Author Interview With Karen Mahoney

21 Feb, 2011 by in author interview, the iron witch Leave a comment

Fire and Ice is thrilled to have urban fantasy author Karen Mahoney with us today in this exclusive interview where she shares a deleted scene from the Iron Witch!

Where did the inspiration for the Iron Witch and your interest in alchemy come from? So the inspiration for The Iron Witch came from a variety of things:

– The desire to write a sort of modern version of The Handless Maiden folklore (those tales, also called ‘The Armless Maiden,’ aren’t so well known, but there are a ton of different narratives around the world). I actually wrote an essay about this in the back of the book called, “The Girl With Silver Hands,” so I’ll let people read that if they get hold of the book, to find out more. 🙂
– There were also a couple of dreams (I know it’s a bit of a cliche!). One of a girl being chased by screaming monsters, and the other of a wingless boy.

– And yes, then there’s the alchemy. I’ve been interested in alchemy for about 6 years, since I discovered some books about it an occult bookstore I used to work in. If you want to know more, I wrote a guest post about it here: http://vampirebookclub.net/karen-mahoney-guest-post-giveaway-alchemy-in-the-iron-witch/

Tell us more about the armless maiden.

I am going to cheat and send you to this post I wrote for author John Scalzi’s blog, ‘Whatever’: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/02/10/the-big-idea-karen-mahoney/ 🙂 This sums up a lot of my thoughts, which you can see more of in the essay I wrote for the back of The Iron Witch, but I’d also like to say that I wish there were MORE retellings of The Armless Maiden in contemporary/paranormal literature. Especially YA, as it’s such a feminist story at heart – I think it carries a cool message for girls and young women, in terms of regaining their power and fighting their own battles.

What sources did you draw from for your myth and faerie lore?

Honestly? Although I’ve read a LOT about faeries and that kind of lore (inc. classics, like books written by Katharine Briggs), my particular fey creatures in The Iron Witch came from some particularly dark corners of my imagination. 😉 I really enjoyed creating the wood elves, but they’re not really based on one piece of folklore or mythology. There’s a little bit of Norse mythology in there, I suppose – I did read up on Norse elves, but mine are very different.

Favorite all-time books?

Goodness… what a hard question! Okay, I’ll try: Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte), in fact, anything by the Brontes, I love all of their books and used to be pretty obsessed with them; The Sparrow (Mary Doria Russell); Tithe (Holly Black); Ink Exchange (Melissa Marr); Sleeping in Flame (Jonathan Carroll); the Hunter Kiss series by Marjorie M. Liu; The Demon’s Lexicon and The Demon’s Covenant (Sarah Rees Brennan); The Sandman comics/graphic novels by Neil Gaiman; Bleeding Violet (Dia Reeves); etc. etc. I could go on!

Any little known facts or deleted scenes or maybe a teaser from book two you can share?

This is a good one… Okay, I’ll give you a deleted scene from The Iron Witch. This is a small snippet from a VERY early draft (so please excuse it being rough and unedited) when I was playing around with the idea of having some scenes from Navin’s POV. In the end, we decided to go just go with Donna’s, but this is from after Nav’s been taken by the dark elves and he’s thinking back to how they captured him:

Navin allowed the rhythm of his breathing to comfort him, as he thought back to those confused moments on the footpath.

He had been cycling full-out along the alleyway’s uneven pavement, enjoying the bumpy ride and the cold wind tickling his hair around his face, tucking himself down low over the handlebars of his bike. The next thing he knew he was slammed from the right—sort of from above him—and he and his bike practically flew into the brick wall on the other side of the alley. He tried to twist his body away from the impact, managing to save his shoulder and head, but his legs got tangled up with the bike meaning that his left leg was crushed between metal and wall.

It had been painful.

Navin remembered the jolt that lanced through his hip, even as he tried to save himself from a worse fall by landing on his hands on the gravel. He crawled out from under the bike, ignoring the ache in his leg and the pain when his knee made contact with the ground, scrambling to face whatever had thrown him with such force.

But there had been nothing there.

Breathing in quick gasps, Navin tried to haul himself up, sparing a regretful glance at the twisted frame of his beloved bike. The red chrome plating was cracked in places, and the back wheel was twisted at an impossible angle. He staggered as he regained his feet, barely able to put weight down on his left leg.

Just as he was reaching into his jacket pocket for his cell phone, the air in front of him shimmered. That’s the only way he could think to describe it. One minute he was looking at a plain brown brick wall. The next there was a strange earthy smell and the air heated up and moved—and then he was standing face-to-face with two familiar nightmarish creatures.

Wood elves.

Do you have a playlist for the books?

I’m afraid I tend to write without music, but I will say that The Wood Queen (book 2) was an exception and large parts of it were written to The Pierces. I love The Pierces! 🙂

Thank you very much for the great questions. It was a pleasure to answer them!

Fine Art Teaser Giveaway- The Iron Witch

21 Feb, 2011 by in Heather Gardner Photography, the iron witch 23 comments


The Iron Witch
by Karen Mahoney
Paperback, 300 pages
Published February 8th, 2011
by Flux
ISBN 073872582X
series: The Iron Witch Saga
4 stars

Freak. That’s what her classmates call seventeen-year-old Donna Underwood. When she was seven, a horrific fey attack killed her father and drove her mother mad. Donna’s own nearly fatal injuries from the assault were fixed by magic—the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. The child of alchemists, Donna feels cursed by the magical heritage that destroyed her parents and any chance she had for a normal life. The only thing that keeps her sane and grounded is her relationship with her best friend, Navin Sharma.

When the darkest outcasts of Faerie—the vicious wood elves—abduct Navin, Donna finally has to accept her role in the centuries old war between the humans and the fey. Assisted by Xan, a gorgeous half-fey dropout with secrets of his own, Donna races to save her friend—even if it means betraying everything her parents and the alchemist community fought to the death to protect.

Fire and Ice is giving away a fine art print of your choice up to an 8×12 of “The Ax in the Wood” by Heather Gardner Photography, inspired by this passage in The Iron Witch.

“In my nightmares, I’m always running through twisted woodland…The Ashen stump of a tree trunk stands in the center, a fairy tale woodcutter’s axe stuck into the top of it at an angle. I’m breathing hard, my chest burns and the fear is like a frozen claw gripping me so tight it hurts. My child’s hands reach for the scarred axe handle, even as I know I won’t be able to pull it free. I never can…” p.1, The Iron Witch


To Enter To Win: simply leave a comment below
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Contest ends March 21, 2011 and is open internationally

Breathless Reads Giveaway

18 Feb, 2011 by in book giveaway 42 comments

Saturday February 12th we attended the Breathless Reads tour as it hit Salt Lake. Hosted by Kings English bookshop and held at the Salt Lake Library auditorium, it was HUGE! Authors on tour were:

Ally Condie– MATCHED
Beth Revis– Accross the Universe
Andrea Cremer– Nightshade
Kirsten Miller– The Eternal Ones and
Brenna Yovanoff– The Replacement

Visit our Facebook page and watch the Breathless Reads video clips to find out what inspired their books, what the books above were originally titled and who are their favorite authors.

Book Bound
plus us Fire and Ice


What an amazing group of authors and people all in one place! Breathless Reads may not have come near your city so here’s your chance to take a piece of the our home with you..

Comment below to be entered to win your very own Breathless Reads poster plus a signed copy of “Freshman for President” by Ally Condie. Contest ends March 18, 2011 and is open to US residents.

Anna And The French Kiss

16 Feb, 2011 by in stephanie perkins 9 comments

Anna and The French Kiss
by Stephanie Perkins
Hardcover, 372 pages
Published December 2, 2010
by Dutton
ISBN0525423273
5 stars

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Claire: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

As winter melts into spring, will a year of romantic near-misses end with the French kiss Anna—and readers—have long awaited?

I started this book on Valentine’s Day hoping for a light fun romantic read and ended up way past my bedtime finishing it. Then re-reading it in the morning. You know I enjoy a book if I re-open it at all, let alone the very next day! This is my favorite so far of 2011. Stephanie Perkins does an amazing job as tour guide in the city of love…she sweeps you off your feet with breathtaking scenery and real as life characters. I think what I connected with the most were the every day happenings in the life of Anna and her interactions with her new group of friends at the SOAP- School of America in Paris. Readers will feel like a part of their clan.

Anna isn‘t thrilled to be there, she’s been shipped off by her novel writing father in her senior year, leaving best friend and newly budding boyfriend behind. She doesn’t know a word of French or how to order her own meals. Luckily she meets dorm mate Meridith the same day she arrives and is welcomed in to their circle. Which by the way, includes completely swoon worthy Etienne St Clair. Part British, part French… American citizen who takes your breath away. The only hitch is that he already has a girlfriend.

Both Anna and St Clair have an awkward go of things trying to communicate how they really feel and in the process become best friends. Their time spent touring the city, going to the cinema and perusing an old bookstore are among my favorite scenes. And girls, who can go wrong with a boy that buys you a book of Neruda poetry?

Anna and the French Kiss has plenty of surprises and serves up a heaping dose of spicy flirting, heartbreaking life trials and contemporary teen life. There are a couple of punches thrown, a few F bombs dropped and some sexual innuendos; so if that bothers you, now you know. I personally loved the book. It is absolute genius!

Here’s a trailer author Stephanie Perkins shared on her site that fits perfectly…

EF – Live The Language – Paris from Niklas Johansson, FSF on Vimeo.

Author Interview With Jon S Lewis

15 Feb, 2011 by in Uncategorized Leave a comment

About Jon: Born early enough to remember rotary phones, typewriters, and the glory years of Atari, J.S. Lewis has lived a rather obscure life in the shadows of many nearly famous people.

A member of the Grey Griffins (a secret club of courageous children who have vowed to save the world from evil overlords, alien invasions and Brussels sprouts), Lewis grew up in the heartland of America. Yearning to become a marine biologist, but perplexed by the lack of exotic saltwater marine life in both Iowa and Minnesota (perch don’t count), he headed west. Sadly, his quest for the sea ended too soon, stranding him in the blustering desert of Arizona, where dreams of discovering new breeds of ferocious sharks were all but destroyed.

So it was, dejected and wandering like a drifting vagabond, that Lewis explored an eclectic career that would include news reporting, radio producing, animation, multi-media design, mural painting, speech writing, video game development and marketing.

Ever searching for new forms of creative expression, Lewis and boyhood friend Derek Benz sought to make their indelible mark through the written word. Thus from that collaboration was penned the Grey Griffins series by Scholastic, Inc.

Lewis is currently working on a variety of projects that include feature films, comic books, graphic novels, animated series, and a variety of philanthropic endeavors. You can learn more about his most recent adventures by visiting http://www.myspace.com/jonslewis.

Jon was kind enough to join us at Fire and Ice today to answer some exclusive questions about his newest series.

Tell us a little bit about the CHAOS series
The series is about how an alien invasion affects the life of sixteen year old Colt McAlister and his friends. It turns his life upside down, and forces him to make critical choices that will not only affect his life, but the lives of the people around him. It’s fast-paced from beginning to end, and will (hopefully) make it hard for readers to put down without having to read at least one more chapter . . . then one more chapter . . . then one more chapter. .

Have you started on book 2 yet? Any other books in the works? I’m working on it right now. This first story has a three book arc and then we’ll see from there . . . but you never know. It could end up like Star Wars will all kinds of spin-offs investigating fun worlds and interesting characters.

Invasion has large comic book influences. What are your favorite comics? I grew up on comic books and still love them today. I really appreciate the visual storytelling as well as the limited space for text — it’s not easy to write a story that’s only about 2000 words long and have a compelling beginning, middle and end. My favorite comic book is Fantastic Four, but I tend to follow particular writers or artists, like Phil Hester, Jonathan Hickman, Rick Remender, and many others.

And, why did you incorporate the Phantom Flyer into the book?
I thought it would be interesting if one of the pulp heroes, like The Spirit or Doc Savage was actually real. So I came up with a war hero from that same era that flew around on a jet pack.

What book has been the biggest influence on your life and why? I’d say the novel that had the biggest effect on me was The Hobbit. I first read the picture book when I was six and I was hooked on the idea of other exciting worlds just waiting to be explored.

What are you reading right now? Right now I’m reading Water Wars by Cameron Stracher, and I recently finished Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi, which was incredible. I really dig dystopian stories. There’s something about that who end of the world scenario that I really enjoy, which doesn’t make a lot of sense since it’s such a dark, sad subject.

Are there any authors that you would name as influences? Well, I’m not sure anyone has influenced my writing directly — more my imagination. That would be George Lucas, Stan Lee, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Maurice Sendak.

What songs do you envision playing through out Invasion? I actually had a mix of songs for different characters and different scenes, but here are a few of the songs: Wake Up by Arcadia Fire, Intergalactic by the Beastie Boys, My Last Days On Earth by Bill Monroe, Life in Fast Forward by CATCHpenny, Find Me Tonight by Everyday Sunday, Ooh Aah by Grits, Stars by Switchfoot, Graveyard Girl by M83, and Last Night on Earth by U2.

As a child were you drawn to fantasy or mythical creatures like bigfoot? Which creature do you hope to meet? Yes. Very much so. If I could meet anyone, it would be Chewbacca. And I’m happy to say that I have — I had dinner with Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and his wife. In fact, I dedicated an upcoming book called The Relic Hunters to him.

What can we expect to see in book 2, without spoiling anything of course!
Colt is off to the CHAOS Academy where he is going to be trained to save the world against the coming Invasion, but things go sideways — and not just at the academy. Colt has relationship problems of the worst kind! And there will be lots of interesting conspiracies, tons of action, and most of all, it will be fun to read.

Do you have any photos of the setting? I don’t have photos, but I do have some amazing concept art (beyond what’s in the back of the book). The artists are off the charts amazing! http://www.jonslewis.com/art/invasion/

Your main character Colt loses both of his parents. What advice would you give to teens in a similar circumstance or who have lost a parent? Wow. The closest thing in my life to that was a very close friend of mine passed away. He was a mentor, and his children were in high school at the time. As close as I am to their family, I still can’t imagine what it would be like. I feel completely unqualified to give advice, but I would say that remembering the good times is critical — as are the life lessons. When people leave us, they often leave behind an amazing legacy.

Thanks so much to Jon for taking time out of his busy schedule to be with us. Read our review of Invasion here and be sure to watch for it at your nearest bookstore!

Baba Yaga Redo Notebook Giveaway

11 Feb, 2011 by in Uncategorized 42 comments


Our second ETSY giveaway for the book Haunted by Joy Preble was graciously donated by shop owner StudioMME… “I’m a girl from the frigid land of North Dakota who just moved to sunny San Jose. I play with pens and lots of ink. I like ice cream, chocolate, and just about every type of cereal. The Grimms and Edward Gorey were my bedtime stories when I was a kid and it’s safe to say that they influenced me quite a bit.

You can follow my newest project updates at:
http://studiomme.blogspot.com/

My artistic portfolio can be found at:
http://www.studiomme.com/

My quirky little shop contains prints of my original illustrations, canvas bookmarks, note cards, and a few notebooks.

Description: This little ‘redo’ notebooks features my illustration, “Baba Yaga“. All of us wish life were full of redos, and that’s exactly what I’ve given these prints. Occasionally my printer decides to spit out a stray drop of ink, making a print unacceptable for a buyer to purchase. Over time these ‘marred’ prints began to build up until one day I had the idea to give them a redo. Now these prints are back and better than ever as mini notebooks. Made with lightweight cardboard and lined with black pastel paper, these little notebooks feature 20 pages of Strathmore 400 drawing paper. Excellent for note-taking or small sketches. The notebook measures roughly 4.5″ x 6″.

To Enter To Win: a Baba Yaga redo notebook simply leave a comment below
additional optional entries
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+1 for our blog followers
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+2 for Tumblr followers http://heatherzahng.tumblr.com/
+3 for each retweet of this giveaway @fireicephotos
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+5 for posting it on your blog or FB profile

*Add up your entries and leave the total with the links in your comment*

Contest ends March 11, 2011 and is open internationally

Book Breview- Haunted

11 Feb, 2011 by in new YA fiction Leave a comment

Haunted
by Joy Preble
Paperback, 320 pages
Published February 1st 2011
by Sourcebooks Fire
ISBN 1402244681
series Dreaming Anastasia #2
3.5 stars

Anne is trying her best to live a normal life, but she’s still got some power sparking inside her. She’s hearing and seeing things that she tries her best to ignore-like being haunted by a Russian sea nymph that claims the princess Anastasia is still alive.

That’s when Ethan Kozninsky-he of the stunning blue eyes, thick brown hair, and former immortal status-returns. Anne soon realizes that everything she’s been trying to forget might be impossible to bury.

Haunted starts off where the first book in the Dreaming Anastasia series left off, only Ethan is on his own and Anne has a new lifeguard boyfriend, Ben. I have to say I was a little disappointed that Anne found someone new in between book one and two. But Ethan comes back into the picture just in time. Strange things are happening in Anne’s world…visions of the old crone Baba, increasing paranormal power Yaga plus the added appearance of a rusalka-mermaid who seems desperate. At first she is merely an apparition but then her motives become deadly and dangerous.

We learn more Russian mythology and see a completely different slant on sirens of the sea. I savored every minute of the time between Anne and Ethan…sure hope there is a book three coming so we can see what the two of them can accomplish together. There is some swearing and references to sex so I would recommend Haunted to readers age 14 and older as a fairytale with a dose of darkness and a dash of magic. Stay up to date with all the latest Dreaming Anastasia and Haunted happenings at Joy Preble’s website.