Blog Tour Stop by Katie Teller: Doing Your Research

14 May 2013

Hi, everyone! Today I am excited to welcome Katie Teller to the blog, author of the recently released KIYA: HOPE OF THE PHARAOH. She is here today to talk to us about research and the work behind the setting of her novel.


First up, thank you for allowing me to guest post here! I’m really excited about my debut NA Novel, Kiya: Hope of the Pharaoh. It’s is a Historical Romance released by Curiosity Quills. It’s the first book in the trilogy following Naomi’s (Kiya) life. It’s set during the late 18th Dynasty of Egypt, and begins when she is taken to be a wife of the infamous heretic pharaoh, Akhenaten.

This story took a lot of effort to write. With most of the characters being real historical figures, like Kiya herself, Akhenaten, Nefertiti, Horemheb, Ay, the three Queen daughters and Tutankhamen just to name a few, I needed to do a TON of reading and research on each and every one of them. I then had to figure out a timeline of events and line all their lives up. There was math to work out ages and corresponding dates.

I read up on Egyptian culture, especially during the Amarna period and the tension which ensued. The Amarna period was an enormous upheaval from the traditional ways as they moved the capital and disposed of all the gods except Aten. So I needed to understand a great deal about their religion too, and which god each of the characters favored and had to keep concealed.

I also read about daily living, what they wore, ate, how they went to the bathroom. All the small details counted to make it believable. With Naomi being Hebrew, that culture needed to be researched as well. The contrast between the Hebrews and Egyptians was dramatic, and a great source of internal conflict for Naomi. Being a stark believer in Elohim according to her people’s traditions, living in Amarna under the strict Aten only regime is hard for her and causes her trouble.

After doing all this research I was finally able to begin. But as I wrote I found I needed to research more and more so I was in a continual state of shifting events to match which historical theories I wanted to slot into the plot line. Incredibly, I enjoyed every second of it. I’d recommend reading about the time period. Being more than 5000 years ago the history is in fragments, especially as later pharaohs (especially the 19th Dynasty kings) tried to erase the Amarna period from history, and tomb robbers desecrated the Valley of the Kings for its wealth. So historians often have contradicting ideas, but that was part of the fun of it! I could pick which theory I liked the most and use it in my plot.

Some books I used while doing my research are below:
  • Littleton, C. Scott. Mythology: The Illustrated Anthology of World Myth and Storytelling
  • Tyldesley, Joyce. Egypt’s Golden Empire: The Dramatic Story of Life in the New Kingdom
  • Hawass, Zahi. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs
That’s only three books, but most of my research came from online journals, museum and university websites etc.


Here is the list that she provided of all the references she used for KIYA:


When Naomi’s sisters are snatched up to be taken to be wives of the erratic Pharaoh, Akhenaten, she knows they won’t survive the palace, so she offers herself in their place. The fearsome Commander Horemheb sees her courage, and knows she is exactly what he is looking for…

The Great Queen Nefertiti despises Naomi instantly, and strips her of her Hebrew lineage, including her name, which is changed to Kiya. Kiya allies herself with Horemheb, who pushes her to greatness and encourages her to make the Pharaoh fall in love with her. When Akhenaten declares Kiya will be the mother of his heir, Nefertiti, furious with jealousy, schemes to destroy Kiya.

Kiya must play the deadly game carefully. She is in a silent battle of wills, and a struggle for who will one day inherit the crown. If she does bear an heir, she knows she will need to fight to protect him, as well as herself, from Nefertiti who is out for blood.

Find Katie on her Website 
Add KIYA: HOPE OF THE PHARAOH on Goodreads

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White Cat Book Review

10 May 2013

Finally a book review! Woot! First book read Summer 2013.

Cassel comes from a family of Curse Workers - people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all criminals. Many become mobsters and con artists. But not Cassel. He hasn't got magic, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail - he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Cassel has carefully built up a facade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his facade starts to crumble when he finds himself sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he must unravel his past and his memories. To find out the truth, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

So my friend recommended me this book because Holly Black is one of John Green's (whom I love) CPs. And my book has a lot of conning and such. PLUS it's an alternate history fantasy, which I hope to write at some point because they fascinate me.

Overall I liked this book. I will very likely read the second one at one point. The concept of the workers and the way Black wove history into it was extremely neat. Cassel's personality and voice were awesome, and I loved how HIS love of the con came up over and over in the story. There was so much deception in it that I truly understood how Cassel felt betrayed and confused.

My main issue I had with the book was it took me a very long time to gain my footing. I thought I had it in the beginning, and then I realized within a few chapters that I was lost, and nothing made sense to me until basically 3/4 of the way through. I get the puzzle pieces falling into place thing. And that worked. But I was so lost that I felt like the puzzle pieces were falling on me and knocking me in the head with each new chapter.

There was a little character confusion for me. His friends at school don't have that important of roles until the end of the book, and they were kept on the back burner for so long I had difficulty sorting them out. Also, the complexity of the con and the world was A LOT of stuff going on in only 215 pages. I definitely think the book could have been a tiny bit longer to orient the reader better.

All in all, I really did enjoy the book. I loved the alternate history, and I'd recommend it to someone interested in writing that genre. The con was also incredibly good and the psychology of it was fascinating. I'll give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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The Life of a College Writer

01 May 2013

So this week is FINAL EXAMS. 

 Figured I should make a post about what it has been like to be a serious writer who masquerades as a college student. 

 Mainly because I'm going to talk to English classes at my high school next week about writing and publishing. *collapses* Should be great. Me, twiddling my thumbs at the front of the class. Yeah, students, so I graduated last year. You remember me. I fell on stage during that one assembly. Yep. Thought you'd recognize me.

freshman year + year of ALL the writing crazies

WHEN BOOK THOUGHTS MADE ME FORGET MY QUIZ




MY EXCITEMENT LEVEL EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.




SUNDAY NIGHTS CATCHING UP ON HOMEWORK



ALL THE TIME



QUERYING



THAT AWESOME FEELING WHEN YOU NAIL AN EXAM


MOST DAYS, IN EARLY EVENING



WHEN SOMEONE ADMITTED TO STALKING ME




MY FRIENDS


ME



WHENEVER I LOOK AT MY PLANNER




DECIDING TO POSTPONE DISCUSSING SUBMISSION UNTIL AFTER FINAL EXAMS ARE OVER





WHEN ANYONE MENTIONS A YA BOOK


IF YOU EVER LOOKED AT ME DURING LECTURE CLASSES




READING MY WORK IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE




EVERY IDEA I'VE EVER PURSUED




WHEN MY PROF JUDGED ME FOR WRITING A TEEN NOVEL


POSSIBLE FACIAL EXPRESSION AT ANY POINT OF THE DAY




WHEN MY ITALIAN PROF CANCELLED THE LAST ESSAY


BECAUSE I INTERACT WITH SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ONLINE ONLY





WHEN ASKED ABOUT CAREER PLANS

This one came straight from Author Life.


And that's it for now! I should probably get back to finishing my fiction writing portfolio...

thank you for joining in on my procrastination :D


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Liebster Blog Award



The rules for the Liebster Award are:

 * Each nominee must answer the 11 questions.
* Create 11 questions for the next nominees to answer.
* Link back to who nominated them.
* Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
* Go to their page and tell them.
* No tag backs!

1. What's the dream?

To go to a Barnes and Noble and creep on some random individual who notices my book on the shelves. That person will say (preferably out loud since I'm not telepathic), "This is the book so and so told me to read." They will then read the flap. They will then buy the book. I will stand motionless, staring at them behind a bookshelf.

That is the dream. 

2. How are you going to make that dream happen?

I'm going to write. A lot. I'm going to NEVER stop. And I will also need to hang out at bookstores quite a lot and find a good place for creeping strategically near my book.

3. What crazy awesome thing are you going to do when that dream comes true?

Crazy awesome? That's a lot of pressure. Ooh I can make a cake and use all my terrible decorating skills to make it look like the cover of my book. And then I will have a party. And I will eat the cake. 

That's crazy awesome... right?

4. Who is your favourite hero?

Like, superhero? Spiderman. Andrew Garfield nerdy version. In general, my two favorites are J. K. Rowling, for all the obvious reasons, and Julia Child, whom I adore and who just decided one day to try something in the middle of her life that ended up becoming her greatest passion.

5. Who is your favourite villain?

Hm... I love Joffrey Baratheon from GoT. Love to hate him. Also, LOKI. Cause I am Loki. Duh.

6. Which one would you rather be?

I guess I'd rather be one of the heroes. Spiderman would be pretty awesome, as would J. K. Rowling. But I think I'd go with Spiderman because I would love to go web flying around a city. That would just be too cool.

7. What turns you on?

As a general thing, humor. I also love being teased, which is probably weird, but I'm kinda hysterical so I like to laugh at myself (let's just go with that). Also, weirdly, classic nerdy/hipster glasses. Maybe just cause it looks intelligent, but overall smartness, yeah, definitely.

8. What turns you off?

Having the IQ of a piece of plywood. Degrading to YA books/writers. Though there are exceptions, presidential side parts. Particularly on those younger than 25. 

9. What is your favourite curse word?

If you mean which one I say most often, probably shit or fuck. But for effect, saying THAT BASTARD or THAT SORRY SON OF A BITCH is quite satisfying.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Nope, you're not scheduled to arrive just yet. Back you go!

11. What are you doing tomorrow, and more importantly, how are you planning on making it more awesome than what you're doing today?

Um, I will be studying for my French and Italian exams on Friday. *shrugs* They're giving out Ben and Jerry's at our library. Today I worked on my creative writing portfolio and had water ice so... seems to be a tie.
THANK YOU KRISTY FOR TAGGING ME :) You rock. Seriously. Triple dog rock. 


I'm tagging people probably too late but I don't care:
1. Jadzia Brandii --- Why haven't we talked in an eternity?!?
2. Hannah Taylor --- She's Hawkeye on the Yavengers! Welcome her, people!!
3. Cait --- she's Hulk on the YAvengers! Welcome her, too!!
4. Taryn Albright -- for when you finish finals :D
5. Emmy Neal -- Also haven't talked to you in forever! Still in Germany??
YOUR 11 QUESTIONS:
1. If no one would judge you for your author picture, what would you be doing in the picture/where would you be?
2. What actress/actor/character is your spirit animal?
3. Most embarrassing writerly mistake?
4. Biggest author crush right now.
5. How is your MC like or not like you when you were his/her age?
6. Is there a scene/joke/catastrophe in your book pulled from your life?
7. Procrastination method of choice.
8. Pizza toppings!
9. A hobby you really want to pick up. 
10. Movie that terrified you as a child.
11. Plans for this summer!!! :)

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Looking for new YAvengers

04 April 2013

Hi, everyone! Sorry I've been so MIA. School has been crazy and I'm in the middle of revisions and attempting to find myself a summer job and internship. My unachievable goal for this summer is to read three books a week, so be expecting ALL the book reviews once I get out of school.

Pretty sure I (Loki) am the cutest.

Anyway, I don't usually mix blogs, but I'm super excited, so I figured I would. The YAvengers are looking for more Avengers! Particularly Hulk, Hawk Eye, and Black Widow, though if there are a lot of great apps, we'll expand.

Click Here to go to the application.

Note: The application is only to gauge level of interest and how you'd fit in with the other YAvengers. We don't care about writing/publishing experience, your age, your background, etc. We just want to find fun new members of the team who love young adult fiction! And I hope EVERYONE applies. :)

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