The time it was about Illuminae {2}

I’ve been a fan of Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff for a while now.  I’ve had the delight of seeing them several times on tour {I even moderated one of their events!} and somehow every time I see them it’s more fun than the time before.  So when I got the email about the paperback tour for Illuminae, I couldn’t sign up fast enough.

Before we get to the interview with Amie and Jay, let’s check out the book!

Title: Illuminae
Author: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Pub. Date: April 25, 2017
Publisher: Ember
Pages: 624
Find it: PRH | Indiebound | B&N | Amazon | Goodreads

It certainly filled the Battlestar Galactica-shaped hole in my heart.- –Victoria Aveyard, bestselling author of The Red Queen

Read the New York Times bestselling blockbuster that critics are calling -out-of-this-world awesome.- The first in an epic sci-fi series unlike anything else out there.

Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the worst thing she’d ever been through. That was before her planet was invaded. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating craft, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.

But the warship could be the least of their problems. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet’s AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their biggest threat; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady plunges into a web of data hacking to get to the truth, it’s clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: Ezra.

Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents–including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more–Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

I mean, everyone already knows how amazing this is, right?

1. Who was the easiest and hardest character to work with in Illuminae and why?

AIDAN, hands down. Easy, because in a lot of ways you can predict what AIDAN will do. It’ll do the most logical thing that complies with its program parameters. But AIDAN was incredibly difficult as well, firstly because it’s wrestling with some really heavy, complex ideas, and secondly because those parameters start to slip a little as time goes by…

2. Were there any scenes that you had to cut that you wish could have stayed?

We put our heads together on this, and in the end we really couldn’t come up with any! Some took quite a few attempts to get them perfect, but ultimately, there wasn’t anything we regretted throwing out.

3. What Hogwarts houses would your main characters be in?

Hmmm, good question! We’re talking Illuminae here, since this post is about the brand new Illuminae paperback. So we think Kady would be Ravenclaw (she values wit and knowledge above all else – you don’t have to be a Gryffindor to be brave, or a Slytherin to scheme) and Ezra would be a Hufflepuff, loyal of heart and generous of spirit. AIDAN would be Slytherin.

4. What is easier to write: a fight scene or a kissing scene?

They both come with their own challenges. Fight scenes can take a lot of research and planning, and can’t just be a list of who punches whom. You need to tell a story with the fight, as well as keep it accurate. Kissing scenes are equally difficult – in the types of books we write, the characters often don’t have a lot of time on their hands, so we need to figure out how to pack a lot of (metaphorical) punch into the romantic moments. They have to feel as real as fights do.

5. What’s next for you both?

Jay has Godsgrave coming on September 5^th – it’s the sequel to Nevernight. In 2018 you’ll also see LIFEL1K3 from him, the first in a new SF YA series, and of course together we’ll be releasing OBSIDO, the final book in the Illuminae Files.

Amie has Unearthed coming on Jan 9^th – co-authored with Meagan Spooner, it’s the start of a new series, and she’s also got Elementals coming in March 2018, the first in her new middle grade fantasy series.

Speed {ish} round:

1. What is your current guilty pleasure?

In the immortal words of Tom Hiddleston, we never feel guilty about our pleasures.

2. What was the last book you rated 5 stars?

Marie Lu’s amazing WARCROSS. It’s basically like a teen, female James Bond playing virtual realty Quidditch. It’s coming September and you’re going to looooove it.

3. Is there something you like to eat or drink while writing?

Jay is powered by Red Bull, Amie by Pepsi Max. (It hasn’t created world peace yet in her books, so That Ad still has questions to answer.)

4. Are you pantsers or plotters?

We’re sort of join-the-dotsers. We know roughly where we’re heading, and then we fill in the details together as we go.

5. You wake up and discover you are Bella in Twilight. You know how it plays out. What do you do differently?

We, uh… >.> We haven’t read Twilight. We’re not sure what we’d do differently. Probably move to New York early in the first novel or something?

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Amie Kaufman is the New York Times bestselling co-author of the Starbound series. Jay Kristoff is the award-winning author of the Lotus War series. Collectively, they are 12′ 5″ tall and live in Melbourne, Australia, with two long-suffering spouses, two rescue dogs, and a plentiful supply of caffeine.

They met, thanks to international taxation law, and stuck together due to a shared love of blowing things up and breaking hearts. Find out more at Amie and Jay’s websites.

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Huge thanks to Rockstar Book Tours for the invite and to Amie and Jay for taking the time.  Make sure you’re checking out the rest of the blog tour for extra goodies and keep scrolling for a giveaway!

**Good Luck!!**

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