The Rest Is Still Unwritten: Sirenz Blog Tour (Guest Post)

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Sirenz Blog Tour (Guest Post)

Welcome to the Sirenz Blog Tour hosted by Betwitching Book Tours!

A combined effort from authors Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zarman, Sirenz hit stores in June of this year and is already proving to be a hit, with readers devouring the new book.

Bickering frenemies Meg and Shar are doing some serious damage at a midnight sample sale when they find themselves arguing over a pair of shoes—with fatal consequences. One innocent bystander later, the girls are suddenly at the mercy of Hades—the god of the underworld—himself. To make them atone for what they’ve done, Hades forces the teens to become special-assignment Sirens, luring to the Underworld any individual whose unholy contract is up.

But just because they have an otherworldly part-time job now doesn’t mean Meg and Shar can ignore life’s drudgeries (work) or pleasures (fashion!). Finding that delicate balance between their old and new responsibilities turns out to be harder than they expected, especially when an entire pantheon of Greek deities decides to get involved. Then there’s the matter of the fine print in their contracts . . .

I've yet to get myself a copy of this book, but I've heard so fantastic things about it and if the prose is anything to go by then it sounds fabulous!

In celebration of the book and as part of it's virtual book tour Charlotte and Natalie have combined forces once more to talk about some of the prominent pairings and characters in their book.

With out further ado I give you Charlotte Bennardo and Natalie Zarman.........

Dynamic, Dark and Dangerous: Duos, SIRENZ Style!

There's nothing like the power of TWO—and we know that well, being co-authors. Singular characters like Harry Potter capture the imagination, but it's the pairings, be it friendship or courtship, that capture the heart (heck, even Harry doesn't end up alone!). Looking at SIRENZ, we’ve found it’s full of dualities. We can’t say that we did it on purpose, it seemed to just unfold that way, with each pairing offering something different in characterization, depth and posing challenges to the main characters.

• Hades and his wife Persephone, the rebels of SIRENZ, can only be described as dangerous. They’re both egotistical, spoiled, powerful, and possess a wicked streak. While they have their vulnerabilities—Hades with Persephone and beautiful females, and Persephone with Hades and herself—make no mistake that these two, if ever allowed to concurrently occupy the mortal plane, would unleash trouble of the caliber usually reserved for the apocalypse (and one which we've explored for future installments of the SIRENZ series). Zeus was smart to separate them.

• Meg and Jeremy are the counterbalance to Shar and Hades. Meg and Jeremy share an attraction that is sweet, innocent, and young. She is unsure about her allure to Jeremy, wondering if it’s all somehow a big mistake and he’s going to change his mind for the classically pretty Shar. For his part, Jeremy focuses exclusively on Meg, never giving Shar more than a passing indifferent smile, much to Shar’s annoyance who is infatuated with him, frustrating Hades. The Lord of the Underworld chases Shar with a single-minded determination. As light as the romance between Jeremy and Meg is, the pairing of Hades and Shar is dark; Hades tries to tempt, seduce and bribe Shar for his own selfish purposes. Being godly, immortal, gorgeous, sexy, and powerful, it’s hard for a high school girl to resist.

• Hades’ attentions aren’t limited to Shar and Persephone. He also has a relationship, albeit an obscure one, with Arkady Romanov. The elusive fashion designer strikes an unholy bargain with the Lord of the Underworld. The aftermath is a scene played out in life, literature and stage; sell your soul and then fight to evade payment when the bill comes due. It’s a situation that begs the question Is Arkady victim, or villain? The reader only knows so much of Arkady’s story—as do Meg and Shar. They have to consider this as they try to complete their task and save their own hides while Hades’ tricks and twists lead them on a merry dance.

• And what of Demeter and Persephone? This mother-daughter duo share a typical relationship consisting of power struggles between child and parent. Demeter still sees Persephone as “her baby.” However, Persephone as we’ve portrayed her is very much her own person, and chaffs at any kind of control. Being Greek gods and endowed with powers, when their squabbles spill over into the mortal world, mortals suffer.

• And finally there’s Meg and Shar. Petite, dark haired, earthy, goth, and contemplative Margaret Wiley and tall, blond, cosmopolitan, light and spontaneous Sharisse Johnson somehow find common ground. But polar opposites—especially given the girls’ employment by Hades— make for extreme situations, fiery dialogue, and the need for compromise. Because of this, the task becomes more difficult, but each girl brings her own strengths to the relationship. In the end, what they have in common on the inside—an innate human goodness—turns out to be the only thing that really counts.

Duality continues in SIRENZ BACK IN FASHION (FLUX, 2012) when Meg and Shar dabble in two deals that double the trouble and the hilarity.

About the authors:

Charlotte Bennardo is the co-author of Sirenz, the first in a YA contemporary fantasy series published by Flux. When not contemplating embarrassing situations for the characters in the sequels, she works on her own YA, MG and adult level novels. She has been published in magazines, newspapers, e-zines and anthologies. She is held captive in New Jersey by three sons, husband, cat and friends.
Learn more about or visist Charlotte:
~http://charlotteebennardo.blogspot.com/
~http://twitter.com/charbennardo
~http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1665283912

Natalie Zaman is the co-author of Sirenz, the first in a YA contemporary fantasy series published by Flux. Her work has appeared in various magazines, newspapers, e-zines and anthologies for adults and children. She's currently plotting disasters for the characters of Sirenz and working on a Victorian steampunk fantasy for teens. Natalie lives in central New Jersey with her family and several fine looking chickens.
Learn more about or visit Natalie:
~http://nataliezaman.blogspot.com/
~http://twitter.com/Natalie_Zaman
~http://www.facebook.com/natalie.zaman