I am so very happy to be a part of the BECAUSE YOU LOVE TO HATE ME: 13 TALES OF VILLAINY blog tour!!! Today, I get to share with you my Q&A with author and editor, Ameriie, and bookblogger/booktuber, Tina Burke...
Be sure to read through to the bottom of the post and enter the giveaway that is being hosted by the publisher!
BECAUSE YOU LOVE TO HATE ME
edited by Ameriie
Release date: July 11th, 2017
Published by Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Genre: Fairy Tale/Fantasy - Anthology/Short Stories
Format: Hardcover, eBook
SUMMARY
Leave it to the heroes to save the world - villains just want to rule the world.
In this unique anthology, thirteen acclaimed, bestselling authors team up with thirteen influential booktubers to reimagine the origin stories of the villains we love to hate - infamous foes from fairy tales, mythology, and brand-new worlds.
Based on comic book-inspired enemies in pop culture and classics such as Medusa from Greek mythology, Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes, and the giant from "Jack and the Beanstalk," these fractured, unconventional spins retell each character's story in an original, unexpected way. This behind-the-curtain look at villains explores the pain, heartbreak, and sorrow that set them on the road to bad and questions whether or not anyone is truly born evil.
No fairy tale will ever seem quite the same again...
Featuring writing from...
Authors: Renee Ahdieh, Ameriie, Soman Chainani, Susan Dennard, Sarah Enni, Marissa Meyer, Cindy Pon, Victoria Schwab, Samantha Shannon, Adam Silvera, Andrew Smith, April Genevieve Tucholke and Nicola Yoon.
Booktubers: Benjamin Alderson (Benjaminoftomes), Sasha Alsberg (abookutopia), Whitney Atkinson (WhittyNovels), Tina Burke (ChristinaReadsYA blog and TheLushables), Catriona Feeney (LittleBookOwl), Jesse George (JessetheReader), Zoe Herdt (readbyzoe), Samantha Lane (Thoughts on Tomes), Sophia Lee (thebookbasement), Raeleen Lemay (padfootandprongs07), Regan Perusse (PeruseProject), Christine Riccio (polandbananasBOOKS), and Steph Sinclair & Kat Kennedy (Cuddlebuggery blog and channel).
MY Q&A with author and editor, AMERIIE
1. BECAUSE YOU LOVE TO HATE ME are fairy tale retellings that are told from villain's point-of-view, why give them the spotlight when they are purposefully callous and unforgiving?
"Even when I was a kid, I felt sorry for the villain. There was something sad about them, I felt they were misunderstood. I wanted to understand them, and not only that, I wanted everyone else to understand them, too. I wanted the villains, the so-called evil-doers, to get a chance to tell their own stories so that we could get the "full truth" of their situations."
2. Fairy tales are said to be 'fictititious short stories that usually teach a moral lesson' - do you believe that in this day that fairy tales and their retellings can still have an impact on readers? If so, what you you like to see readers learn from BECAUSE YOU LOVE TO HATE ME?
"It's harder to teach lessons these day s because I think we're, in general, a lot more aware that ther are no easy answers, that often times there are no easy delineations of right and wrong. If anything, I'd just like the anthology to make readers question themselves when they are quick to judge. I'd like the book to help create empathy, though I read somewhere that reading tends to do that, anyway. In any case, an increase in empathy would do us all a world of good, especially now, when we're all closer yet further apart than ever."
3. How did it feel to have to work with someone else's idea rather than come up with your own? Do you feel that the prompts influenced you away from something else that you may have written?
"It was a scary prospect because of course, I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to deliver. But I'm really happy with the resulting story. The funny thing is that although you might think it'd be harder to be creative when writing under constraints, I believe it forces you to be more creative. You have a nutshell, and now you have to figure out what to do with it. you can't fall on easy answers, easy story paths. Now that I think of it, it reminds me of one of those competitive chef shows, where everyone gets the same ingredients and they have to make something special."
4. Favorite fairy tale? Favorite villain?
"Hmmm. I have too many, so I think the Brother's Grimm version of Cinderella.
My favorite villain is Michael Corleone of the Godfather, though I've never seen him as a villain."
MY Q&A with booktuber, TINA BURKE
1. What were some of the prompts that you provided to Ameriie, and what sort of research did you do to come up with them?
"I had five prompt sections: Serial Killers, Fairy Tales, Mobsters, Historical Figures, and Mash It All Up. I was most worried about creating a prompt that was too restrictive; part of the cool thin in fairy tale retellings, for instance, is that you can choose which plot points you want to reinvent, not include, etc. So I didn't want to create a prompt that actually specified plot points. As Ameriie hinted in our google hangout, one of the prompts was related to Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who could fit under many of these categories. Having multiple categories also meant that Ameriie could mash up the prompts in whatever way she wanted.
As for research I did, I looked up serial killers, mobsters, and historical figures. I looked at the books that I read and considered why I did and didn't like the villain in that particular book. I read various articles about what made a good villain. I took these things into consideration."
2. What villain do you think is the most misunderstood and deserves a chance to be sought out, listened to an, perhaps, be understood/forgiven?
"I don't think there is any one villain who deserves this more than another. Villainy is often a matter of perspective - you can be the hero of your story and the villain in someone else's. But in general, I would like to read more stories about morally grey characters who blur the line of heroism and villainy."
3. What is your favorite fairy tale and/or who is your favorite villain, and why?
"I have a confession to make: I don't really like fairy tales. But that's also somewhat of a fallacy, because that's like saying I don't like Story. Ursula Le Guin, in "the Wilderness Within: The Sleeping Beauty and 'The Poacher'" (The Wave in the Mind), wrote about how she hates being asked about what inspired her and how few writers could ever pinpoint all the little things that take root in their brains - and hey, go back to the original stories, fairy tales inspire us all, etc. And Vladimir Propp, in "Morphology of the Folktale" (The Classic Fairy Tales), writes about the different functions of various phenomena within fairy tales, most of which are in regular stories anyway. But I guess I just don't like the simplicity of fairy tales, which have those functions but without the added context and richness in a regular story, the "Big Idea" so to speak.
I don't really have one favorite villain (see #2), but there are quite a few I like. Recently I was listening to the audiobook 2015 version of Dracula, and OMG, the first two parts of the audiobook are a.m.a.z.i.n.g. The atmosphere, the build-up, the slow discovery of what Dracula is doing, the facade he is building - and contrasted against my dislike of Jonathan Harker, who's supposed to be the hero, I guess - I'm engrossed.
Grendel is a pretty great villain retelling from Beowulf (and another example of how giants are always viewed evil!).
Dolores Umbridge is a pretty great villain to hate - certainly not one I'd fangirl over, but one who felt realistic, a character who we've met in our lives at some point.
And, of course, there's the villain crushes I identified in another post; they're pretty cool characters, too. That's without getting into media beyond books."
GIVEAWAY
Giveaway is sponsored by Bloomsbury.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
*Bumbles and Fairy-Tales will not be held responsible for any lost, unclaimed, damaged, etc. giveaway items.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND EDITOR - Ameriie
Ameriie is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, producer, and lifestyle bon vivant.
The daughter of a Korean artist and an American military officer, she was born in Massachusetts, raised all over the world, and graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor's in English.
She began writing at the age of seven, stories of fairies and piraes and witches and phantoms.
She lives mostly in her imagination, but also on Earth with her husband, her parents and sister, and about seven billion other people.
When she isn't writing or creating music, she talks books, beauty, and more on her YouTube channel, Books Beauty Ameriie.
ABOUT THE BOOKTUBER - Tina Burke aka ChristinaReadsYA and The Lushables
Tina was raised in Southern California by a boisterous Lebanese family, whose favorite words ("let me tell you a story") spurred a lifelong love of storytelling.
After earning a BA in neuroscience, she moved to the East Coast for her PhD program.
When she's not reading or thinking about her next research story, she can be found writing fictional stories.
Don't forget to follow the blog tour...
ends on July 27th...
