An Evening with Victoria Aveyard | Talk and Book Signing with the Bestselling Author of Red Queen

A spoiler free summary of Victoria Aveyard's Talk and Book Signing!

I was lucky enough to meet Victoria Aveyard on her Liverpool stop of her UK Red Queen Tour! She was promoting her collectors edition of Red Queen and gave a talk on everything from how Pokemon inspired the powers of protagonists Mare and Cal to how she feels the way society is socialised may have limited people's impressions of her books. It was an honour to hear Aveyard speak, she was a funny and intelligent lady with a wild imagination and it was clear she inspired myself and many other young minds in the room. 



There was a hum of chatter as all the fans awaited her entrance but as soon as she neared silence fell as the moment we were all anticipating arrived! Seated in front of the small crowd, Aveyard was initially interviewed by Lucy Richardson, who was clearly as big of a fan as anyone else in the room, before a Q&A session with the audience. An imaginative and creative author, Aveyard discussed being a visual writer. She explained how the first idea for Red Queen popped into her head as an image of a girl about to be executed who then electrocutes her executioner and evades her impending death. She was intrigued by this story and decided to explore it. Usually a screenwriter, Aveyard felt this narrative wouldn't work on screen and set about writing a novel. Red Queen was born and Victoria spoke of how she loved world building and enjoys drawing fantasy maps in her spare time. Initially, the series was to be 3 books but Victoria felt she couldn't reach an ending in King's Cage and so the fandom eagerly awaits the fourth and final instalment in which she has promised even more plot twists, which she is renowned for. (I still haven't recovered to be honest). The most shocking thing Aveyard revealed was that in her first draft of Red Queen, Mare's brother's power was initially going to be time travel but it was going to impact the story too greatly and so she was advised by her editor to change it and so Shade's power became teleportation.


With an evil laugh, she revealed to us she has never been afraid to kill off characters, as long as their deaths aid the story, drawing parallels between the death of Dumbledore and Obe-Wan Kenobi and how the death of a mentor allows character development. Victoria also discussed with us how she loves a strong female character, revealing her favourite to be Sansa Stark, who she is a self-confessed 'stan' of! This led her on to explain how Game of Thrones has inspired the fantasy side of the series, which was probably inevitable considering how big of a fan she is. Relating to the nerds in the room (myself included) when questioned about how she came up with the powers for her characters, Aveyard excitedly told us she was inspired by Pokemon, referring to Mare as Pikachu and Cal as a Charmaleon. She was also eager to talk about LGBT representation and how she hopes to add to a more diverse narrative in YA literature, something she hopes she's always improving on. Aveyard also acknowledged that the way society is socialised has led to a potentially narrower audience of readers as sometimes boys are reluctant to pick up her books that perhaps appear more feminine. She doesn't however feel limited by being marketed as a YA author as she sees her audience is vast due to the many themes she covers, such as fascism, oppressive class systems, terrorism and war, all relevant to our world despite being set in a dystopian fantasy world. 

A final piece of advice for aspiring authors in the audience was to always finish a draft! Aveyard assured us that it is far harder to complete a perfect first draft than to just draft all of your ideas and edit it after. She advised making notes of what you want to improve later and also warned against trying to mirror another author's journey to publishing. She ended her talk warmly thanking us for coming and then patiently met every fan and signed everyone's stack of books, happy to answer any extra questions and take pictures. An incredibly smart author and a lovely lady!

Visit Victoria's website: https://www.victoriaaveyard.com/ and follow her on twitter

Interview: Arnie Cantarero, Author of Emotions

Emotions is an exciting YA sci-fi novel perfect for lovers of Doctor Who and Star Trek. It's an interesting focus on the emotional scope of the human mind and the development of artificial intelligence and the awareness of a computer. The story follows Jason, an alien with a computer installed in his brain to help him navigate Earth. This tale is poignant at an age where technology seems likely to surpass us and it's definitely worth a read! I interviewed Arnie Cantarero to discover why he's so fascinated with the concept of emotions, the importance of Hispanic representation in literature and why he'd love to pick the brain of Doctor Who. 

What would you say makes your book stand out in the sci-fi genre?

Where to start on this one. So many books I’ve read have a chosen one character, while that can work extremely well for some books, I wanted to stay away from that. In Emotions, we have a binary being; An emotionless alien (that’s not evil) and an implanted sentient computer, and everyone in his planet is like him, and there are billions of them. He’s also depowered compared to the rest of his kind.

On top of that, the main character is Hispanic (well, appears Hispanic since he’s an alien) and a large majority happens in a nondescript (on purpose) Latin American country along with other locales around the world.

All and all, I wanted a story that would leave the reader not only wanting more but feel satisfied once they finished reading it.

If the book was adapted into a film, who would you cast as Jason and why?

I’ve often wondered about that. While I’ve seen movies that star well-known actors, if and when, Emotions gets turned into a movie, I’d like it to be a star creator, not a star vehicle. I’ve seen so many amazing actors in little-known movies, why not give them a chance at the big time?

Why did you decide to focus on the concept of emotions in the book?

A good question. Growing up, I was a bit of an odd duck, never quite understanding why people did things or how people worked. I’d say thank you when people insulted me (drove them nuts) since I didn’t get what the big deal was. Then it hit me; someone with no emotions would try to fit in but wouldn’t understand the basics for how, or why, we do things, and therefore wouldn’t know how to respond to our world. I also realized how important emotions are to further advance us as people, they drive us after all. That’s when Jason was born.

Where do you take your inspiration from as an author?

From everything I see. I’ll be watching a tv show, and something in it will get me thinking to the point that I’ll come up with something new (solved an issue in the sequel this way) or be in the real world, talking to people, and the conversation will inspire me. We live in an amazing world, full of ideas waiting to be discovered if we’re willing to look.

If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

It’s an older book, but I've read it like six times (at least). It’s the novelization of 2001: a space odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. The movie is one of my earliest memories, and when I found out it had a book, well, I just had to get it. The HAL 9000 computer is an amazing character, I wanted more than what I saw in the movie. I even got the audio book just in case I find myself in a very long drive (another way to come up with new ideas and find new places).

If you could sit down with one literary character for a cup of tea, who would it be?

While I wouldn’t want to become a companion (maybe) I’d say Doctor Who. I know he’s technically a TV character, but he’s had his fair share of books. He’s the ultimate nerd, I’d love to pick his brain.

Has writing always been a dream of yours or was there a particular moment that inspired you to pursue it?

A bit of both, actually. I remember always coming up with little stories, daydreaming, (especially at school) but didn’t quite know how to communicate what I was seeing. Everything came together in High School when my English teacher (aren’t teachers awesome?) showed us how to write essays. That’s when I realized how much I loved writing. Heck, my classmates asked me to do their essays, and I’d write them for free. I remember writing an essay about the superiority of mechanical pencils over pens. Got full marks but my teacher said it was the strangest essay he’d ever read. I took a lot of pride in that.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors hoping to pursue a writing career?

Never ever give up on your dream and keep reading. The road is littered with people that may have had the next big thing but gave up before they got there. Be the one that makes it to the end.

Emotions is available as an ebook on the Kindle or a paperback on Amazon

Interview: Bryant A Loney, Author of Take Me To The Cat

I received this Advanced Reading Copy in an exchange for an honest review.

Take Me To The Cat is the newest novel from YA author Bryant A Loney. It's a psychological thriller, packed with dramatic twists and turns that will keep you hooked till the end and a little while after. I caught up with the author to learn more about how he feels about small town life, why he feels the tortured artist rhetoric is damaging and why LGBT rights and feminism are topics close to his heart. Read on if you're interested in discovering what inspires the mind of a YA author!

Can you summarise Take Me to the Cat in three words?

Three words? Identity. Friendship. Fanaticism.

The theme of nostalgia is really tangible in the book — was there something in particular that made you want to explore it?

A lot from my childhood has shaped me into who I am today. I went to five elementary schools, for instance, and I’m also a child of divorce. So there’s a great deal of What Ifs there for me. I’m a firm believer that writers should focus their fiction on what bothers them, and these countless alternate universes in my head of what could have been and what should have been—that’s really what fueled this novel. In writing Cat, I’ve come to terms with the way my life turned out; had the bad stuff early on not happened, then the good stuff later wouldn’t have, either. It’s all cause and effect, and it’s this unhealthy desire for an unattainable past that led me to this discovery. There’s a reason “nostalgia” is the first word in the novel, after all!

LGBT rights and feminism are prevalent topics in the book. Are they issues that you’re passionate about yourself?

Definitely. The 2015 U.S. Supreme Court case of Obergefell v. Hodges, and then the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting, were both major influences on the novel. Again, I like to write so I can work out my own thoughts on contemporary issues, and the different responses I encountered regarding these events left a lot for me to think about. The same with transgender rights and restroom access, as well as the underrepresentation of asexuality in our media. Feminism is also important for me. I’m a guy, but I have a mother, a little sister, and friends who are women, so the advocacy of their rights is a no-brainer for me. These topics aren’t what the novel is solely about, but the first word that came to mind when describing Cat was “identity,” and our sexuality and gender are a part of how we define ourselves. The stigmatization of LGBT+ people is abhorrent. The inequality shown to women is ridiculous. This novel is me trying to help combat these dilemmas. It’s by no means perfect, but then again, it’s more than I’d done before. So it’s a start.

The character of Troy has a personality bigger than the town he lives in. Is he based on a real person? If so, how often do you take inspiration from real people for the characters in your books?

Troy is in many ways the realization of the more primitive and instinctive components of our personalities. Or maybe just mine, anyway. He says a lot of what I wanted to say in high school—he’s crasser, a bit rude and snarkier, and he doesn’t care what most others think of him. But he’s also insensitive, and his lack of a filter can sometimes get him into trouble. I’ve known a couple of Troy-like people throughout my life, but he’s essentially the rebel in me. That said, I occasionally do take inspiration from real people for characters. It’s only natural—to write what you know. And hey, if people want you to portray them in a more positive light, then they should have treated you better, right? Just kidding. It’s all out of love.

Michael’s longing to escape small town life is definitely relatable to a large number of young people — have you experienced this yourself?

My thoughts on this change constantly. Being landlocked, I’ve always wanted to live by the sea, but now I’m thinking somewhere more arid in climate. A desert, maybe. Oklahoma is home, though, and the four seasons here can be gorgeous. I’m in no rush to leave, but a lot of my friends in high school were. I understood where they were coming from; our lives are meant for exploration. I suppose I’m not there yet. Someday, though. Someday soon.

I really enjoyed your previous books To Hear the Ocean Sigh and Exodus in Confluence, so my question is, do you want each of your books to stand alone or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between them?

Thank you! I appreciate it. The idea behind my books is that they are indeed standalone works, but they do complement each other. While they’re separate stories, some characters may be referenced across books, or familiar locations might show up in each, and so on. Stephen King’s worldbuilding definitely inspired this longing for interconnectivity between stories. I like to believe the decisions we make impact more than our own lives, and so I’ve attempted to implement this over what I guess could be called the “Bryant Loney universe” of sorts. Plus it’s one way of keeping me, the author, entertained throughout the editing process—these little references that only I will ever catch. There’s a method to my madness, I swear!

What would you say makes your writing style unique?

Oh, I doubt I’m the best judge of this. I like to imagine I have a strong sense of dialogue, so maybe that? I try to be as authentic to the characters’ voices as I can, and because they’re mainly teenagers, that includes a lot of umms and switching subjects mid-sentence and informal speech and the occasional rambling, but only because that’s, well, that’s how we talk. Not the awkward attempts at slang I’ve seen some older Young Adult authors go for. Oh, yeah, and writing characters who are seniors in high school can also mean a lot of F-bombs. Sorry, Mom. But honestly, what else are you gonna say when there’s a maniac chasing you through the woods? “Oh, no, please, stop.” Pfft. As if.

Would you advise aspiring authors to read within their most comfortable genre or expand their reading to books of all genres?

It’s important to read in the genre you wish to write in so that you can keep up with the trends—and to know which tropes to avoid or revamp—but you should always read outside your comfort zone. For example, I often read Young Adult books and contemporary fiction, but Take Me to the Cat was inspired most by the farce The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, the meta and insane Idaho Winter by Tony Burgess, the tragicomic Fun Home by Alison Bechdel, the psychological thriller I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid, and more. These books provided me insight into some nuances of storytelling I hadn’t considered, allowing me to then borrow the techniques I felt worked for the narrative. So while we should by all means read for pleasure, aspiring authors should challenge themselves as well. It’s the only way to learn and grow as a writer. Read first, then write.

Is there any advice you would give to your younger writing self?

You do not need to be temperamental or upset to be a novelist. Don’t embrace the tortured artist rhetoric that any life difficulties might serve to benefit and enhance your writing. That’s damaging. Counterintuitive. Writing can be so incredibly lonely, and when you’re alone with your thoughts for long enough to produce a hundred thousand words of your own headspace, it can be scary. Suffering is not good for your art. Mental health care is. So talk to someone other than your future readers about the problems you are facing. Someone you know and trust. There is no shame in asking for help.

Finally, if you could interview any author, alive or dead, who would you choose and why?

Nick Miller, no question. He wrote Isn’t It Pretty To Think So? which is my favorite novel, like, ever. I’ve read it six times back-to-back and at least once every summer. I have so many questions for that man, and the ending continues to haunt me on restless nights. One of these days, Miller! One of these days.

Take Me to the Cat releases on June 27th, 2017 in print, audio, and eBook formats via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and more. Loney is also the author of YA novel To Hear the Ocean Sigh and novella Exodus in Confluence.