Publication: January 22nd 2019 by Margaret K. McElderry Books
Goodreads
Milla knows two things to be true: Demons are real, and fear will keep her safe.
Milla’s whole world is her family’s farm. She is never allowed to travel to the village and her only friend is her beloved older brother, Niklas. When a bright-eyed girl named Iris comes to stay, Milla hopes her loneliness might finally be coming to an end. But Iris has a secret she’s forbidden to share: The village is cursed by a demon who possesses girls at random, and the townspeople live in terror of who it will come for next.
Now, it seems, the demon has come for Iris. When Iris is captured and imprisoned with other possessed girls, Milla leaves home to rescue her and break the curse forever. Her only company on the journey is a terrible new secret of her own: Milla is changing, too, and may soon be a demon herself.
Today, I’m happy to have Peternelle on the blog for a quick interview. Thanks to Peternelle for being on the blog today!
1. What’s your elevator pitch for THE COLD IS IN HER BONES?
Take a Medusa inspiration, mix it with fairytale timelessness and a modern sensibility, add in witches and demons, and you have The Cold Is in her Bones.
2. What’s one thing that you wish you had known about publishing?
I was a book editor in publishing for many years, so arguably I knew it all before I became a novelist myself. But it’s all different when the books are your own. Authors are notoriously sensitive and insecure and that’s because so little is in their control once they’ve written the book. So I guess I might have gone back and told myself what I’ve learned in the process: The only thing I can really control is the work. And the most important thing is for me to love and believe in the work. When I start to feel anxious about what will happen, that’s kind of my mantra: Just write. The rest is out of my hands.
3. What are you hoping readers will get out of THE COLD IS IN HER BONES?
A fantastically immersive reading experience. I always try to write the novel that I would want to read. I love creepy forests and unexpected twists and conflicted protagonists with real vulnerability, and I really love feeling like I’ve lost myself in a book. If I’ve been able to give that experience to readers, I’m delighted.
4. What advice do you have for someone who wants to become an author themselves?
I hesitate to give writing advice because there are so many ways to be an author. For me, it was very important to write for myself first. I tried and failed to write novels to a particular audience, that I imagined were what people wanted to read. Once I forgot about that and focused instead on the story I wanted to tell, I felt so much freer and more inspired.
5. What’s one book you would have no trouble rereading for the rest of your life?
Does a trilogy count? The His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman. If I had to choose just one of the three books (which would be mean so please don’t make me do that) then it would be the second in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife, because it introduces my favorite character, Will.
6. Can you tell us a bit about your current WIP? What should we expect in the future, book-wise?
Oooh, no, I’d rather not. It’s at the very early, frothy stage and I fear that talking about it too much would deflate it. I do think it’s at once a bigger and more complex book than I’ve ever written before but also a very natural follow-up to what I’ve done. And yes, that was a totally cop-out answer!
Huge thanks to Peternelle for taking the time to answer my interview questions! Be sure to get a copy of THE COLD IS IN HER BONES – out next week!
Alice is an 19 year old college student who loves the oxford comma, television shows, and the company of dogs. She finds writing in the third person odd yet enjoyable. You can find her scrolling through Twitter, Instagram, and forever organizing her shelves on Goodreads.
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