Blooded: Lisen of Solsta was the winner in the Young Adult category of the 2015 IndieReader Discovery Awards, where undiscovered talent meets people with the power to make a difference.
Following find an interview with author D. Hart St. Martin.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
Blooded: Lisen of Solsta Book 3 was published in late December 2014.
What’s the book’s first line?
“I am Ariannas Ilazer. Lisen doesn’t live here anymore.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
After committing an act that terrifies her in its calculated coldness, and losing Korin, her valued companion, as a result, Lisen shuts down emotionally, allowing her to perform her duties as the Empir of Garla. But the arrival of a child, an abduction culminating in captivity and a drug called gryl provide Lisen with new insights, and faced with a civil war, she opens up to startling perceptions which offer a unique solution to the conflict.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
Blooded is the final book in a trilogy I have been working on for a very long time. As a feminist since the early 70s, I had a vision of a female hero unencumbered by the trappings of a sexist culture, living in a world where she is an aberration because she’s a hero and not because she is a young woman with—shock of shock—heroic tendencies. I struggled with the difficulty of conveying the full scope of what I knew about this story until I made the decision to send Lisen to Earth for a time prior to the beginning of the first book. I didn’t do it to make her more interesting and assertive rather than passive, but that one simple change altered everything and allowed my vision to blossom on the page.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
Lisen is strong and decisive, but that decisiveness can slide into impulsivity which makes her vulnerable to misguided mistakes. That impulsiveness is, however, a two-edged sword, and when she balances on the cleaner edge, it inspires her to new heights. Who does she remind me of? She reminds me of every woman in history or currently alive who has stepped up and taken on the system that dictates the course of her life. That is who I’ve fashioned her after, and that is who she is.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
The Lisen of Solsta trilogy posits the potential of a hero whose gender plays no role in her temperament or abilities. I wrote it as YA to inspire young people (and adults, too) to be the best they can be despite the shackles that stereotypical gender roles in this world place on us all. Lisen begins as a typical American teenager, selfish and filled with her own needs and desires, but as the books progress, she learns that growing up, though sometimes difficult and challenging, carries with it its own set of perks. I like Lisen. The reader will, too.