Fall of Sky City
Book 1 of the Devices of War Trilogy
A New Adult Fantasy Steampunk Adventure
Published by Blooding Books
April 5, 2013
In a world governed by the opposing forces of the mystical House of Tarot and the tribal Great Families, Synn is caught in the crossfire. He witnesses the slaughter of innocent people, and the devastating murder of his father. This act awakens his Mark of power, a Mark greater than any the world has seen in a very long time.
Queen Nix thought she won a great prize when she destroyed Synn’s father, the leader of the strongest Great Families. She had no idea she’d be doubly blessed by capturing his son. However, before Synn can become her treasured weapon, before she can use him to bring the rest of the world to its knees, she must break him and bind his soul to hers.
She does her job with brutal brilliance. Synn’s mind is broken and his soul is seared to hers in an unbreakable bond.
That doesn’t stop him from wanting to be free. She may have broken his mind and claimed his soul, but he will find a way to destroy her.
Experience a world of ships that sail the clouds and cites buried beneath the ocean, and survive the fiery battle brought forth by those who control the forces of nature!
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SM Blooding lives in Colorado with her pet rock, Rockie, Ms. Bird, the Chicken and SistaPITA. It's quite the zoo. She’s taken a break from the piano, which Ms, Bird is quite happy about, and now knows more than one word in Arabic. Basically, she can say hello, good-bye, give it to me, and hurry up!
She’s dated vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, weapons smugglers and US Government assassins. Yes. She has stories.
She’s also an investigator
with a local paranormal investigation group, Colorado Paranormal Rescue!
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Hello SM Blooding! And welcome to the Spotlight! Is there one character in your novel that you feel the most passionate about?
It’s a tossup between two of them, my hero and my villain, but in the end, I’d have to say my hero, Synn El’Asim. He’s a young man struggling to do what’s right, but the definition of “what’s right” keeps changing as he gains more life experience.
For me, it’s just a lot of fun to experience this with him. I know it sounds silly, but it makes me feel better about myself knowing that he’s making a few of the same discoveries I did. The silly part is that he’s an imaginary character. The reality is that he’s real enough that there are several others who can relate to him, what he’s experiencing, discovering and his reactions to his plans. It’s almost like we bond through him. Do I sound completely lame or what? LOL!
What aspect about this character was the most difficult to envision? The easiest?
He’s a man. I’m not. It took me a good year to be able to hop into his head. It still took me an entire book to really figure out how he thinks, why he reacts the way he does.
When your hero is a woman, there’s a lot more going on in her head. In order for her to be a hero, she has to work harder, be right all of the time, be strong all of the time, kick herself for having a moment of weakness. A female has to be 150% awesome 100% of the time.
Synn looked pretentious when I tried that with him. He looked like a supreme princess. It was awful. So I had a few heart-to-hearts with a couple of down-to-earth men and realized that everything’s simpler for a man. At the same time, though, it’s a lot more difficult. So, on one hand, it was easier for me to write in his voice. He can be scared and shrug it off instead of having to over-analyze it. But…there really is a lot more expected of him.
So the hardest part was trying to figure out how to think like a man. The easiest part was thinking like a man.
During the birth of your novel, was there any point where this character took an unexpected turn?
Um, yes. I started off this book with an outline. The first few times I attempted to write the book, he laughed at me. I had the wrong voice. I didn’t understand him. He fought me the entire way.
Once I figured that out, I put on my author cape and proudly showed Synn my outline. He looked at it and said, “That looks great.” We hadn’t even made it into the first scene before he took off and did precisely what he wanted to do. It made the book a bit more of an adventure. He didn’t know what he was doing, so I sure as heck didn’t. All I knew was that Sky City had to be taken down. I had originally planned that it would be more political. He….well, he changed everything. Just everything. I outline him anymore, but I do reign him in sometimes because he can be a bit of a blowhard-egghead sometimes.
If this character suddenly sprang from the pages, what questions would you have for him/her?
There would be no questions. I’d likely slap him. I’m at a place in the story where he’s really pissing me off, and I’d like nothing more than to pull his head from his butt…with my boot.
But it sure would be nice to just sit down and chit chat with him. His life story is running almost constantly in the back of my mind, so I almost feel as though there aren’t any questions left to ask. But if we were to enter into conversation—one that I didn’t feel I controlled because he’d be outside my head—I think I’d learn a lot more.
Is there a particular passage or scene from your novel that you feel embodies this character the best?
“Why doesn’t Synn just surrender?” one of the younger council members asked, standing up. “Why should the rest of us suffer while the Hands try to get him back? What makes him so special?”
I had no answer for that. I was beginning to think the same thing. But was that reason, or was it the voice, my compulsion?
Mother looked to me to defend myself.
I rose and cleared my throat. “I might turn myself in. I had thought I could do more good out here. There is a chance that if I remain in Nix’s care, I might become a weapon for the Hands, not a tool for the betterment of the world. I have no wish to condemn others to die so that I might hide. In doing so, I help no one, certainly not myself.”
The man sat down, unnerved.
That wasn’t my intent. I honestly had no idea what I should do. “We, as leaders of our Families, have a huge responsibility. We are responsible for the life and safety of our Family members. Our actions—all of them, big and small—have great impact on the world around us.”
The man with the silvered pointed beard rose to his feet. “I hear your words, young El’Asim. You have truly aged since last we met.”
I bowed my head. “I have learned much.”
Joshua stood. “Bu’ we have also learned much about the Hands.” He took my shoulder and pushed me back in my seat. “Attack we must them.”
Mother raised her hand. “You may speak Handish. It hurts trying to understand what you’re saying.”
Joshua let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I mean no disrespect.” He turned back to the circle. “We know tha’ their ships are made of metal.”
“And our weapons cannot breach their hulls,” someone shouted.
The silver bearded man sank into his chair, listening intently.
“Because you do no’ know where ta strike.” Joshua paused, a smirk on his lips. “I do. We can teach you.”
There are many things I love about this passage. One is that we get to see that Synn isn’t as self-assured as he appears to be. To be honest, he doesn’t even realize he appears to know what he’s doing.
The other thing I love about this is that he inspires those around him and he doesn’t even do it on purpose. People who had been comfortable sitting around doing nothing about their situation are suddenly standing up and coming up with ideas. Joshua’s developing weapons. The Family elders are coming up with survival plans. None of it is intentional, but I love this passage for showing that he’s just like us, but he has the gift of inspiration without utilizing it on purpose.
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