The time it was about The Reckoning of Noah Shaw

Posted November 6, 2018 by Stacee in Blog Tours, Interviews | 1 Comment

I don’t think it’s a secret how much I adore the Mara Dyer and Noah Shaw books and Michelle Hodkin.  Soooooo, when I got the email from Simon & Schuster asking if I wanted to be part of the blog tour for The Reckoning of Noah Shaw, I legit responded in all caps.

Before we get to the interview with Michelle, let’s check out the book!

Title: The Reckoning of Noah Shaw {The Shaw Confessions #2}
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Pages: 480
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Pub Date: November 13, 2018
Find it: S&S | Indiebound | B&N | Amazon | Goodreads

In this sequel to The Becoming of Noah Shaw, the companion series to the New York Times bestselling Mara Dyer novels, legacies are revealed, lies are unraveled, and old alliances are forged. Noah’s reckoning is here.

Noah Shaw wants nothing more than to escape the consequences of his choices.

He can’t. 

He’s sure the memories that haunt him are merely proof of a broken heart.

They aren’t. 

He thinks he can move forward without first confronting his past.

He’s wrong.

Sounds good, right?

1. Please give the elevator pitch for The Reckoning of Noah Shaw.

A YA Patrick Melrose with a supernatural twist.

2. After finishing the Mara Dyer books, did you immediately know you wanted to write more? If not, what sparked the idea for Noah’s books?

In 2012 and 2013, I was working on The Retribution of Mara Dyer, trying to wrap up all of the loose threads and answer the questions I’d seeded into the first two books. I had planned to split the perspective between Noah and Mara, but after completing two whole drafts of the book, I realized that Noah’s character arc was hijacking Mara’s, so I made the brutal decision to cut him from most of the narrative. Which left even more questions, for readers and myself, so I asked my then-editor at the time if he was interested in reading more of Noah’s story. He was, my publisher was, and so there you have it!

3. Why do you love Mara and Noah and why should readers root for them?

I love a star-crossed couple, and there are so many great ones in adult and YA novels alike. But when I started writing Unbecoming, I knew that I wanted to write characters whose psychological baggage would be the cause of their strife, moreso than any external factors (family enmity, class differences, etc) or paranormal unsuitability (vampire/human, human/ghost, etc). My challenge was to write characters with supernatural abilities that experienced what I imagined would be real-world consequences of those abilities, like PTSD and depression, and that particular mix was not something I’d seen in YA in 2009. I hoped then—and now–that readers who grapple with similar psychological symptoms as my characters would feel seen and understood, and extend that empathy to these very flawed characters anyway.

4. What is the strangest thing you’ve googled for research?

I Google so many bizarre things it’s impossible to keep track, but the most out-of-character thing I’ve personally done for research was fire a 40 caliber Glock pistol (at a shooting range! With professional guidance!), so that I could describe it accurately for Unbecoming.

5. Without spoilers, which scene was your favorite to write?

Chapter 73 of The Retribution of Mara Dyer.

Speed {ish} round:

1. You find out that you’re being published for the first time. Describe the next 5 minutes.

I remember that exact moment—I was finishing dinner at a kosher restaurant on the Upper East Side with my brother (the one who served as the inspiration for Daniel). When I got the call from my agent, we immediately ordered dessert.

2. What three things would you take to a desert island? 

Water, toilet paper, and soap. I’m practical that way.

3. You can only read one book for the rest of your life. What is it?

The Lord of the Rings. (Is it cheating to choose a trilogy? Oh well).

4. What is the one thing about publishing you wish someone would have told you? 

How little control you have over virtually every aspect of the process. I was definitely not prepared for that!

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

Absolutely nothing—she got literally everything she ever wanted in the end! We should all be so lucky.

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Michelle Hodkin grew up in Florida, went to college in New York, and studied law in Michigan. She is the author of the Mara Dyer trilogy, including The Unbecoming of Mara DyerThe Evolution of Mara Dyer, and The Retribution of Mara Dyer.

website | twitter | instagram

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Huge thanks to Simon & Schuster for the invite and to Michelle for taking the time. Be sure to check out the rest of the tour {listed below} for extra goodies and if you want to enter to win a hardcover copy of Reckoning, check out the giveaway on my instagram account.

The Reckoning of Noah Shaw comes out November 13, 2018 and if you pre-order a copy from any retailer, you can get a signed first edition, so go forth and order!

Now, have you read this series? How excited are you about Reckoning?

Blog Tour Schedule

November 5 – The Lovely Books
November 6 – Adventures of a Book Junkie — me!
November 7 – Downright Dystopian
November 8 – Pure Imagination
November 9 – The Book Loving Nut
November 10 – a GREAT Read
November 11 – The Eater of Books!
November 12 – My Guilty Obsession
November 13 – Arctic Books
November 14 – A Gingerly Review
November 15 – Ex Libris Kate
November 16 – Girl in the Pages

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