A #TTBF Q&A with Author Tricia Levenseller
1. Your books all feature young heroines who are strong, daring, and cunning. Who is your favorite heroine from literature? Why?
Definitely Rose Hathaway from Vampire Academy! I love how funny and fierce she is. She always has a witty comeback and a plan of action, even if it’s somewhat reckless. She’s also the best kind of friend to have in your corner. All Slytherins are.
2. If you had to choose a setting from one of your books in which to live forever, which would it be? Why?
I’m going to go with Daughter of the Pirate King! I love the ocean and seeing marine life. I could live happily aboard the Ava-lee!
3. What is your favorite thing about background research for a new book? What’s the most interesting thing you’ve found out in your research?
I love discovering facts about how people way back when were able to do things with such limited resources. Lately, I’ve been watching videos on how iron was turned into steel, and it’s absolutely fascinating. The tools are so crude, and yet blacksmiths were able to make fierce weaponry back in the day!
4. What is your favorite memory related to reading or books?
I remember the first time I stayed up all night to finish a book. I was starting my junior year of high school the next day. I had two friends over to spend the night, but I sort of ignored them to keep reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Looking back, that was probably kind of awful of me, but in my defense that book is amazing (not to mention my favorite HP book).
5. Stories always have a point of origin. A moment in time when the author recognizes the potential for a story to become something more than idea. What are some moments that stand out to you as “the beginning” for some of your stories?
The most recent moment was when I got my idea for The Secret Blade duology, which will release in 2021 and 2022. I was watching Avengers: Infinity War in theaters when Peter Dinklage came on screen as the giant dwarf to make Thor’s new hammer. And I thought, how cool would it be to center a book around a blacksmith who makes magical weapons? What if she had to be the hero if there weren’t any warriors to save the world?
For The Shadows Between Us (which releases this February), I was thinking about how much I love bad boys: Damon Salvatore, Spike, The Darkling, etc. I was thinking about how in literature, you can’t really do a true romance with an evil guy in YA without sending the wrong message. But then I thought, what if my heroine was also evil?
6. If you could choose three books to include on our official “Read Everything” book list for 2019, what would they be?
My favorite books that released this year are A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer, The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons, and Fence by CS Pacat (volume 3 just came out!).