Guest Post: K. Reed on Chaos and Manners plus Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris

Today’s guest on Reading Reality is K. Reed, the author of the utterly fascinating (read the review) post-apocalyptic Regency romance Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire.

I will say that I picked up Dark Inheritance because a part of me was wondering “how did she do it?” and another part was wondering “why did she do it?” Reading the story itself takes care of the how, and I’m glad I did. it’s a wow!

For the “why”, we have Ms. Reed herself to answer that question!

 

 

Thank you so much for hosting me at your blog today, Marlene! I love that you’re a librarian and that you’ve worked in so many different places. Really gives you a perspective on places and things.

I love this question: There couldn’t be two more opposite images than the “ultra-ordered society of the Regency Era” and the “one half-step away from chaos” that the words Post-Apocalyptic or Dystopian bring to mind. Tell us how you reached the decision to combine those two opposites into a single story concept. Were there any other times and places in the running for your Fallen Empire series?

The world I created in Dark Inheritance…I am a huge fan of the Regency era, I love Jane Austen and so many other Regency authors. I wanted to enter into the historical market and Regency, regardless of the umpteenth time it’s been declared dead in the publishing industry, is still one of the most popular romance genres. Its popularity makes it attractive to historical writers to step into that genre, but it also means a lot of competition.

I wanted to step in. But I also wanted to stand out.

Aside from my love for Regencies and historicals, I enjoy reading many genres, including those that cover the post-apocalyptic. So, through a series of coincidences with what I had been watching (mainly the History Channel) and what I wanted to write (mainly Regency Romances) the world of Dark Inheritance presented itself.

It was exactly because of those rigid rules of society during the Regency Era, that I wanted to smash them and see what their echo in a world like the one I created, would wrought. The traditional Regency is the epitome of rigid rules, and when you alter them or veer them away from the historically known, you create a new world that awaits discovery. I hope you’ll take the time to discover what I’ve created in Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire.

Now then, the places and times for the series. Yes, I absolutely did wonder about other times. I debated between Victorian and Regency, and even wondered about the Colonial Era. For a while the Victorian Era was a frontrunner, mostly because at this time the British Empire’s reach spanned the globe.

In the end, I decided on the Regency Era because it was a much more insular society with incredibly specific rules I could toy with. I also wanted to center it in the British Empire specifically because of their legendary rules of society.

I admit to playing with the idea of a limited series of shorter books that take place within the Fallen Empire series but not set in England. One of the things I didn’t like about The Hunger Games was not knowing what went on in the rest of the world. Or even the exact boundaries of Panem. If I want to know what’s happening elsewhere, I hope others will also!

Ms. Reed, I certainly want to know what’s happening elsewhere. And I want another book in the series, so I can find out! Thank you so much for telling us some of the thoughts that went into the worldbuilding behind Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire.

Tour-wide GIVEAWAY!

Just in case, truly, just in case we experience some kind of apocalyptic event, Ms. Reed wants to make sure her readers are prepared.

So she has graciously agreed to award nine Post-Apocalypse survival baskets (each basket includes tea, a fan, a shawl, a bracelet and more) –Plus ONE Grand Prize basket will include a iPod Touch–to randomly drawn commenters during the tour!

This giveaway is open to US/Canada residents only.

Follow the tour and comment, the more places you comment (be sure to leave a comment here at Reading Reality), the more chances you have to win a basket. You do want to be prepared, don’t you?

May 14: Christine Young
May 15: Live To Read ~ Krystal
May 16: Books Reviewed by Bunny
May 17: Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer
May 18: Ramblings From This Chick
May 21: Queen of all She Reads
May 22: Immortality and Beyond
May 23: Writers and Authors
May 24: Books Are Magic
May 25: Megan Johns Invites
May 28: Novel Reflections
May 29: Reading Reality
May 30: A Case of Reading Insomnia
May 31: Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
June 1: The Life (and lies) of an inanimate flying object
June 4: Reader Girls
June 5: Words of Wisdom from The Scarf Princess
June 6: It’s Raining Books
June 7: Dawn’s Reading Nook
June 8: Adventure Into Romance

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16 thoughts on “Guest Post: K. Reed on Chaos and Manners plus Giveaway”

  7. I loved your review! It really sounds like a stellar read!!! The more that is shared about the book, the more I am enticed!! So he puts her in his bed chambers? Is there a pretend scene where the act out a pre-plague scenario?

    viajeradelmar@aol.com

    2. There’s a scene when they talk about pre-plague things, a couple actually. And one part where several guests try to recapture the past, though beneath all that it’s still very obvious what’s happened.

  8. I liked Pride and Prejudice and Zombies…but this book is not going for laughs. I’m always intrigued by who survives, who doesn’t, and why. Why do the people who have the immunity, have it?
    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

      1. I liked Pride and Prejudice and Zombies also…well, there could have been more zombies and there was that rather large plot hole that didn’t reconcile the original with the zombie one, but that aside, I did enjoy it.

        And because of that I didn’t want any zombies. 🙂

        I based a lot of my survival rate and reasonings on what happened during the Black Plague. More than 50% of the population was killed during then, and those who survived were just the lucky ones. Thos who survived here were lucky; some in the same family survived while other families were wiped out.
        K. Reed recently posted..Win a basket!My Profile

        1. I did think the Black Death was one of the inspirations! Thanks for the confirmation. Albeit a gruesome one.

          P&P&Z is intended as humor, and it works on that level. Dark Inheritance reminded me a teeny bit of Connie Willis’ Doomsday Book, in the scenes where everyone in the 1400s is dead and the time-traveler is alone. Whole villages were wiped out. The world went down a different path because such a big part of the population was wiped out.
          Marlene Harris recently posted..Demonically TemptedMy Profile

          1. I don’t know Connie Willis or her novels (but luckily my local library does and I reserved Doomsday Book!)

            You’re description reminds me (a little) of Quantum Leap, where by changing one little item entire lives are altered, thereby altering the course of communities, counties, states, countries…etc.
            K. Reed recently posted..Part 2: Hatfields and McCoysMy Profile

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