Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lauren Wiesebron to HJ!
Hi Lauren and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Palace Beneath the Sea!
Please summarize the book for the readers here:
The Palace Beneath the Sea is about a devoted lighthouse keeper, Nolwenn, torn between the city she swore to protect and the mysterious korrigez who captures her heart. It is a queer, salt-soaked tale of love and betrayal, mermaids, battle lighthouses, devious queens, and monsters waiting in the deep.
Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:
I actually love the opening lines: “I still feel a twinge of guilt whenever I hear Queen Dahud being blamed for the flooding of our beloved city Ys. While her actions may have led to disaster, it was not her hand that opened the floodgates. It was mine.”
In this first lines, we learn that it was not Queen Dahud who opened the city gates and led to the destruction of the city (as she does in a Breton myth!), but our main character, lighthouse keeper and staunch defender of Ys, Nolwenn. And then in the rest of the book, I get to tell why this ultimately happened. I also love creating alternate explanations for mythology in my storytelling because I enjoy exploring how foundational stories change with every telling, and the impact that has on people and societies. Nolwenn herself learns that some of the core mythology of her own city that shaped her beliefs and loyalties is untrue. It was also an opportunity to create the twisty backstories that I love, the kind that make the reader gasp when the pieces tumble into place.
Please share a few Fun facts about this book…
- I am a marine biologist in my day job, and this book was an opportunity for me to live out those marine biologist fantasies of swimming to the bottom of the sea and checking out the fish without needing a submarine. I drew a lot from science when shaping the undersea world of Ys-below.
- For example, as a master’s student, I learned that a female clownfish rules over a group of male clownfish, and when the female dies, one of the male clownfish becomes female and take control of the group. Scientists are still studying how this happens biologically, but what I was most interested in were the social ramifications. How would a society be structured if only a small number of individuals could reproduce, and changing sex, prompted by social cues, was necessary to do so? I enjoyed exploring these questions when shaping my mermaid-like korrigez’s society.
- Another aspect of korrigez society I thought a lot about was communication. The deep-sea is pitch black and many animals communicate with light, so it made sense that korrigez would as well! It’s all quite a lot for poor Nolwenn to deal with, but she managed.
What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?
My hero saves my heroine’s life by changing her from human into a korrigez when they’re drowning, but then they promptly abduct her and bring her to the coral city of Ys-below where they are the ruler—so it’s very mixed emotions. Nolwenn is attracted to Morvan because of the care they obviously feel for their city and people, but also because they try so hard to connect with her even though they cannot communicate with language at first. Morvan is intrigued by Nolwenn, but then is attracted to her determination and resourcefulness. And of course, sparks fly on a physical level too.
Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?
This was my first time writing romance as the central relationship and wow did I make myself blush a lot! While writing I reread a lot of my favorite romance novels and I paid attention to how the authors built tension into those heart-pounding moments. When writing I found myself immersed in the moments as well and oh my, the yearning, the loaded glances, the tension of wanting someone you know you shouldn’t… cue the blushing.
Here’s a little snippet:
Morvan paused. I felt heat building between us. It pooled somewhere deep in my belly, forming a knot. I had the sudden urge to run my finger down the side of their neck, to see if I could make them shiver.
‘Your arm,’ I said, reaching forward. I touched a finger to the skin on their forearm. It felt so daring and I relished having the excuse to touch their skin. It was smooth. No welts, no breaks. I felt a thrill and caught Morvan’s expression: surprise but also with a molten intensity. Their gaze sent another lance of heat through my lower belly and I dropped my hand from their arm as though their skin had burned me.
Readers should read this book….
Readers should pick up this book if they love a reluctant heroine who goes on a journey, a smoldering romance between an undersea ruler and the woman they take prisoner—who may be the key to their salvation—and all of it taking place in a dangerous, enchanting world on the seafloor.
What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?
I’m always writing something new! I’m a discovery writer so I don’t often know what the story will turn out to be until I’m done, but I’m so excited about these new characters and the world they live in, and I really hope I can share it with readers soon!
Thanks for blogging at HJ!
Giveaway: Harper Voyager will be giving away three copies of THE PALACE BENEATH THE SEA to US readers!
To enter Giveaway, please share this post on your Socials and Leave a comment below to this Q: What would you give up—the love that makes you feel like yourself for the first time, or the home that you cherish and swore to protect?
🎉 Giveaway Rules 🎉 ✨ Must be 18 years or older to enter. ✨ MUST leave a comment answering the giveaway question. ✨ Bonus Entry:Share this post on your social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and drop a comment below letting me know you've shared it. ✨ Winner(s) will be selected at random. ✨ No purchase necessary—just enter and cross your fingers! ✨ If you win, I'll need your full name and mailing address to send your prize. This information will be shared with the author, publisher, or publicist solely for prize fulfillment purposes. ✨ Giveaway closes 3 days from the date this post is published.
Book Info:
A doomed love story created the city of Ys, it’s fitting that another one would end it . . .
Nolwenn is sure that her life’s purpose is to defend her beloved coastal city of Ys as a lighthouse keeper. But when a dangerous, unnatural tide threatens Ys, the queen instead tasks Nolwen with collecting enough rare seasilk to shield the city from the deadly monsters who lurk deep beneath the waves.
Determined to fulfill her task, Nolwenn recklessly puts her life in danger, only to be attacked by the very creatures she’s trying to defend her city against. She’s saved by Morvan, a member of the korrigez people, with the torso of a human and the tail of a fish. Against her will, Morvan drags her deeper into the ocean to the coral palace of Below-Ys. Although Nolwenn is terrified and homesick, Below-Ys is also strange and beautiful…as is Morvan. The more time Nolwenn spends below the surface, the less she is sure she wants to leave.
As danger draws ever nearer to her homeland and Ys remains precariously unprotected, Nolwenn must decide between her heart and her home.
Book Links: Amazon | B&N |
Meet the Author:
Lauren Wiesebron is a fantasy author, writing adventures for characters who do not yet know they need them.
She grew up in France and is now an itinerant academic studying sea creatures. When not writing, you can find her acquiring yarn and naming houseplants. She has also been known to pick up cats even when they don’t want to be picked up.
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