So happy to have Elizabeth Miles on here today!! I can't even tell you how bad
I want to know what happens in her next novel Eternity & I was excited when
she did this guest post!! Read it and find out why.
Guest Post
Elizabeth Miles on Character Cross-Pollination
I would love for the characters in my books (Fury, Envy, and Eternity - due out on September 3!) to meet the girls in the Burn for Burn series by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian. I ripped through Burn for Burn in one day, completely absorbed by the story that addresses many of the same themes I tackle in my books: revenge, karma, cruelty, and friendship. I can't wait to read the second installment, Fire with Fire, which comes out on the same day as Eternity, the gripping conclusion to the Fury series!
Whereas in my books, vengeance is darkly enacted by the Furies (otherworldly goddesses of revenge who take beautiful human form in order to wreak havoc in the lives of wrongdoers), Han and Vivian take a much more realistic approach, offering their three main characters, Lillia, Mary, and Kat, the chance to prove that "what goes around comes around." Of course, just as they do in the Fury series, these characters quickly learn that the desire for revenge is a complicated thing, one with many strings attached.
I suspect that Em, Chase, Skylar, Gabby, Crow, and JD -- my characters, all of whom are negatively impacted (to say the least) by the Furies -- would understand the scenarios that lead Lillia, Mary, and Kat to seek their own vengeance. After all, who hasn't encountered a situation where they fervently wished that karma could be counted on? Who hasn't wanted to teach someone -- a bully, a cheating ex, a frenemy -- a lesson? We all know that "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind," but it's hard to remember through the haze of anger, shame, guilt, or sadness.
As for the Furies, I imagine that Ty, Ali, and Meg would initially approve of Lillia, Mary, and Kat taking matters into their own hands. One less town to visit/terrorize, right? But they'd likely be disappointed by the emergence of the girls' consciences. While readers are afforded only fleeting glimpses of the inner lives of Ty, Ali, and Meg -- and therefore are largely unable to sympathize with their disproportionate form of justice -- the characters in Burn for Burn are much more human (probably because they are human, duh). Lillia, Mary, and Kat, despite being the revenge artists, are not villains. The same could never be said for Ty, Ali, and Meg, who I chose to write about largely because I thought they would make such intriguing villainesses.
The Fury series and the Burn for Burn series take very different approaches to many of the same questions, exploring how easy it is for real, flawed people to make mistakes and how hard it is to make up for them. It would be awesome to hear the characters from both books hash out the concept of revenge and figure out whether sorry is ever really enough.
Elizabeth Miles grew up in Chappaqua, New York, not far from New York City. She graduated from Boston University in 2004, and has worked ever since as a journalist for an alternative newsweekly. She has been honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. Elizabeth serves on the board of trustees of Portland Players, a community theater and second home. She loves pizza; she can often be found running around on stage while scantily clad; and a cold winter night in Maine is one of the creepiest and most beautiful things she can think of. Fury is Elizabeth’s first novel.
Giveaway
Elizabeth Miles has kindly offered up a HB copy of Envy & an ARC of Eternity to some
lucky winners! ! Trust me I wish I was on the receiving end of these pretties <3 Once again it is INT, so just enter below and GOOD LUCK!
