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Elysium Girls by Kate Pentecost
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Release Date: April 14th 2020
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Synopsis:
In this sweeping Dust Bowl-inspired fantasy, a ten-year game between Life and Death pits the walled Oklahoma city of Elysium-including a girl gang of witches and a demon who longs for humanity-against the supernatural in order to judge mankind.
When Sal is named Successor to Mother Morevna, a powerful witch and leader of Elysium, she jumps at the chance to prove herself to the town. Ever since she was a kid, Sal has been plagued by false visions of rain, and though people think she's a liar, she knows she's a leader. Even the arrival of enigmatic outsider Asa-a human-obsessed demon in disguise-doesn't shake her confidence in her ability. Until a terrible mistake results in both Sal and Asa's exile into the Desert of Dust and Steel.
Face-to-face with a brutal, unforgiving landscape, Sal and Asa join a gang of girls headed by another Elysium exile-and young witch herself-Olivia Rosales. In order to atone for their mistake, they create a cavalry of magic powered, scrap metal horses to save Elysium from the coming apocalypse. But Sal, Asa, and Olivia must do more than simply tip the scales in Elysium's favor-only by reinventing the rules can they beat the Life and Death at their own game.
Book Links:
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TOP 5 List
Hi!
I’m very excited to be included in this! Let’s do 5 tips for
becoming a better writer. :)
1. Do
your research.
There are a million questions you have to ask
yourself in order to hone your path and make it as straight as you
can. What kind of writer do you want to be? Do you want to write for
adults? Younger readers? If so, what age group? What books do you
admire within the age group and genres you want to work in? Who
published those books? Who represented those books? All of these
questions are vital and when you can answer them for yourself
without having to research, you know you’re closer to ready to
create the story you REALLY want to create.
2.
Think of your favorite authors as your eventual peers rather than
untouchable celebrities.
Really. Because hopefully one day they will be your peers. Look at their work objectively on the second or third read (enjoy it first!) and determine what it is about their work that you love. What works? What are they doing right? Can you do something similar (the answer is probably! Because if you’re drawn to it, you probably are interested in it!) What about their stories resonate with you? Then experiment until you find your own skills.
Really. Because hopefully one day they will be your peers. Look at their work objectively on the second or third read (enjoy it first!) and determine what it is about their work that you love. What works? What are they doing right? Can you do something similar (the answer is probably! Because if you’re drawn to it, you probably are interested in it!) What about their stories resonate with you? Then experiment until you find your own skills.
3.
Say yes to more things.
No person is an island, and you can’t get writing that resonated without having real life experiences. Be daring! And remember that daring is subjective. Going skydiving might be daring for one person and actually saying yes to an invitation for coffee with a new acquaintance might be daring for someone else. Find what’s daring (yet reasonable) for you and seek out new experiences. Sure, you may hate it sometimes, but more often than not, you can at least find a story in it.
No person is an island, and you can’t get writing that resonated without having real life experiences. Be daring! And remember that daring is subjective. Going skydiving might be daring for one person and actually saying yes to an invitation for coffee with a new acquaintance might be daring for someone else. Find what’s daring (yet reasonable) for you and seek out new experiences. Sure, you may hate it sometimes, but more often than not, you can at least find a story in it.
4.
Keep a journal by your bed.
Or at least actually type things into your Notes app so you can remember them. Some of my coolest ideas have come in dreams, and if I hadn’t written them down, I’d have forgotten them like we always tend to forget our dreams. And if you don’t dream stories like I do, dream journaling still has therapeutic properties, and everyone can use a little self-reflection.
Or at least actually type things into your Notes app so you can remember them. Some of my coolest ideas have come in dreams, and if I hadn’t written them down, I’d have forgotten them like we always tend to forget our dreams. And if you don’t dream stories like I do, dream journaling still has therapeutic properties, and everyone can use a little self-reflection.
5.
Don’t be afraid of criticism.
You have GOT to grow a thick skin about your work. See all criticism as constructive. Even if someone absolutely hates your work, choose to see from their point of view and learn what it was about your work that was so off-putting for them. More often than not, there’s a grain of truth. It’s your decision what to do with that grain of truth. People tend to be very fragile when it comes to their writing, which I understand, as writing is our filter through which we present our minds and ideas to the world. It’s very personal! But if your ultimate goal is to use your art to make things better, you have to be willing to listen to others about your work and the messages you’re really sending. Trust me! You won’t die! And eventually you’ll be able to choose which criticisms you listen to and which you disregard. It’s a liberating point to get to, really.
You have GOT to grow a thick skin about your work. See all criticism as constructive. Even if someone absolutely hates your work, choose to see from their point of view and learn what it was about your work that was so off-putting for them. More often than not, there’s a grain of truth. It’s your decision what to do with that grain of truth. People tend to be very fragile when it comes to their writing, which I understand, as writing is our filter through which we present our minds and ideas to the world. It’s very personal! But if your ultimate goal is to use your art to make things better, you have to be willing to listen to others about your work and the messages you’re really sending. Trust me! You won’t die! And eventually you’ll be able to choose which criticisms you listen to and which you disregard. It’s a liberating point to get to, really.
About the Author
Kate Pentecost was born and raised on the Texas/Louisiana border, where ghosts and rural legends lurk in the pines and nothing is completely as it seems.
She holds an MFA in Writing for Children &Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She was recently nominated for a Rhysling award for her poem "Small Town Witches."
Her debut novel, Elysium Girls, is forthcoming from Disney Hyperion in 2020 in print and audio formats.
She is obsessed with the Romantic Poets and can be identified by the enormous tattoo of Percy Bysshe Shelley on her arm. She lives in Houston (H-Town, Space City, etc.)
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