Blog Tour & Guest Post: WE RULE THE NIGHT by Claire Eliza Bartlett

WE RULE THE NIGHT
by Claire Eliza Bartlett
Date Published: April 2, 2019; Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Young Adult, Fantasy

About the book:

Two girls use forbidden magic to fly and fight–for their country and for themselves–in this riveting debut that’s part Shadow and Bone, part Code Name Verity.

Seventeen-year-old Revna is a factory worker, manufacturing war machines for the Union of the North. When she’s caught using illegal magic, she fears being branded a traitor and imprisoned. Meanwhile, on the front lines, Linné defied her father, a Union general, and disguised herself as a boy to join the army. They’re both offered a reprieve from punishment if they use their magic in a special women’s military flight unit and undertake terrifying, deadly missions under cover of darkness. Revna and Linné can hardly stand to be in the same cockpit, but if they can’t fly together, and if they can’t find a way to fly well, the enemy’s superior firepower will destroy them–if they don’t destroy each other first.

We Rule the Night is a powerful story about sacrifice, complicated friendships, and survival despite impossible odds.

Top Five Unforgettable Moments on the road to publication

by Claire Eliza Bartlett

The road to publication is exciting, daunting, terrifying...lots of emotions ending in -ing! It’s an emotional roller coaster, so here are my top five unforgettable moments on the road to publication!

5) My first full request

Technically, I got my first full request before I even started querying! I entered a contest shortly after deciding that my novel was ready to get an agent (the First Five Pages contest, held by Adventures in YA Publishing). I had a great time commenting on my fellow contestants’ entries, and afterward I was contacted by one of the other contestants, who was an assistant to a literary agent! Ultimately they passed, but it was a great boost to my confidence.

4) My first rave review from a stranger

When you start connecting your novel to friends and colleagues, the reviews pop up. And they’re wonderful! But there’s always that lingering fear in the back of an author’s mind...what if they’re just being nice to me? What if my good reviews are pity reviews? When will the bad reviews roll in? Getting the first good review from someone I didn’t know started to make things real for me. People I don’t know are reading this book, and it’s having an impact on them.

3) Seeing my cover for the first time

My cover went through a couple of iterations, so seeing the final version was a huge event for me. Our first cover idea was very different stylistically, and I’d been on the loop for the whole development of the cover - so I was super nervous when I heard it was going to change. But when I saw my new cover I shouted, “OH MY GOD” so loudly that my friend ran out of the bathroom to see what was wrong! My cover is on my computer wallpaper, my phone’s lock screen, my business cards...and I’m still not tired of it. I’ll never get tired of it.

2) Getting my offers of publication

I was a mess when my agent put my novel out on submission. We started at the beginning of the summer, and I got no writing done whatsoever. When my agent first notified me that we had publisher interest, I wanted to scream (I couldn’t, because I was in a cafe with some friends)! I talked to two different publishers about their vision for my novel. It was so eye opening! Different editors have such different visions, and the feeling I had when I knew the path I wanted to take...it was like anything was possible.

1) Getting my offer of representation

This is the number one unforgettable moment for me on the path to publication. I got an email from my now agent, Kurestin Armada, on my birthday, January 1. I was in the kitchen with my sister, making dinner for some friends who’d come over to celebrate. I remember seeing Kurestin’s name come up in my email queue and thinking, ‘There’s no way she’d send me bad news on New Year’s Day...right?’ Indeed there wasn’t! We scheduled a call for the following week. Talking to Kurestin about how to improve my novel really impressed upon me how well she’d clicked with the material. It felt like she was inside my writer brain...but six months ahead, so she could see the novel’s problems. The next ten days were a whirlwind as I checked my agent spreadsheet and followed up with other interested agents. In the end I had six offers of representation, and I won’t deny that picking just one agent was the hardest decision of my career (so far!). In the end I went with Kurestin because of her vision and understanding...and it’s led me to the perfect editor match, and many great things to come!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about these unforgettable moments. I hope that others will soon be having some unforgettable publishing moments of their own!

Author Links:
Website Facebook Twitter Goodreads Instagram

Claire Bartlett lives in an enchanted forest apartment in Copenhagen with too many board games and too few cats.

Get more detailed information, like how many board games is too many, how many cats is too few, and what book-related beauties I'm working on by signing up for my newsletter.

FOLLOW THE TOUR

April 2nd

The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club - Welcome Post

April 3rd

Moonlight Rendezvous - Review

Library of a Book Witch - Review

the Bibliophagist - Review

April 4th

My Bookish Escapades - Guest Post

Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile - Review

Pages Below the Vaulted Sky - Review + Favourite Quotes

April 5th