Today, I’m thrilled to host this guest post by Kalyn Josephson. The author of The Crow Rider talks about the story behind her story. The book will be released on July 7, 2020 and published by Sourcebooks Fire. Check it out!
Thank you, Kalyn and the publisher, for gifting me a print copy and FFBC Tours for having me on this tour.
The Story Behind The Story by Kalyn Josephson
Hi all! My name is Kalyn Josephson and I’m the author of THE STORM CROW and the sequel, THE CROW RIDER, out July 7th, 2020. Thanks to LM for having me on the blog, where I’m going to talk a little bit about what writing a duology was like and the inspiration for the series.
Writing book 1 and 2 of THE STORM CROW duology were vastly different experiences. Book 1 I wrote start to finish in about 3 months, which is the fastest I’ve ever drafted a book. The idea came from a story I read about a little girl who fed her neighbourhood crows, who in return, brought her gifts. I wrote a short story about crows that brought a trapped princess pieces of the world, thinking that’d be the end of it, but I couldn’t get this idea of a magic system based on crows out of my head. And thus, TSC was hatched.
TSC went through a lot of rounds of revision, but the core story remained relatively the same: a princess discovers a crow egg in the rubble of a rookery after all the crows are destroyed and must hatch it behind enemy lines. What changed a lot was the timeline. Many of scenes that I originally wrote in the first act got moved to the third act, and entire plot arcs got removed and saved for book 2, but the overall structure remained intact.
In comparison, I wrote two vastly different versions of book 2. The first one contained a lot more magic and lore and introduced a new part of the world and plotline that turned out to be just too much for one book. Since this was a duology and I didn’t have a third book to save me, I had to adjust my approach to the sequel. I removed a lot of that world and lore (not to say they aren’t still true! They’re just not the focus of the story anymore) and zoomed in on Thia’s relationship with her crow, which became the backbone of the book. This allowed me to focus more heavily on the themes from book one, such as the cycle of revenge, trust and friendship, and Thia’s journey with depression.
There are a lot of struggles that come with writing a second book that aren’t apparent in book 1. On the positive side, you know your characters and world really well, so you aren’t stumbling your way through unfamiliar territory like you are in a first book. On the more challenging side though, you now have established rules and timelines that you have to abide by. For example, I establish a timeline in book 1 that I had to keep to in book 2, and which nearly wasn’t enough time to accomplish everything I needed to, so I came very close to messing myself up! I also had to make sure that I didn’t break any magic or worldbuilding rules that I’d established in book 1, which is one of my favourite challenges of sequels. I love taking an existing magic system and finding ways to expand it that still follow the established rules, but basically say, here’s where all that came from, or here’s a way of using it you might not have thought of before.
Overall, I don’t think I enjoyed writing one book more than the other, as they both had their unique challenges and upsides. But if I had to pick, I’d choose the sequel, only because it’s where all the things I’ve been working toward finally got to come together and seeing that was so fantastic. I always knew how the story would end, and it felt like a real accomplishment to reach that point.
I hope you all enjoy reading the end of Thia’s story as much as I did writing it!
Kalyn
THANK YOU SO MUCH, KALYN JOSEPHSON, FOR THIS LOVELY POST.
The Crow Rider by Kalyn Josephson – Synopsis
Princess Thia, her allies, and her crow, Res, are planning a rebellion to defeat Queen Razel and Illucia once and for all. Thia must convince the neighboring kingdoms to come to her aid, and Res’s show of strength is the only thing that can help her.
But so many obstacles stand in her way. Res excels at his training, until he loses control of his magic, harming Thia in the process. She is also pursued by Prince Ericen, heir to the Illucian throne and the one person she can’t trust but can’t seem to stay away from.
As the rebel group prepares for war, Res’s magic grows more unstable. Thia has to decide if she can rely on herself and their bond enough to lead the rebellion and become the crow rider she was meant to be.
BOOK DETAILS
- Author: Kalyn Josephson
- Release Date: July 7, 2020
- Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
- Book Length: 368 pages
- Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
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BOOK EXCERPT
Exclusive-Excerpt-The-Crow-RiderAbout the Author – Kalyn Josephson
Kalyn Josephson currently works as a Technical Writer in the tech industry, which leaves room for too many bad puns about technically being a writer. Though she grew up in San Luis Obispo, California, she graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in Biology and a degree in English (Creative Writing).
Currently, she lives in the Bay Area with four awesome friends (because it’s the Bay Area and she’d like to be able to retire one day) and two black cats (who are more like a tiny dragon and an ever tinier owl). THE STORM CROW is her debut novel.
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Pre-Order Campaign
If people who pre-order TCR submit their receipts, they can choose a bonus scene from either Kiva or Ericen’s POV, and be entered to win a TSC bookmark + character cards. Open US and CAN only.
Link – CLICK HERE
Also, if they order TSC (hardcover OR paperback) or TCR from Kaylyn’s local indie store, Keplers Books, before July 7th they can get a signed, personalized copy. Readers need to say in the order comments if they wanted it personalized through.
Link – CLICK HERE
International Giveaway – The Crow Rider by Kalyn Josephson
Prize: Win (1) a (signed) copy of THE STORM CROW and a (signed) copy of THE CROW RIDER by Kalyn Josephson (INT)
June 23, 2020 – July 7, 2020
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Whoa! I can’t believe you got the author on your blog! And it was such a good post too! Her talking about her first and second book was so interesting, and how the process differed for each one.
Great post!
I’m very lucky indeed. I always look for an opportunity to get a behind the scene experience with authors. I’m so happy Kalyn Josephson was willing to write a post.