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Smoke and Summons (Numina Trilogy #1) by Charlie N. Holmberg
Publisher: 47North
Release Date: February 1st 2019
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Fantasy
Synopsis:
A captivating world of monsters and magic from the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Paper Magician Series.
As a human vessel for an ancient spirit, Sandis lives no ordinary life. At the command of her master, she can be transformed against her will into his weapon — a raging monster summoned to do his bidding. Unlike other vessels, Sandis can host extremely powerful spirits, but hosting such creatures can be fatal. To stay alive, she
must run. And in a city fueled by smoke and corruption, she finds a surprising ally.
A cunning thief for hire, Rone owns a rare device that grants him immortality for one minute every day — a unique advantage that will come in handy in Sandis’s fight for freedom. But Sandis’s master knows how powerful she is. He’s determined to get her back, and he has the manpower to find her, wherever she runs.
Now, to outwit her pursuers, Sandis must put all her trust in Rone and his immortal device. For her master has summoned more than mere men to hunt her down...
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What Inspired Me to Write My Book
You want to know what inspired me to write Smoke & Summons?
Professional pressure.
My agent called me while I was on vacation a couple years back to
tell me she and my editor had had a discussion, and they decided it
was time for me to write another series.
Mind you, I’d written one series in my life, and to be fair, it was kind
of a fluke. It was also a bestselling fluke, so admittedly, I could see
where they were coming from.
But a series? My ideas were one-book ideas. Thus the number of
standalones. How was I going to get an idea big enough to
encompass at least three books?
Being a go-getter, anal, “red” personality, I got started on it
right away, vacation be damned. I started harvesting ideas from dead
novels, Pinterest boards, and the brainstorming folder I keep on my
computer. I pulled anything and everything I thought was remotely
interesting. I took the fire horse from an urban fantasy idea I had
about the steeds that pulled Helios’s chariot. I stole monsters from
the third novel I’d ever finished (and will never publish). I took the
idea of summoning (a la Final Fantasy) into a living host from a
Pinterest board I’d dedicated to a slapdashed high fantasy. I had
written, very simply, “immortality switch” in that brainstorming
folder, and instantly fell in love with it. Admittedly, my daughter
was watching a lot of Tangled at the time, and some Flynn Ryder
might have snuck in there as well.
Truth be told, it was alarming how fast the Numina series pulled
together. I didn’t have any paper with me at the time, so I stole my
husband’s calculus notebook and claimed the last 50 pages in it for
myself. I started drawing maps and created a religion, a history, a
people. A magic system unlike anything I’d done before. And you
know what? I really liked it. I loved it. I loved writing it, editing it,
adjusting and fixing it. The first book, Smoke & Summons, became
the best book I’d ever written (in my fine and humble opinion). And
now it’s out in the world, with its sisters on the way.
And so, despite what was a very stressful phone conversation in
Angels Camp, California, I am incredibly grateful for the push
(though let’s be honest, it was more of a violent shove) from my
agent and editor, because these books would not have happened
without it. It showed me what I can do when I really put my mind to it.
And that, in the end, is a little bit inspiring. :)
About the Author
Born in Salt Lake City, Charlie N. Holmberg was raised a Trekkie alongside threesisters who also have boy names. She is a proud BYU alumna, plays the ukulele, owns too many pairs of glasses, and finally adopted a dog. Her fantasy Paper Magician series, which includes The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician, and The Master Magician, has been optioned by the Walt Disney Company. Her stand-alone novel, Followed by Frost, was nominated for a 2016 RITA Award for Best Young Adult Romance, and her novel The Fifth Doll won the 2018 Whitney for Speculative Fiction. She is a board member for Deep Magic Ezine and currently lives with her family in Utah. Visit her at www.charlienholmberg.com.
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