Blog Tour Stop: The Mark Of Noba - Interview - Giveaway - Except - Playlist

The Mark of Noba (The Sterling Wayfairer Series #1)
by G.L. Tomas
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: August 25th 2015
Rebellious Valkyrie Press

Add to Goodreads

Sterling Wayfairer has one goal for his senior year: make his mark. He’s been slipping into the background his whole high school career—distracted by his mother’s mental health, unsettled by the vivid dreams that haunt him at night, and overshadowed by the athletic accomplishments of his popular best friends. But this year is going to be different. He’s going to break a few rules, have some fun, and maybe even work up the nerve to ask his crush out on a date.

But things don’t go exactly as planned. Students are disappearing, Sterling starts losing time, and it all seems to center around Tetra, a girl no one else seems to notice but him. When he finally tracks her down for answers, they aren’t what he expects: He and Tetra hail from a world called Noba, and they’re being hunted by a Naga, a malevolent shapeshifter that’s marked them for destruction.

Tetra and Sterling have distinct abilities that can help them fight back, but their power depends heavily on the strength of their bond, a connection that transcends friendship, transcends romance. Years apart have left their bond weak. Jumpstarting it will require Sterling to open his heart and his mind and put his full trust in the mysterious Tetra.

If he doesn’t, neither of them will survive.

Buy Links: Amazon

Hello and thank you for letting me interview you today.

Thank you for having us!

Was writing your first love?

Libertad: My first love was 1980’s Hasbro toys, but I can’t actually do anything with that! I think while I’ve always loved to write, I never knew what to do with it. I used to just write for fun, until I became a communications student so many years back.

Film was my first love, but so much of our work we’d originally considered for spec scripts ended up being rewritten in novel form. Most times, spec scripts never see the light of day and I wanted people to be able to consume what I’d written, instead of it never going anywhere.

It required having to learn to write in novel form, with is different because it’s less dialogue based. But it’s been fun learning new ways to write! I don’t regret a thing!

Where do you like to write?

Guinevere: I don’t have a glamourous place to write. Usually where I can fit it in and be comfortable at the same time XD

I’m not sure why, but any time I’ve ever lived someplace, there’s always a “magic” spot that I feel I have to search a little to find, but currently the best place I write is on the futon in my living room, lol.

Is writing everything you though it would be?

Libertad: Yes and no. I think there is a difference between writing for pleasure, writing for trends and writing for money. We’re somewhere in between I think. There is a lot you have to research about genres to make them fit the genre you write for, and that’s the tricky part that makes it not so fun. Especially if you want to rule break, but you’re not well-known enough to.

But it does warm our hearts whenever someone says they enjoy our book. Even when they don’t, we still enjoy the fact someone took the time to read it, because reading takes such an investment. We blog too, so we know how it is to read books you don’t necessarily love, so we appreciate all feedback. Without feedback, we wouldn’t grow.

Who is/was your favourite character to write about?

Guinevere: For me, definitely Tetra. When she came to me, I’d always kind of seen her as a female Spock(she’s actually bigender btw.) and her speech pattern is much different from mine, so writing for her takes work in that aspect.

I like that she’d not particularly likeable, or not trying to be. Which in turn actually makes people like her, since she’s not afraid to tell you things you don’t like to hear.

Libertad: I’ll second that!

Who was your last book boyfriend / girlfriend?

Guinevere: Calvin in The Boy in The Black Suit. He reminded me of kids I’d grown up with. He was very sweet, and his narrative was something not often shown with boys of color in books. A boy dealing with grief.

Libertad: Probably Ianthe in Kiran Oliver’s Daybreak Rising. She was an ice Elementalist who fell for the main character Celosia. I think I’m drawn to speculative fiction book babes more. Even though I do read a ton of romance, spec fic characters just tend to leave a stronger impact on me.

Do you like warm or cold day?

Libertad: Eek! Warm, but not hot, if I had my way. I live in the Northeast, so the summers are brutal with the humidity. But if it were warm without that, I’d definitely say warm!

Tea, coffee, or rum?

Both: We’re Afro-Cuban American, so definitely rum!

What was your train of thought when writing The Mark of Noba? 

Guinevere: Everyone’s always surprised to hear Tetra’s character came first, even though the series is named after Sterling. So I was always trying to think of ways to make these characters’ cross paths, but not in a romantic way.

In the back of my head, I’d always think “don’t make them too this” or “don’t make them too that”. I wanted to convey a bond that people didn’t understand but Tetra and Sterling without automatically making them each other’s love interests in The Mark of Noba.

The plan was to make them polar opposites in some ways, but similar in the ways that counted. I think we racked our noggins trying to give ample screen time to supporting characters, making sure they spoke enough, and you understand their relations to one another.

I’d never go on the record and say this book is for everyone, because no book is. But it’s the book we wanted and needed to write. We wanted to see it, so we wrote it. It wasn’t easy, especially since we’re two people and constantly butting heads, but we’re proud of the final outcome and wouldn’t trade it with any other book.

Finally

Do you write in one sitting or in bursts? 

Libertad: It’s really difficult for me to write things in one sitting. Guinevere and I don’t write for the same projects at the same time, so it’s very rare when we finish a project unless we sit down and consult each other.

We have a weird process! Technically we’re two brains, but half the times it feels like one, lol. But she plans out her drafting/writing process and I usually don’t. Sometimes it works for me, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s my process!

I love writing no matter how much time I have to do it, but it’s usually in bursts, lol!

Thanks again >.<

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guinevere and Libertad go by many superhero aliases. Whether you know them by G.L. Tomas, the Twinjas, or the Rebellious Valkyries, their mission is always the same: spreading awareness of diversity in books. Oh, and trying to figure out the use for pocketless pants! 

They host other allies and champions of diversity in their secret lair in Connecticut.

Author Links: Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook

Follow The Tour