I am so thrilled to welcome Kim Liggett to Fresh Fiction. Her novel,
BLOOD AND
SALT, is hands down one of my favorite books of the year.
Samantha: Thank you so much for interviewing with us, Kim! This novel
involves so many interesting elements, from cults to creepy corn to ancestors.
What was the most fun (and/or the weirdest) thing you researched?
Kim: Sacred geography of the Great Plains tribes. I got in deep. I never
had the opportunity to use much of it in the book, but that research will be with
me forever. The way they were able to use celestial navigation to map out the
summer solstice and the winter solstice on the land is mind-blowing. They roamed
the plains year round, but always returned for these rituals.
Samantha: The relationships in this story are absolutely incredible, from
the romantic between Dane and Ash to the familial between Ash and her twin
brother. Is there a relationship you particularly enjoyed writing about or found
easiest to write?
Kim: Dane and Ash were the most fun to write. I loved delving into the push
and pull of their relationshipโtheir motives, their fearsโbut always with that
undercurrent of intense physical attraction. After all, it was written in their
blood. ;)
Samantha: Tradition and inheritance play a large role in
BLOOD AND
SALT, especially as two things the community of Quivira values. What are some
of the inspirations for the different ceremonies they hold to honor Katia and
their community?
Kim: You hit a nerveโtradition and inheritance. It seems to be the common
thread through all of my books. I grew up in a tiny rural town in Kansas that
strived very hard to foster โthe good ole daysโ feeling. We had ice cream socials
and town dances, holiday pageants and parades. I can see the allure in all of
that, but there was a dark side, too. If something seems too good to be true, it
probably is. All of the rituals and traditions in
BLOOD AND
SALT seem harmless and charming at firstโbut thatโs how they pull you in.
Samantha: If Ash could be friends with one other character from a different
YA novel, who would it be and why?
Kim: Clary Fray from
The Mortal Instruments series. They could take a break
from their harrowing stories and watch bad movies, braid each otherโs hair, and
talk smack about the boys in their lives.
Samantha: Can you give us a hint at what you're working on next?
Kim: Iโm working on the sequel to
BLOOD AND
SALT, which Iโm really excited about. I also have a stand-alone coming out
next fall with Tor Teenโ
THE LAST HARVEST. Pitched as Friday Night Lights
meets Rosemary's Baby, it's the story of 17-year-old former football star Clay
Tate, who, as the one-year anniversary of a horrific slaughter approaches, is
forced to come to terms with his family's โ and his rural Oklahoma town's โ role
in a plot to deliver Satan back to earth.
Samantha: Have you read any incredible books lately that you want to
recommend?
Kim: THE WALLS AROUND US by Nova Ren Suma
CITY OF
SAVAGES by Lee Kelly
BONE GAP
by Laura Ruby
I could go on and onโฆso many great books this year!
Samantha: Kim, thank you for joining us and I can't wait to read the sequel
to
BLOOD AND
SALT!!
At sixteen,
Kim Liggett left her rural midwestern town for New York City to
pursue a career in both music and acting. While attending the American Academy of
Dramatic Arts, Kim sang backup for some of the biggest rock bands in the 80โs.
After settling down to have a family, she became an entrepreneur, creating a
childrenโs art education program and a travel company specializing in tours for
musicians.
Sheโs married to jazz musician Ken Peplowski, has two grotesquely beautiful teens,
and a very neurotic dog that drags her through Riverside Park everyday on the
Upper West Side of Manhattan.
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Romeo and Juliet meets Children of the Corn in this one-of-a-kind romantic
horror
โWhen you fall in love, you will carve out your heart and throw it into the
deepest ocean. You will be all inโblood and salt.โ
These are the last words Ash Larkin hears before her mother returns to the
spiritual commune she escaped long ago. But when Ash follows her to Quivira,
Kansas, something sinister and ancient waits among the rustling cornstalks of this
village lost to time.
Ash is plagued by memories of her ancestor, Katia, which harken back to the townโs
history of unrequited love and murder, alchemy and immortality. Charming
traditions soon give way to a string of gruesome deaths, and Ash feels drawn to
Dane, a forbidden boy with secrets of his own.
As the community prepares for a ceremony five hundred years in the making, Ash
must fight not only to save her mother, but herselfโand discover the truth about
Quivira before itโs too late. Before sheโs all inโblood and salt.
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