year.
3. How do you feel about moving toward digital publishing exclusively?
Ecstatic! Thrilled! Chuffed (British usage)! Since I bought myself an overly expensive Kindle 2—around $400 all told—I’ve never gone back to paperback. I’m such an unabashed fan of current book technology—particularly now that you can get a Kindle for as low as $114 these days. I want to take part in this e-volution as well as be a consumer of it. If a writer has the guts to go indie or small press, I still maintain that there is no better time to be publishing than now. The world is quite literally at our fingertips and it’s changing so rapidly, we can hardly keep up. We’ve finally reached the tipping point for e-books. There’s no going back. And I wouldn’t want to. I’m a techno-dweeb after all.
4. What part of the story in Artemis Rising are you most excited to share with readers?
Ooh, excellent question! It’d have to be the yummy love story. I’m just a sucker for love stories I can immerse myself in. I like to get lost in the love affairs of characters I care deeply about. It’s just a delicious sort of pleasure, isn’t it? And love triangles are the best. They can just break your heart and then mend it and then do it all over again—and all in a single chapter! *sigh* And this one’s a doozy, as it’s three love stories in one. And you just don’t know how it’s all going to turn out until the last chapter…
5. What should readers expect to take away from the story?
Artemis Rising deals with profound subject matter—fate vs. choice, love vs. desire, and most importantly, the nature of belief and how it can heal or destroy. These are subjects I struggled with as a teenager, and I think every teenager faces them at some point in their formative years. Reading a story like this back then would have helped me. Often we read to see how others might deal with the problems we are struggling through. It helps us to feel less alone and less afraid. That’s why books can become like old friends to us. My hope is that this novel will become a good friend to whoever reads it.
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Watch for more upcoming news on Artemis Rising, coming early this fall from SpireHouse Books! To read the first chapter of the novel, visit Ms. Lasota’s website here!
Tags: Alpheus, Arethusa, Artemis Rising, Cheri Lasota, e-books, spirehouse books, Tristan and Isolde, young adult fantasy
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