The World of "Secret Fire"

As you guys are probably aware if you follow this blog for a while, I am a bit of a fan of CJ Daugherty. Especially her latest series, The Alchemist Chronicles, which she is co-writing with French author, Carina Rozenfeld. And now, the newest book, The Secret City, is about to come out and CJ has been super kind to ask Michelle from Tales of Yesterday, Virginie from LaChouett and myself to host special posts in connection with this duology.

Today is the first post and it's an introduction-slash-refresher video to the first book in the series, The Secret Fire.

Are we all up to speed? Did this wet your reading appetite? 

Well, if you snoop on LaChouett and Tales of Yesterday in next few days, you might see something linked to The Secret City... what, I hear you ask. Now, why would I want to spoil you? 

4 Weeks of Summer - The Secret Fire

If, like me, you mourned over the end of CJ Daugherty's Night School series (which ended earlier this summer), the news of this new two book series must have caught your attention. And I was very VERY lucky to get an ARC earlier this month and read it very quickly (am writing this on Tuesday 11th August as part of my 4 Weeks of Summer).

And what is more exciting is that CJ co-wrote this with French author, Carina Rozenfeld. An author I have never heard of, seeing as I am a quite dumb Brit and I don't believe Carina is published in the UK. To my knowledge, this is a the first time that two authors wrote a book together who don't speak the same native language - very intriguing.

Taylor is a girl from England. Sacha is the boy from Paris. They have nothing in common nor do they know each other. Until Taylor's French teacher and Sacha's English teacher force them together for online tutoring. But there's more to it than that. Both Taylor's and Sacha's fates are entwined by a curse. A curse that must be lifted before Sacha's next birthday - which is in around eight weeks time.

But first, they have to meet...

Ok, I am going to say this now. I really liked the Night School series. But this is better.

I sense that the legion of Night School fans are marching to my house with pitchforks and lit torches. But hear me out.

I like slow burning thrillers. Night School slowly burned with foreshadowing and twists. The Secret Fire, on the other hand, grabs you by the neck and you have to run with it. There is no time to foreshadowing in this book. And because of this pacing (because of the short timeframe of the curse and the fact this is a duology), you find yourself speeding through the pages. I read a few pages on and off for a few days, before I sat down and read this book for a few hours. I found, within three hours, I had read nearly three quarters of the book. This is rare that I speed through a book, so the fact I did is always a good thing.

I like the fact that we have an English author and a French author writing this series together. While the story is in English, there is a feel that both CJ and Carina know what they are doing and what they are talking about.

If I had to pick one fault, it's the fact I wish we go some more background on some characters, which I sense is going to be quite important in the next book. For example, while I'm not the biggest fan of Louisa, but we got (what I felt was) very little info on her and I think she's going to be huge in book 2.

But I had such a fun addictive time reading this. Can't wait for book 2!

NIGHT SCHOOL BLOG TOUR - Location, Location,... Sound

A new week, a new blog tour! Today, C.J. Daugherty takes over the blog to chats about how she writes and her playlist to Night School (all the music will be at the bottom of the post so you can have a listen and discover something new...). So, let's go!

Every writer will tell you that they should be able to write anywhere. And every writer will probably tell you that they can’t. Most of us need a bit of quiet and a bit of space to set up our computers and think up a story.

I live in a fairly small house, so finding space to work wasn’t easy.

I did a lot of moseying around my own house and considering spaces. First the spare room – too bedroomy, and needed by guests – then the stairwell, but it’s a STAIRWELL, for god’s sake, and … well.

There’s not much else here, to be honest.

In the end I settled on the dining room. A dining room table makes a rather spacious desk, I must say. With LOTS of chairs for visitors to sit in, should I ever have a visitor while I’m writing. Unlikely, I know. And that brings up another issue…

Writing at home can be a lonely business. When you’re a fiction writer you don’t spend a lot of time working the phones. People don’t come around very often for meetings. Everything’s done by email and post. If you’re a bit of a social type you’ll soon go a bit crazy. Talking to the coffee maker crazy. Scaring the postman by refusing to let him leave until he’s heard a thorough explanation of your feelings about the weather crazy.

Given that I am a social type, I’m extremely lucky about two things. First, that my husband works from home most days, so I can go upstairs and discuss the weather with him (until he gives me that really patient ‘darling-I-have-work-to-do’ look).

And second, that we also have several four-legged housemates.

When I’m working my cat, Maybe, is almost always sitting on her throne – I mean, cushion – beside my computer, occasionally reaching out one delicate claw to remind me that petting is compulsory. And, Fulcrum, my fluffy beast of a dog, accompanies me on the afternoon walks where I work out sticky plot issues along with shoulder kinks. She bounds along and looks for squirrels as I wander through the woods near my house. Which, come to think of it, are a lot like the woods around Cimmeria Academy.

Then there’s music. When my thoughts get a bit stuck, I blast out a few tunes that remind me of the characters and where they are in their lives. And that can help me get going again.


Night School Playlist
These are the songs that always help me get the plot moving again.

Rock and Roll High School, The Ramones
Because I’m Awesome, The Dollyrots
Pot Kettle Black, Tilly and the Wall
Always Looking, Dum Dum Girls
When I’m With You, Best Coast
The Light is You, Said the Whale
New Slang, The Shins
When I Grow Up, First Aid Kit
Such Great Heights, Iron and Wine
Comptine d’un autre été, Yann Tiersen