Greta Stuart had always known her future: die young. She was her country's crown princess, and also its hostage, destined to be the first casualty in an inevitable war. But when the war came it broke all the rules, and Greta forged a different path.She is no longer princess. No longer hostage. No longer human. Greta Stuart has become an AI.
If she can survive the transition, Greta will earn a place alongside Talis, the AI who rules the world. Talis is a big believer in peace through superior firepower. But some problems are too personal to obliterate from orbit, and for those there are the Swan Riders: a small band of humans who serve the AIs as part army, part cult.
Now two of the Swan Riders are escorting Talis and Greta across post-apocalyptic Saskatchewan. But Greta’s fate has stirred her nation into open rebellion, and the dry grassland may hide insurgents who want to rescue her – or see her killed. Including Elian, the boy she saved—the boy who wants to change the world, with a knife if necessary. Even the infinitely loyal Swan Riders may not be everything they seem.
Greta’s fate—and the fate of her world—are balanced on the edge of a knife in this smart, sly, electrifying adventure.
Last book you
read:
An advanced copy of THE BEAST IS AN ANIMAL by Peternelle
van Arsdale
Last trip you
took:
A very dull jaunt to Michigan to see my uncle and teach
my kids to body surf. We had fun
but the most exotic part of the whole thing was the coconut cream milkshake
from the Sonic beside the somewhat skeevy hotel (instead of a “what to do in
MICHGAN” magazine they had “What To Do If the Sirens Go Off At the Nuclear
Power Plant Next Door” flyer.).
On the other hand, last year I was on 33 airplanes,
including the six you have to take to go backpacking in Mongolia.
Last thing that
made you smile:
The rainstorm this afternoon. I love thunder.
Favorite quote:
That’s hard to narrow down. Maybe this, which is part of the baptism speech for the
twins in Kurt Vonnegut’s GOD BLESS YOU MR. ROSEWATER:
Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and
cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies,
you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of,
babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Favorite memory:
So not sharable.
Handy substitutes:
getting down on one knee to propose to my boyfriend at an airport. Letting my infant sleep on my
chest. Eating hot spicy crawfish
in Hong Kong. Bringing a puppy
home to surprise my kids.
Flying a hunting eagle for the first time.
Best moment as an
author:
I sold my first novel on election day in 2008, the day
Obama got elected. I’d been a
campaign volunteer; it was a heady day.
I remember leaving my horrible, horrible job to have lunch with my
family and sneak a glass of champagne.
My three-year-old didn’t get why I was so excited, what was so special
about the day. I told her that a
good man had been elected president, and that I had sold my book for a lot of
money, and therefore we could change the way we lived, and be happier. It would be a better world.
She thought for a moment then asked: “Can all my jellybeans be red?”
Last thing you
treated yourself to:
A new notebook: moleskin soft cover with dotted paper, in
turquoise. I use a fountain pen
too – I do a lot of writing long hand.
Favorite place in
the world:
My friend has a game she calls magic doors, where your
apartment has five magic doors that open onto any neighbourhood in the
world. I could never narrow it
down. BUT, I do have a pretty
awesome writing shed to put the magic doors in. (See attached photo.)
Last emoticon you
used:
I RARELY use emoticons of any kind, but this morning we
ran out of coffee. I sent this FB
message to my husband. FB does not
have mushroom cloud mushroom cloud skull, which is what I wanted, so I went
with this. Somehow even though
it’s less dramatic, it’s way more threatening. In my defense, we were out of coffee.
Hi! My name is Erin Bow -- physicist turned poet turned author of young adult novels that will make you cry on the bus. I'm a white girl, forty-something, feminist, geeky enough to do the Vulcan salute with both hands -- in public. I live in Canada. I love to cook, hate to clean, and yes, I do own a cat.
In the beginning, I was a city girl from farm country—born in Des Moines and raised in Omaha—where I was fond of tromping through wood lots and reading books by flashlight. In high school I captained the debate team, founded the math club, and didn’t date much.
In university I studied particle physics, and worked briefly at the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva, Switzerland. Physics was awesome, but graduate school kind of sucked, and at some point I remembered that I wanted to write books.
Books: I have six of them — three novels, and two volumes of poetry and a memoir (the poetry under my maiden name, Erin Noteboom). My poetry has won the CBC Canadian Literary Award, and several other awards. My two novels, Plain Kate and Sorrow's Knot, also have a fistful of awards, including Canada's top award for children's literature, the TD. The third novel, The Scorpion Rules, still faces its award season. No one read the memoir.
Right now I'm looking forward to the publication of my fourth novel, a companion piece to The Scorpion Rules called The Swan Riders, which will be out September 20 from Simon & Schuster. I'm at work on an new an entirely different novel, and a book of poetry about science.
Did you notice I got to Canada in there somewhere? Yeah, that was true love. I'm married to a Canadian boy, James Bow, who also writes young adult novels. We have two small daughters, both of whom want to be scientists.
Giveaway: 3 Finished Copies of THE SWAN RIDERS (US Only) Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tour Schedule:
Week 1:
9/14: Live to Read - Review
9/15: Such A Novel Idea - Q&A
Week 2:
9/19: Novel Ink - Q&A
9/23: A Backwards Story - Q&A
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