A Book Addict's Bookshelves : Blog Tour + Guest Post + Giveaway

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A Soldier and a Liar by Caitlin Lochner
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: February 19th 2019
Genres: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Young Adult

In a world on the brink of war, four superpowered teens must learn to work together for peace in Caitlin Lochner’s action-packed debut novel, A Soldier and A Liar.

Lai Cathwell is good at keeping secrets. As a Nyte, a supernaturally gifted teenager who is feared and shunned by the ungifted, this skill is essential to survival. Orchestrating her own imprisonment to escape military duty has only honed her ability to deceive others. But when rebels start attacking the city, Lai is dragged back into the fight with a new team of Nytes.

Thrown together with Jay, a self-conscious perfectionist consumed by the desire to be accepted; Al, a short-tempered fighter lying for the sake of revenge; and Erik, an amnesiac hell-bent on finding his memories and his place in the world, Lai realizes she’s facing an entirely different kind of challenge–one that might just be impossible. But if this team can’t learn to work together, the entire sector will be plunged into war.

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Top 10 Influences

People often ask about my favorite books and authors (and these are

great questions to which I have many answers), but I rarely get asked

about my influences in general. And since I’m a huge nerd—I mean,

since I’ve learned a lot about storytelling and writing from so many

different mediums, I’d love to talk about some of the ones that fall

outside the typical book/author range. So here, in no particular order,

are my top 10 influences when it comes to storytelling!

1. Fullmetal Alchemist – The huge cast of characters is so well-handled and fun, and the creator did an absolutely stunning job

of juggling a complex overarching plot, humor, tragedy, character

growth, and politics all in one—while still making the

whole adventure fun.

2. The Redwall series – I devoured these books growing up. I still

remember the riddles, the lush descriptions of food that made my

mouth water, the complex plots and characters that would evolve

over the story.

3. Kingdom Hearts – Okay, so the story is all over the place

(especially after III), but hear me out. The games are so good at

making me invested in the characters, friendships, and world(s)

and always keep me wanting more, and that is a skill I do my best

to replicate for my own writing.

4. Fruits Basket – I reread this manga every couple of years to

restore my soul (and I am SO psyched for the anime remake

coming out in April!). The handling of some serious topics, the

slowly shifting character dynamics, the humor, and the pure love

and care that radiate from this series get me every. Single. Time.

5. The Seven Realms quartet – My all-time favorite book

series, and one that adeptly juggles politics, characters, romance, shifting alliances, action, identity, and so many

other things I love in a way that never lets me put one of these

books down once I’ve started rereading it.

6. Maggie Stiefvater – Her lush prose always makes me feel like

there’s magic in her words, and her characters and their relationships

are just so beautifully complex and well-depicted.

Also I would die for Ronan and Adam.

7. The Percy Jackson series – What’s NOT to love and learn from?

There’s Greek mythology for the huge mythos geek in me, fun

adventures, realistic and flawed characters, amazing friendships and

well-built romantic relationships, and characters learning

about who they are and who they want to be.

8. Tokyo Ghoul – A manga full of deeply flawed but relatable

characters, literature references, symbolism (including tarot cards),

and moral questions that have no clear answer. This is the series I turn

to when I want to explore changing character relationships and gray

morality.

9. Music – I feel like this will sound like a cop-out, but

there are songs I hear and think “I want to write like how this sounds.”

Some examples include “Brother” by Kodaline, “Saturn” by Sleeping

at Last, and “Feel Something” by Jaymes Young.

10. Tamora Pierce – Her books were my lifeblood in high school.

Badass female protagonists, adventures galore, fun and interesting

relationships (platonic and otherwise), and the play with politics

always had me wanting more.

Author Bio

(Um, so, wow bios are hard.) I studied creative writing at the University of South Florida and used my BA in words to become an English teaching assistant in Tokyo. I’m in love with storytelling of any kind, but especially in the form of books, manga, and video games. If you ever want to talk nerdy, I am VERY down.