So you may or may not have read my reviews of Starcrossed and Dreamless by Josephine Angelini. Take this opportunity to go read them now. They explain quite well why I am 100% OBSESSED with this series. OB-SESS-ED.
That being said, I am beyond excited to give you a short and sweet interview with Josie about the books, in particular Dreamless which is out today! (DUH, GO BUY IT). Just past the interview is a recipe for Pumpkin Pancakes which have an interesting role in Dreamless—-interesting and delicious. So read on, cook up, and enjoy fellow Starhearts!
xoxo
V.V.
The Interview:
1. Helen feels quite the burden of responsibility in Dreamless, what
motivates her and that sense of duty?
Helen has a fantastic relationship with her dad, and that has instilled in her a deep sense of duty and responsibility to family. In DREAMLESS, Hector is an Outcast, and the the only way to restore him to his family is to end the curse of the Furies. Spoiler Alert! Since she believes that Hector is her cousin, she feels an enormous sense of urgency around this. It is her strong commitment to family that drives her (at first. Later, as her understanding broadens, she wants to complete her task for a whole host of reasons). It’s also Helen’s duty to family that fuels her conflict with Lucas. When Helen finds out that they are cousins, she feels deeply divided. One part of her doesn’t buy it that they are related, but the other part is disgusted by the thought that they are. It all comes back to family in my story, as it almost always did in Greek myth.
2. We get to meet new demi-gods and even some gods in Dreamless—what
influenced your creation of those characters?
The gods that I introduce are influenced by a combination of things I’ve read about them (mostly in Edith Hamilton’s Mythology) and from my own imagination. Honestly? There isn’t much written about the gods that I chose to write into this book, so most of it is from my imagination. I just wanted to make unique characters that would really stick in the reader’s mind. And terrify them! ;)
3. You’re so good at taking a story or character we think we know and
then altering that tradition to bring it new life. What is your
process for writing like when dealing with a story that has deep roots
like the Trojan War?
First of all, thank you for that lovely compliment! I work very hard on my characters, and it’s really gratifying to know that it has paid off. My process is all about humanizing the characters that we think we know. The Iliad is an epic poem, so the language used to describe most of the characters is hyperbolic. I wanted to take those broad characteristics and really ground them in every day human reality. What would it be like, for example, to be so beautiful that everyone fought over you and wanted to possess you? It would probably be horrible. You’d probably try to downplay your looks. You might slouch or not want to look people in the eye. I started with that for Helen and built from there.
4. You’ve given us a lot of heart-throb worth boys to swoon over, so
personally who would you choose and why?
I’m a Lucas girl all the way. His intelligence, his determination, and his loyalty are really appealing to me. Not that Orion’s big heart or Hector’s swagger don’t appeal to me as well. They totally do. But if I had to pick, I’d pick Lucas.
The Recipe: So I straight up took this from The Boy Trifecta because they look AMAZING, are made from scratch, and the steps are super simple. So check her out if you like it, cause I had nothing to do with this one.
Ingredients:
1.5 cups of milk
4 Tbsp vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp allspice
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
2 eggs
4 Tbsp melted butter
1.5 cups pumpkin puree
1. Mix your milk and vinegar, and let them sit for 5 minutes while you put everything else together.
2. Mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice, cinnamon, and ginger in a bowl.
3. Add eggs, butter, milk mixture, and pumpkin puree.
4. Cook on a hot griddle.
5. Add some butter and syrup.
6. Eat.
