On January 15, the blog tour for All’s Fair in Vanities Wars by Elizabeth Marx kicked off at Missy Reads Reviews. Today, Ms. Marx is gracious enough to visit us and tell us a bit about her writing. Please welcome her.
When you leave here, don’t forget to visit some of the other stops to learn more about All’s Fair in Vanities War and the Grand Giveaway!
Reena Jacobs: First off, I have to say… I’m in love with the cover art of All’s Fair in Vanities Wars. Please tell us how you came up with the concept.
Elizabeth Marx: I’m glad you like the cover of All’s Fair in Vanities War. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, never has a phrase been truer than for an author. A single image imbedded in our minds, spins magical worlds, and faraway places where monsters and mayhem rule. It also gives us inspiration. I was stuck on the idea of writing a young adult series about the seven deadly sins.I somehow got on the idea of vanity, and I wanted to know what symbols represent vanity and two concepts kept coming up: mirror and skull. I thought, cool, but how do they work together? So I put them in a search engine and voila, All is Vanity, Charles Allan Gilbert’s 1892 optical illusion. When you first look at his sketch (top) you might immediately see the woman looking in her mirror, but if you stare at the image long enough you’ll see the skull, the symbol for death.
That’s pretty cool. With the two images side by side, the skull really comes out in your cover art.
Your heroine, Keleigh Flaherty has a Celtic origin. How closely did you follow the Celtic folklore? And did you have to put a lot of research into bring the Celtic aspect to life?
Keleigh Flaherty was born a vate, she comes from a hereditary line of vates and her magical abilities are as much a part of her DNA as her strawberry sorbet hair or her moss green eyes. I tried to closely follow Celtic folklore and combine that with what little is known about druids and vates, but there isn’t a lot material available since the Roman’s systematically wiped the druids out and the druid tradition was an oral one, leaving little documentation. I loosely based Keleigh’s magical abilities on other hereditary lines of witchcraft. I spent many hours on research and I’m arranging much of my research into a compendium.
How I imagine The Seer.
What was the hardest aspect about writing All’s Fair in Vanities Wars?
The hardest part of writing All’s Fair in Vanities War was getting a balance on the relationship between the main characters, Locke, Keleigh and The Seer. They are sort of tied into a love triangle, but one of them is dead, so you’d think that would take The Seer out of the equation, but it doesn’t because not only was her life forfeited by someone, we don’t know who yet, but she has been reborn to watch over someone. The Seer initially thinks its Locke, but she later learns its Keleigh. You have to ask yourself how much love does it take The Seer to watch the person she loves, fall in love with Keleigh, and how much more affection does it take The Seer to accept their love as legitimate. The Seer is a very special spirit, you can “Like” her at: http://www.facebook.com/TheSeers7DeadlyFairyTales
Self-sacrificing love is always so heartbreaking. It makes me tearful just thinking about loving someone enough to step aside so they can love another.
Before we get too deep and weepy, how about a lighter topic? What’s your favorite part of the publishing process?
My favorite part of the publishing process is the actual writing. I love creating stories and characters that people know and understand. I like making them so real that when they hurt you feel their pain and you shed tears right along with them. I’d like to believe that when the characters find happiness you can also feel their joy. But recently, I’ve found through reading reviews, that I discover new things about the characters I created, from other people. When readers figure out things about characters that I never really put my finger on and yet somehow the reader knows the character or understand the character enough to figure it out, well, it’s a very rewarding feeling.
It is an amazing experience to see a piece from the readers’ eyes.
How about a brief description of a story you have hidden in your skeleton closet? And will it ever see the light of day?
I have a lot of stories in my skeleton closet, probably more than I’ll ever be able to write, but I’ve been toying with a Steampunk concept about an alternate history of the civil war in which the American Indians keep all their lands west of Kansas because they were smart enough to lasso the iron horse while the North and South were fighting. The Indians control the railroad lines and a train is the ultimate Steampunk contraption. Will the book ever see the light of day??? Hopefully, it all depends on how fast I can type.
I just got into Steampunk last year. That definitely sounds like something I’d like to read. What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on several things. First, I’m doing the Compendium for The Seer’s 7 Deadly Fairy Tales which should be out, cross your fingers, sometime in the end of February. If you’re interested in learning more about Celtic mythology and the world behind All’s Fair in Vanities War you can ‘Like’ The Seer as mentioned above and follow her on Facebook, because she’ll announce when the Compendium is launched.
I’m almost finished with a paranormal book about a vampire who’s been searching for something for 600 years, and it’s not blood, but a very special breeder. And then I’ve written a few chapters in my next Chick Lit book, it’s about a race car driver and an interior designer, one was given up for adoption and the other one gave someone up for adoption and they’re both waving checkered flags in each other’s faces. These two are constantly bickering in my head and I burst out laughing in public and my girls look at me and say, “Luke or Lori Lei?” I shrug and say, “Wait and see.”
Book II in The Seer’s 7 Deadly Fairy Tales will be out hopefully by October, and let’s put it this way, Balor isn’t used to not getting what he came for when he crosses into our world.
Cool deal. Anything special you’d like to say to the readers?
The only thing else I can think to add is the covers of my adult titles. Feel free to check them out especially Cutters Vs. Jocks because it’s free!
Also we authors love to hear from our readers. So feel free to email me if you’d like to be added to my mailing list. My website should also go live next month, but until then check out my super cool holding page at: http://www.elizabethmarxbooks.com
Giveaway Time
Ms. Marx is offering two digital copies of her novel All’s Fair in Vanities Wars. Entry is super easy. 
Just leave a comment about an interesting tidbit you learned from the interview along with your email address. That’s it! You’re entered.
*Giveaway ends February 7, 2012. Please see Giveaway Policy for nitty gritty.
Grand Giveaway
Readers also have an opportunity to win the $50 Grand Prize. To enter:
- You must “LIKE” The Seer’s Facebook page
- Post one of her best lines from All’s Fair in Vanities War on the wall. Yes, this means you have to read the book in order to participate.
