Check out my review of the
first book in the trilogy, CHANTRESS!
Amy Butler Greenfield was a grad student in history when she gave into temptation and became a writer. Since then, she has become an award-winning author.
Amy grew up in the Adirondack Mountains and later studied history at Williams College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Oxford. She now lives with her family in England, where she writes, bakes double-dark-chocolate cake, and plots mischief.
The Inspiration Behind
Chantresses and their Abilities
by Amy Butler Greenfield
I was drinking hot chocolate in a busy coffee shop when I had the first inkling of the idea that would lead to the Chantress Trilogy. I didn’t know then that it would end up as a trilogy, and the word “chantress” never crossed my mind. But here’s what I did know: I wanted to write a story that excited me. And this is the question I asked myself: If you were only allowed to write one more book, what would it be?
I’d been wrestling with writer’s block for months, but somehow that question set me free. Ideas started to swirl in my mind, and I quickly scribbled them down in my notebook: a spymaster, a ruby, a lost girl who could work magic…
Somehow I knew this girl was a spell-singer. But what should I call her? I thought about “singer” and “enchantress,” but the first was too plain, and the second too frilly. And then, for some reason, I wrote down the word “chantress” in my notebook. Only later, when I looked it up, did I learn that “chantress” was an actual word, a very old one that has fallen out of use. It means both “singer” and “enchantress.” Seeing that entry felt like a sign: Write this book.
After that, there was a whole lot to think through: I needed to get to grips with what kind of songs a chantress would sing, and how exactly the magic worked, and how it might have changed over time, and what kind of limits it had. I wanted a magic that was primal and wordless, a magic where all the power belonged to women, a magic with tough choices and secrets. Some of those secrets won’t be revealed until the very last book, but I had them in mind while I was still writing that first draft.
But the real magic? For me it all came down to asking that first question, and trusting the answers that came to me.
A harp, because it’s what the bards of old had.
Mermaid, because I love the sea.
A gingerbread house, because I could get out easily – and I’d always have a snack at hand!
I’m fascinated by the Persephone story, so I think I’ll go with the pomegranate seeds.
Tell stories, please. (Unless you catch me during a bad week, in which case I might want the sleep!)
Ten curses, because I like to get bad things over and done with. (Even as a kid, I tended to save the best for last!)
And now...
Here's an excerpt from
CHANTRESS FURY,
out May 19!
first book in the trilogy, CHANTRESS!
Amy grew up in the Adirondack Mountains and later studied history at Williams College, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Oxford. She now lives with her family in England, where she writes, bakes double-dark-chocolate cake, and plots mischief.
Visit Victoria on her website and find her on Twitter and Facebook!
This guest post/interview first posted on May 3, 2014
when I toured with TFFBC to promote CHANTRESS ALCHEMY.
I was scheduled to run a review of the third book, but Fairy Tale Fortnight delayed everything AND THEN I couldn't find my books until it was too late to have reading time mixed in with crazy work hours!
So instead, I'm re-posting this. But it's still an awesome post!!!
This guest post/interview first posted on May 3, 2014
when I toured with TFFBC to promote CHANTRESS ALCHEMY.
I was scheduled to run a review of the third book, but Fairy Tale Fortnight delayed everything AND THEN I couldn't find my books until it was too late to have reading time mixed in with crazy work hours!
So instead, I'm re-posting this. But it's still an awesome post!!!
The Inspiration Behind
Chantresses and their Abilities
by Amy Butler Greenfield
What was the inspiration behind creating Chantresses and their abilities?
I was drinking hot chocolate in a busy coffee shop when I had the first inkling of the idea that would lead to the Chantress Trilogy. I didn’t know then that it would end up as a trilogy, and the word “chantress” never crossed my mind. But here’s what I did know: I wanted to write a story that excited me. And this is the question I asked myself: If you were only allowed to write one more book, what would it be?
I’d been wrestling with writer’s block for months, but somehow that question set me free. Ideas started to swirl in my mind, and I quickly scribbled them down in my notebook: a spymaster, a ruby, a lost girl who could work magic…
Somehow I knew this girl was a spell-singer. But what should I call her? I thought about “singer” and “enchantress,” but the first was too plain, and the second too frilly. And then, for some reason, I wrote down the word “chantress” in my notebook. Only later, when I looked it up, did I learn that “chantress” was an actual word, a very old one that has fallen out of use. It means both “singer” and “enchantress.” Seeing that entry felt like a sign: Write this book.
After that, there was a whole lot to think through: I needed to get to grips with what kind of songs a chantress would sing, and how exactly the magic worked, and how it might have changed over time, and what kind of limits it had. I wanted a magic that was primal and wordless, a magic where all the power belonged to women, a magic with tough choices and secrets. Some of those secrets won’t be revealed until the very last book, but I had them in mind while I was still writing that first draft.
But the real magic? For me it all came down to asking that first question, and trusting the answers that came to me.
Quickfire Stuff: This or That?
-Magical harp or magical flute?
-Mermaid or unicorn?
-Live in a gingerbread house or a door-less tower?
Quickfire Stuff: Would You Rather...?
-Eat a poisoned apple (Snow White) or eat pomegranate arils/seeds (Persephone in Greek myth)?
-Sleep for one thousand years (Sleeping Beauty) or tell stories for 1001 Nights (Scheherazade)?
-Be cursed with 10 curses in a row or be cursed 5 times from now until eternity?
~*~
And now...
Here's an excerpt from
CHANTRESS FURY,
out May 19!
The other men in the circle were now coming over to us—and one of them was Nat. For more than a year, I’d pretended that he meant nothing to me. Now, in the half-dark of this moonlit night, I stopped acting a part. I was simply myself, hungry for the sight of him.The King’s right-hand man, Sybil had called him, and he looked it. He’d always had a quiet strength about him, but now that strength was in the open. Tall and sure and capable, he came toward me, and what I saw in his face made my heart hammer like a drum…But then I caught sight of what had been at the center of the men’s circle, and my heart nearly stopped altogether. It was an enormous barrel, stood on its end. Just visible inside it was a woman, and she was gagged.Seeing her, I felt sick. Gags and muzzles and scold’s bridles—until the King had come to the throne, these had all been common ways of stopping a woman’s tongue. Especially a Chantress’s tongue. My own godmother had been gagged before she’d been killed, and the memory filled me with horror.“What’s going on here?” My voice was shaking with anger. “You’re gagging women and putting them in barrels?”I could’ve asked the question of any of them. But it was Nat I was looking at.Even in the dim light I saw his face change. When he answered, his voice was guarded, almost steely. “She isn’t a woman, Chantress. She’s a mermaid. And she’s gagged because she tried to kill us.”
~*~
Title: CHANTRESS FURY
Author: Amy Butler Greenfield
Author: Amy Butler Greenfield
Release Date: May 19, 2015
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books / Simon and Schuster
SUMMARY:
Lucy races against time and magic in this sequel to the “richly and thoughtfully written” (Publishers Weekly) Chantress.
Lucy is the last Chantress, the only remaining girl who can sing magic into the world. Since she defeated the evil Lord Scargrave, England has changed—and not for the better. With crops failing and the people rebelling, Lucy is called urgently back to King Henry’s court. His Inner Council is convinced that making gold through alchemy will save England. But a critical element to the alchemical process has been stolen. Lucy is tasked with finding it with her magic… or else. And until she succeeds, the castle is on lockdown.
Court too has changed. Scargrave's brutal Chantress-hunter has become King Henry's closest advisor. Lucy’s beloved Nat has fallen out of favor and is shunned by his colleagues; their romance means trouble for both of them. Worst of all, something goes wrong with Lucy’s magic. The palace is a labyrinth, and there’s a monster at its heart — a monster who may have the power to defeat Lucy once and for all.
Amy Butler Greenfield returns to the beguiling world of CHANTRESS for a suspenseful tale of courtly intrigue, music, and magic in CHANTRESS ALCHEMY.
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