Today’s guest is Lesley Young, the author of the fascinating science fiction/space opera romance Sky’s End (see today’s review). In her guest post, she goes into the reasons why she wrote Sky’s End as first-person from her heroine’s point-of-view.
Since that first-person perspective was a big part of what made this story work for me, I enjoyed this glimpse into her writer’s process of what made it work.
The First-Person Perspective
by Lesley Young
Three reasons why first-person was the right— albeit selfish perspective—for Sky’s End;
Not for one moment did I even consider writing Sky’s End: Book One in the Cassiel Winters Series in third-person perspective. This story, which chronicles the journey of a young woman in earth’s fledging space military, demanded fast-paced, urgent and visceral telling. Wheedling a third-person narrator between Cassiel Winters and the reader would have dragged down the experience for readers. . . and for me!
As the author, I wanted to get in Cassiel’s head, react in each moment as she would, and yes, admittedly, live vicariously through her. Here are three more reasons why first-person worked so well for this story (which is also in written in present tense).
*Connection. Readers get “inside” Cassiel’s head from the moment they begin reading. They get to know her intimately, and she confides openly with them. You can’t beat this kind of connection. It’s why so many reviewers are in love with her and rooting for her, yet also want to smack once or twice (she’s stubborn!).
*Believability. The story is set in the future. By writing it in Cassiel’s voice, readers get the sense of a direct account. There’s an authority there that I felt was especially important to establish because she’s a female protagonist in space. I also wanted to engage readers who wouldn’t normally science fiction and felt that Cassiel’s first-person voice would help handhold them through the new world-building they’d experience.
*Character development. First-person voice allows for character development opportunities you just can’t get with third-person, like showcasing Cassiel’s unique sense of humor, or her philosophy toward the universe, or what she really thinks of the alien’s who are chasing after her. In first-person, readers spend the whole book listening to Cassiel’s voice, ‘hearing’ her diction, and thus remembering her like they might a close friend. And that was my end goal: I wanted to create a memorable character who impacted readers’ lives.
I’d love to hear who your favorite kick-ass female characters are! Thanks for the opportunity.
About Lesley:Journalist Lesley Young never thought she would delve into the world of writing fiction, but when she sat down for the first time to put pen to paper, ideas for what would become her first novel just poured out naturally. Young’s first book, “Sky’s End,” is a multi-genre tale that showcases her unique style of weaving romance, action and wit into one page-burning story.Young was born in Edmonton, Alberta in Canada. She holds an arts degree from the University of Alberta and a journalism degree from the University of Victoria.Young now lives in Loretto, Ontario where she works as a journalist, freelance writer and editor for health, décor and business magazines. Since 2008, Young has written more than 300 articles for print and online media including Profit, Toronto Life, MSN Green, and Elle Canada among others. She is a regular contributor to Reader’s Digest, Best Health, Canadian Living and House and Home Magazine.Young has won three gold honors for feature stories from the National Business Magazine Awards and another top media award from the Canadian Dermatology Association.
Soul Mate Publishing released “Sky’s End” on July 15 in paperback and e-book and since its launch, it has remained an Amazon Best Seller. The novel is Young’s first installment in a series about Cassiel Winters, a futuristic heroine, and her outer space escapades.
LesleyYoungBooks.com
Facebook.com/CassielWintersSeries
@LesleyYoungBks
Sky’s End is available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Skys-Cassiel-Winters-Lesley-Young-ebook/dp/B00DXV8G9K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391376009&sr=8-1&keywords=sky%27s+end
~~~~~~TOURWIDE GIVEAWAY~~~~~~
Lesley will be awarding print copies of Sky’s End to ten randomly drawn winners, and a grand prize of one $50 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn winner during the tour.
To enter the giveaway, just fill out the Rafflecopter below. For more chances to win, be sure to visit other stops on her tour.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for hosting!
Thank you for hosting! And for the wonderful review! Your’s is an excellent summary of Cassiel’s journey. I’d love to hear from others, what are your favourite first-person books?
Sounds interesting.
I enjoyed the interview and liked hearing about the book.
Very interesting post.
Yes, I also like the connection of first person also. Thanks for the chance.
I prefer first person for all these reasons. I’m always a little wary of third person. The author can win me over with good writing and interesting characters or lose me with too much telling, not enough showing.
Favorite kick-ass heroine: Kadieren the Cold. *And* she’s got a hawt-ass vampire mate!
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