Monday 13 July 2020

BLOG TOUR - ARMS OF THE OCEAN BY JAMIE WEBSTER & M. DALTO


Title: Arms Of The Ocean
Author: Jamie Webster & M. Dalto
Publisher: Parliament House
Genre: Fantasy, New Adult, YA
Release Date: 7th July 2020

BLURB supplied by Xpresso Book Tours
Nineteen-year-old Tristaine lived a life of bitterness. When her mother abandoned her family, and her father began drinking, Tris discovered the only thing that truly brought her happiness: the sea.
It called to her like a lover and flowed through her like a life force. When her only peace is threatened to be taken away, Tris realizes there is nothing she wouldn’t do to remain with the ocean.
Even if it means taking her own life to do so.
But the sea isn’t done with her -not yet- and Tris soon finds herself submerged in a world where love, betrayal, and honor stand stronger than any other force of nature.


PURCHASE LINKS

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

JAMIE WEBSTER
Jamie Webster is an Adult Fantasy writer who recalls writing stories as early as ten. She first began writing fanfiction, though she typically created an original character to follow. In high school, she began to create her own fantasy worlds and roleplayed on Yahoo Groups and AIM. In her adult years, she has completed four books as well as written for several publications including a blog, Trials and Tribulations, for her local newspaper as well as articles on writing and book reviews for Fantasy-Faction.

Jamie received her B.A. in English with a focus in Creative Writing from UMaine and an MFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University. She does most of her drafting during NaNoWriMo and fancies herself as the hybrid plantser. Her passion is reading, writing, crocheting and playing video games. She currently lives in Maine with her three children, Corgi, Mini Aussie, and a plethora of other animals that she’d rather not admit to. 

Author Links

M. DALTO
M. Dalto is a bestselling New Adult author of adventurous romantic fantasy stories, having won a Watty award for excellence in digital storytelling for her debut novel, Two Thousand Years, in 2016. She spends her days as a full-time residential real estate paralegal, using her evenings to pursue her literary agenda, and when she’s not writing, she enjoys reading fantasy novels, playing video games, and drinking coffee. She currently lives in Massachusetts with her husband, their daughter, and their corgi named Loki.

AUTHOR INTERVIEW

How did you decide to write Arms of the Ocean together?

Jamie: So M and I have been friends for about 15 years.  I had been dying to do a collaboration with M after she shared her draft of Two Thousand Years with me.  So when I had this idea kicking around my head about a selkie retelling, I reached out to her and asked if she would like to collaborate on the project!

MB: If I remember correctly it was soon after I personally had a bad experience trying to write with someone else, and the motivation sprung up at the right place and the right time.

How did the two author process work? Are you in the same room when you write? Do you each have certain characters that are 'yours', or do you just brainstorm as you go along?

Jamie: I think the two author process works differently for everyone.  M and I live about five hours from one another so we turned to google docs and wrote in different colors.  M used red text, while I used blue text. We basically would just build off of what each other wrote.  We did some planning at the beginning and kind of brain stormed from there.  I would definitely say Nyx is my character. 

MB: I was very much writing a lot during my day job at the time, trying to sneak into Google Docs any chance I could to get some more words down.

Do you, basic plot/plan for Arms of the Ocean before you actually begin writing it all out? Or did you let the writing flow and see where it took the story?

Jamie: There was a basic plot/outline for the story.  First, we explored selkie lore, sharing all the different mythos that we found about it in a brainstorming google doc.  We shared ideas for names of characters, ideas for the story, where we thought it should go.  Just basic plot points.

MB: I think when you’re writing with someone else, it definitely helps to get a basic outline down before you begin because then at least you both have an idea of where the story is going to lead, but you also can take some liberties trying to take it there.


Is Arms of the Ocean the beginning of a series?

Jamie: It is book one.


If so how many books will be in the series?

Jamie: Most likely a trilogy.

MB: We definitely left it open with purpose.

Did you have to do any specific research for Arms of the Ocean? If so what/how did you do it?

Jamie: We wanted to incorporate as much of the lore that was out there as possible.  We researched the different stories of Selkies – as they appear in both Scottish and Irish folklore – and then tried to incorporate those ideas.  There are key points in the story that are taken straight from that folk lore such as the stealing of the selkie’s skin, the desire to be on land, or the crying of a maiden luring the male selkie.  We shared these with one another and then decided which of these we wanted to incorporate and wherein the story they would appear.

MB: I remember the Celtic lore, especially, and search out names that would fit our characters best. 

Who designed the Cover of Arms of the Ocean? Did you both have a lot of input into the process?

Jamie: I absolutely love the cover of Arms of the Ocean.  It was designed by Shayne Leighton who is also the owner of Parliament House Publishing.  We gave her some basic ideas (underwater themed, long curly hair for the model, the addition of seals on the cover) and Shayne did the rest!

How long did it take you to write Arms of the Ocean? Would you a co-author book takes more or less time to write than a solo authored book?

Jamie: The majority of the rough draft was written in one month back in August 2016.  I personally find it easier, because I tend to be more creative and motivated when I’m sharing it with someone else.  It can go faster as well because if you have a word count goal, each is writing about half and you are playing off of what the other person wrote.

MB: I feel there’s also more editing-as-you-go when working on a co-authored book because you both want to make sure your combined voice is present throughout the storytelling.

Did you both enjoy the coauthoring experience? Would you do it again with each other/other authors?

Jamie: It was such an amazingly fun experience and when I think back to writing this book with M, it’s a memory that I will always deeply cherish.  Both of us would have the word document open, and we’d be chatting and joking about watching each other while we wrote.  We’d pipe in with little suggestions etc.   I hope we will do it again since there is at least another two books here ;) I would be open to writing with other authors too.

MB: one of my favorite things about co-authoring is watching the other author while they write, allowing you to see their process play out in real-time.

Is there anything you disliked/hated about the co-authoring experience?

Jamie: I mean it can be difficult.  In the past, I’ve written with people who got kinda bored and it never went anywhere.  I think one of the things that was more difficult is that I tend to write in first person and M prefers third person. 

MB: This goes back to my editing comment, too. There’s just so much more self-editing that needs to go into a co-authored work, I feel. One person may work on one section while another works on something else, and trying to connect the dots sometimes leaves you working through a plot hole you never intended.

What can we expect from you together/separately next and in the future?

Jamie: For me, I’ve written a few other stories that I am currently in the editing process (I hate the editing process) but I hope you will see some books from me either in the YA/NA/A Fantasy or Urban Fantasy.  This is just the start of my journey.

MB: I am currently working through publishing my own NA Fantasy series, The Empire Saga, also through The Parliament House. I have a few other projects in the pipeline and so many more I hope to start writing very, very soon.

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