REBECCA ROSS, The Author, of THE QUEEN’S RISING

Biography

Rebecca Ross received her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Georgia. In the past, she has worked at a Colorado dude ranch, as a school librarian, and as a live-time captionist for a college. She resides in northeast Georgia with her husband and her dog. The Queen’s Rising is her debut novel.

Twitter @_RebeccaRoss.

THE QUEEN’S RISING: DUE OUT: 02/06/2018

THE QUEEN’S RISING

When her seventeenth summer solstice arrives, Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron. Growing up in the southern Kingdom of Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her for such a life. While some are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she belatedly chose to study knowledge. However, despite all her preparations, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true—the solstice does not go according to plan and she is left without a patron. Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, and with no other choices, she accepts. But there is much more to his story, and Brienna soon discovers that he has sought her out for his own vengeful gain. For there is a dangerous plot being planned to overthrow the king of Maevana—the archrival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the northern throne. And others are involved—some closer to Brienna than she realizes. With war brewing between the two lands, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to—passion or blood. Because a queen is destined to rise and lead the battle to reclaim the crown. The ultimate decision Brienna must determine is: Who will be that queen? With gorgeous description and detailed rendering of a world where not everything and everyone are what they seem, debut author Rebecca Ross weaves an intricate tale of revenge, loyalty, and, ultimately, self-discovery.

Grave Mercy meets Red Queen in this epic debut fantasy, inspired by Renaissance France. Rebecca writes fantasy for young adult readers. Her debut novel, THE QUEEN’S RISING, from Harper Teen. THE QUEEN’S RISING is set to be translated into Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian, Turkish, Bulgarian, Dutch, German, Hebrew and will be available in the UK.

PRE-ORDER:

ALSO PRE-ORDER AT

Keplers
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Tattered Cover
Changing Hands
Schuler Books and Music
Harvard Book Store
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Kobo
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Book Depository

EVENTS COMING UP FOR REBECCA ROSS!

Book Events
Wednesday, March 7th, 6:00 pm
The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross will be featured on/at:
RED BALLOON, 891 Grand AVE Saint Paul, MN 55105
Thursday, March 8th, 7:00 pm
The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross will be featured on/at:
BARNES AND NOBLE #2060, 1204 2601 Preston Rd Frisco, TX 75034
Friday, March 9th, 7:30 pm
The Queen’s Rising by Rebecca Ross will be featured on/at:
THE LAST BOOKSTORE, 453 S Spring ST Los Angeles, CA 90013

REBECCA’S SITE

INTERVIEW WITH REBECCA ROSS HERE

This is a fantastic author and you won’t want to miss her interview! So stay tuned! I see great things ahead for her and I want all of you to find out just how talented this author is. So when the interview opens up: grab your mug of warmth, sit back and relax and read on!

Critical Praise
★“Sophisticated plotting is the hallmark of this debut, which deftly navigates complex, treasonous plots and political intrigue. [A] Stunning literary adventure.” — Booklist (starred review)

“A sprawling girl-powered fantasy. A compelling page-turner. Hand this magical debut to readers who loved Shannon Hale’s Princess Academy or Sarah J. Maas’s “Throne of Glass” series.” — School Library Journal
Product Details
ISBN: 9780062471345
ISBN 10: 0062471341
Imprint: HarperTeen
On Sale: 02/06/2018
Trimsize: 5.5 in x 8.25 in (h) x 1.41 in (d)
Pages: 464
List Price: 17.99 USD
BISAC1: YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Fantasy / Epic
BISAC2: YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Historical / Medieval
BISAC3: YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Royalty

I had to include this story found on Rebecca’s website in this author’s page. It was too heart-felt, and too beautiful not to share it with you all. Visit her site, check out her book… Her soul is outlined with beautiful words. You will see this in her writing. 🙂

FROM THE AUTHOR:

The Long-winded Tale:
The very first book I wrote was a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. I was six, and took it upon myself to also illustrate.

After that, I never stopped writing.
All through elementary, middle and high school, I was a voracious reader, and some of my favorite books growing up were The Chronicles of Narnia, Beauty by Robin McKinley, Mara Daughter of the Nile by Eloise Jarvis McGraw, The Lord of the Rings, the Dear America Diaries, The Saddle Club, and anything by Jane Austen. I have so many containers of loose papers, of abandoned chapter ones, of complete story outlines that never went anywhere, and random scenes I wrote that I simply could not throw away. Most of these early stories were very similar to the aforementioned books that I loved, because those stories impacted me deeply, and I was still trying to discover my own voice on the page.
I wrote a lot through high school. I am the oldest of six children, which means 1) I am very driven and stubbornly dedicate myself wholeheartedly to things and 2) my younger siblings used to spy on me. They claim I was very boring to spy on, because I would literally be in my room writing. I didn’t date while I was in high school, but I played basket ball and volleyball, had amazing girl friends, rode horses everyday, and my literary BF was Aragorn.
When I started college, I was an English major. Between all the papers and literature and part time jobs, I had no time to write for myself. Even so, I soaked in plenty of words and stories. But I soon got asked this question A LOT: “What are you going to do with an English major? Teach? Oh, you’re not going to teach? Well, what on earth are you going to do with an English major?” I did not choose to study English to teach; I chose to study English because I was passionate about writing. But when I answered those people, saying, “I want to write for a living,” they would look at me as if I had just said, “I am going to Hollywood and am going to star in a movie with Brad Pitt.” And yes, I understand why I got those looks. To write for a living is an incredible gift, and requires a lot of grit and determination to get there.
So when I transferred to UGA, I changed my major. I decided I should aim for a major that would give me a definite job when I graduated, and quiet those looks I was getting. I’ve always been fascinated with nutrition, so I chose Dietetics. It was a bold choice, and I am not a risk taker. I floundered through a year of heavily science based classes. But it wasn’t until I was sitting in my Organic Chemistry class (literally, one of the hardest classes in UGA) waiting for lecture to begin did the magic return to me in the smallest of ways. There was a school newspaper crumbled at my feet, and I picked it up. I smoothed away the wrinkles to read an article about Jackson Pearce, who is a UGA alumni and an incredible YA author. I read about her books and why she writes YA, and I thought, Becca, what are you doing sitting in this chemistry class? Why aren’t you writing? Why aren’t you going for it, like Jackson? But remember how I told you I was the stubbornly dedicated oldest? Yeah. I literally had to get a D in O-Chem to realize that 1) I was miserable and failing at this 2) I needed to redirect my life. I tell this story because I want you to know that failures are never final unless you choose them to be, and that sometimes it takes a failure to help you see what path you need to be on.
So I returned to English. And the first thing to greet me when I walked into Park Hall was this: someone had taken a permanent marker, drawn a Hobbit foot on the wall with the slogan “Frodo Lives.” I knew then that I had come home. I graduated cum laude with my bachelors in English in May of 2012. I went on to work at another college and it was a wonderful job, but I still was not writing.
It was a cold night on January 5, 2015, and I was sitting at my dining room table, working on story ideas. That was when I first saw Brienna talking with this handsome, strict Master Cartier, and she said to me, “The summer solstice is in eight days, and I still have not mastered my passion.” And I was like, “Who are you and what are you talking about?” It was the seed that THE QUEEN’S RISING bloomed from. And once I realized what Brienna was talking about, I drafted the book in a wild can’t eat, can’t sleep forty-eight days.
Seven drafts later, on May 13, I queried Suzie Townsend. She loved it, offered to represent me, and I cried like a baby. On October 1, 2015, Karen Chaplin at HarperTeen read it and made me a preemptive offer to publish it and two other books. Again, I cried like a baby.
I tell you all of this because I want you to know that THE QUEEN’S RISING would not have happened had I not pursued what I loved. It began when I was six years old, retelling Beauty and the Beast. It was encouraged through all the years I read and wrote, trying to find my own voice. And it was challenged when I realized that I shouldn’t waste four years of my college life studying something I am not passionate about. Life is too short and arduous to not go for what you love.
Follow your passion.