BooksChatter: ℚ♫ Seasons Within: Seasons Within [1]

Today we have the pleasure of meeting up with author Lele Iturrioz to talk about Seasons Within - Seasons Within (1 December 2016, Acorn Publishing, 306 pages), a Young Adult Fantasy, book first of Seasons Within series.

“Seasons Within should come with a warning, so here it is: Careful, highly addictive!” Adriana González Marquez, Best Selling Author.

|| Synopsis || Teaser: KCR Preview || Author Q&A || About the Author || Giveaway & Tour Stops ||

A very warm welcome to Lele Iturrioz; thank you for joining us on BooksChatter!

To my delight, we start with Lele's music playlist for Seasons Within - enjoy!

What was the inspiration for Seasons Within?

"Honestly, a bunch of flying leafs. A year and a half ago I went for a walk while listening to Breath of Life by Florence and the Machine. That day the street was covered with lots of leafs and it was super windy. So when the wind came, it made all the leaves fly. The mix between the epic music, and the dancing leafs was awesome! I was so excited that I began to dance among the flying leafs. Besides the fact that I looked like a crazy person swinging my arms to the sky, for a moment I felt like I was the one moving them.

And that’s how the idea of G, my main character was born, a girl who had the power to move Nature in a world that was possible."

How much of yourself is reflected in this book, and how?

"More than I thought it would. After re-reading and editing like a million times, I realized that the book was a reflection of my dreams, my fears, my beliefs and all the people I love."

The first thing that draws me to a book is its cover. Can you tell us about your cover for Seasons Within - why you chose that concept and who the artist is.

"Seasons Within will be a 5 book series. I wanted the first book to be about G finding out who she really is and the other four books will be divided in the 4 seasons she needs to survive before her Resurgence. That’s why the first cover is about G and all the seasons within herself.

The artist is Joanna Haber and the designer is Ibet Sakoda. (they are the best!)"

Why should we read Seasons Within and what sets it apart from the rest? What makes your book unique?

"It’s a whole new world full of adventure, romance, friendship, fantasy and quirky humour."

Can you tell us something quirky about Seasons Within, its story and characters?

"I love hiding secrets and symbolism in my writing, kinda like a puzzle for the readers to find out. Most of the names mean something, like willow is a name of a tree but the girl who wields the earth element’s name is Willow. The rest is for you to find :-)"

Who would you recommend Seasons Within to and what should readers be aware of (any warnings or disclaimers)?

"I would recommend it to any 13-18+ who loves fantasy and diverse characters. There are some war scenes and for that, I wouldn’t recommend it for kids."

If you could / wished to turn Seasons Within and the Seasons Within series into a movie, who would be your dream team?

"Super cool! My cast would be…. Director: Alfonzo Cuarón, locations would be the same ones from the book and the cast: Zoey Deutch as G, Max Irons as Edan, Sonakshi Sinha as Priyam, Ni Ni as Shui, Vladimir Yaglych as Veter, Erin Heatherton as Willow, Octavio Pizano as Donovan and Theo James as Pratt (or as G or as anyone he wants, that man is adorable!)"

What do you like to write and read about? Do you stick to a particular Young Adult Fantasy or do you like to explore different ones?

"I like to write about everything! Before SW I wrote a midlife crisis comedy for adults (I will publish it someday), I wrote a drama script for a foreign movie, an animation script, a suspense short film, etc.

Although, even if I try super hard not to, there’s always some sort of comedy and romance in my writing… comedy = not good for suspense."

What is your writing process?

"I have all the SW series already planned, so I take out the outline, my characters guidebook, my notes and I gather inspiration by munching on food while listening to music. Then I sit down and pray to all the writing Gods to help me stay concentrated (and away from the internet) I follow the outline and add any extra scene that came to me on the “munching” inspiration time. I always try to write 4 hours a day or until I reach my 2,000 word count."

What is in store next?

"I’m working on SW sequel, SPRING! The second book is when they go on a journey to return to Terra and since there’s a lot of moving around and walking I concentrated on this book to be more romantic. The readers will also get a lot of humour, secrets revealed, action, Terrian games and backstories of some of the characters."

And as a final quirky thing, to get to know you a little bit better... do you have a pet or something that is special to you that you could share with us?

"I have a gorgeous/evil cat named Moogy whom I’m pretty sure she is the reincarnation of an Egyptian cat and two twin fluffy sugar gliders named Phineas and Ferb."