1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE WEAVER AND THE WITCH QUEEN
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Weaver is a fantastical reimagining of the origin story of Gunnhild, Mother of Kings, a Viking Age queen of Norway, and her made-up sworn sisters, Oddny and Signy. While Gunnhild is off learning witchcraft, Oddny’s life is turned upside-down when her farm is raided, and Signy is kidnapped. Gunnhild and Oddny’s goal throughout the book is rescuing her and fighting off their enemies along the way—all while trying to figure out why they even have enemies in the first place (hint: I said after The Witch’s Heart I would never write another book with a prophecy in it again; this was, apparently, a lie).
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
History did that for me – I knew I was going to be doing a lot of research on tenth-century Norway as soon as I decided to write about Gunnhild!
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
In the modern day? I feel like Gunnhild would be the kind of person who always knows the hot gossip but is very careful about what she divulges and to whom, and Oddny would be the kind of person who would stay in on a Saturday night knitting sweaters for shelter animals. So yes, I’d definitely hang with them.
In their time? Maybe for a day, but then I’d like to go back to where there’s indoor plumbing.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Gunnhild: stubborn, haughty, confident (one might say overconfident).
Oddny: determined, compassionate, fierce.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned a lot about myself and my process. I drafted my debut novel for NaNoWriMo in three weeks and then sat on it for seven years, so I had all that time to tweak it and let it marinate; but is the first book I’ve ever written under contract, and it’s a whole different ball game.
I also learned that a lot of things we think we know about the Viking Age are just from memes. It’s absolutely wild how many “facts” I just couldn’t trace back to a credible source.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I am what the kids call a discovery writer, or “pantser,” which means I might only have the vaguest sense of where the story is going when I sit down to write it; I also have the misfortune of being a very linear writer, which means that I have to edit as I draft, because I’ll sometimes get to a point where I’ll decide to change something big and then go, “Oh crap, gotta go back and change all the other things now,” because my brain won’t let me move on until I do. I envy writers who can create a detailed outline and then stick to it!
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Doughnuts. There’s a place near my hometown that makes the best doughnuts I’ve ever had in my life, and I have yet to find a doughnut that lives up to them (but this might be my nostalgia talking).
9--Describe your writing space/office!
Two big bookshelves—one for research books and one for fun books—and a small bookshelf that currently holds my (overflowing) TBR. My writing space is also a craft space (mostly for Viking Age living history stuff), so next to my desk I have a sit/stand table where I’ll sew or set up my tablet weaving.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Tamsyn Muir. Like, I am neurodivergent and tend to read (and write!) stories that are straightforward, and I don’t normally go for books where I can’t figure out what the heck is going on, but The Locked Tomb series is the glaring exception. Tamsyn is an author who continuously challenges the reader to figure things out, and I love her characters and her writing so much that I find her books hard to put down, even if I’m usually confused until the 80% mark. I am on the edge of my seat waiting for the last installment in the series. I may or may not have art prints of the book covers hanging in my living room.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Oh gosh, it’s so hard to name just one! I guess I’ve gotta say American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It was my comfort book for a long time, but I haven’t picked it up in years and haven’t watched the show. Sometimes you get so attached to a book that when you go a while without reading it, you start to worry if it will hold up, and that’s sort of where I’m at.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I remember getting an unexpected call from my then-agent at about 7:30 pm on a weeknight, which was weird in itself because we usually scheduled our chats beforehand. Less than a week before, we’d talked about potentially pulling The Witch’s Heart from submission and revising, but that night she told me that she’d gotten a call from an editor who made an offer, but that the offer was contingent on me rewriting the second half of the book (which, at the time, ended…badly). She said this editor thought that I could craft a more satisfying ending without compromising my source material, and this piqued my interest, but I still had to ask: “Wait, which publisher is this editor with?”
“An imprint of Penguin Random House,” she said.
A beat passed—in which my brain was just like !!!!!!!—and then I was like, “Well, I guess I’m rewriting the second half of the book.”
And I did. And then, for some reason, PRH wanted two more books from me, of which The Weaver and the Witch Queen is the first. I have been extremely lucky and I’m grateful every day.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I read across all genres, but fantasy is my favorite! I’m on a bit of a non-fiction kick at the moment, though.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Before this year I would have said Netflix’s Eurovision movie with Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams—it is very silly and full of heart, and I love it to pieces—but the Dungeons & Dragons movie is my new comfort film. For me it just hit all the right notes and was everything I love in a fantasy flick.
15--What is your favorite season?
Autumn, because the whole season just kind of feels like you’re winding down for a long rest. And, of course, pumpkin spice everything.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Have a nice dinner with friends and family, and then cake. This year I got to go to a conveyor belt sushi bar for my birthday and it was amazing!
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I am a big fan of SagaThing Podcast (which goes through the medieval Icelandic family sagas one by one), and the Nordic Mythology Podcast (which hosts guests from all different disciplines, from academics to artists), but that is because I’m nothing if not a huge nerd for this subject.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
The food I will never ever get sick of is sushi, but I was raised in an Italian American community, so that type of food is what I always go to for comfort (although I still haven’t been able to get my grama’s pasta sauce exactly right).
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Running, or knitting. SO much knitting. I decided that I needed a hobby that did not have to do with books or the Viking Age or any combination thereof, because these things made up 90% of my personality. So two years ago I started taking classes at my local yarn shop, and I just started my third sweater!
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Your guess is as good as mine. After Weaver, I’m not sure what will happen next, but I’m eternally grateful for everyone who’s come along for the ride so far!
The lives of two women—one desperate only to save her missing sister, the other a witch destined to become queen of Norway—intertwine in this spellbinding, powerful novel of Viking Age history and myth from the acclaimed author of The Witch’s Heart.
Oddny and Gunnhild meet as children in tenth century Norway, and they could not be more different: Oddny hopes for a quiet life, while Gunnhild burns for power and longs to escape her cruel mother. But after a visiting wisewoman makes an ominous prophecy that involves Oddny, her sister Signy, and Gunnhild, the three girls take a blood oath to help one another always.
When Oddny’s farm is destroyed and Signy is kidnapped by Viking raiders, Oddny is set adrift from the life she imagined—but she's determined to save her sister no matter the cost, even as she finds herself irresistibly drawn to one of the raiders who participated in the attack. And in the far north, Gunnhild, who fled her home years ago to learn the ways of a witch, is surprised to find her destiny seems to be linked with that of the formidable King Eirik, heir apparent to the ruler of all Norway.
But the bonds—both enchanted and emotional—that hold the two women together are strong, and when they find their way back to each other, these bonds will be tested in ways they never could have foreseen in this deeply moving novel of magic, history, and sworn sisterhood.
Fantasy [Penguin Press, On Sale: July 25, 2023, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593438244 / eISBN: 9780593438268]
Genevieve Gornichec is a writer from Northeast Ohio. She earned her degree in history, but she got as close to majoring in Vikings as she possibly could. Her writing is inspired by the Norse myths and Icelandic sagas.
No comments posted.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy