The River Against the Sea
by Z. Lindsey
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GENRE: New Adult
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BLURB:
Some heroes have swords. Essimore Darkenchyl has a pen. But it’s a magic pen.
Some wizards have spellbooks. Essie has Gossen’s Guide to Shipping Law. But it’s a current edition.
Some sailors have . . . experience. Essie has a new diploma and a year-long contract, and her people have won wars with less.
And that’s good, because between stolen weapons, a coup, and a strange disease creeping in around her and the crew, she might need to win a war.
In a world that blends traditional fantasy with the Age of Exploration, Essie knows a pen is mightier than a sword, especially since hers sometimes shoots lightning.
But what she thinks is a routine political dispute turns out to be something much, much more, and she may have finally met the one problem she can’t talk her way out of.
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Excerpt:
Essie cleared her throat. From her backpack, she removed the letter of service that granted her travel permission to sail on the ship. It was folded neatly into thirds, with a glittering blue wax seal on it.
“Essimore Darkenchyl at your service, sir. I’m your new fully licensed shipping coordinator with Power of the Pen. It’s an honor to be aboard.”
The captain took the letter without opening it, folded it in half with no regard for the beautiful wax seal, folded it messily again, and jammed it into his pocket. The whole time, Essie winced.
“Right-o.” As he smiled, the older man’s cheeks dimpled and his white teeth shined in the sun. “Well, I thought we were leaving without you, but here you are. Good on you. Great. Yeah.” The captain turned to the teenager at his side. “Grab her bag and get her stuff to her room. She can hang out there til dinner.”
As the teenager shouldered her bag and grunted, she and the captain looked at each other, the captain with his beaming smile. Once the teenager left, she said, “Thanks for welcoming me onto your ship.”
“Yeah. Fully licensed, you say?”
“Absolutely!”
“Okay. Have a nice one. See you at dinner.”
“Don’t we need to . . . uh . . . onboard?”
“You’re already on board. You managed that just fine.”
“But . . . signing things. Paperwork. Reviewing the staff log. Staff log, sir!”
The captain’s smile faded, but reappeared so fast she wasn’t sure if she’d seen it go.
“Okay, fine. Let’s talk in my cabin.”
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Author Interview
- Did you always want to be a writer?
When I was very young (like, too young!) I read Michael Crichton’s Travels, which taught me that being a writer was a job you could actually do. Since then, I’ve wanted to do it. I’ve worked in journalism and non-fiction, but never had the chance to really focus on fiction until recently.
- If you could visit any country or city in the world, where would you go and why?
I’d go to Ireland. It’s where my ancestors are from. People in the town in Mexico where I live are very connected to their ancestors, but I’m a bit more of a rambler, so it’d be nice to get to know where I’m from. I’d hate to be one of those people that shows up in Ireland like “HEY I’M IRISH TOO!” though, so if I ever do go, I don’t think I’ll tell anyone my ancestry …
- What do you love most about crafting your stories?
That’s such a hard question! I’m lucky in that I’m apparently one of the few writers that likes editing. I mean, it’s frustrating when you’ve edited something so many times and you notice a comma splice or something, but I feel like editing is a great way to spend more time with your characters. You’ve already got the hard part–the manuscript is there–but now you get to play around with them. Change their dialog a little so it fits them better, get more of their personality in their body language, make them more dynamic, all that kind of thing. I liken it to playing with dolls. Writing the first draft is like building a doll, which is fun in its own way. But editing a manuscript is actually getting to play with the doll.
- Do you consider yourself a plotter or a pantser?
I recently heard the term “plantser” and have embraced it pretty hard. At the beginning of a new project, I type out chapter headers and a one-line summary of what I hope to cover in each chapter. Then I set the characters loose, and if I’m getting the vibe that based on their personalities they won’t hit certain goals or they’ll hit them in different ways than I expected, that’s totally fine.
- What’s the one thing you hope readers take away from your book?
I hope it’s fun and entertaining. I honestly don’t think it’s the kind of book you’re going to remember ten years from now, but it is the kind of book that will distract you from stress about your job or money or whatever.
- When you’re writing, do you prefer background noise or silence?
I often create these super-rich, long, detailed playlists on Spotify, then never actually use them during the writing process. This is partly because my writing tends to happen on breaks from work, etc. As a parent with two jobs, I rarely get fixed “writing times.” But ideally, I like to have music playing while I’m writing.
- Where do you typically find inspiration for your stories?
I tend to be character-focused, so my ideas usually start with the main character. They tend to be at least partially based on people I know. (As you can imagine, my favorite of my characters is the one in this novel, who is based on my wife.) When it comes to plot and setting, I draw on my knowledge of anthropology to create worlds that make sense for the character. Since I tend to flesh out my worlds using an anthropological process, the most important thing is who the character is and how they relate to their world. I also tend to be of the “write what you know” school, and since I live in the rainforest a lot of my stories have jaguars, colorful birds, etc.
- Any advice for aspiring authors?
Run Dungeons and Dragons (or whatever TTRPG of your choice). This will force you to think about narrative, but it will also force you to throw all your notes away and make up something new when the players do something unexpected. It’ll also show you what other people like about your narrative style.
I tend to think of my main character like a player character and the other characters as non-player characters. This means the main character has a lot more ability to change my narrative than the “NPCs.” I’ve been complimented on the depth in my minor characters, and I think a big part of that is being comfortable making up backstories for NPCs on the spot.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Zac Lindsey is an anthropologist and a linguist who focuses on the Maya people of Quintana Roo. Since childhood, he’s had a not-so-secret love of weird, silly, and well-structured fantasy. When other people’s parents were reading them picture books, his mom was reading him Terry Brooks. He typically writes hopeful and character-driven fantasy.
Today, he lives in Quintana Roo, Mexico with his wife, daughter, and various stray cats.
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/z.lindsey_fiction/
Face: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61550498257222
Amazon preorders (for ebook): https://www.amazon.com/River-Against-Sea-Z-Lindsey-ebook/dp/B0CH3TW3YD/
B&N preorders (for paperback): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-river-against-the-sea-z-lindsey/1144077772
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GIVEAWAY
Z. Lindsey will be awarding a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Enter to win a $20 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway
