Let The Sky Fall Blog Tour: Author Interview & Giveaway

Welcome to the last stop on the Let The Sky Fall blog tour. We're celebrating today's YA debut release of Shannon Messenger's Let The Sky Fall! Today Shannon is on the blog to talk about her book, but first, here's a little bit about Let The Sky Fall.

By: Shannon Messenger
Published by: Simon Pulse
Released on: March 5th, 2013 TODAY
Purchase it from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble  | IndieBound
Add it to GoodReads
Series: Book #1
READ the 1st 4 Chapters

A broken past and a divided future can’t stop the electric connection of two teens in this “charged and romantic” (Becca Fitzpatrick), lush novel.

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston has no idea how he survived the category five tornado that killed his parents. And he has no idea if the beautiful, dark-haired girl who’s swept through his dreams every night since the storm is real. But he hopes she is.

Seventeen-year-old Audra is a sylph, an air elemental. She walks on the wind, can translate its alluring songs, and can even coax it into a weapon with a simple string of commands. She’s also a guardian—Vane’s guardian—and has sworn an oath to protect Vane at all costs. Even if it means sacrificing her own life.

When a hasty mistake reveals their location to the enemy who murdered both of their families, Audra’s forced to help Vane remember who he is. He has a power to claim—the secret language of the West Wind, which only he can understand. But unlocking his heritage will also unlock the memory Audra needs him to forget. And their greatest danger is not the warriors coming to destroy them—but the forbidden romance that’s grown between them

Hi Shannon! Welcome back to Mundie Moms! Congratulations on your YA debut. I'm in love with your writing, and I'm thrilled that you have both a YA and MG release this year. Obviously time wise it must have been a challenge to write two books for two different series back to back, but genre wise, what did you find easier/harder in writing a YA book vs a MG one?
Aw, thank you so much Katie. I always feel so honored when I get to be on your blog--I've been a fan of Mundie Moms for YEARS. But right--I'm supposed to be answering your question, not fangirling out. :) It's hard to say that one is more challenging than the other because they're both so different. But something I do find harder with writing LET THE SKY FALL is not slipping into my own voice as I write. That's probably because its told in the first person, and when I'm typing "I" all the time it's hard not to revert to my own way of thinking. But luckily Vane and Audra have such distinct voices that it's really easy to spot when that's happened and go back and revise out "the Shannon" 

Let's talk about your fabulous characters! Audra and Vane are such great characters to read about. Which one of the two surprised you in terms of either the choices they made or how much they changed from the first draft to the published book?
Definitely Vane! I love that he starts out as sort of your basic "lazy teenage boy" and turns into this loyal, brave fighter. Plus, the things that come out of his mouth and go through his head have been known to make me blush. I often go back and reread his chapters and think WHERE DID THAT COME FROM??? 

What's something you can relate to with Audra?
Oh, that's hard, because Audra is WAY tougher and WAY more angsty than me. But I guess I can relate to how focused and driven she is. She's very: I-will-make-this-happen-even-if-it-kills me, which is definitely something I can relate to. I just take the if-it-kills-me part a LOT less literally than she does. 

 I love that you made your characters's parents a part of this book. I feel like often times parents don't always play that huge of a role in YA books. Was this a conscious thing you wanted to make sure was included in Vane and Audra's story or something that just happened?
A little of both. I'll admit, I sometimes feel like parents get a little shafted in some YA books, either being totally oblivious, or just left out of the story all together, and I don't necessarily think it always NEEDS to be that way. I think a big part of growing up can also be learning how to prove to your parents/family that they can trust you. It wasn't that I consciously said, "I want to write a story and explore this." But as I got to know Vane and his family and realized they had that kind of relationship, it was one of the big motivators for me to actually write the story. And the scenes between Vane and his parents--especially the ones with his mom--are some of my favorite in the book.

What authors had or have had an influence on your as both a reader and writer?
Oh my, so so so many. I love the humor in Kiersten White's books and the characterization and attention to detail in Stephanie Perkins' books. I love the way Holly Black creates a mood and I love the way Shannon Hale brings so much lyricism to her prose. I also loved the way Marie Lu handled her dual POV's in LEGEND, and how she plays with reader expectations and dramatic tension.

You have had a crazy busy writing schedule the past few months. What were some of your writing "must haves" that kept you going?
Cupcakes! Pepsi! Pretty much anything with sugar and/or caffeine. I also have been known to have 3am get-up-and-dance-to-cheesy-pop-songs parties to get my heart rate up and keep me awake when I'm pulling one of my many all nighters. 

If you could include any one of your favorite fictional characters into Audra's story who would that be and why?

Wow--this is a tough one. Look at you, making me think! Um... hm... what Audra needs more than anything is a caring mother figure, so I think I'd include Molly Weasley (from Harry Potter) into her story. Not only is Mrs. Weasley an incredibly nurturing mother, but she's also tough and knows how to fight, which Audra would respect.

Speed Round:

Sunsets or sunrises?
Definitely Sunsets. It's the SoCal girl in me. And the NON-morning person.

Dancing in the rain or making snow angels?
Never done either, but snow angels sounds more fun! 

Romantic comedy or Action packed movie?
Definitely romantic comedy. 

Tea house or coffee shop?
Whichever one has the best cakes 

If I could write anywhere in the world I'd want to write _____________
In Paris, sitting on a bench in the Tuileries Gardens

Insta love or a slow burning romance?
Slow burning romance. 

Thank you Shannon for stopping by the blog today! Congratulations on today's book release!

About the Author:
Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she learned--among other things--that she liked watching movies much better than making them. She also regularly eats cupcakes for breakfast, sleeps with a bright blue stuffed elephant named Ella, and occasionally gets caught talking to imaginary people. So it was only natural for her to write stories for children. KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES is her first novel, with LET THE SKY FALL, a young adult novel, to follow in 2013. She lives in Southern California with her husband and an embarrassing number of cats. Find her online at shannonmessenger.com.

Visit Shannon: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | GoodReads





Tour Giveaway:
Thank you to Simon & Schuster, we have 5 copies of Let The Sky Fall to giveaway during the tour. Visit each of the giveaway links above to enter.

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