Blog Tour Guest Post: Arwen Elys Dayton

Today I am participating in the blog tour for Disruptor by Arwen Elys Dayton!  This is the last book in the Seeker series and for my stop on the tour I have Arwen with us!  She stopped by to talk her series ending and her feelings that accompany it.

I wrote the manuscript for the first book in the series, Seeker, with no idea if anyone other than myself, my husband, and my fluffy white little dog would read it. (I secretly suspected that my dog wasn’t actually reading the manuscript, but she did lie down on top of the pages a few times in an interested sort of way, and once she licked a word that happened to be misspelled—coincidence???) My book before Seeker, Resurrection, had been a bit of a cult sci-fi hit, but with Seeker I was writing something for a younger audience—a new enterprise. I saw the world of Quin and Shinobu and John and Maud so clearly in my mind, but hey, you never know what’s going to happen once your book is done.

When Penguin Random House bought Seeker, I was elated because other people had stepped into Quin’s world and they wanted to stay there. “But how many books will you be writing?” they asked me, as though I carry around some sort of book-writing accountant in my head who knows the logical answer to questions like that.

“Um…three?” I speculated. This felt about right, though honestly, I could have said any number between two and six and it probably would have felt right, because the world of Seeker was bristling with stories. And yet it was particularly the story of Quin, Shinobu, John and Maud that I saw rolling out in front of me. “Definitely three,” I added a moment later, with less of a question mark in my voice. “Sounds good,” they said.

“Sounds good.” Two simple words. And with that I embarked on a few years of writing. It turns out that seeing the story unfolding in your mind, and actually making it unfold in real words on real paper, for several books, are two different things. But here’s what you don’t know until you’ve written a series: watching your characters change (sometimes for the better, sometimes not) and hate and love and make mistakes, which they try to put them right or insist already are right—all of this is a hazardous and intoxicating experience for an author.

If you have been following the Seeker series, you might imagine that you know where or how Quin and the others will end up. I can promise you that you are wrong (especially about John!), because I didn’t know where or how they would end up, not really, until the last book.

I’ve lost some close friends, now that I have left these characters to go on without me. And yet I’m satisfied that I told their story properly, and truly, which doesn’t mean that there is a happy ending for everyone. Someone once said that a good story strikes a balance between satisfying and defying the reader’s expectations. These stories and the characters that populate them have satisfied and defied me many times—and I hope they do the same for you.

 I love Arwen's answer because I have always been curious if an author is just as sad as I am when a series ends.  I usually try my hardest not to finish a series because I don't want to lose characters either, but I just have to read Disruptor!  I have to know where each character ends up and I have a feeling Arwen will keep me guessing til the last page!

Keep a look out for my review soon!

Disruptor (Seeker #3) by Arwen Elys Dayton

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Release Date: February 7th, 2017

Purchase: Amazon

For readers of Sarah J. Maas and of Marie Lu’s Legend trilogy comes Disruptor, the sequel to Traveler, the thrilling conclusion to the Seeker series.

Quin has spent her life as her father’s pawn. She was trained to kill and manipulated to guarantee her family’s power. And now that she’s broken free of that life, she’s found herself trapped again, hostage to a plot that has been centuries in the making.

It’s taken generations for the pieces to come together, and finally all is in place. Her best friend Shinobu’s mind has been corrupted, the Young Dread has aligned with her enemy John, and the bloodthirsty Watchers are being awakened and gathered. Now there is nothing that can stop the force of time.

But Quin will no longer be a pawn. Quin is a Seeker. She stands for light in a shadowy world. She will face the vengeance of the past and its enemies and save herself and the ones she loves, or she will die trying.

“Readers of the first two volumes will find their long-awaited conclusion here, and Dayton will have found fans for life.” -Booklist

Other books in the series

“Katniss and Triss would approve.” -TeenVogue.com

“In this powerful beginning to a complex family saga…Dayton excels at creating memorable characters.” -Publishers Weekly

In the Seeker series, a teenage girl called Quin has spent most of her life training for what she believes is a noble purpose, only to discover that her family is turning her into an assassin instead.

“Fans of Veronica Roth’s Divergent, Marie Lu’s Legend, and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games series: your next obsession has arrived.” -School Library Journal

Quin has grown up in the remote Scotland Highlands, where she and two boys her age—one her oldest friend, and one her boyfriend—have spent years preparing to inherit two ancient artifacts, which have been handed down in their families for hundreds of years.
 These artifacts allow them to do astonishing things, including appearing and disappearing from anywhere in the world. Quin expects to inherit this power for noble purposes, but her father intends to use her as an assassin, plain and simple.

“Both past and present choices shook me to the core, and the final pages left me trembling . . . and then internally cursing that I’ll have to wait until 2017 for a final resolution!” -Fanboy Comics

The story is set in the near future, in a world where the hooded cloaks of Seekers and ancient Scottish ruins live comfortably next to futuristic airships and advanced medical techniques. It’s into this world that we watch Quin try to escape when she discovers the fate that’s waiting for her. And it is in this world that Quin is followed, helped, betrayed and abandoned by those she trusted the most.

Don't forget to check out the other amazing blogs on the tour!

February 6^th - Winterhaven Books

                           Adventures in YA Publishing

February 7^th - The Cover Contessa

February 8^th - Unbound Worlds   

February 9^th - The Eater of Books!

February 10^th - Once Upon a Twilight

February 11^th - Adventures in YA Publishing

February 13^th - A Dream Within A Dream

February 14^th - Two Chicks on Books

February 15^th - Seeing Double in Neverland

February 16^th - Mundie Moms

February 17^th - Take Me Away to a Great Read

February 21^st - Bookhounds YA

February 22^nd - The Reading Nook Reviews

February 23^rd - The Fandom

February 24^th - Page Turners Blog

February 27^th - Fiction Fare

February 28^th - YA Books Central          

Blog Tour: Traveler (Seeker #2) by Arwen Elys Dayton

Today on WinterHaven Books I am participating in the blog tour for Arwen Elys Dayton hosted by the publisher.  I thought Seeker was fantastic so I am beyond excited to help out with Arwen's tour!  For my stop Arwen, being the amazing person that she is, has videoed taped her answer to "What is your writing process?"!
Take a look...

TRAVELER (Seeker, #2) by Arwen Elys Dayton

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Release Date: January 12th, 2016

Purchase: Amazon

Quin Kincaid is a Seeker. Her legacy is an honor, an ancient role passed down for generations. But what she learned on her Oath night changed her world forever.

Quin pledged her life to deception. Her legacy as a Seeker is not noble but savage. She was trained to be an assassin. And the boy she once loved is out for vengeance, with her family in his sights.

Yet Quin is not alone. Shinobu, her oldest companion, might now be the only person she can trust. The only one who wants answers as desperately as she does.

But the deeper they dig into the past, the darker things become. They are long-vanished Seeker families, shadowy alliances, and something else: a sinister plan begun generations ago with the power to end the legacy forever. And it might destroy them all.

 About the Author

ARWEN ELYS DAYTON is the author of SEEKER and TRAVELER. She spends moths doing research for her stories. Her explorations have taken her around the world to places like the Great Pyramid at Giza, Hong Kong and its many islands, and lots of ruined castles in Scotland. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter @arwenelysdayton, and check out her video series about writing, 1 QUESTION, 2 MINUTES, at arwendayton.com and on YouTube bit.ly/1mLcdIn.

For those who can't access the video or who are at work trying to be sneaky here's a transcript you can read!

I’m here with Winterhaven Books to answer the question, “What is your writing process?”

This is a tough question because it’s a little bit like saying, “What is your living process?” I don’t know if I have a grand plan for how to write books. I think that each one is kind of a different animal and has to be tackled differently. But I will try to pull out the universal things I do to get a book done.

It really starts with the vision of a character – a personality that kind of starts manifesting itself and sticks around. Or it could be a place I am fascinated with or a situation, but for me it’s usually a character.

The beginning of writing for me is pulling on that thread because there is something there that intrigues me. And I hold onto that and keep pulling it toward me. Usually as I do that, more things will come into focus, whether it’s the people that surround this character or what led up to this situation I saw.

If it’s interesting enough to me, slowly, maybe over weeks, months, or even years, depending on the idea, little pieces of this world come toward me, and I catch hold of them. When I really start to like them, I’ll probably start writing anything down that’s in my mind that I think belongs in this world.

Once I have enough of these ideas and notes and pieces of the world, then I actually sit down and start putting it together into something that feels like a story: meaning, I think it starts here and it goes somewhere where we hit this point and then this point and perhaps it ends up over here. Even if you don’t want to call it outlining, it is kind of like the broad strokes of who does what when, just so I can form the story in my head.

Usually at that stage, so many more ideas come into play and get put into different places in my mind or this timeline or outline or however I decide to do it. And then at a certain point you just have to take that leap off the edge of the cliff into the dark abyss of unknown and start writing.

Maybe that’s actually what Winterhaven Books is asking me about – once you start writing, what do you do – but I feel like that earlier part is really where the book is born and comes to life. Pulling that thread toward you, for me is how I start to know that I have something that is good enough that I want to tell other people about it.

So I hope that gives a little insight into the writing process. And I actually do a weekly video called 1 QUESTION 2 MINUTES where I take up questions readers ask me about writing and publishing and editing and all that sort of stuff, or you can send me your own question for me to answer in the future.

Thank you very much to Winterhaven Books for having me.

A little more about SEEKER and TRAVELER…

SEEKER is the story of three teenagers who have spent most of their lives training for what they think is a noble purpose – to be Seekers - only to discover that their families are actually turning them into assassins. In TRAVELER, as they try to break away from this fate, or maybe embrace it, they discover that the world of Seekers is larger than they’d realized, and they become entangled in a plan begun generations ago that immediately threatens their very survival.

Arwen thank you so much for this!  I know your video will help a lot of writers out there and I know I will definitely check out your weekly videos!  Such a fun idea!!

We also have an amazing giveaway to share with you!!  The amazing people at Delacorte Press are offering to send one lucky reader their very own copy of Seeker and Traveler!
US only
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Tour Review: Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton

Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton

Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Release Date: Feb 10, 2015

Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Their Legacy is…A calling. An Honor. A lie.

#SeekerSeries

The night Quin Kincaid takes her Oath, she will become what she has trained to be her entire life. She
will become a Seeker. This is her legacy, and it is an honor.

As a Seeker, Quin will fight beside her two closest companions, Shinobu and John, to protect the weak and the wronged. Together they will stand for light in a shadowy world.

And she’ll be with the boy she loves—who is also her best friend.

But the night Quin takes her Oath, everything changes.

Being a Seeker is not what she thought. Her family is not what she thought. Even the boy she loves is not who she thought.

And now it’s too late to walk away.

 Seeker Reviews
“Fans of Veronica Roth’s Divergent, Marie Lu’s Legend, and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games series: your next obsession has arrived.” —School Library Journal

“[A] powerful beginning to a complex family saga . . . Dayton excels at creating memorable characters.” —Publishers Weekly

“A tightly woven, action-packed story of survival and adventure, Seeker is perfect for fans of Game of Thrones.” —Tahereh Mafi, author of the New York Times bestselling Shatter Me series

“Secrets, danger, and romance meet in this unforgettable epic fantasy.” —Kami Garcia, #1 New York
Times bestselling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures and author of Unbreakable

My Thoughts:
You need this book in your life.  I know I haven't personally met you (you being the wonderful readers of this blog) and I don't know your reading tastes, but that doesn't matter.  I can guarantee that you will love this book.  It will be in your top 5 of all time and you will have all the feels for days to come...I solemnly promise this to be true.

Have your attention yet??  Did you run to your nearest online store and order this?  What in the world are you waiting for??  Okay here let me list all the reasons why you need this...

1. The setting is over the top amazing.  The setting is in Scotland and Hong Kong which is super different and fun.  I myself get tired of the same ole high school setting in the middle of some small town so having this story set in a whole other country was awesome.  The scenery background descriptions were so vivid and I felt like I could really see what the author envisioned.

2. The world building OMG the world building.  If you are like me you have probably read it all, but let me tell you you haven't read this before.  Different with a huge capitol D! I loved the Dreads, the magic behind everything and just the whole immensely dark world that was created.  After finishing this I am left really wanting a prequel and that almost never happens for me.  I am a huge character driven reader so backstory usually never enters my mind, but with this world I want to know the hows, whys, whos and holy molys of everything.  There is so much in this story that could be developed and I know I would read every bit of it if given the chance.

3. The characters where to even begin.  This is the first book that I have read in maybe ever that lets a main love interest be the bad guy that he is.  Do you know in the beginning that he's a baddie no, but when the time came for him to be the villain I wasn't sure if the author would let him given the whole love triangle angle that was forming, but she did it. She let him become immersed in his own life and needs.  I loved this so hard.  Yes there were moments of regret, but honestly this character is in so deep that I'll be devastated if he is redeemed.  I want him to be the villain and I know that's weird but I do.  I am crossing my fingers that the triangle is long forgotten on one end and that this particular character will get to bask in his evilness...okay not really evilness because there is a driving force behind what he is doing, but I want him to stay on his path until the very end.
 I loved the other characters as well.  Quinn was amazing and I get why she chose her paths when she did.  I respect her and I can't wait to find out what she does with her new knowledge.  She was a really strong heroine and probably one of the best I have ever read.  Her moral compass is pointing in the right direction and I only hope it continues to do so.

Those three things are only the tip of the iceberg.  I didn't even mention the Dreads and that whole wonderfully weird storyline.  It almost felt like at times there were two different stories being told and then at the last minute they came together.  I cannot wait to see what happens in the next installment.  I am left hanging on the edge of my seat because I know the next book is going to be explosive!  And I mean the kind of explosive you know was coming after Katniss found out about the District not being dead!!  Yes that explosive!

So have I convinced you???  If you need more convincing then make sure to check out the rest of the blog tour. I promise by the end if you haven't already bought this you will have it in your cart!  Oh and there is going to be a movie!!!  You are a reader you know you have to read the book first!!

Blizzard Read!!

 

About Arwen:

Arwen Elys Dayton spends months doing research for her stories. Her explorations have taken her around the world to places like the Great Pyramid (which she explored by a single fading flashlight whe researching Resurrection), Hong Kong and its many islands, and lots of ruined castles in Scotland. She enjoys creating complete worlds inhabited by characters who charm, frustrate or inspire.

Arwen lives with her husband and their three children on the West Coast of the United States. You can follow her @arwenelysdayton on Twitter and Instagram.

Website/Twitter/Facebook/Goodreads/Instagram

Giveaway Details:

5 winners will receive finished copies of SEEKER, US only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:
2/9/2015- Spiced Latte Reads- Review
2/9/2015- Supernatural Snark- Interview
2/9/2015- The Cover Contessa- Guest Post

2/10/2015- Once Upon A Twilight- Review
2/10/2015- Reading YA Rocks- Guest Post
2/10/2015- The Eater of Books!- Interview

2/11/2015- WinterHaven Books - Review
2/11/2015- Paranormal Book Club- Interview
2/11/2015- Literary Meanderings- Guest Post

2/12/2015- A Dream Within A Dream- Review
2/12/2015- I'd So Rather Be Reading- Guest Post
2/12/2015- Bookhounds ya- Interview

2/13/2015- Bookish- Review
2/13/2015- Bewitched Bookworms-Interview
2/13/2015- Nerdophiles- Guest Post