Hello lovelies,
As you can tell by the title and the banner, I have something for you 🙂 I decided to do a little series and talk about all the BTS aspects of Remembering Majyk (and maybe even other books to come). I love these types of posts and it’s always so interesting to me to see where the books and ideas come from. So let’s get into it!
THE INSPIRATION:
If I counted how many times I’ve been asked where do I get my ideas, I would’ve written hundreds of books with just that one question alone.
If I’m to be honest, I don’t remember the exact moment I decided to write Remembering Majyk or where specifically that story came from. I can tell you that I love magic books and I love books that deal with self discovery and sword wielding heroes and slow burn love stories. Remembering Majyk is all of those things for me. But most of all, it is my heritage.
You see, I grew up in the streets of St. Petersburg, Russia. Born and raised, and proud to be from such a beautiful and historic city. I’ve always had a particular love for stories and I remember my mom and I reading and watching these Russian folk tales. Baba Yaga, The Firebird, the siblings, Alyonushka and Ivanushka. Russia has some awesome cartoons, which have adopted these stories and beautiful books, full of illustrations that have stayed with me through the years.
So when I decided to write a book about a girl with a history she couldn’t quite remember, set in a world full of magic, it only seemed appropriate to bring that side of my heritage into it. These stories and the lessons they teach were a big part of my upbringing, thanks to my wonderful mother, and as a writer, I wanted the rest of the world to experience them as well.
Remembering Majyk is not really a retelling of any particular story. It is a mixture of all the beautiful parts of my childhood wrapped into one. While it may still have the aspect of a young adult novel (because how could I ever get away from that, it’s my favorite) the story brings little parts of the fairytales into it.
In part, this story is for my Mamochka, who is the greatest cheerleader and supporter of my books. When writing Calista’s story, I wanted to bring some of that history into it, and show my appreciation for the many sacrifices my mom has gone through for me. Because no matter how much she worked, how tired she was, she would always spend time with me.
I’m working on book 2 right now, and I have to say, I think I may love it even more than the first! So many folk tales, so little time.
Stay tuned, next week, you get to meet none other than Calista herself! I have a particularly special surprise when it comes to her and I can’t wait to share it with you!
Have you added Remembering Majyk on Goodreads yet:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36461301-remembering-majyk
Also, if you’d like to participate in the cover reveal and release events, there’s still time to sign up!
http://www.wordsmithpublicity.com/2017/10/release-events-remembering-majyk-by.html
Much love,
Valia
Valia Lind 