Seven Deadly Shadows Blog Tour: Review + Giveaway

Seven Deadly Shadows
Author: Courtney Alameda & Valynne E. Maetani 
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
Release Date: January 28, 2020
Publisher: HarperCollins

Synopsis:

Kira Fujikawa has always been a girl on the fringe. Bullied by her peers and ignored by her parents, the only place Kira’s ever felt at home is at her grandfather’s Shinto shrine, where she trains to be a priestess.

But Kira’s life is shattered on the night her family’s shrine is attacked by a vicious band of yokai demons. With the help of Shiro—the shrine’s gorgeous half-fox, half-boy kitsune—Kira discovers that her shrine harbors an ancient artifact of great power...one the yokai and their demon lord, Shuten-doji, will use to bring down an everlasting darkness upon the world.

Unable to face the Shuten-doji and his minions on her own, Kira enlists the aid of seven ruthless shinigami—or death gods—to help stop the brutal destruction of humankind. But some of the death gods aren’t everything they initially seemed, nor as loyal to Kira’s cause as they first appeared.

With war drawing nearer by the day, Kira realizes that if this unlikely band of heroes is going to survive, they’re going to have to learn to work together, confront their demons, and rise as one to face an army of unimaginable evil.

Seven Deadly Shadows has been described as anime in YA book form by several other readers. I admit that I have never read or watched any anime or manga in my life. That might be part of the issue I had while reading this book. The description sounded amazing and the idea of Japanese culture and mythology was a no-brainer. I love learning about mythology from other countries and cultures, especially when I'm not familiar with them. That aspect of the book - the world building and the mythology - was the best part of the story for me. The authors did a wonderful job bringing this world to life in front of my eyes with detailed descriptions and lots of vivid imagery. I learned a lot of really cool things throughout the story and it definitely piqued my interest in Japanese mythology.

The rest of the story didn't work so well for me personally. As much as I liked learning about the culture and everything else, the Japanese words and names really threw me. It took me awhile to figure out how to pronounce each word/name and every time that happened, it took me out of the story. I wasn't able to get fully immersed in this beautiful world because of these hiccups in the writing. Again - this is completely on me and obviously won't effect other readers the same way. With this type of story, I needed to be fully enveloped in the characters' world so I can experience it as much as possible. With having to stop every few words, I just wasn't able to get into it that way. I wasn't able to form any connections with the characters and the plot - which I'm sure was amazing - did capture my attention like I thought. I feel awful because I know that if I didn't have to stop and figure out these names and words then I would've had a completely different experience - probably a very positive one. Maybe now that I've read it once and am a little more accustomed to the language, I'll reread it and be able to get to it's full potential. But for now I'm going to have to base my review on my initial read. Again - this is all wholly personal on my part and not every reader is going to feel the same way. I'm sure lots of people are going to love this novel. I do recommend it to fans of YA, fantasy, paranormal, anime, manga, Japanese culture and mythology.

Courtney Alameda

 

A veteran bookseller and librarian, Courtney Alameda now spends her days writing thriller and horror novels for young people. Her debut novel, SHUTTER, was nominated for a Bram Stoker award and hailed as a "standout in the genre" by School Library Journal. Her forthcoming novel, PITCH DARK (Spring 2017), is a genre-blending science fiction/horror novel in the vein of Ridley Scott's 1979 film ALIEN.

Courtney holds a B.A. in English literature with an emphasis in creative writing. She is represented by the talented John M. Cusick of Folio Literary. A Northern California native, she now resides in Utah with her husband, a legion of books, and a tiny five pound cat with a giant personality.

Valynne E. Maetani

Valynne E. Maetani (pronounced Vuh-lin Mah-eh-tah-nee) grew up in Utah and obtained a Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania. In a former life, she was a project manager and developed educational software for children with learning disabilities. Currently, she is a full-time writer. She is a member of the We Need Diverse Books team and is dedicated to promoting diversity in children's literature because every child should grow up believing his or her story deserves to be told. Her debut novel, Ink and Ashes, is the winner of the New Visions Award 2013, a Junior Library Guild 2015 selection, and Best Fiction Book in Salt Lake City Weekly’s Best of Utah Arts Award for 2015. She lives in Salt Lake City.

Grand Prize: Win a signed copy of SEVEN DEADLY SHADOWS, a signed copy of Courtney Alameda's SHUTTER, and a signed copy of Valynne Maetani's INK AND ASHES; anime portraits of Kira and Shiro; a stuffed fox omamoricharm from the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine in Japan; an origami fox hand-folded by Valynne Maetani; a yokai mini sticker sheet; and an assortment of Japanese Kit Kats (not pictured) [INT]

Second Prize: Win (1) of (2) A signed copy of SEVEN DEADLY SHADOWS with anime portraits of Kira and Shiro (INT)

OPEN INTERNATIONALLY

Starts: January 28, 2020

Ends: February 11, 2020

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Pitch Dark Blog Tour: Interview + Giveaway

PITCH DARK  

Author: Courtney Alameda 

Pub. Date: February 20, 2018 

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends 

Pages: 384 

Formats: Hardcover, eBook 

Find it: Amazon, B&N, iBooks, TBD, Goodreads 

Set against a future of marauding space scavengers and deadly aliens who kill with sound, here is a frightening, fast-paced YA adventure from the author of the acclaimed horror novel, Shutter. 

Tuck has been in stasis on the USS John Muir, a ship that houses Earth’s most valued artifacts—its natural resources. Parks and mountains are preserved in space.  

Laura belongs to a shipraiding family, who are funded by a group used to getting what they want. And they want what’s on the Muir.  

Tuck and Laura didn’t bargain on working together or battling mutant aliens who use sound to kill. But their plan is the only hope for their crews, their families, and themselves. 

In space, nobody can hear you scream...but on the John Muir, the screams are the last thing you'll hear. 

1. Where did the idea for Pitch Dark come from?

Characters always come to me first. Long before I knew what PITCH DARK wanted to be, I saw Laura walking into the pitch darkness of a busted ship, scared and alone. In general, I start with the human element of a novel, and let the world develop itself around it naturally.

With that said, PITCH DARK was in development for almost three years. The book on the shelf looks nothing like the initial draft of the novel, in which Laura and Tuck were in opposite places. Originally, the book was more FIREFLY-esque, in which space scavengers were combing the galaxy for salvage; but the novel quickly diverted away from that path on its own accord.

2. You've written several other YA horror novels. Is there a reason you chose that genre? 

I was drawn to horror as a kid for multiple reasons, the first of which was because I saw more women being included in the genre than in any other. And these women often weren’t the sidekicks or sex objects, they were the stars. I loved Ripley’s toughness (ALIEN) and Dana Scully’s skepticism (X-FILES); the brilliance of Clarice Starling (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS), and the moxie of Claire Redfield (RESIDENT EVIL). These women gave me someone to look up to, as women weren’t featured as heroes in many other genre projects at that time. Women in horror were strong survivors, and they showed me that I could survive the difficult things I faced in life, too.

Secondly, I have always had an affinity for monsters. I often joke that I choose my projects “based on how cool I can make the monsters,” and that’s probably truer than I’d like to admit. Monsters appear in all types of genre fiction—horror, fantasy, and science fiction—but I always loved the monsters in horror best.

3. What's your favorite book and/or author?

It’s so difficult to choose just one, because I love different authors for different reasons! But if the number of books owned is any indication, there are more Neil Gaiman books on my shelves than any other author’s.

4. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

There are two things aspiring authors need to figure out before they pursue publication: who you are as a writer, and how you work as a writer. Both will require most aspiring authors to write hundreds of thousands, if not millions of words before they are ready for publication.

Figuring out who you are as a writer means developing your voice. Figuring out how you work as a writer means understanding your writing process. Are you a plotter or pantser? How many drafts you generally need to write before a book feels “done” to you? Can you self-edit your own work? Take and apply criticism? Murder your darlings? Come to the keyboard on the good days and the bad?

Having a deep understanding of your process before publication will save you from a lot of headaches post-publication.

5. What's up next for you?

I’m currently finishing up Seven Deadly Shadows with Valynne Maetani now (HarperTeen, Spring 2019), and I’m absolutely thrilled with the way the book is turning out! The novel is a YA fantasy retelling of the Japanese classic film Seven Samurai, and is about a young Shinto priestess who must save her home from an ancient evil by recruiting seven Japanese death gods.

I’ve also got another solo project in the works called Hollowgate (Feiwel & Friends, Fall 2019), which will be about competitive gaming, #metoo, and the coolest monster I’ve ever had step out of my imagination.

A veteran bookseller and librarian, Courtney Alameda now spends her days writing thriller and horror novels. Her debut novel, SHUTTER, was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award and hailed as a "standout in the genre" by School Library Journal. Her forthcoming novels include the science fiction/horror mashup, PITCH DARK (Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends 2018), and SEVEN DEADLY SHADOWS, an urban fantasy set in Japan. (Co-authored with Valynne Maetani. HarperTeen 2018).

Courtney holds a degree in English literature with an emphasis in creative writing. She is represented by John M. Cusick of Folio Literary. A northern California native, she now resides in Utah with her husband, a legion of books, and a tiny five-pound cat with a giant personality. 

Member HWA, SFWA, SCBWI; and SDCC Creative Professional. 

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Tumblr | Goodreads

 (3) winners will receive a signed finished copy of PITCH DARK & pin with a quote that’s important to the story - US Only!

Ends on March 6th at Midnight EST!

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Tour Schedule: 

Week One: 

2/19/2018- Here's to Happy Endings- Review 

2/19/2018- Adventures of a Book Junkie- Interview 

  

2/20/2018- The Blonde Bookworm- Review 

2/20/2018- BookHounds Ya- Guest Post 

  

2/21/2018- A Gingerly Review- Review 

2/21/2018- Literary Meanderings- Excerpt 

  

2/22/2018- Howling Libraries- Review 

2/22/2018- YA Books Central- Interview 

  

2/23/2018- The OWL Book Review Blog- Review 

2/23/2018- Pretty Deadly Reviews- Review 

Week Two: 

2/26/2018- Smada's Book Smack- Review 

2/26/2018- Mary Had a Little Book Blog- Review 

  

2/27/2018- Adventures Thru Wonderland- Review 

2/27/2018- Tales of the Ravenous Reader- Interview 

  

2/28/2018- Two Chicks on Books- Excerpt 

2/28/2018- A Dream Within A Dream- Interview 

  

3/1/2018- Savings in Seconds- Review 

3/1/2018- The Cover Contessa- Excerpt 

  

3/2/2018- Reading for the Stars and Moon- Review 

3/2/2018- Abooktropolis- Review