Interview and Giveaway: Shattered Veil (The Diatous Wars #1) by Tracy E. Banghart

Published: February 28th, 2014

Description:

For Aris, a talented wingjet pilot, war means sacrificing everything: her home, her name, her face—and the one promise she swore she’d never break.

In the small village of Lux, everyone flies wingjets, but nobody flies them like Aris Haan. When she’s not dancing through the skies, she’s spending every minute with Calix, whom she’s loved since childhood. They plan to Promise, but instead he is sent to defend their dominion against a bloody invasion. Determined not to lose him, Aris follows, joining an underground network of women inside the male-only military. Using secret technology that allows her to pass as a man, she becomes “Aristos”, a Flyer in a search-and-rescue unit. 

As Aris grows stronger on the battlefield and more comfortable in her guise as Aristos, her personal mission becomes less and less clear. When she and her enigmatic commander, Major Vidar, uncover an astonishing conspiracy that could destroy everything, she must make a choice that will determine not only the fate of her heart, but the future of her dominion.

MB's INTERVIEW

Thank you, Mrs.Tracy E. Banghart 

You said that Shattered Veil will put questions like “how far a person will go to do the right thing....and how far they'll go for the people they love” What Aris thinks (and what do you think) about the case in which to do the right thing will harm the loved ones? 

This is an interesting question. I personally think that any circumstance where doing the right thing will harm your loved ones has got to be the most ridiculously difficult choice to make. I honestly don’t know what I would do in that situation. As for Aris, she does have to make some very difficult choices. I think the person she is at the beginning of Shattered Veil is much more focused on her loved ones and their needs, but by the end she’s got a wider view of the world and the stakes…which will make life a lot more complicated for her. 

What it takes to make the readers to love a character? 

I can’t speak for all readers, but for me, I love characters who feel “real”. I love characters who behave like real people – sometimes they do or say the wrong thing, or they hurt people they care about. Characters who have unique and interesting traits, who go through a transformation. I LOVE watching female characters grow and change and become strong and self-assured.

I read on your site that your high school role model/icon was Buffy Summers (from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer). Has Aris something in common with Buffy? What differentiates them? 

Aris is a lot like Buffy in that people constantly underestimate her, especially at the beginning of the book. But, unlike Buffy, she also underestimates herself. She doesn’t have as much confidence as Buffy does at first. But she grows into it and is much stronger than she ever gave herself credit for. 

Let's see: we have a war and a warrior, we have the name Aris that is very close to the name of Greek war god. There is any connection or significance? Why and how did you choose the characters’ names? 

Oooh…great question! Very observant! Aris’s name isn’t necessarily a specific call-out to Ares, the Greek god of war, but it IS intentional that her name has a Greek feel to it. The dominion where she lives, Atalanta, is Mediterranean in flavor, which is reflected in the characters’ names (Aris, Calix, Dysis, Dianthe, etc) and the topography. Characters from Ruslana (a different dominion) have more of a Russian cadence to their names, etc. The story takes place in a far future where the world has been kind of “reset”…but there are still influences from our current geography and culture. 

Shattered Veil is the first book of The Diatous War Series. What is your opinion about cliffhangers? 

I feel very strongly that each book in a series should be satisfying in and of itself. It should have its own story and character arcs, and there should be at least SOME resolution at the end. I can’t promise there aren’t lingering questions at the end of Shattered Veil and its sequel, but I don’t think the endings of either could be considered cliffhangers. 

What are the first five qualities that a SF or any other book must have to be a great one? 

Hmm. I’d say believable characters, a well-drawn world, lots of great conflict, some element of the book that really makes you think, and a story that’s easy to emotionally invest in. 

Thanks so much for having me!

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About the author:

Tracy E. Banghart is a cheesy movie–loving, fantasy football–playing (go Ravens!), globe-trotting Army wife who began “practicing” her craft at the age of five, when she wrote her first story. She loves visiting the international friends she met while pursuing her MA in Publishing and spends a portion of every summer at her family’s cabin in Canada, where she finds inspiration and lots of time to relax on the dock. She lives with her husband, son, two lazy dogs and one ornery cat. When not writing or spending time with her family, she is on a mission to bake the perfect cupcake.

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Author's Giveaway:

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