Hi guys! Welcome to today’s tour stop for Bethany Griffin’s Dance of the Red Death blog tour, hosted by Rockstar book tours.
Dance of the Red Death is the second and last installment in the two-book series. Kind of unique and I like how it was just divided into two books. Not too short, and not too long.
Anyway so today, we have a special guest post from the author herself. Bethany talked about building the world of the Red Death saga. Then, there’s a giveaway, so don’t forget to enter that!
Building the world of the Red Death Saga
Worldbuilding. On one hand, creating a world makes you a creator. Like a god or something. On the other hand, you’re never going to get it right. Too much detail, not enough…too dark, not dark enough. I try to strike the balance that I want as a reader, I like atmosphere. Too much technical detail makes my eyes glaze over…thus we don’t get a lot of in depth details about things Araby doesn’t know or understand like the masks and how they work.
When I started drafting Masque I had a picture in my mind, and it was very dark. I love the settings in the Red Death Saga. I love the world as someplace to read about, someplace that shapes fascinating characters, NOT someplace I’d like to visit. Ever. Not that I wouldn’t like a tattered corset and a masquerade masque, but I’d rather wear them in a world where the air and water aren’t both toxic and the rulers aren’t psychopathic.
One of my favorite things about the world is the direct influence it has on the characters. Each character is shaped in a different way by living in hopelessness. By the danger they experience every day. I LOVE that kissing has become the ultimate act of desire because you have to practically risk your life to kiss someone.
I wanted the world that the Red Death books are set in to be vivid, but also somewhat vague. I loved creating the amorphous setting, and even though it frustrated some readers to me it added to the mystery and the sinister beauty of the world.
In my mind it’s a world from the past that’s evolved in ways that the real world didn’t…so speculative history. Some people read it as a futuristic world that has devolved, and that’s interesting. In fact, some of my favorite world building is in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series where the future and past are blended together.
I had an actual year in mind for when the plague happened. All of the technology in the book is appropriate to that time period except the steam powered airship and carriages that were built after the plague, the masks (also built after the plague) and the elevator in the Akkadian towers. There were elevators, but they would have been much more primitive.
So as far as the world, I did draw out a rough map of the city just so I’d know where the river was, and what locations they’d need transportation to rather than walking. I also drew a very rough sketch of the airship, just so I could accurately explain and describe what it was. It’s tethered between the two chimneys of the abandoned house in the swamp. I am not proud of either of these sketches. I wish I had even a little artistic ability. Sadly, I don’t.
The city is obviously a coastal city with a harbor. It has tunnels beneath it, and is beside a swamp. I didn’t base it on any real city, but used a conglomeration of different cities to create what I imagined this city would be.
It’s a world that I can easily get lost in, and I hope readers enjoy it, too!
About the book:
Title: Dance of the Red Death
Series: Masque of the Red Death #2
Author: Bethany Griffin
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Published On: June 11, 2013
Bethany Griffin continues the journey of Araby Worth in Dance of the Red Death—the sequel to her teen novel Masque of the Red Death.In Dance of the Red Death, Araby’s world is in shambles—betrayal, death, disease, and evil forces surround her. She has no one to trust. But she finds herself and discovers that she will fight for the people she loves, and for her city.Her revenge will take place at the menacing masked ball, though it could destroy her and everyone she loves…or it could turn her into a hero.With a nod to Edgar Allan Poe, Bethany Griffin concludes her tragic and mysterious Red Death series with a heroine that young adult readers will never forget.
Giveaway Details: US/Canada Only
sponsored by the blog tour
Grand Prize- Poe Nail Decals, Masque of The Red Death inspired bracelet, Hardcover of Masque of the Red Death, bracelet, and a bookmark!
3- Hardcover of Masque of the Red Death, bracelet, and a bookmark!
About the Author:
Bethany Griffin is a high school English teacher who prides herself on attracting creative misfits to elective classes like Young Adult Literature, Creative Writing, and Speculative Literature. She is the author of Handcuffs & MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (April 2012). She lives with her family in Kentucky.
Website/Twitter/Facebook/Goodreads
Check out the rest of the tour!
Tour Schedule:
6/3/2013 Fiktshun Guest Post
6/4/2013 Two Chicks on Books Guest Post
6/5/2013 Katie's Book Blog Interview
6/6/2013 The Starry-Eyed Revue Guest Post
6/7/2013 Burning Impossibly Bright Character Interview
6/10/2013 Coffee, Books and Me Guest Post
6/11/2013 Shelfspace Needed Review
6/12/2013 Shortie Says Character Interview
6/13/2013 Lust For Stories Review
6/14/2013 The Bookish Brunette Review
"Red Death blog tour" I I like this book. Book reading is mu hobby. I had read many books with my favorite coffee kopi kuwak.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Kopi Luwak
My favorite Poe story is probably The Tell-Tale Heart. I like so many of his stories, though!
ReplyDeletethanks for the comments! :)
ReplyDelete