Hi friends! So, very excited today to be back with my feature, A Talk With…!
In case you missed it, “A Talk With” is a brand new feature here on Drizzle & Hurricane Books, where I will invite young adult book authors to chat with me about their upcoming books, share their writing tips and tricks and more!
I am so, so, so pumped today, friends, because I am welcoming Elizabeth Lim, author of one of my most anticipated reads of the YEAR, Spin The Dawn! We are talking about fairytales influences, book recommendations and more, so keep on reading!
1. Can you describe your upcoming book to us only using 5 words?
Enchantment. Dresses. Journey. Demons. Lies.
2. Spin The Dawn is your first original story: how did you come up with the idea of your book? What and who were your main inspirations for the story?
I was inspired by the fairytales my father used to tell me as a child. SPIN THE DAWN draws influence from three in particular: Donkeyskin, East of the Sun, and the Chinese legend, The Cowherd and the Weaver. My grandmother, who spent many years working as a seamstress when she first moved to the United States, inspired the creation of Maia Tamarin.
3. Both of your released books so far have been fantasy books: what draws you to this particular genre? Do you ever think you might branch out of it and try writing in another genre (or did you already try?) ?
I actually started out writing Women’s Fiction and would love to try my hand at it again one day. But for now, I love writing fantasy — it was my favorite genre to read when I was growing up; I devoured everything by Robin McKinley, Juliet Marillier, Tamora Pierce, and Patricia Wrede. Historical fiction is probably the genre I most wish I could write, but I haven’t given it a try yet!
1. What’s one food item you could always eat, without even being hungry?
Red bean soup! It’s a Chinese dessert that I’ve always loved, ever since I was kid.
2. Do you have one book recommendation to share?
Only one? Hah, that’s rough. Hmm…there are way too many fantasies that I’ve read and loved recently, so I’m going to pick a historical fiction book: I read Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee recently and loved it. I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area, and she does a fabulous job evoking Chinatown in the early 1900s. Highly recommend!
3. If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
I’d love to visit Patagonia!
4. Lastly, can you share one line of Spin The Dawn with us?
“Seize the wind. Don’t become the kite that never flies.”
Thank you so, SO much for chatting with me today, Elizabeth, it was such an honor to have you on the blog! Friends, I hope this all made you want to pick up Spin The Dawn as soon as it releases, on July 9th! I know I just can’t WAIT!
? More about Spin The Dawn
Buy on Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There’s just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.
Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia’s task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.
And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor’s reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.
? Preorder Spin The Dawn! (INTL!)
If you preorder Spin The Dawn, you can receive some INCREDIBLE book swag, friends!
All preorders will receive:
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an official bookmark
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a complete set of character cards, art by Kat Adara
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a “Seize the Wind” sticker, art by Isabel Ibañez
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an exclusive print, art by Beverly Love
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a signed bookplate (not pictured, hardcover orders only)
Orders from Books of Wonder will receive an additional:
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Spin the Dawn enamel pin, art by Beverly Love
Library order requests will receive:
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an official bookmark
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2 character cards, art by Kat Adara
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an exclusive print, art by Beverly Love
3 large prize winners (drawn by lottery) will receive:
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A Mejuri necklace (sun, moon, or stars to be selected at random)
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A Glossier moon lidstar
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An exclusively handcrafted silk flowers comb
For more information, preorder links and to submit your receipt, click right here!
This preorder campaign is opened until July, 16th, 2019.
? More about the author, Elizabeth Lim
Elizabeth Lim grew up on a hearty staple of fairy tales, myths, and songs. Her passion for storytelling began around age 10, when she started writing fanfics for Sailor Moon, Sweet Valley, and Star Wars, and posted them online to discover, “Wow, people actually read my stuff. And that’s kinda cool!” But after one of her teachers told her she had “too much voice” in her essays, Elizabeth took a break from creative writing to focus on not flunking English.
Over the years, Elizabeth became a film and video game composer, and even went so far as to get a doctorate in music composition. But she always missed writing, and she turned to penning stories when she needed a breather from grad school. One day, she decided to write and finish a novel — for kicks, at first, then things became serious — and she hasn’t looked back since.
Elizabeth loves classic film scores, books with a good romance, food (she currently has a soft spot for arepas and Ethiopian food), the color turquoise, overcast skies, English muffins, cycling, and baking. She grew up in Northern California, with a brief stint in Tokyo, Japan, but now lives in New York City with her husband and their daughter.
Elizabeth graduated from Harvard College with a degree in music and a secondary in East Asian Studies, and completed her graduate degrees at The Juilliard School.
Find Elizabeth Lim on:
? Website ? Twitter ? Instagram
Do you want to read Spin The Dawn? Did you read it already?
Do you enjoy stories inspired by fairytales and, if you’re a writer, do tales inspire you to write, as well? Let me know your thoughts and recommendations in comments!
Ahhh I loved reading this post so, so much, Marie!! ❤️
Spin the Dawn has become one of my all time favorite books, and I’m already so excited to reread it—I can’t wait for the sequel.
I loved Liz’ answers, and you had great questions!! So excited for you to fall in love with her words as well. ✨
Thank you so, so much Lily! <3 Ahh I'm so excited to hear you loved it so much, I wish I could preorder a copy, but I'll have to wait a little while to get it. I can't wait to fall in love with it ahhh 😀
Thank you <3
I preordered! And she just sounds like an amazing person. I love this.
Ahhh so happy to hear it, I can’t wait to hear what you think of the book 🙂 and yes the author is so sweet!
Thank you so much for your comment <3
this was really insightful to read! i’m looking forward to getting Spin the Dawn!! it sounds amazing
Ahh thank you, really happy you enjoyed it 🙂 I hope you’ll love the book 😀
This is a great interview! I’m so looking forward to read this book!
Thank you so much!! Me too 😀
Aghaghagh I’m so excited to read Spin the Dawn!! It sounds so good and I love all of the tales that it was based upon. Have you read Echo North?? It’s one of my favorite novels and it’s also based upon East of the Sun, West of the Moon! <3
I haven’t read Echo North, but I’ve heard soooo much about it and it sounds so good, I’ll have to read it too 🙂
thank you so much 🙂
I adored Spin the Dawn so!! much!! Red bean soup sounds AWESOME. My grandpa makes porridge out of black rice (and red beans maybe) and ginger and coconut milk and IT’S SUBLIME so I can imagine I’d love red bean soup too! 😀
And YES YES fairytales are my bread and butter as a writer. In fact, right now, I’m procrastinating on editing my Rapunzel retelling (oops… 😉 )
Ahh I can’t wait to read this book. And ahh, this sounds so so yummy, I’m hungry now haha 🙂
Rapunzel retelling?? this sounds so exciting!!
I loved reading this post, Marie!! This book is so gorgeous and I truly fell in love with it. I hope you’re able to pick up a copy soon, and that you love it just as much! (Also, those necklaces in the preorder campaign look absolutely gorgeous ?)
Ahh thank you so much May <3 I can't wait to read this book and ahh I'm so in love with that preorder campaign aha <3
Ahh.. I have seen Spin The Dawn around with it’s amazing cover and I heard some great things about it!! I loved hearing about some of her inspiration behind the story– I think it is really interesting to see where authors get their ideas for magical worlds and stories in general.
I really like writing fantasy and a lot of my favourite stories I want to write are fantasy but I am not the biggest fan of world building so I would like to try some different genres too!!
Ahh.. that is a lovely quote!! Great interview!! <3
Ahh thank you so much Sophie I’m so happy you enjoyed it <3
I get that, I'd love to write fantasy someday but I'm the worst at world building hahaha.
ahh, Marie, I loved this interview so much! the question asked were so fun and I loved reading Elizabeth Lim’s answers so much! the fact that I’ve already read the book made this book doubly fun! ahhhh, the writing and story of Spin the Dawn was just so magical, and I loved that Maia was actually inspired with the author’s seamstress grandmother!!
Oh thank you so much, I’m so happy you loved this and ahh you got to read the book already that’s SO great. I can’t wait to read it 😀
Thank you so much 😀
That’s amazing that you got to ask Elizabeth Lim some questions. I can’t wait for Spin The Dawn to come out, it sounds absolutely amazing 😀 I hope you enjoy reading it. And I can definitely see how fairytales can inspire people to write; I’d love to work on some sort of retelling one day, although I really need to read the originals first as I know them mostly from films.
Thank you so much, I’m so happy you enjoyed this post 🙂
I would also love to work on retellings someday, it sounds like so much fun 🙂
I loved it 😀 It was nice to get some Q&A from an author whose book I’m so desperate for. Yes I agree, there’s so much potential there even if the stories have been told countless times before. Somehow new and fresh feeling takes on them constantly appear.
Agree! 🙂
Thank you again, Charlotte, you’re always so sweet <3
Aww, thank you ❤
Ooh, I’m so excited for this!! I love fantasy books and especially love books that are inspired by different fairy tales and mythologies. I’m also pretty excited because Donkeyskin was a childhood favorite of mine! I used to watch the movie when I was younger, and though yes there are some super trippy parts to it, the princess had the most gorgeous dresses ??
Ahhh yes, I’m so, so excited to read this one as well, it sounds WAY too good! 😀 I hope we’ll both love this 😀
Thank you, Chana <3
This is such a great interview Marie, and I loved reading Elizabeth’s answers! I didn’t know about the pre-order incentive, THANK YOU for that!
Ahh thank you, I’m so happy you enjoyed it 🙂 the pre-order campaign is incredible!
Ah, this is such a sweet interview! I just recently finished Spin the Dawn, and truly enjoyed it! I love how Elizabeth drew inspiration for this book from the tales she was told growing up! That is so cool! Great post, Marie! <3
Ohh I’m so happy you loved Spin The Dawn so much, yay! I really can’t wait to read this beautiful book <3
Thank you, Kelly! <3