Hello guys!! Today I'm super happy to take part of the
Blog Tour for
The Last Faerie Queen by
Chelsea Pitcher hosted & organized by the lovely ladies of
RockStar Book Tours!!
I will be hosting Chelsea over in the blog talking about the importance of diversity and how she feels she will always include it be it contemporary or fantasy stories! And not only that, there will also be a giveaway to enter at the bottom of the post!
But first a lil bit more information about the book!
THE LAST FAERIE QUEEN
Author: Chelsea Pitcher
Release Date: November 8, 2015
Pages: 408
Publisher: Flux
Formats: Paperback, eBook
A FAERIE REVOLUTION . . .
After risking her life in
the mortal world, the faerie princess Elora returns home to incite a
revolution. Allied with the Bright Queen, Elora rallies her people for a
battle aimed at overthrowing her mother, the Dark Queen. While some
question their ability to win, Elora senses victory, knowing she has a
secret weapon: Taylor, the human boy she loves, and a motley crew of his
school friends, each armed with a skill that can turn the tide of the
coming battle.
A MORTAL SACRIFICE . . .
But
then Elora's supporters in the Dark Court turn on her, believing she
has forsaken them in favor of humans. When the Dark Queen kidnaps two of
her human friends, Elora must mount a daring rescue mission to free
them before her mother offers them up as a sacrifice.
Diversify Your Faeries!
Why My Fantasies Will Never Be White-Washed or Straight-Washed
Several
years ago, I was tinkering around in a shop in Eugene, Oregon. It was
the kind of shop that specialized in magic-related items (less cards
tricks and sleight of hand, more faeries and paganism). I was just
rounding a corner, looking at the little winged figurines, when I
overheard a conversation between a customer and the shop-owner.
“I’m looking for the goddesses,” the customer said.
The shop owner, a middle-aged man with a Jerry Garcia beard, pointed to a row of statues from Africa and Asia.
The
customer shook his head. “No, the
real goddesses,” he said, pointing at
a poster. I followed his gaze. There, splayed out in a come-hither
pose, was a blond, buxom lady with milky-white skin. The
real goddesses,
I thought, gaze trailing back to the statues along the wall. Not, mind
you, the goddesses from the oldest civilizations on earth. Not the ones
with brown skin and curves. No. To him, the word “goddess” conjured up
an image of a pale-skinned, golden-haired lady who looked remarkably
like Pamela Anderson with a pair of wings slapped on her back.
I
wanted to say something, but I didn’t. Questioning random guys in magic
shops isn’t exactly my thing, and besides, people can like what they
like. Still, this idea of “real” stuck with me when I sat down to write
“The Last Faerie Queen.” Creating a white-washed fantasy world just
didn’t make
sense. If faeries are elemental beings (the spiritual aspect
of the earth’s physical body), wouldn’t they have skin in shades of
golden brown, or even inky black? They might have branches for limbs or
leaves growing out of their hair. They definitely wouldn’t all be pale
and blonde:
“She rose, and that light bled away from her
like rivulets into the sea. Now unburdened by her luminescence, I could
see her more clearly: those curves, bound tightly in a gown of
diaphanous green; that skin, warm and brown as the earth kissed by
sunlight. She was larger than life, this great forest queen. And she had
power I could not comprehend.”
~ Elora, describing the Queen of the Bright Faeries in “The Last Faerie Queen” ~
Once
I had a clear idea of how the faeries would look, I started to think
about their sexual identity. I knew that faerie sexuality would be
different, because they wouldn’t be influenced (biologically or
socially) by a need to reproduce, and they wouldn’t believe in human
religions. In my version of Faerie, people would love who they loved,
and want who they wanted. The gender of the lover wouldn’t be important.
Still,
knowing something and
effectively portraying it in
fiction are two different things. If all of my faeries were bisexual (or
polysexual or pansexual) would they
indentify that way? Or would they
take for granted that love was love and desire was desire, and not feel
the need to label themselves? In “The Last Changeling,” Elora chooses to
define her sexuality
because she’s in the mortal world:
“Human distinctions of sexuality don’t exist in Faerie, but if they did, I would probably identify as polysexual.”
But
in “The Last Faerie Queen,” I decided to
show the fluidity of faerie
sexuality, rather than announce it. It isn’t
hidden (in a “Dumbledore is
gay, but I’m telling you after the fact” kind of way), but it also
isn’t explicitly explained. As an author, and a bisexual person myself, I
knew it was important to put this information into the novel, but using
human definitions in the Faerie world didn’t make sense. So, while two
human characters (Kylie and Keegan) openly identify as bisexual and gay,
the faerie characters illustrate that their sexuality is fluid. You can
see it in their actions (when a satyr leads Keegan off into the forest)
and hear it in their conversations (whenever the Bright Queen’s
affections are discussed). In the end, I found I’d written a story with
one straight character, and a whole host of queer faeries and humans!
Thank
you so much to Pili for having me, and please leave us comments about
the kinds of diversity you love to see in fantasy worlds!!
Thank you so much Chelsea for this amazing guest post, I just cannot wait to read the book! Faeries are never ones to let themselves be judged by human standards!
About the author:
Chelsea Pitcher is a karaoke-singing,
ocean-worshipping Oregonian with a penchant for wicked faerie tales. She
began gobbling up stories as soon as she could read, and especially
enjoys delving into the darker places to see if she can draw out some
light. She is the author of THE S-WORD (Simon and Schuster), THE LAST
CHANGELING (Flux), and THE LAST FAERIE QUEEN (Flux 2015).
GIVEAWAY
2 winners will receive a signed finished copy of THE LAST FAERIE QUEEN, US/Canada Only.
a Rafflecopter
giveaway
TOUR SCHEDULE
Week 1
11/4/2015- PBC - Spotlight
11/6/2015- Curling Up With A Good
Book- Excerpt
Week 2
11/13/2015- The Book Lovers' Lounge- Review
About A.G.
Howard
