Please welcome Lou Morgan to The Qwillery. Lou is the author of Blood and Feathers and Blood and Feathers: Rebellion, which was published on July 9th (US/Canada) by Solaris.
On location: the settings of BLOOD AND FEATHERS: REBELLION
One of the most fun aspects of writing the first Blood and Feathers book was that I set it in hell. Alright, so "fun" isn't necessarily the first word that particular locale brings to mind, but from the perspective of actually sitting down and coming up with it… it kind of was. Because if writing fantasy is a form of freedom, you don't get much freer than hell. It's the place where anything goes. In my case, that was frozen waterfalls where you could drown in the ice beneath them. It was stairs that went on forever (but could only be taken in one direction) and endless plains where the damned stood to attention in haunted dreams for eternity. It was Ixion's Wheel and the Wood of Suicides and the river of burning angel blood.
Like I said: fun.
I don't get out a lot.
I knew the setting for Rebellion needed to be different: partly because that's what the story needed, and partly because while hell might be fun, spending another few months there probably wouldn't have been the smartest thing in the world to do. You know: mentally, emotionally. Wibble.
Rebellion is, for the most part, set in the real world. I say "real", because there are a few… alterations I've made - namely that you could potentially run into an angel on the street and never know it unless they wanted you to. (Of course, maybe they've just never wanted me to know they were there.)
Perhaps the single most important location in the book is Mont Saint Michel in northern France, which is serves as the Archangel Michael's stronghold. But my version's had a few renovations that you won't see in the original: for starters, an entire tower that only be seen by a select few. There are plenty of doors leading off the passages and corridors of the real thing - but finding the one that leads you to the heart of Michael's fortress is trickier than you'd think.
That being said, some of the parts of Mont St Michel I've used are very real: the scriptorium, where Alice sees Michael in full battle mode for the first time, is real. The little cemetery perched halfway up the face of the rock, dotted with herbs and flowers and with a view for miles over the surrounding bay? I've been there too. It's as real as the tombstones. As for Michael's library, which can only be entered by the highest of the angels, I couldn't tell you one way or another.
Then there's Langham's. A funeral parlour where Alice stumbles into a job as the Angel of Death's receptionist - because what else is an angel like that going to do with himself? It's not an exact replica, but it's modelled on an undertaker's that I know. I'm not convinced that the funeral director who owns the real version is the Angel of Death, but I wouldn't bet against it.
And then, finally, there's Forfax's place. Being one of the Fallen, Forfax is going to want to take his own little bit of hell with him wherever he goes: you'll find that in the winding corridors of the warehouse behind the sleazy bar he runs, where the staff disappear, there's the sound of dogs barking in the loading dock and the kitchens are the very last place you want to go…
Because when the Rebellion comes, it won't just be hell the angels are fighting for. It's the whole world.
Blood and Feathers
Blood and Feathers: Rebellion
Blood and Feathers 2
Solaris, July 9, 2013 (US/Canada)
July 4, 2013 (UK)
Trade Paperback and eBook, 384 pages
This is the thrilling follow-up to Blood and Feathers, one of the most highly-regarded debuts of 2012. The battle between the Fallen and the Angels has turned into open warfare, on the streets of London.
"This is a war. The war. There is no stopping; no getting out. You're in this - just like the rest of us - to the end." • Driven out of hell and with nothing to lose, the Fallen wage open warfare against the angels on the streets. And they're winning.• As the balance tips towards the darkness, Alice - barely recovered from her own ordeal in hell and struggling to start over - once again finds herself in the eye of the storm. But with the chaos spreading and the Archangel Michael determined to destroy Lucifer whatever the cost, is the price simply too high… and what sacrifices will Alice and the angels have to make in order to pay it? • The Fallen will rise. Trust will be betrayed. And all hell breaks loose…
Blood and Feathers
Blood and Feathers 1
Solaris, July 31, 2012 (US/Canada)
August 2, 2012 (UK)
Trade Paperback and eBook, 384 pages
"What's the first thing you think of when I say 'angel'?" asked Mallory. Alice shrugged. "I don't know... guns?"
Alice isn't having the best of days. She was late for work, she missed her bus, and now she's getting rained on. What she doesn't know is that her day's about to get worse: the epic, grand-scale kind of worse that comes from the arrival of two angels who claim everything about her life is a lie.
The war between the angels and the Fallen is escalating; the age-old balance is tipping, and innocent civilians are getting caught in the cross-fire. If the balance is to be restored, the angels must act - or risk the Fallen taking control. Forever.
That’s where Alice comes in. Hunted by the Fallen and guided by Mallory - a disgraced angel with a drinking problem and a whole load of secrets - Alice will learn the truth about her own history… and why the angels want to send her to hell.
What do the Fallen want from her? How does Mallory know so much about her past? What is it the angels are hiding - and can she trust either side?
Caught between the power plays of the angels and Lucifer himself, it isn't just hell's demons that Alice will have to defeat...
About Lou
The Giveaway
What: One commenter will win a Trade Paperback copy of Blood and Feathers: Rebellion by Lou Morgan from The Qwillery.
How: Log into and follow the directions in the Rafflecopter below.
Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59 PM US Eastern Time on August 17, 2013. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.
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I'm in!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'm angelic enough to be on the side of angels...but I'd like to try!
ReplyDeleteboth! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAngels. Thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteI am most definitely on the side of the Angels.
ReplyDeleteangels
ReplyDeleteAngels -- (although demons sound so much more entertaining)!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the amazing giveaway!
elizabeth @ bookattict . com