Hello everyone and welcome to the cover reveal for Glass Rhapsody, the sequel to 2020’s Of Honey and Wildfires and follow up to this years companion novella, Oh, That Shotgun Sky. I have absolutely adored both of the books that have been released so far in The Songs of Sefate and I can’t wait for this next entry into the series. Finding Sarah’s work has been one of the great surprises of this year for me, so I am so excited to bring you all a little slice of what is next in line. If you haven’t already, feel free to check out my reviews of both Of Honey and Wildfires and Oh, That Shotgun Sky.
Before we get into the cover reveal proper, Sarah was gracious enough to answer a few questions about her writing style and the cover itself, so be sure to check out the short Q&A below.
Author Q&A
What do you think characterizes your writing style?
I write really emotional stories. I think a person’s emotions are just about as interesting as the story itself, if not more so. I love focusing on the inner journey… the inner battlefield. So yeah, I write really emotional stories. Stuff I hope taps into my reader’s souls, and moves them to feel things they don’t expect, and don’t anticipate. But if I got a nickel for every time I read, “this is a really emotional book” or “this is character-driven” or “I’ve never read anything like this before” in a review, I wouldn’t be rich but I’d have some spending money.
Describe your book in 3 adjectives.
Oh hell. I fail at this sort of thing. Uh… let’s go with: Poetic. Emotional. Vivid.
What do you think is the overarching theme?
Of Honey and Wildfires was all about breaking characters. Glass Rhapsody is where I take these broken characters, and put them back together. This one is all about the agony of healing.
Were there any specific challenges with writing Glass Rhapsody? Or did you find anything to be easier?
Glass Rhapsody has pushed me in unexpected ways. I’m really used to breaking characters. Taking them on these internal journeys that end with them being just pieces of who they were when the book started. I’m really good at doing that. It’s comfortable, at this point. Let me take a character and twist them till they rupture is my default setting. I think I did an okay job in Of Honey and Wildfires.
Glass Rhapsody, however, is all about healing, and while there’s a lot of pain involved, it’s really throwing me through a loop to write these silver-lining storylines. I am constantly second-guessing myself. I’ve had my beta readers look at parts of this book four times now, just because I’m so out of my depth here. The pain and dark emotions I’ve got down, it’s all these lighter, hopeful notes that I’m finding a bit intimidating.
Honestly, this is why I wanted to write my novella Oh, That Shotgun Sky so badly. I wanted that novella to end on a bit of a lighter note, to kind of practice writing things that have a bit of hope for once. I think I did it okay, but man oh man was I nervous about that. (You’ll see all those characters again in Glass Rhapsody, by the way, as well as Arlen and Cassandra.)
Ultimately, I think getting out of my comfort zone is a good thing, and I think the book is a solid one. I’m just… nervous, I guess. It feels weird to heal, rather than break.
Each of your covers are gorgeous. How much direction did you give the artist when developing your new cover?
Pen Astridge must hate working with me, because I give her almost no direction ever. I’m really bad at knowing what I want on covers. Some of the authors I edit for have these scenes picked out and they want their cover artists to illustrate that scene for the cover. That always blows my mind. I can’t even begin to pick out a scene in any of my books. “What do you want on your cover?” is usually met with “uh…”.
With Of Honey and Wildfires, I think I told Pen a bit about the oil-based magic system, and then I said something like, “Uh… it’s set in a Wild West secondary world. The west has mountains and stuff so maybe some mountains?” She didn’t get much more with Glass Rhapsody. I said, “Glass Rhapsody is referring to stars, so maybe have some stars on the cover?”
I say all the time, Pen is a wizard and I fundamentally believe that. I give the woman absolutely nothing to go off of, and in return she hits me with these masterpieces. She’s just absolutely amazing and I cannot commend her skills enough.
Synopsis and Cover Reveal
Five years ago, the Boundary fell. Now the Union is coming to claim Shine Territory as its own.
But not everyone wants to live under their heel.
In a hidden town run by women with rough pasts, life remains untouched until greed paves the way for conflict. Faced with few choices, Grace Hart must stop the Union to protect the women under her care.
Elroy McGlover has spent the past five years running from what he’d done in Matthew Esco’s name. Haunted by ghosts from his past, he returns to where it all went wrong. Enlisted to help Arlen Hobson fight against Union control, Elroy soon finds himself in the middle of a war for the heart of Shine Territory.
In the fight for the soul of the West, no one is innocent.
Ugh… absolutely gorgeous, right? Every single one of her covers has been incredible and the cover for Glass Rhapsody is no different. Sarah and Pen really hit it out of the park with this one! The color palette, the contrast between the light of the foreground and darkness of the sky above, muah *chef’s kiss*! Speaking of the color palette, I can’t help but notice the similarities to oil. Shine, anyone?
Before we go, there is one more piece of information I think you will be excited to learn.
Glass Rhapsody is available to pre-order NOW and is set to release on June 30th!
Follow the link below to pre-order your copy so you can be one of the first to read this story and, while you wait, you’ll have no better opportunity to catch up and read through her back catalog. It’s sure to be some of the most gratifying pain you’ll ever endure, I promise.
Author Info
Sarah has been a compulsive reader her whole life. At a young age, she found her reading niche in the fantastic genre of Speculative Fiction. She blames her active imagination for the hobbies that threaten to consume her life. She is an award-nominated author, a two-time SPFBO semi-finalist, a full-time editor, book reviewer, a semi-pro nature photographer, world traveler, three-time cancer survivor with hEDS, and mom to two kids. In her ideal world, she’d do nothing but drink lots of tea and read from a never-ending pile of books.
Website: https://www.bookwormblues.net
Editing Website: https://sarahchornedits.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BookwormBlues
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookwormblues
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sarah-Chorn/e/B07MCFD4NR/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6567924.Sarah_Chorn
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