Blog Tour + Giveaway: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

18 November, 2013 Blog Tours, Giveaways, Interviews 46 comments

Amie and MeaganThese Broken Stars Blog Tour!

Kat Kennedy: Stephanie Sinclair and I are here with pirates in training, Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner to chat about their book, These Broken Stars.
Amie Kaufman: Arrrrrr.
Meagan Spooner: Avast ye?
Kat Kennedy: Welcome lovelies!
Steph Sinclair: I hope you both left your scurvies on your ship.
Kat Kennedy: So, These Broken Stars is coming out soon, which you both co-wrote. But Steph and I have a bone to pick with you two.
Meagan Spooner: We’re braced. Shoot.
Kat Kennedy: Steph and I want to prove to you, that you should have written a book with us.All four of us could have been coauthors!
Steph Sinclair: It would have been awesome! And we intend to prove it to you!
Amie Kaufman: You have my attention.
Kat Kennedy: So we’re going to write a short story together today.
One line each, and it will be AWESOME. And we will illustrate it
Steph Sinclair: …
Meagan Spooner: I do so love your illustrations.
Steph Sinclair: Kat will illustrate it. I will boss her around.
Amie Kaufman: She certainly nailed the cover. I think this has a lot of promise!
Kat Kennedy: Exactly! So I’ll do the first line. Then Amie, then Steph, then Meg and around we go.
Meagan Spooner: Okay. Bring it!
Amie Kaufman: I hope the world is ready for this.
Steph Sinclair: They aren’t.
Meagan Spooner: The world is never ready for true brilliance, Amie.
Kat Kennedy: The story is about two bloggers who kidnap their favourite authors who just released a new book called These Broken Giant Balls of Nuclear Fushion.
Meagan Spooner: Huh. What an interesting premise. I wonder where it came from?
Amie Kaufman: Would anyone read a story like that?
Kat Kennedy: Yes. OR I WILL COME AFTER THEM IN THE NIGHT.
Steph Sinclair: Who can refuse with an author like you, Kat?
Kat Kennedy: Nat looked out the window into the stormy gloom, reflecting on how These Broken Giant Balls of Nuclear Fushion had changed her world.
Amie Kaufman: Unaware of Nat’s life-changing experience, over at her place, Jamie was busy throwing darts at her pinboard to decide where the plot should go next.
Steph Sinclair: Meanwhile, in Candy Land, Tiff was cartwheeling through the candy canes.
Kat Kennedy: Okay, maybe Steph is out. But Amie, Meg, we’re still tight, right?
Steph Sinclair: I have mystical powers, Kat!
Amie Kaufman: Do the mystical powers involve candy?
Steph Sinclair: I have the Candy Touch. And I can make cupcakes rain from the sky.
Kat Kennedy: Or the Candy Crush, which is not so much a power as it is a disease.
Steph Sinclair: You wound me.
Kat Kennedy: Okay, back to our protagonists!
Meagan Spooner: This is where a foursome co-author team gets into trouble… as if Jamie and Peg (who was watching Jamie’s dartboard plot experiment via Skype) didn’t distract each other enough as it is!
Kat Kennedy: LOL. Why do all of my brilliant plans go astray?
Amie Kaufman: Maybe we should just… I’m not sure I can even say this… talk about the book, or something? Don’t hurl cupcakes at me! Or wait, maybe do.
Kat Kennedy: Gah, fine.
Amie Kaufman: Nom.
Meagan Spooner: I’ll run interference on those cupcakes. Nom indeed.
Kat Kennedy: Tarver. Dudes. Tarver.
Steph Sinclair: See? My powers came in handy.
Amie Kaufman: Tarver indeed. I might choose him over cake. Which is saying something.
Meagan Spooner: If you’re offering to throw super-hot poets-turned-soldier boys at us, then that’s not really a deterrent, Kat.
Steph Sinclair: Man Cakes!
Kat Kennedy: Is it Tarver’s Stars the ones that are broken?
Meagan Spooner: We’re super into double (and triple… and quadruple…) means for words. So while they are very literally amongst the stars when their ship crashes, we also love the stars as metaphor for fate. In our minds, the Icarus shatters fate when it falls out of the sky… and Lilac and Tarver have to weave it back together again.
Kat Kennedy: I didn’t expect a real answer.
Meagan Spooner: Though our interpretation of our own title changes pretty much depending upon our moods.
Kat Kennedy: What was your intention when you were writing Lilac?
Steph Sinclair joined the conversation
Steph Sinclair: Hey. Google is screwing up.
Amie Kaufman: We ate the cake while you were gone, Steph.
Steph Sinclair: NOOOOOOOO!
Meagan Spooner: It had a picture of Tarver on it. It was delicious.
Steph Sinclair: Soo… the stars.. they’re broken.
Kat Kennedy: It’s a metaphor, Steph. You owe me $10.
Steph Sinclair: Put it on my tab, mate!
Meagan Spooner: To answer your question, Lilac was a super fun character for me. I wanted to write a character who has a really noticeable journey over the course of the book. She starts off as this really spoiled, sheltered rich girl who’s been hiding inside her public persona for her entire life–but she changes and grows over the course of the book and reveals more about who she really is. Tarver brings it out of her.
Kat Kennedy: This is really well done, because she does change a lot in a really noticable and believable way.
Amie Kaufman: And we didn’t want that transformation to be ‘she becomes tougher and basically more admirable because she takes on more traditionally male characteristics’.
Kat Kennedy: Is she the great, great, great, great grand daughter of Rose?  You can tell us.
Amie Kaufman: Honest truth?
Kat Kennedy: Yes.
Amie Kaufman: We didn’t even think of Titanic while we were writing. Our agents pitched it that way. We were quite surprised to have it pointed out.
Kat Kennedy: Agents man…
Meagan Spooner: We always felt it was more like LOST or Blue Lagoon, but the Titanic-in-space thing really grabbed people, and who are we to argue?
Steph Sinclair: Interesting! So where did you find inspiration for the story?
Kat Kennedy: From our epic love affairs, Steph. Duh!
Amie Kaufman: (I die.)
Steph Sinclair: LOL! Of course!
Meagan Spooner: We had the characters long before we had the story. Amie wanted to write about a shipwreck and I wanted to write about space, and so that’s where TBS came from. We both went off and created our characters, and then came back together and started weaving this tale of them trying to find rescue. We actually just wrote it for ourselves, for fun. It was a whole year later that we thought of turning it into a novel.
Kat Kennedy:  Name the number one tip you guys learned for writing together?
Amie Kaufman: Yup. At first it was purely a project we wrote for each other, for fun. So we have quite a lot of The Adventures of Tarver and Lilac that never made it into the book.
Kat Kennedy: How did you mange each other?
Meagan Spooner: o_O
Amie Kaufman: We don’t mange. We have excellent personal hygiene. [Kat: Only now, while editing this chat, did I get the joke and see the type. Fail!]
Kat Kennedy: I’ve met Amie in real life. I can vouch for her. Meg, I’m not so sure about you…because I haven’t met you yet
Meagan Spooner: I do spend a lot of time in my pajamas. But they’re (usually) pretty clean.
Amie Kaufman: My dog did put a hole in them though. Her best writing pants. I was not a proud parent that day.
Kat Kennedy: If I could live in my pajamas, I would be so happy. Speaking of completely irrelevant things that came out of the blue. Some alternate titles for These Broken Stars: Did you have any?
Amie Kaufman: Originally it was called WRECKED, but we were sure from pretty early on that was going to be a working title. Between WRECKED and THESE BROKEN STARS… it was a long road. Something like that.
Kat Kennedy:  I’m glad you ended up with TBS.  Although, These Damaged-But Probably-Repairable Stars also has a certain ring to it.
Amie Kaufman: We must have come up with dozens of titles before we found one that clicked. At one point we were brainstorming words that indicated romance, and words that indicated space.  Then just putting them together in delirious combinations.
LOVE NEBULA.
Meagan Spooner: Like literally going LOVE NEBULA and ORBIT OF KISSES just trying to pry something loose. See?
Kat Kennedy: OMG. Orbit of Kisses. GENIUS!
Amie Kaufman: My husband was campaigning hard for MASSIVE CRASH because that was his favourite part.
Kat Kennedy: Galaxy of Smooches.
Meagan Spooner: The best part was that it came with an already-prepared sequel title: MASSIVE CRUSH.
Kat Kennedy: Yes! YES!
Amie Kaufman: Because that’s what you do to a rebellion, right? AND there are two characters in it that have a crush on each other. Two meanings in one, BAM.
Meagan Spooner: It fit everything, even our obsession with double meanings.
Kat Kennedy: The man has vision.
Amie Kaufman: And he feeds me while I write.
Kat Kennedy: Massive Impact. With the built in sequel Massiver Impact.
Amie Kaufman: And then: Book Three: No Seriously, You Just Don’t Get How Huge This Impact Is.
Kat Kennedy: I actually laughed right then. Out loud.
Meagan Spooner: With optional novella: “Slightly Smaller Impact But No Less Dramatic In Scope.”
Kat Kennedy: You literally made me laugh out loud. YES! You two get my vision!
Amie Kaufman: Maybe this crazy four-author book just might work!
Kat Kennedy: This is a great novel. I particularly like the part where Tarver and Lilac do their laundry. It was really sweet.
Amie Kaufman: Not everyone’s a fan of that part, Kat.
Kat Kennedy: Yes, folks, we’re not giving anything away. But laundry gets DONE.
Meagan Spooner: It’s true. Their clothes get very clean.
Kat Kennedy: Okay, clearly I’ve gone delirious.
Amie Kaufman: This is what happens when you lose Steph.
Kat Kennedy: Yeah, she bailed.  So thank you so much for coming and chatting with us today, Amie and Meg!
Meagan Spooner: We’re too much for her.
Kat Kennedy: Clearly she doesn’t love you guys as much as I do.
Amie Kaufman: I have no idea what it is we just created, but thank you for having us!
Meagan Spooner: I’ll have my people call your people and we’ll make this thing a thing.
Kat Kennedy: Yeah, I have no idea either.

[about-author]

These Broken StarsThese Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

Goodreads|The Book Depository

Published: 10th December 2013

Disney Hyperion

It’s a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they’re worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other’s arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder—would they be better off staying here forever?

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won’t be the same people who landed on it.

—

A timeless love story, THESE BROKEN STARS sets into motion a sweeping science fiction series of companion novels. The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.

 

Blog Tour Schedule

Tour Schedule
Visit each stop for more exclusive These Broken Stars content and additional chances to earn prizes!

[one_half]

Monday, 11/11     The Midnight Garden
World-Building for the Future

Tuesday, 11/12     Love is Not a Triangle
Author Interview

Wednesday, 11/13  The Perpetual Page-Turner
Using Technology to Write with a Partner

Thursday, 11/14     Good Books and Good Wine
Audiobook Sample + Narrator Interview

Friday, 11/15          The Starry-Eyed Revue
Character Interview with Tarver
[/one_half]

[one_half]

Monday, 11/18       Cuddlebuggery
You’re Here!  PARTY TIME EVERYONE!

Tuesday, 11/19       Books With Bite
Amie & Meg’s Favorite Things

Wednesday, 11/20  Xpresso Reads
Establishing Characters with Role-Playing

Thursday, 11/21     Great Imaginations
Co-Authoring Books

Friday, 11/22          Nawanda Files
Lilac’s Gorgeous Dress: A Look at These Broken Stars’ Cover Art

[/one_half]

Giveaway

Disney Hyperion has been kind enough to offer up a book for giveaway.  Rules are as follows.

Contest Rules:

  • To enter, please fill out the Raffelcopter form below.
  • We ask that all entrants be at least 13 years or older to enter.
  • The giveaway is open to US/Canada ONLY.
  • When the winners are chosen, it will be announced here and the winners will be emailed. Please check your email because we are only giving the winner 48 hours to respond! Otherwise another winner will have to be selected.
  • Please enter your email address in the Rafflecopter form and not the comments.
  • Also, please understand that we reserve the right to disqualify any entries we find gaming the system. Cheaters never prosper.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

46 Responses to “Blog Tour + Giveaway: These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner”

  1. Mirriam

    This looks fantastic – I’ve never read a well co-written sci-fi before, especially a romantic sci-fi, so I’m eyeing this one pretty eagerly 😉

  2. Megan

    I’ve heard so many great things about this book, I can’t wait to get my hands on it! Congrats Amie and Meg 😀

  4. Shauna

    Thanks so much for the giveaway! 🙂 I absolutely LOVE sci-fi, especially one with a strong romance, so I’m very much anticipating this one.

  5. Jess @ Such A Novel Idea

    I should NOT have read this at work, because I cannot stop laughing. People are looking at me funny!

    I am absolutely, unequivocally obsessed with this book and want that annotated copy SO bad.

    Thanks for making me laugh (and the prizes too!)

  6. Danielle

    I’m just counting down the days til I get my hands on this book!!! 🙂 awesome interview!! I just love it! Thank you for the giveaway!

  7. Denise B

    Interesting that they had the characters before they had the story and that it was originally written for themselves. Beautiful cover!

  8. Danielle D

    Outside of the beautiful cover?! This book is phenomenal – can’t wait to get a copy and share it with all my friends!!

    • Danielle D

      The interview was hilarious, by the way – though maybe there shouldn’t be four authors for the next book. Just saying, just saying *ducks and covers head DON’T THROW CAKE!

  10. Andrea

    You guys always have the best interviews. They’re not only informative – more so than just about the book – but they crack me up as well! I am so excited to read this book. I have been looking forward to it for months no and I’m so happy the release date is finally coming up! 🙂

  14. Josiphine

    “We don’t mange each other!” Haha! I had so much fun reading this. The four of you should definitely write a book together, :D.

  18. Sophia Rose

    Hilarious! I couldn’t stop laughing through the whole exchange. It was fun, ladies and I look forward to reading the book.

  19. Jenny

    I am so insanely excited for this book. I love YA sic-fi (most notably, Across the Universe- and Beth blurbed These Broken Stars!), so hooray for awesome sic-fi books with beautiful covers!

  21. Mariam

    Have to be honest, I really wish I had that dress. Looking forward to reading this! Thanks for the entertaining interview!

  22. Vannah Batista

    I am so excited for this book! I have been DYING to read it since I first heard of it a couple months back! Thanks for this awesome giveaway! 🙂

  24. Nicole Hewitt

    Oh, my! The four of you could write a very interesting book together, that’s for sure! And I never thought I’d be so curious about laundry. What’s with the laundry? Guess I’ll have to read it to find out!!

  25. Amber hsu

    The book sounds so interesting… with the whole in space titanic thing going on. I agree with the title massive crash lol. Kat, steph, your interviews always crack me up.. they just make my day… Can’t wait to read this book!

  26. Michele Piedrahita

    M<y life would not be complete without this series and Tarver!! You guys made me laugh and that made my day thank you for writing such an amazing story.

  27. Devon

    I’ve actually put this release date in my calendar. This is one of those books that I’m so excited for because it sounds so up my alley, and yet is a fresh idea compared to books I’m familiar with. Very excited for this one!!

  29. Holly Anne

    Hilarious interview! This book has so much hype around it that I’m so curious on how this play out. Can’t wait for this to be released.

  30. Morgan Faufaw

    I have been wanting to read this book, it looks truly amazing! It has been on my to read list on Goodreads for awhile. Thank you for the amazing giveaway!!!

  31. Bonnie Hilligoss

    The interview was so much fun and the four of you should definitely get together for that short story! I am so excited for this book and would buy it just for the cover even if I didn’t like the storyline (which I do!)!! Thank you for the chance to win a copy!!!!!!

  32. Tia

    I have heard good things about this book and I keep seeing that cover everywhere. I can’t wait to read it!

  33. Jenna

    I am so excited for this book! The cover is beautiful and so is the premise! Ever since the Across The Universe trilogy I have been waiting for another YA Dystopian novel that takes place in space. I would love the chance to win a copy! Pick me pick me!

  34. Jolene A

    I so loved this interview and I can’t wait to get my hands on this book!!!

  36. Sarah M

    Kat Kennedy: How did you mange each other?
    Meagan Spooner: o_O
    Amie Kaufman: We don’t mange. We have excellent personal hygiene.

    Hahahahaha, love!

  37. grace franks

    I am so excited about this book and the interview was just fantastic. This book has been on my to-read list on gooreads for about a year now so glad i can almost move it to the read list.

  38. Ashley Reiter

    I really love this interview, and I look forward to reading this book. 😀

  39. Mary

    I think the most part of the interview is that Amie and Meagan DIDN’T thing of the Titanic similarities! That’s so surprising!

  40. Larissa

    My excitement for this book is seriously at a huge level (: This interview increased it even more haha.

  42. Jaime Lester

    I will definitely read any book written by he four of you…. And I would like Steph to come to my house and show me this raining cupcakes thing. We can talk recipes later….

  44. These Broken Stars: Fun Facts Tour Stop + Giveaway! - Bookish AnticsBookish Antics

    […]    These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner is one of the best sc-fi books that I’ve read in years! The first book in The Starbound Trilogy is the literary Doctor Who and I’m dying to read the second book in this trilogy! (You can check out my review here) I’m so excited to be apart of The These Broken Stars blog tour, thank you to The Midnight Garden for hosting this tour!     I’m dying to see what others will think of this book when it releases on December 10th–the date is almost here thankfully. I just know that readers will be swooning over Tarver and Lilac’s relationship long after they’re finished. This is the next big sci-fi book  and you definitely won’t want to miss out on this!      Kaufman and Spooner blew me away with These Broken Stars and so, I’m extremely pleased to present this fun fact: Tarver’s gun is a Gleidel — it’s a brand of the future, but some of the technology behind it is available today. We asked ourselves how troops fighting long wars on distant planets would survive without constant access to ammunition and other supplies. We turned to technology that was pioneered in the 1980s, when ‘kinetic energy’ watches were first introduced. They charge themselves by harnessing the energy generated by the wearer moving his or her arm around, rather than using a battery, which would run down. We thought it was a safe bet that this technology would be used and improved upon in the future.Visit each stop of the THESE BROKEN STARS tour for more exclusive content and additional chances to win prizes, including an Grand Prize of one autographed/annotated ARC + limited edition necklace + swag! a Rafflecopter giveawayTour Schedule:Monday, 11/11     The Midnight Garden World-Building for the Future Tuesday, 11/12     Love is Not a TriangleAuthor Interview Wednesday, 11/13  The Perpetual Page-TurnerUsing Technology to Write with a Partner Thursday, 11/14     Good Books and Good WineAudiobook Sample + Narrator Interview Friday, 11/15          The Starry-Eyed RevueCharacter Interview with Tarver Monday, 11/18       Cuddlebuggery                      Author Interview Monday, 11/18      Review Stops: Ex-Libris Kate, Step Into Fiction, Books and Other Happily Ever Afters, Musings of a YA Reader, Ramblings of a Daydreamer, Curling Up with a Good Book Tuesday, 11/19       Books With BiteAmie & Meg’s Favorite Things Wednesday, 11/20  Xpresso ReadsEstablishing Characters with Role-Playing Thursday, 11/21     Great ImaginationsCo-Authoring Books Friday, 11/22          Nawanda FilesLilac’s Gorgeous Dress: A Look at These Broken Stars’ Cover Art Monday 11/25        Promo stops (fun facts about the book!) The Flyleaf Review,  YA Romantics, WhatchYA Reading?, Scott Reads It!, My Friends are Fiction, Books and Whimsy, Michelle and Leslie’s Book Picks, Forever 17 Books, Another Novel Read, In Bed with Books, Falling for YA,  Forever Literary, Effortlessly Reading About The Book:  It’s a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.  […]