Amanda Bouchet | Laugh / Cry - What emotions were stirred in A PROMISE OF FIRE
GIVEAWAY: Win A PROMISE OF FIRE
Did any scene have you laughing or crying while you wrote it? Please
share a snippet.
The moment I saw this question, I knew exactly which scene I wanted to share.
There are (I hope!) some chuckle-worthy moments in A PROMISE OF FIRE,
especially when the hero and heroine canโt decide if they need to kiss or fight.
I definitely prefer comedy to tragedy myself, but thereโs one scene that always
makes my eyes prick, no matter how many times Iโve read it, and I love that
stirring of emotion just as much as I love to laugh.
Cat, the heroine in A
PROMISE OF FIRE, survived an abusive and unhappy childhood. While her past
impacts both her and the story immensely, the novel is really more about the
nowโand the future. Her past shaped her, though, making Cat who she is when the
story starts: rebellious, fierce, a survivor, a protector, and a little bit
hard. Only a few key players from Catโs past have any real page time, the
ruthless Andromeda being one of them. Flashbacks show some key moments with
Andromeda who, as my kids like to describe the villain in Disney movies, is โthe
evil bad guyโ of the heroineโs troubled past.
But not all of Catโs memories are bad, and one person, Eleni, was the
counterbalance to all the terror and terrible. Eleni, a force of good in Catโs
childhood, has a small but essential role in the narrative because sheโs so
important to Catโs future, which is what this novel is really about.
Hereโs a flashback Iโd like to share from A PROMISE OF FIRE.
Eleni and I are running up a hill, about to crest the rise and tear down the
other side. Iโm pushing hard, my seven-year-old legs straining to keep up with
her longer, stronger, nine-year-old ones. Iโm only a few feet behind, and her
laughter whips back to me on the wind. My heart soars. We escaped. It wonโt last
long, but we escaped them all.We hurtle over the top of the hill and run smack into a shepherd boy and his
flock. Eleni and he crash to the ground in a tangle. I stumble, too, scraping my
knee and knocking over a lamb. It makes a pathetic bleating sound, hops to its
feet, and scampers away. All three of us stare at each other, stunned, and then
the boyโs father is there, picking everyone up.The color leaches from his face when he sees the Fisan royal crest on
Eleniโs shoulder clasps. Stammering apologies, he falls to the ground,
prostrate, dragging his son down with him until both their foreheads are flat
against the grass. Eleni commands them to stand, but theyโre too scared to rise
farther than their knees, keeping their eyes downcast.I barrel around a few sheep with my usual finesse and then shove a
half-wilted posy of flowers Iโm clutching in my hand at the boy. Heโs about my
age. I donโt want him to be scared.The wind tosses my dark hair. Itโs loose, and I know I look like a wildcat,
with dirt and bruises and scrapes all over me. The boyโs eyes widen. He
hesitates, but when I try giving him the flowers again, frowning and huffing, he
takes the drooping blooms from my grubby hand.The shepherd murmurs endless apologies, begging for Eleniโs mercy. Begging
for their lives. She smiles sweetly and kneels in front of him, taking a jeweled
clip from her hair. Her blonde locks lift on the breeze, pale, dawn sunbeams
framing her shining face. The clip is entirely encrusted with sapphires, tiny
Fisan pearls forming a row of delicate sea stars across the center. Blue and
white. Ocean and ice.She places the treasure in his hand and gently wraps his work-worn fingers
around it. โTo feed a village,โ she whispers.
Without flashbacks like this, mentions of Catโs past would be too
one-dimensionally negative and risk feeling caricatural. Experiences with Eleni
are important building blocks of Catโs character and help to form the person
readers meet at the novelโs outset. Surrounded by evil, impressionable,
completely terrorized, and with powerful magic stirring within her, young Cat
could easily have gone the same way as the sociopathic Andromeda. Even though
Eleni is only on the fringes of Catโs story, a secret light the adult Cat keeps
alive in her heart, Eleniโs innate goodness shines through whenever sheโs
mentioned. The reason this scene touches me so deeply is that we see Eleni
through Catโs eyes and somehow understand that she was the linchpin of Catโs
humanity, the person who makes it possible for Cat to become the heroine of her
own story rather than โthe evil bad guyโ of someone elseโs tale.
Thank you so much for having me on the blog. I would love to hear from readers
about moments in literature that have made them laugh or cry!
KINGDOMS WILL RISE AND FALL FOR HERโฆBUT NOT IF SHE CAN HELP IT
Catalia "Cat" Fisa lives disguised as a soothsayer in a traveling circus. She is
perfectly content avoiding the danger and destiny the Godsโand her homicidal
motherโhave saddled her with. That is, until Griffin, an ambitious warlord from
the magic-deprived south, fixes her with his steely gaze and upsets her illusion
of safety forever.
Griffin knows Cat is the Kingmaker, the woman who divines the truth through
lies. He wants her as a powerful weapon for his newly conquered realmโuntil he
realizes he wants her for much more than her magic. Cat fights him at every
turn, but Griffin's fairness, loyalty, and smoldering advances make him
increasingly hard to resist and leave her wondering if life really does have to
be short, and lived alone.
Award-winning author Amanda Bouchet grew up in New England and
studied French at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She moved to Paris,
France, in 2001. Her first novel, A PROMISE OF FIRE, won
several Romance Writers of America chapter contests, including the Orange Rose
Contest and the paranormal category of the prestigious Golden Pen.
Click here for more
of A PROMISE OF FIRE and
the Kingmaker Chronicles!
Romance | Fantasy [Sourcebooks
Casablanca, On Sale: August 2, 2016,
Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781492626015 / eISBN: 9781492626022]
It is always good to find authors whose books I have not read. Just found one. (Jackie Wisherd 2:10pm August 11, 2016)
The first time I remember crying over a book was when I read Little Women in 4th or 5th grade. I was devastated when Beth died. And it opened up the fact that I prefer to laugh when I read, but some people prefer to cry. As a children's librarian, I actually had books that I had never read, and never wanted to read. And I was public about it. I actually had 5 copies of the one title because there was such a demand for my "books that make you cry." Anytime I presented one of those titles there was an immediate exodus to the shelves.... (Marcia Berbeza 1:08am August 12, 2016)
Wonderful post... and loved the content. Please keep updating such posts for us.Drysdale Dentist (Marvin Green 6:05am August 12, 2016)
I don't remember what the book was, now, but I remember reading a book to my children and crying over the sad part as I read it. (Janie McGaugh 12:36pm August 13, 2016)
I love finding books that make you laugh or cry! Thanks for the chance to win! (Natasha Donohoo 1:32am August 13, 2016)
i agree that balance in a character and what shaped him or her is important. (G. Bisbjerg 2:55am August 13, 2016)
I was reading the novel Forrest Gump in bed one night years ago. When I got to the boiler room/cooking scene I started laughing so hard I rolled out of bed onto the floor and hysterically laughed until I cried! When I later saw the movie, I initially felt critical, as Tom Hanks did NOT look anything like the Forrest Gump described in the book. However, Tom Hanks won me over and I loved the movie. The book and movie are a bit different in my mind's eye; but, both are exceptional in their own right. (Sarah Edwards 12:57pm August 14, 2016)
I cry when I'm reading a book and an animal dies. Thanks for the giveaway! (Joanne Schultz 2:40pm August 14, 2016)
I always cry at the end of romance novels when the hero and heroine finally get together and live happily ever after. I think all stories should end with happily ever after. (Nancy Marcho 5:54pm August 14, 2016)
A couple of years ago I read Impatient with Desire: The Lost Journal of Tamsen Donner by Gabrielle Burton. It is a fictionalized look at the Donner Party trip through her eyes and journal entries. She was someone I would have been friends with. Had we lived back then, I would have joined this character I came to know, and traveled west with her. My heart broke for her as the party became snowbound and their world crumbled around them. Knowing what was going to happen, I put the book aside for several weeks. I was not ready to say goodbye to a friend. I cried my way through the last two chapters. (Patricia Barraclough 10:20pm August 14, 2016)
"We silently go with the wind with no sound of whispers on with the life of escorting with a sense of pride living a life that is has a meaning in the heaven where we will have a word of praise for our acts in this world"
Many times I have laughed out loud reading a book and looked up to see if anyone is looking at me 'funny' , I also have had to put a book down because I can't see the words for crying so hard . I have to dry my eyes before getting back into the book . I do love these books that gets my emotions woke-up . (Joan Thrasher 10:34am August 15, 2016)
I don't remember the first book to make me cry but Nicholas Sparks books make me cry and The Harry Potter books made me both laugh and cry. (Kerry Shaw 2:43pm August 15, 2016)
"The Kite Runner" definitely made me cry, not the main character but the other self-sacrificing character (no spoilers for those who haven't read... but who HASN'T read the kite runner???) gahhh, tugs at my heart strings T__T Lovely cover, by the way! (Lisa L. 11:05pm August 15, 2016)
Veronica Roth's Allegiant, Divergent series book 3, made me cry. I believe I'd prefer laughter to tears. However, life has both ups and downs. If a given book is well written, I'm game. (Liz Sawyer 10:54pm August 16, 2016)
Superb high fantasy pits an escaped soothsayer against an ambitious warlord
in love
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