And I Darken Launch Party Recap

I headed down to San Diego last week for Kiersten White’s launch for her latest novel, And I Darken, and Mysterious Galaxy. Mysterious Galaxy is such an awesome store, and I definitely recommend stopping there if you ever find yourself in San Diego. I have had the pleasure meeting Kiersten several times before, and she is great. Marie Lu was there as well and it was lovely meeting her.

The Conquerors Saga is Kiersten’s first historical fiction series, and she talked about how hard it is to write it. There is so much research involved, that even talking about something simple as a window needs to be checked out for accuracy. One interesting part Kiersten said was that much of her research that she included in drafts of the book had to be taken out. There can always be more research, but at some point, you have to take a step back. As she wrote And I Darken, she listened to Lorde’s Yellow Flicker Beat 1300s! This helped her set up her mind for writing, and now she thinks about writing And I Darken everytime she hears it on the radio.

Kiersten sorted the main characters of And I Darken into their Hogwarts houses. Interestingly enough, she places Lada in Gryffindor and Radu in Slytherin. After having read And I Darken (which I LOVED by the way; review here), I can definitely agree with that sorting. Lada is fiercely protective and will do anything for those she loves. Radu is a sweetheart, but he is sly and cunning in the way he moves about court in order to get information to protect Mehmed.

Out of all her books, Illusions of Fate was the easiest for Kiersten to write, which took only seven days! Book 2 of The Conquerors Saga is definitely the hardest for her as she is in the middle of revisions right now. As for Marie, The Rose Society was the hardest book for her to write. The latest novel she is working on, Warcross, has definitely been the easiest for her. Marie talked about how Warcross encompasses many of her loves and how fun it has been to write it after writing such a dark series as The Young Elites. Marie also mentioned how her mom goes to her local bookstore to buy the entire stock of Marie’s latest book every release. Isn’t that just the sweetest thing?

After the discussion, the signing began. Both Kiersten and Marie were lovely to talk to. Even cooler, Kiersten recognized me from our previous meetings before I even said a word! Thank you to Kiersten White, Marie Lu, and Mysterious Galaxy for a great event!