Tara Tyler Talks: Rising

Introducing a new series by

LAURA JOSEPHSEN!

*cheers, applause, balloons*

Ain't she cute! She's stopping by on her blog tour to tell us about it. But first a little about Laura!
Thanks for having me, Tara! :)

1) Please tell us a little about your background. Where are you from? I'm originally from upstate New York. I lived on a dairy farm for some years, but moved south when I was eleven. I've spent most of the rest of my life in Tennessee, with a few years in Ohio in there.

2) What are your major distractions that keep you from writing? And how do you budget your time to write and especially market? The internet. Trying to keep up with blogging and all of that stuff takes a lot of time. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it, and I love connecting with other bloggers, but there are times I have to remind myself that I do need to stop and write. As far as how I budget my time—ha! I think that's an ongoing process. I feel like I've learned a lot more lately about how to balance the various things I need to get done, but I still have a lot of learning to do.

3) I think the highlights of your blog, in addition to your friendly voice, are the fun drawings and your great grammar and writing tips. Where do you get your inspiration for those? Aw, thank you! I think sometimes blogging is like writing; I sit down and see what subject is on my mind. Sometimes I draw inspiration from what I'm writing, or what I've just finished editing.

And now, here is what the hubbub is about!

Rising Book 1: Resistance

All Alphonse wants is a quiet summer at home before his final months at university. What he gets is a half-dead stranger on his doorstep and the task of delivering a package to the leader of his home country. Not long after he boards a train toward the capital, he's attacked by knights, elite soldiers of the neighboring king.

Alphonse is temporarily rescued by Mairwyn, a mechanic with a haunted past and a deep hatred of knights. Together, they attempt to carry out Alphonse's urgent errand, only to learn that if they fail, countless people will die. And even if they succeed, they may not be able to prevent the war that lurks on the horizon.

Sounds like the beginning of a great adventure! Now Laura, will you please tell us more about the setting. Did you build a fantasy world? Or is it earth in a different time? How do you go about creating a fantasy setting?

It's a fantasy world, but it's all grounded in science. The story centers around three countries, and one of them has a king and knights (though the knights have technology built into their armor). As far as how I create the setting…lots and lots of practice? It takes a lot to build a world, and I had so many things to introduce—characters, politics, technology, history, what's normal for this world and what isn't, different races and cultures. I went into it with the goal of trying to introduce everything as organically as possible. I wanted to introduce people to the world by showing it. It takes a lot of thought and care in figuring out where to put information and what's necessary. I've found that, at times, a simple passing line or a certain image can tell a lot about a world.

I've read many posts and articles about tackling the difficulty of world building. Thanks for your "organic" advice! It's very similar to sprinkling backstory into a plot.

I'm looking forward to reading it! But others already have, check out these 2 reviews, by

Donna and Tyrean

Here are all the links for Laura's fabulous new book RESISTANCE!

ALSO in Paperback!