Rhodes, Morgan: Rebel Spring: A Falling Kingdoms Novel

War brought them together. Love will tear them apart.Auranos has been conquered and the three kingdomsAuranos, Limeros, and Paelsiaare now unwillingly united as one country called Mytica. But alluring, dangerous magic still beckons, and with it the chance to rule not just Mytica, but the world. . . .CLEO is now a prisoner in her own palace, forced to be an ambassador for Mytica as the evil King Gaius lies to her peopleMAGNUS stands to eventually inherit the new kingdom but is still obsessed with his feelings for his adopted sister, LuciaLUCIA is haunted by the deadly outcome of her breathtaking display of magic that allowed her father to capture the kingdomsJONAS watches at the palace gates, a troop of rebels behind him, waiting for him to tell them how he plans to overtake King GaiusWhen Gaius announces that a road is to be built into the Forbidden Mountains, formally linking all of Mytica together, he sets off a chain of cataclysmic events that will forever change the face of this land.Praise for Falling KingdomsFrom an opening dripping with blood, magic, and betrayal through complex interweaving plots detailing treachery, deceit, and forbidden love, this novel . . . will immediately engage readers and keep them intrigued.Booklist[It] will gut you emotionally . . . make you ache, cry, and beg for the sequel as you turn the last page. I absolutely loved it.Julie Kagawa, New York Times bestselling author of The Iron QueenThis triple-layered tale of bloodshed, heartbreak, and tangled court intrigue kept me turning pages very late into the night.Lesley Livingston, author of Wondrous Strange and StarlingRichelle Mead, bestselling author of the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series, sits down with Morgan Rhodes to talk about Rebel Spring, the much-anticipated second book in her bestselling Falling Kingdoms series.Richelle Mead: Morgan Rhodes (aka Michelle Rowen) has been my friend for a number of years. We've hung out together at conferences and swooned over each other's books. When she was able to work on Vampire Academy: The Ultimate Guide, I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have someone who was already a fan of the VA world and whose writing I personally loved. I'm just as excited about her Falling Kingdoms series and couldn't resist this chance to ask her some questions about Rebel Spring, the next book in the series!Morgan Rhodes: I was thrilled for the chance to write the VA Ultimate Guide! I remember Richelle telling me there were plans for the book and I piped up with: I totally want to write that! And what fun it was to delve back into a series that I loved (and am still in love with thanks to the wonderful Bloodlines spinoff). I'm counting down the days for the VA movie! Richelle is not only a friend, but one of my very favorite authors, so it's a real honor to be interviewed by her about Rebel Spring.RM: So without further ado, let's start talking about the new book. The world of Falling Kingdoms is so vivid and detail-rich. When it comes to world-building for these novels, where do you get your inspiration?MR: I get my inspiration from pretty much everywhere, although I'm visually inspired by some of my favorite TV shows and movies, which run the gamut from Lord of the Rings to The Princess Bride to Game of Thrones, to name just a few.RM: At the end of Falling Kingdoms, things are looking pretty bleak in Mytica. Is it fair to say that Rebel Spring will be quite a bit darker than book 1?MR: The stakes have been raised and sharpened, for sure. Blood will spill and lives will be lost. But I don't think I would ever want to write a book that was unrelentingly bleak from beginning to end. I can promise that Rebel Spring contains plenty of comic relief and romance to counterbalance the darker bits.RM: The Falling Kingdoms books are written from multiple POVs, and each of your narrators has such a unique voice and perspective. How does your experience vary from POV to POV? Are there some characters that are more difficult than others? Do you have a favorite?MR: It's been a wonderful and exciting challenge to write in multiple points of view from my diverse cast. I will admit, some POVs are always a joy to write and others prove to be a challenge. I try to put myself in the head of that character and see the world from their eyes, no matter who they are or what their goals are. I get into the heads of a couple different characters in Rebel Spring, including a villain who definitely sees things from a darker angle than anything I've written before - which was fun. The characters whose scenes I most look forward to writing since they are very specific personalities and basically take over and make things easier for me are Cleo and Magnus. They tend to surprise me while the other characters usually stick to the outline!RM: Let's talk body count. You're very good at making me fall in love with your characters, but you're also very good at killing them off when I least expect it. How do you decide