WELCOME TO THE 2019 CITY BETWEEN SUMMER READ ALONG!
I’ve been so looking forward to this, Champions. I’m the biggest fangirl ever of this series. It’s funny, it’s packed with magic, adventure, great characters–it’s just SO, SO GOOD!
This week we’re starting off the series with Between Jobs.
When you get up in the morning, the last thing you expect to see is a murdered guy hanging outside your window. Things like that tend to draw the attention of the local police, and when you’re squatting in your parents’ old house until you can afford to buy it, another thing you can’t afford is the attention of the cops.
Oh yeah. Hi. My name is Pet.
It’s not my real name, but it’s the only one you’re getting. Things like names are important these days.
And it’s not so much that I’m Pet.
I am a pet.
A human pet: I belong to the two Behindkind fae and the pouty vampire who just moved into my house. It’s not weird, I promise—well, it is weird, yeah. But it’s not weird weird, you know?
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As with all the books in this series Between Jobs is available to purchase, or to read via Kindle Unlimited. We’re going to discuss this book this Saturday, June 8.
But to kick off our Read-Along, I have a few words from the author herself, W. R. Gingell! She’s a friend of mine–though I will shamelessly admit I thrust my friendship upon her after reading the City Between series and NEEDING to tell her how amazing it was, even though I had had conversations with her before. 😉 So here we go!
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Kitty: Thanks so much for being here with the Champions and me–I’m so excited for this event!
W. R.: Me too! I haven’t been part of a read along before—as a reader or an author, and I’m delighted that my first experience at it will be from this side! The City Between series has been a long time coming in being written; I’m so happy people out there are finally getting a chance to read it!
Kitty: I think you might mean people are finally getting a chance to obsess over it, but I’ll let us move on. Since we’re just jumping into the series I don’t want to give any spoilers for those who haven’t read the books, but I wanted to ask what inspired these stories? You’ve written everything from fairy tales to time travel, and City Between is a very different breed of book compared to your other work.
W. R.: I’ve had the basic idea of Between in my head for the longest time! Since I first started writing seriously, as a matter of fact. I used to travel by car for long times with my parents, and I was always seeing things that weren’t quite what I thought they were on first look. There was the fortress in the forest that we passed, if I looked up at the right time (I still haven’t found out exactly what that is!) the old part of a railway bridge that looked like the gated entrance to some fantasy land, and here in Hobart when you come into the city from the Outlet, you can see the outline of some huge castle until it turns into some amalgamation of the older and newer buildings that make up a great part of Hobart.
I’d had the idea for so long—a place that a human could access that was just between the two, where an umbrella might be an umbrella or a sword, depending on what you needed it to be.
And then, one night, I had a dream of Between where I was sprinting through the real world and then the world Between, morphing through layers with an umbrella at one time, and a sword the next. I think I wrote the first words of Between Jobs that week.
Kitty: That’s a really fascinating and unique origin for a story, and I admire your creativity! Speaking of which, how difficult was it to write the story from Pet’s perspective? Even though she’s our narrator, she purposely tells the audience so little about herself, I can’t imagine what a headache that must have been!
W. R.: It’s not…as hard as it might seem. Pet and I are very similar, and for the last year, I’ve had to force myself to start speaking up about things to the people I love. For the longest time, I just kept my thoughts and feelings and troubles to myself, and it ended up being really dangerous. So this year, I had to make a conscious effort to change that.
Silence is still my norm, though, so Pet’s close lipped personality is very easy for me to relate to.
Kitty: That’s awesome, though, because in a way Pet’s journey–ahhhh…hmmm…spoilers. 😀 Let’s just say Pet grows through the books and leave it at that. Thank you for answering my questions, W. R., we can’t wait to dive in and ask you some more next week!
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And now it’s time for this week’s giveaway!
Four randomly selected winners will receive one MBRC sticker each–the one shown in the graphic. This giveaway is open to US and International readers! It runs 6/3 through 6/9. Winners will be notified through email. Click here to Enter!
And now for the boring legal stuff: No purchase is necessary, winners have five days to confirm their address after they are notified. If they don’t respond in time, a runner up will be chosen. The stickers will be mailed to the winners once an adequate address is provided. K. M. Shea reserves to right to cancel the giveaway or substitute the prize as seen fit. This giveaway is not sponsored or endorsed by Facebook, Instagram, Amazon, etc, but run solely by K. M. Shea.
That’s all for today, Champions. Enjoy Between Jobs, and bring your theories and observations with you on Saturday!