Deep beneath a modern metropolis lies the Catacombs, the kingdom of remarkable rats of superior intellect. Juniper and his maverick band of rebel rats have been plotting ever since the Bloody Coup turned the Catacombs, a once-peaceful democracy, into a brutal dictatorship ruled by decadent High Minister Killdeer and his vicious henchman, Billycan, a former lab rat with a fondness for butchery. When three young orphan rats–brothers Vincent and Victor and a clever female named Clover–flee the Catacombs in mortal peril and join forces with the rebels, it proves to be the spark that ignites the long-awaited battle to overthrow their oppressors and create a new city–Nightshade City.

First, congrats on your upcoming release of Nightshade City!

Thanks, Jen! I’m so glad to be on your blog!

I’m always interested in hearing how authors approach worldbuilding, especially for such fully realized worlds like in Nightshade City.

First, how did you come up with the idea to write about rats?

Well, I’ve always been a fan of creepy, ever since I was a kid! Not necessarily scary or gruesome, but creepy. In other words, Tim Burton’s Night Before Christmas or Edward Scissorhands, not Sweeney Todd!

I absolutely adore Edward Scissorhands! How did you develop the Catacombs?

I’ve always been fascinated with underground dwellings. For a time, I was really interested in the Catacombs of Paris, hence the name for my rats’ underground world–minus the human skulls and bones of course!

Your book is full of awesome rat politics! How did you come up with the basis for the government, etc?

I’m not an outliner nor am I into politics, so I didn’t map out the government. The whole idea of the government seemed to blossom on its own. I suppose I don’t like the idea of any group being oppressed. It frightens me that in this day and age it still happens, so I think that’s how the dictatorial High Ministry came to be with my rats.

Very cool! Is there any special research you did for this book?

Tons! I read book after book about rats. My rats are special–they have some very humanish qualities–yet they are rats. That part had to be right. I also did some research on the military and how things operated, military ranks, etc. I wanted the Kill Army to real feel like a real army.

Do you have any worldbuilding tips for writers who are thinking of dipping their toe into fantasy?

Gosh, that’s a tough one, because we all have such unique styles and ideas of our perfect fantasy worlds. I suppose one thing we all must be aware of as fantasy writers is making our worlds too over the top. The joy of fantasy is being able to create our own worlds, but if you create too many of your own descriptors or unique words to define your world and the world is so different than our own that you have to supply heaps of back story in order to explain it, you may lose readers. I think it’s important to make your world “relatable” to the real world and even with an outlandish world it’s possible to still relate it to our own. Also, staying true to your world’s rules–I think that’s a big one. Readers tend to feel letdown if things are a certain way throughout the novel and suddenly an author throws a rule out the window in order to finish the story.

And finally, what books have been an influence on you and your writing?

Oh, now you’re really throwing me for a loop! Hmmm…I would have to go by authors. Gregory Maguire, love him to pieces–always have. He writes both adult and children’s books. Kenneth Oppel is a big favorite of mine for middle-grade. Strictly for the grownups I’d choose Jonathan Barnes work. I just read his debut and its counterpart–both weird and wonderful! All of these authors are fantastic with world building, so please check them out whether you write for kids or adults!

Thanks so much for stopping by and can’t wait to see Nightshade City on the shelves!

Thank you, Jen! It’s been fun, scary and exciting! We just saw my book at the store two days back. It was surreal!!!

2. Books: IS IT TIME FOR MOCKINGJAY YET! Seriously can’t wait to read this book. What happens! I must know! Shana Silver and I are going to the midnight release party (yes, we’re nerds) at Books of Wonder Monday night. If you’re going and you see us, say hi.

3. Music: I recently discovered Florence + The Machine and have been talking about them pretty much all over the place. If you haven’t managed to hear about this band yet, check out this song and this song. Amazing, I love them. I’m actually going to get to see them live in November.

4. Movies: Saw Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and loved it. There should be more movies like this. I’m sad it didn’t do very well at the box office. In other movie news, Deathly Hallows part one comes out later this year, and as I’m sure you can guess, I can’t wait. Have you seen the poster? Eerie.

5. Writing: Had an awesome writing weekend with the 10k challenge, and I want to do something like that again sometime soon. I’ve gotten really into this manuscript I’m writing, and I also sent off the first 50 pages of a project to my agent today. Fingers crossed she likes it. And on that note, off to get some more writing done.

Updates

Sunday, 10:30pm
I DID IT! I HIT 10K! I think I need some sort of reward for actually beating this challenge!

Favorite bit of the night:

“Can’t tell you right now, I’m sorry. Soon though. I promise,” Luke says.

“You are the most frustrating person I’ve ever met.”

A wide grin stretches across his face before he tugs on a strand of my hair. I feel myself take a step forward without even telling my feet to move. His eyes stare so deeply into mine, I feel as if I’m falling into a deep pool of endless blue. “Whatever happens next, go along with it okay? I’ll see you again soon.”

And then he takes two steps back, turns and trots away. All I can do is stand there in the middle of the sidewalk staring after him, dumbfounded. “What does that even mean?”

10k Weekend Challenge
10,023 / 10,000 Words (100%)
—–
Sunday, 8:30pm
OMG, I have somehow hit 9k. In definite need of some caffeine reinforcements if I’m going to get through this last stretch.

10k Weekend Challenge
9,015 / 10,000 Words (90%)
—–
Sunday, 7pm
Have now hit 8k! Which means I only have 2k left! This scene flowed pretty well. The action scenes usually do.

10k Weekend Challenge
8,005 / 10,000 Words (80%)
—–
Sunday, 6:30pm
Got a little off track because it was snack time and other things came up at the apartment, but I’m writing again now. Should be hitting the 8k mark soon.
—–
Sunday, 4pm
Another 1k done. I’m not writing terribly fast today, but it is coming along. I’m having doubts about how good this writing is, but I keep telling myself to move forward anyway. I can fix it later.

10k Weekend Challenge
7,014 / 10,000 Words (70%)
—–
Sunday, 3pm
Got distracted by talks of Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins being released early. I can’t wait to read that book.
—–
Sunday, 1:30pm
Finished my first 1k of the day. A scene I’ve been looking forward to writing is coming up next. Yay!

10k Weekend Challenge
6,017 / 10,000 Words (60%)
—–
Sunday, 12:20pm
Just had an AMAZING breakthrough, yea!
—–
Sunday, Noon
Spent the morning drinking coffee, pumping myself up for another 5k day and bugging my friends with random questions in the name of research. But, if I’m going to beat this challenge, I better get started with some actual wordage.
—–
Sunday, 1am
Woop! I just hit 5k! I am now halfway through the weekend goal, and my brain is completely fried. Here’s one of my favorite bits from the day’s work:

I wish there was a way to capture this on film, but for once, I don’t pull my camera out of my bag. Instead, I close my eyes and soak up the city, committing the flickering images to memory, knowing that one day they will fade, but for now, I will hold on to this moment as hard as I can.

10k Weekend Challenge
5,038 / 10,000 Words (50%)
—–
Saturday, 11:30pm
Mehhh. These last 500 words were painful, but I am so happy I got them done! Just 500 more to go before I hit my goal.

10k Weekend Challenge
4,514 / 10,000 Words (45%)
—–
Saturday, 10:30pm
Umm, whoops. I accidentally took an unscheduled break to roam around the internet and listen to more Florence + the Machine. “A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes.” <3 <3 <3
Just 1k more to go to reach today’s 5k goal, but my brain is fried. Maybe one more song…
—–
Saturday, 9:30pm
I just hit the 4k mark! Unfortunately, it’s taking me about an hour to write 500 words, but this current scene is just so tricky. There’s the appearance of a cute, frustrating boy and an angry confrontation with someone else right after and all the while a sense a urgency that needs to stay present even with all this other stuff happening. I will conquer this scene, though, and by the end of the night.

10k Weekend Challenge
4,022 / 10,000 Words (40%)
—–
Saturday, 8:30pm
Listening to Florence + the Machine for this particular scene because the music is PERFECT for it. Got another 500 words down. Feeling a little draggy so I’m going to have another can of Coke. And maybe a cookie.

10k Weekend Challenge
3,516 / 10,000 Words (35%)
—–
Saturday, 8pm
This book is weird.
—–
Saturday, 7:50pm
Another 500 words done. Brain is starting to hurt.

10k Weekend Challenge
3,023 / 10,000 Words (30%)
—–
Saturday, 7pm
Break lasted a little longer than planned…but sometimes a girl’s gotta order pizza and watch an episode of House. Anyway, back to work.
—–
Saturday, 5pm
Yay, halfway through today’s goal! Time to take a break.

10k Weekend Challenge
2,564 / 10,000 Words (25%)
—–
Saturday, 4:40pm
I have no idea if this scene makes any sense.
—–
Saturday, 4:35pm
I’m hungry. I should eat. But my goal for today is 5k, and I only need 500 more words to hit 2.5k, which is the halfway point of today’s goal. So, I’m going to keep going a little longer before taking a break.
—–
Saturday, 4:30pm
Still slow going, but I am making progress with another 1k in the bag. This particular chapter just wants to be written slowly. (And okay, I keep getting distracted by Twitter.) And, I have to say, I am loving this new character. I’ve never written anyone quite like her, and I never know exactly what she’s going to say/how she’s going to phrase things until I type it out. Fun, fun!

10k Weekend Challenge
2,020 / 10,000 Words (20%)
—–
Saturday, 2:30pm
Procrastinating by finding images online of my new character.
—–
Saturday, 2pm
I got off to a slow start while wrapping my head around a new character I’m introducing, so I powered up the trusty Write or Die program. This got me going, especially after it rickrolled me twice. Only 1k in so far, but I feel like the words are rolling along now.

10k Weekend Challenge
1,028 / 10,000 Words (10%)
—–
Saturday, Noon
I have my iced coffee in hand now. Time to make some progress!
—–
Saturday, 11am
Okay, time to get up. I open the laptop and Scrivener and stare at the page for awhile.
—–
Saturday, 10am
Ugh, it’s morning. Going back to sleep now.
—–
Friday, 7pm
What do some people do on a summer weekend in NYC? Go out, head to the beach, spend the day in Central Park? Yep. But not me. Not this weekend. Instead, I am doing a 10k writing challenge with one of my critique partners, Chandler Craig. She has a lot of writing to get done. I have a lot to get done, and with work being as busy as it has been, the weekend is my best bet for getting some serious progress made. Plus, this is the only weekend without any plans for the next month or so.

So, our goal? 10k each. Starting tonight and ending Sunday night. I’ll be posting updates on here throughout the weekend with my current progress and any hiccups/victories as I go along. Here we go!

10k Weekend Challenge
0 / 10,000 Words (0%)

Nathan followed me home. When I turned off my truck, I stared at the little farmhouse that squatted on the small lot. This was my home. This was where Mom had instructed me on the finer techniques of astral projection and bone magic, where Laura and I had spent many weekend nights full of thriller movie marathons, massive popcorn ingestion and epic prank phone calls, and where I’d last seen my dad. Mom never found out he’d given me lock picks the day she’d told him she couldn’t handle his museum art thefts and Beverly Hills break-ins any longer.

I couldn’t imagine being forced to leave here. I couldn’t image what would happen if the repossession trucks pulled up, their big tires forcing muddy ruts into our front yard, and I didn’t want to think about how everyone would finally know what was really going on with my mother. We’d have no place to go.

I jumped when Nathan knocked on the driver-side window. His eyebrows were crinkled together like he could tell something was wrong. I hadn’t told him about the foreclosure notice. Even though I’d spilled so much, there were a lot of details of my life I hadn’t shared. I took a slow, deep breath that reached all the way to my toes before I opened the door and stepped out into the chilly, early fall weather. I couldn’t believe I was introducing Nathan to my mom.

Nathan’s eyes scanned the house as we trekked to the front door, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he was mentally comparing it to his own residence, all three stories of it, big enough that it could eat this one and still be hungry. But most of all I wondered if he noticed how the gutters sagged, how the grass had morphed into yellow weeds, how dirt clung to the shutters from the time I’d tried to clean them and only made the speckles turn to smears.

“Is this one of those old farmhouses?” Nathan asked while I unlocked the door.

“Yeah.” I strode inside, dropped my backpack to the floor and stuck my hands in my jean pockets. “Mom always talked about having it renovated…”

“Wow, what’s this?” One of Mom’s Siberian drums on the hall table had caught his eye.

“That’s called the Witch’s Drum.” I picked up the drum with careful fingers and held it out to Nathan. “A shaman clan in Siberia gave it to my mom as a gift when she helped fight against some ‘corporate’ shamans who were trying to take control over them.” This only made me think of Mom’s admission that her attack had been because of politics. Could that case have had anything to do with what happened to her?

I pointed to the bone hanging off the side. “That’s reindeer bone, and the skin used to make the drum is reindeer, too.”

Nathan ran his fingers very lightly over the paintings on the skin—symbols for healing or traveling to the Borderland. “This is so cool. What’s it for?”

“Nostalgic decoration.” I took the drum back and placed it on the table. “Forever ago, it used to be part of a shaman’s incantation, but most of the drums were destroyed in the 18th century by people who thought shamans were Satan-worshippers. So, they were forced to figure out a way to do the incantations without drums.”

“That sucks.” He stared at the drums almost in awe. “What was the solution?”

“Just drawing single runes like I do now. The drums had all the symbols a shaman would need painted on them,” I said, pointing at the banishing rune scrawled on the surface in black ink, “and they’d knock the reindeer bone against the one they needed for a particular incantation. Now we draw whichever one we need. They just came up with ways to morph the magic differently than they used to.”

“They couldn’t just make more drums?” Nathan asked.

“No, anyone who tried got hung.”

“That’s…intense.” Nathan eyes met mine, and my breath hung in the air before me like it was frozen there. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. All I could focus on was Nathan and how we’d almost kissed in the car. I could almost feel his forehead on mine again, and I felt my body instinctively moving closer to him. He was a magnet, and I was iron.

“Holly?” My mom called out from the living room. “Is someone with you?”

“Yeah,” I yelled, feeling the force field break between us. “Ready to meet my mom?”

I thought about warning him again of what she was like now, but our feet were moving us closer to the living room, and I didn’t want her to overhear me tell someone how dead to the world she was. We stepped into the room, and Mom’s eyes zeroed in on Nathan. For a moment, she was the eagle-eyed shaman whose gaze couldn’t miss even the outline of penny in someone’s pocket.

“Mom, this is Nathan, a…friend from school. Nathan, Mom.”

He smiled and moved forward. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Bennett.”

“Nice to meet you, too, Nathan.” My mom’s wobbly smile made an appearance just before her eyes clouded over. My shoulders sagged, and I looked away, but Nathan kept right on talking because he didn’t know that meant she’d disappeared.

“The Hobbit,” he said, referencing the book on the side table by her chair. “I love that book.”

The silence that followed was like a pillow suffocating the room.

“So does Mom. I read it aloud to her sometimes.” Still looking away, I headed toward the kitchen. “I’m going to make her some lunch before we get going. Want a sandwich or something?”

I expected him to follow, but instead, I heard the familiar creak that meant he’d taken post in the recliner that crouched across from Mom’s usual spot.

“Sure,” he said.

As I grabbed three plates from the cabinet and threw bread on each, I heard Nathan talking, his deep, soft voice traveling the short space from the living room to the kitchen. I tossed slices of bologna on the plates, still hearing Nathan’s voice. I wondered how long it would take him to realize Mom wasn’t going to respond.

When I’d spread generic-brand mayonnaise onto each sandwich, I headed back into the living room and stopped short in the doorway. Nathan sat across from Mom, The Hobbit in his hands and reading aloud from chapter five. Curly strands of his hair fell in his eyes. His jaw clenched as he turned a page, and I realized that when he did that, it meant he was concentrating hard on something. He kept reading, and I watched as Mom blinked and gave him a smile he didn’t see because he was too focused on the page.

I should have kissed him.

It made me think about how important it is to write what we love. Personally, my best writing comes from when I am engrossed in a story I really want to tell. I really do think that passion is reflected in the writing, too. The books with the most heart are the books written with the most love. Or maybe I’m just a sap.

What do you think?

This is the clock I saw from the tall glass windows of the apartment we rented in Liverpool.

This is the clock I saw as I stared out across the top of a city I didn’t yet know but already loved, just by the snatches of cobblestone streets I saw in the short cab ride from the train station to the apartment and by the beautiful lilting accents circling my ears.

This is the clock I saw as an old friendship was brought back to life and as new ones were made to a backdrop of clouds, rain, even hail, and maybe the greatest video game of all time. Wooop!

This is the clock I saw as I discovered the awesomeness that is goat cheese, tomatoes and peppers on toast.

This is the clock I saw as I laughed so often and so hard that my stomach muscles and my cheeks may never recover.

This is the clock I saw when I tried to spot the dozens of birds that insisted on yelling their heads off at all hours of the day.

This is the clock I saw against the pink glow of early morning, muted city lights and exciting new hopes and dreams.

This is the clock I saw as I attempted to master a one pound yo-yo. And failed.

This is the clock I saw as a shooting star lit up my world, leaving white hot streaks behind.

This is the clock I saw as inspiration filled me up and overflowed, giving me words and ideas I couldn’t wait to write down.

This is the clock I saw when I didn’t want to close my eyes to sleep because I knew when I awoke, it would be time for me to leave.

This is the clock I saw when I gave one last glance behind me and thought, “I’m going to make my way back here.”

And I will.

From the moment I first heard about SHADE by Jeri Smith-Ready, I wanted to read it. The premise is awesome. Everyone in the world born after a certain point can see and talk to ghosts, most of the time to their annoyance, but when Aura’s (the main character) boyfriend dies in a tragic accident, he becomes a ghost, and she’s suddenly very, very glad that she is one of the many with this ability.

The thing that struck a chord with me about this story is how well the author was able to get inside the mind of a girl in this situation and how simultaneously happy and depressed she would be. Even though Logan (Aura’s boyfriend) was gone, it was like he was actually still there since she could see, hear and speak to him. Laugh with him. Listen to music with him. And even though Aura desperately needs to move on with her own life, if someone really could see and hear the ghost of a boyfriend, it would be so tempting to pretend that things were the same. That the person they loved was still here, even if not fully. It’s hard enough to let go when we lose someone we love. Imagine if they were kind of still around, haunting us and speaking to us. Smiling at us like they used to. It would be easy to get lost to that. And this is why I think SHADE is such a powerful novel because the author digs deep and explores what that experience would be like for someone. Just that alone creates an emotional roller-coaster of a ride which has really stuck with me (and, I admit, made me a little teary when reading).

Another thing that hooked me about this story is how fully realized the world is. How would the world be different if everyone sixteen and under could see ghosts? How would that affect the government? How would that affect life in general? How would something like this even happen? The author developed some really cool answers to these questions while leaving enough unsolved to make me hungry for more. As soon as I read the last page, I went online to see how many more books we would be getting because I can’t wait to learn more about this world and the characters in it.

In essence, an amazing YA debut from Jeri Smith-Ready. SHADE is a haunting, emotional and thrilling story with a plot that kept me turning pages well into the night.

I wish I had an iced coffee, I think, as the train rumbles into the station, brakes squealing. My feet shift into a surfer’s stance to keep me from stumbling, although the claustrophobic number of 9 to 5ers crammed into the car ensures I won’t fall. I glance at the page number in my Raised by Wolves hardcover before closing it on my finger. And today I really wish my train ride was more than seven point five minutes so I could find out what’s going on with Bryn’s werewolf pack.

We spill from the car and onto the platform like a swarm of bees. Elbows jostle me. I keep my face forward just like everyone else around me. My feet tread a familiar path to the stairs, to the exit. There are hundreds of people but no words. Just a steady pound of footsteps on concrete, and the occasional whir of the World Trade Center construction nearby.

I take one step, and then another, each one taking me away from the billowing exhaust cloud and closer to the street. Bringing my book up to my side, I fold it back open and let my eyes scan the words again. No need to watch where I’m going. I’ve done this so many times, I might as well take these precious seconds to read.

As I take another step up, I feel a small vibration at my back. I stiffen, always paranoid of sneaky fingers in the midst of so much movement. I crane my neck over my shoulder to find myself looking down at a nicely dressed middle-aged man, face forward, looking nowhere near my backpack or seeming at all alarmed I’m eyeing him. The only odd thing about him is the ratty baseball hat he’s wearing with his crisply pressed suit. Somewhat satisfied, I turn back to my book.

—————-

I can’t believe she didn’t catch me. I was sure I’d been made when she turned around. Guess I don’t look all that fearsome, huh? I bet I could steal everyone’s deodorant here, and they’d never even expect me. I blend. I’m like smoke.

Or better yet, a ninja!

I watch the girl stride off away from me, backpack flap hanging open, feeling kind of lucky I found what I was looking for so easily. I mean, I knew she looked like the kind of girl who carries an extra stick of deodorant around with her.

Okay, so I tried three backpacks before hers, but still. I knew somehow when I saw her. Maybe I’m lucky or maybe I’m psychic. Hmm, maybe if I don’t get this job, I can try out my newfound ability in Atlantic City this weekend.

I make my way outside to the suffocating humidity and tell myself for the twenty-seventh time what a moron I am for scheduling the Interview of a Lifetime on the hottest day of the year, sleeping through my alarm clock so that I don’t have time to shower and then, THEN, forgetting the most important thing in the world for someone with the Interview of a Lifetime on the hottest day of the year who has forgotten to shower. DEODORANT.

I may be psychic, but obviously that’s not stopping me from being a moron.

Luckily (or psychically?), Miss Oblivious Nose-In-Her-Book-While-Walking has delivered me just what I need. I sniff the deodorant stick and gasp at the overwhelming girl smell it has. Another suit-clad man walks by me and raises his eyebrows.

“I know how this might look,” I say to him, but he just turns his face forward and trots away from me.

Okay, so maybe sniffing chick deodorant on a New York City sidewalk isn’t the best way to blend in like smoke. Whatever, it can’t get any worse, right? I stare down at the deodorant, taking a few more quick whiffs. Geez, why does it have to smell like roses and vanilla candles? I mean, really. Of all things.

“It looks like I have three choices here,” I mutter to myself. “No deodorant for the interview of a lifetime. Attempt to steal some dude’s deodorant. Or, suck it up and put on the roses.”

I close my eyes and wait for my new Spidey senses to tell me what to do.

This is the last video for awhile. Probably. Maybe.

This: