Exiles Blog Tour: Author Interview

Hey'a, everyone! Obviously, just one blog tour in one week just isn't enough, so I'm also joining in the release for Exiles, the latest release in Jaye L. Knight's Ilyon Chronicles. For those who aren't aware, the Ilyon Chronicles are one of the best Christian fantasy series I've ever picked up and you should all go read them immediately. If you own them already and haven't read them, close the internet and go read. If you don't own them, acquire them. The first three books are actually on sale on Amazon Kindle during this tour, so now's the perfect time!

Back from reading or else still here? Cool, because today I have an interview with Jaye for y'all to enjoy, plus an excerpt! But before we get into that, I'd like to share a little about the book and the author.

About the Book

Exiled after their defeat in Samara, the Resistance struggles to find allies in their quest to restore King Balen to his throne and put an end to the emperor’s tyranny. When the crete people refuse to lend their aid, Balen leads a group to Dorland to reason with them and win their support. However, enemies prove to be everywhere, and they find themselves in a fight to keep Dorland from becoming Daican’s latest conquest.

Back in Landale, the arrival of a new enemy forces Trask and Anne to tread more carefully than ever. Tensions are rising, and the enemy is determined to test Anne’s loyalty and root out the location of Trask and the Resistance once and for all. 

Feeling trapped within the walls of Valcré, Prince Daniel must contend with an ever-eroding relationship with his father. As their clashes escalate, the situation becomes potentially life threatening when his loyalty is called into question. His sister seems bent on branding him atraitor andactively seeking to condemn him to the fate of those put to death in their father’s new arena. Daniel is certain his father would never execute his only son and heir but, with other forces at work, it might not be that simple. 

One small misstep could prove fatal for all.

Available now on Amazon!

Add to Goodreads

Haven’t discovered the world of Ilyon yet? Find out more at the official Ilyon Chronicles website!

About the Author

Jaye L. Knight is an award-winning author, homeschool graduate, and shameless tea addict with a passion for Christian fantasy. Armed with an active imagination and love for adventure, Jaye weaves stories of truth, faith, and courage with the message that even in the deepest darkness, God’s love shines as a light to offer hope. She has been penning stories since the age of eight and resides in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

You can connect with Jaye on her website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Etsy.

And now for the interview! 

Welcome to the blog, Jaye! First of all, can you tell us a little bit about yourself, like your hobbies, how you got into writing, your favorite books (besides your own), or just anything else you’d like to share?

I’m an almost-thirty, nerdy country girl. Some might call me a crazy cat lady since I have three furbabies and only want more. Besides writing, I am really into historical reenactment. I’ve been doing it for almost ten years now. I reenact either the French and Indian War period, or the Revolutionary War, depending on what I’m in the mood to wear. I first started writing when I was eight years old because my mom is also a writer and I thought it looked like fun. I mostly wrote about horses back then, until I discovered The Lord of the Rings and fell in love with fantasy. Some of my favorite books besides LOTR are Books of the Infinite by R.J. Larson, the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson, and The Blades of Acktar by Tricia Mingerink. Other than fantasy, I adore just about every book by Karen Witemeyer. I am a history buff after all. Oh yeah, and did I mention I’m a nerd? I’ve got a nearly complete Connor Kenway (Assassin’s Creed) costume I put together and hope to wear to a comic con someday, and I love obsessing over movie and TV characters.

Can I just say, you have great taste in books. And your costume sounds awesome; maybe we'll run into each other at a con someday. What was the best part of writing Exiles? The hardest part?

The best part was some of the plot twists and getting to delve into Daniel’s story. He is SO much fun to write. He’s one of those characters who just take on a life of their own. The hardest part, I think, was all the logistics. I have three very separate storylines in Exiles and had to make sure they all fit together and made sense. Each one had their own climax, and I had to work it so that all three reached their conclusion at relatively the same time.

That sounds tough! What were some of the books or movies that influenced Exiles or the Ilyon Chronicles as a whole?

Well, the entire series was born from a spark of inspiration that came while reading DragonQuest by Donita K. Paul.  Robin Hood and Gladiator were big influences in some of the major aspects of the story. I also picked up bits of inspiration from a lot of sources like The Hunger Games, Thor, The Mentalist, and other random places that somehow came together to make Ilyon Chronicles.

That's a pretty impressive range of influences! Now, one of your readers' favorite parts about your books is the adorable romance between Jace and Kyrin. Is their relationship easy to write? What are some of the challenges?

Yeah, it’s pretty easy. I’m a hopeless romantic, I don’t usually have too much trouble with the romantic aspects of my books. I think the most challenging part was in the early books when they were still just friends. There were moments when it was like, “Whoa, there, slow down. You’re not in love just yet.” Haha!

Oh dear. They are so adorable together, though; I can see how that would be a struggle! We'll end with a fun question: if you could bring one of your characters out of the book and into our world for a day, who would it be and what would you two do together?

Well, my first instinct is to say Jace, of course. Problem is, we’re both introverted so that might be kind of awkward. So I’d probably pick either Kaden or Talas. At the moment, I’m leaning toward Talas. If he brought his dragon, Storm, along, then we’d go flying, of course. I really wish I had a dragon. It would make travel so much easier. Anyway, I’d also love to climb trees with him, and maybe he could give me some treehouse tips. I’ve always wanted to live in a treehouse.

Thanks for the interview, Jaye! And now, an excerpt from Exiles.

She handed Kyrin the light blue linen-like garment. Kyrin unlaced her overdress, while Katia searched through a second chest, and changed into the blouse. The long sleeves were split down the side starting at the shoulder. A couple of small stitches held it together near the elbow, but otherwise it was open for the full length of the arm. An embroidered vine pattern decorated the edges and the neckline.

Next Katia handed her a soft leather skirt tanned a grayish brown. The bottom hem had raw, uneven edges. It wrapped around her waist over her leggings and fell almost to her ankles. Over the blouse, she wore a matching leather bodice constructed of several pieces stitched together decoratively and laced at the sides.

“Perfect,” Trenna said with a grin. “Now we just need to do your hair and paint.”

“Paint?”

“Whenever we have celebrations, we accent our tattoos with colored paint. You don’t have any tattoos, but we could do some pretty designs.”

It seemed a little odd to Kyrin to paint designs on her skin, but she was willing to experience the crete culture to the fullest while she was here. “All right.”

She sat down on a cushion, and Trenna and Katia both went to work on her hair. They brushed it out and then added varying shades of blue beads. On the right side, Trenna attached a couple of long, narrow feathers with black at the tips that gradually lightened to a blue hue streaked with white.

Then came the paint. Trenna took a place at Kyrin’s right shoulder, while Katia worked at her left. Each held a fine tipped brush. Before they started, Trenna asked, “What is your favorite animal or flower?”

Kyrin thought about it for a moment. Then a memory from her childhood came to her mind.

“Trilliums,” she said quietly and cleared the sudden tightness from her throat. “I like trilliums.”

Ok, now I'm trying to remember why trilliums are significant . . . apparently I have another reason to reread the series! This post is just about done, but before we go, we have a giveaway! Prizes include an autographed copy of Exiles, a pewter dragon pendant by treasurecast, and a sword letter opener, all of which sound pretty fabulous to me.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(By the way, please let me know in comments if the Rafflecopter shows up for you; my internet wasn't being particularly cooperative when I wrote this post.)

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by! Make sure you also check out the rest of the blog tour! I'll post a list of today's stops below, and you can get the full tour schedule on the tour page. Also, don't forget that the first three Ilyon Chronicles eBooks are currently on sale at Amazon!
Happy reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade) 

Today's Other Blog Tour Stops

Character Interview at Reality Reflected

Review at Tricia Mingerink

Book Spotlight at She Hearts Fiction

Review and Excerpt at Literary Cafe

Character Interview and Excerpt at A Day In The Life

Author Interview at The World of the Writer

Review at WritingAnyone

Review and Character Interview at Meagan Davenport

Review and Special Post at R535 Blog

Review at Leah’s Bookshelf

Author Interview and Excerpt at Liv K. Fisher

Review, Character Interview, and Excerpt at The Elven Padawan

Review and Author Interview at Books and Arrows

Review and Author Interview at The Artful Author

Review and Character Interview at Red Lettering

Review and Author Interview at PageTurners

Review and Author Interview at Sutori no Hana

Review and Character Interview at Bookends