Blurb:

Having long wondered what lives beyond the ice shelf, nineteen-year-old mermaid Ersel learns of the life she wants when she rescues and befriends Ragna, a shield-maiden stranded on the merfolk’s glacier. But when Ersel’s childhood friend and suitor catches them together, he gives Ersel a choice: Say goodbye to Ragna or face justice at the hands of the glacier’s brutal king.

Determined to forge a different fate, Ersel seeks help from the divine Loki. But such deals are never straightforward, and the outcome sees her exiled from the only home and protection she’s known. To save herself from perishing in the barren, underwater wasteland and be reunited with the human she’s come to love, Ersel must try to outsmart the God of Lies.

We’re excited to welcome Julia Ember on From Top to Bottom Reviews today!

Hi Julia!

Thank you for hosting me! I’m really excited to be on the blog today as part of as part of the Virtual Blog Tour for my new release, The Seafarer’s Kiss.

My first book, Unicorn Tracks, was published by Harmony Ink Press in 2016. The Seafarer’s Kiss is my second novel.  It is a bisexual, Norse retelling of the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. The main character, a mermaid named Ersel, longs to escape her harsh arctic sea world where she is expected to choose a mate and bear children. When she meets, Ragna, a Viking shield maiden stranded on the ice-shelf near her home, she learns of another way of life. But when her former best friend and suitor catches them together, he gives Ersel a choice:  abandon Ragna or face justice at the hands of their tyrannical king. Ersel decides to make her own rules instead, and makes a risky deal with Loki, the Norse god of lies. 

What’s your favorite thing about building your own world?

Freedom to change the rules! Because I write primarily fantasy, the rules of our world don’t apply. I can have mythical creatures, magic systems and societies with totally different values. At the same time, the world has to have rules of its own, so I like inventing and setting the parameters.

What inspired you to write your first book?

My first book, Unicorn Tracks, was inspired by my experiences on safari in Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa. Although it is a second world fantasy, set in the mythical country of Nazwimbe, it’s a very Africa-based fantasy with mythical creatures populating the world.  My love of horses also inspired it. I’ve had horses all my life, and it wasn’t a big jump from ponies to unicorns!

Do you have a specific writing style?

Although I switch back and forth between past and present tense, all of my published work so far (and the contracted things up and coming!) have all been written in a close, first person style. I don’t feel connected enough to my characters if I write in third person, and I tend to prefer reading stories that are also written first-person. Beyond that, I think it’s hard to evaluate what your own signature ‘style’ really is but a lot of reviewers seem to think my prose is quite lyrical! (I’ll take it!)

Who are some of the authors that influenced you to write?

When I was a teenager, YA was still very much in its infancy. We didn’t have a lot of books with badass female protagonists and most of what was published was contemporary. Tamora Pierce and Sherwood Smith really defied that. They wrote about girls kicking ass before it was in vogue and developed vast fantasy worlds where girls could be knights and mages. Tamora Pierce was also one of the first authors I know who in YA who wrote fat protagonists.

I met Sherwood at a conference last year. It was such a star-studded moment, but she was lovely and taught me how to survive under an avalanche of cats.

What are some jobs you’ve held? Have any of them impacted your writing? How?

In terms of the content Seafarer’s Kiss, my studies have impacted my writing more than my jobs. Before giving up academia, I studied medieval literature and history. Part of my work included the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings. Their culture, as well as poetry, really inspired this book.

I now work in the book industry as Sales Development Manager for a UK wholesaler and distributor. A few years ago, I interned for a literary agency for 10 months. Of all the jobs I’ve had, I think this helped my writing the most. I read lots of submissions, so I started to recognise patterns in the opening pages. I learned a lot about what not to do from that experience!

Excerpt:

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I poked my head above the waves. My hair, gone limp and heavy with the air weighing it down, instantly flopped across my face. I pushed it aside and looked at the human through a parted curtain of wet blue locks. Its rippled form came into focus, and, even under the animal furs, I could make out a tapered waist and curves. A female. She stared back at me; her brown eyes widened. Her crystal breath came fast behind her mask. Then, she screamed.

I froze in the water. The high-pitched sound chilled me worse than the cold sea. The human’s gaze drifted skyward, as if she prayed to Odin. Her scream grew louder and louder. I laid a hand on the edge of the ice, ready to hoist myself out and try to calm her, but her harpoon whizzed past my ear. I shrank back. The human still howled, but her eyes had taken on a predatory focus.

I grabbed the weapon by the shaft. The tip of the spear grazed my palm, making a shallow cut. I ignored the pain. Easing back into the water, I stopped kicking my fins to stay afloat. My body sank deeper, and I kept my grip on the weapon.

With nothing to grab, the human couldn’t steady herself on the slick ice. She let the harpoon go, and I dropped it into the ocean; I hissed as salt water lapped against the wound on my palm. As the weapon sank, the relieved whales rose. Each of them gently brushed my hip as they took a breath, thanking me in their soft, dignified language of touch.

The belugas’ leader swam under me and nudged me up over the ice’s lip. The sudden weight of my body as the whale pushed me into the air made me groan with exhaustion. The human girl scurried backward. Even though her feet slipped clumsily on the ice, she put distance between us as fast as she could.

I wanted to study her, but glorious sunlight coated my scales. I tilted my head back as the heat seeped into me, making me drunk and dizzy with pleasure. The human watched me silently from twenty feet away. My body gleamed from my head to the tips of my fins; each of my scales glistened like gemstones. I should have been concerned about the human, but the blast of heat inside me blocked fear. As soon as I ate, all would be well again.

When my scales reached their absorption capacity, the fog in my mind started to clear. Usually, I might crawl inland and look for foxes to watch. But today, I didn’t dare stray too far from the water. If the human was brave enough to hunt a whale, I didn’t want to leave myself too vulnerable. I lay back on the ice and kept my eyes trained on the girl.

I’d never seen a female among the drowned bodies that littered the northern seafloor. How had she survived the shipwreck? She looked so small and fragile compared to the sailor I’d tried to save. How had she made it back to the surface and through the cold water when he could not?

She continued to scoot backward across the ice. My gaze followed her to a makeshift cave of splintered wood and wet furs. She must have saved some things from the ship, which might explain her survival. Crawling inside the shelter, the human braced another harpoon across her knees and squared her shoulders as if daring me to come closer. But the hostility in her posture didn’t quite hide the look of wonder in her wide brown eyes.

Giveaway:
(Click the graphic to enter)
Grand Prize $25 IP Gift Card + Multi-format eBook of The Seafarer’s Kiss // Five winners receive the multi-format eBook

Purchase Links:

Interlude Press / Amazon / Barnes & Nobel / Target / iTunes
Google Books / Smashwords / Book Depository / Indiebound

 

Tour Dates:

About the Author:

Julia Ember is a polyamorous, bisexual writer and native of Chicago who now resides in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Seafarer’s Kiss is her second novel and was influenced by her postgraduate work in medieval literature at The University of St. Andrews. Her first novel, Unicorn Tracks was published by Harmony Ink Press.

Connect with Julia Ember at Julia-ember.com, on Twitter @jules_chronicle, and on Facebook at facebook.com/juliaemberwrites.

Blog Tour Genre: Fantasy Genre: Young Adult Orientation: Bisexual Orientation: Lesbian Pairing: F/F Publisher: Interlude Press Julia Ember The Seafarer's Kiss