Hello my wanderers and adventure seekers!
Welcome to the 11th stop on our Dust blog tour.
Today we’ll be unpacking a lot of things (Dust promo, author interview, and treasure hunt), so let’s get started immediately.
Dust — Kara Swanson
The truth about Neverland is far more dangerous than a fairy tale.
Claire Kenton believes the world is too dark for magic to be real–since her twin brother was stolen away as a child. Now Claire’s desperate search points to London… and a boy who shouldn’t exist.
Peter Pan is having a beastly time getting back to Neverland. Grounded in London and hunted by his own Lost Boys, Peter searches for the last hope of restoring his crumbling island: a lass with magic in her veins.
The girl who fears her own destiny is on a collision course with the boy who never wanted to grow up. The truth behind this fairy tale is about to unravel everything Claire thought she knew about Peter Pan–and herself.
1. Dust is not the first book you’ve written. What was different about the writing process here as compared to your previous books?
KS: Well, The Girl Who Could See was a novella, so it was much shorter. Dust was unusual from other full length projects I’d previously written because I was expanding on a character someone else had created, and juggling multiple character POVs that were all unreliable narrators. It took a lot of outlining.
GH: Oh yes, I understand the importance of outlining all too well.
2. How did Dust become the book that it is now? I’d love to hear about your planning process and how you developed your ideas.
KS: I did a lot of outlining, like I said. I broke down each Peter Pan character and figured out a unique twist that still held true to the characters, and then developed my own broader mythos for how Neverland and Peter’s character arc worked. I read the original Peter Pan novel several times and made a ton of notes. I spent a lot of time getting to know Peter himself, how he ticked, and worked on honing his voice and really understanding what he wanted and how he viewed the world.
GH: Right, that makes sense. And continuously coming back to the source material — that’s really good.
3. So Dust is a Peter Pan retelling. Tell me, why did you choose to make the story about Peter Pan, and what were the pressures that came with writing from the perspective of such a well-known character?
KS: Goodness, yes. I originally came up with the concept for Dust, and ended up writing it mainly because I had mentioned it to some publishers at an event and they were all so interested that I was like, “Welp. Gotta to do the brave thing and write this book even if its mildly terrifying.” Ultimately, I had to just stop overthinking any expectations–either my own or others’– and just write the best story I could, do Peter Pan justice to the best of my ability, and leave the rest in God’s hands.
GH: Sounds good! Like you said, sometimes we just need “to do the brave thing”.
4. Publishing a book is certainly something to get excited about. How are you going to celebrate Dust‘s release?
KS: A long nap? Juuuust kidding. Probably some chocolate cake! Peter is rather fond of that.
GH: Haha, I approve! Chocolate is amazing, and so is sleep, for that matter 😉
5. What happens after Dust? Do you have any plans you’re willing to share? Are you going to take a day off to stroll through bookstores in search of your book?
KS: Well, I have to submit the finished draft of DUST’s sequel, SHADOW by the end of July. So, I guess that’s what happens after? I finish up getting the sequel ready to send to Enclave 🙂
GH: Sweet! And I think you just completed Shadow (as of Friday)? That is amazing and very exciting indeed.
6. What is your number one piece of advice for a storyteller?
KS: Learn tenacity and endurance. You are going to need it in this industry. Learn the tenacity and endurance to write when it’s not easy, to connect and reach out even if it pushes you out of your comfort zone, to write and write and read and read…most of all, don’t give up. Publishing is a long game, and it’s those who stay in the game, heads down, doing the work, that eventually succeed.
GH: Well said. It takes a lot of perseverance to get somewhere in the writing industry and it’s tougher than it seems. It’s so important to not give up when things are difficult or aren’t going anywhere.
7. I like to ask this question at the end of interviews as I feel it tells me quite a bit about a person. So Kara, what is your favorite type of chair?
KS: Something big and soft and comfy! With enough space so I can sit crosslegged XD
GH: That sounds like an absolute delight! Very very comfy and good for reading and writing.
Treasure Hunt with Peter Pan?
This is probably what you’ve been waiting for!
Over the course of June, blog posts will be published every day of the month containing one keyword (clues). There are 36 blog posts in total, so in order to participate, you’ll have to find 36 keywords. Each of these words come together to make a passage, and you’ll be directed here at the end of the month to submit said passage.
Your keyword for this stop is: of
Anyone who completes the blog tour hunt wins some Dust merch that includes:
- Bookmarks
- Print of Dust art
- Peter + Claire Character Cards
- Signed Bookplate
The first person who finishes the hunt receives all of the above AND:
- An autographed Advanced Reader Copy of Dust with exclusive notes from Kara in the margins
Check your compass: where to next?
Here are all the places you might want to stop by!
Previous stop: Kellyn’s site
Next stop: Elizabeth’s site
First stop: Coralie’s site
That’s all for now!
A huge thank you to Kara for joining me, she is a fantastic person and I highly recommend checking out Dust (it releases in July!) as well as the rest of the blog tour.
KARA’S SOCIALS:
CHECK OUT DUST:
Make your mark,
OTHER POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:
