Blog Tour: Tammar Stein Interview and Giveaway

I'm excited to introduce Tammar Stein, author of the newly released Kindred, as one of the first stops on her blog tour hosted by The Teen {Book} Scene.

1. KINDRED is quite different from your other two published novels, what made you delve into fantasy?

I never intended to delve into fantasy. I was very intimidated by the crowds and as you said, my other novels were nothing like that. I was finishing up the edits on my second novel, HIGH DIVE, and kind of at loose ends. I was driving one day when this scene flashed through my mind: a young woman visited by a terrifying archangel. I decided to write it as a short story. I showed it to my husband and he said, “This is your next novel.” I was shocked. I literally said, “But this isn’t what I write!” However, since he was adamant there was more to the story then the ten pages he read, I started writing, figuring that within a few days my inspiration would dry out, I’d hit a brick wall--story wise--and move on to something else. That never happened.

2. What was your reaction when you first saw your cover? Was it what you had imagined?

I loved it! I thought it was moody and dangerous. I love that Mo is on the back. They really are two sides of the same coin.

3. Miriam is a unique name, what made you choose it for your main character?

As soon my protagonists come to me, they have their name. I don’t really know why her name is Miriam. It worked well, though, that Miriam and Moses are brother and sister in the bible. It’s a nice parallel.

4. What has been your favorite place to travel to?

So much of a traveling experience is about what happens when you’re there. So sure, Prague is gorgeous, but my favorite memory from there meeting an expat couple visiting from London. Even though Prague is such a large city, my husband and I kept running into them, at our hotel, at a museum, at a random restaurant. We ended up having dinner together. All I remember from that dinner is how hard I laughed at their misadventures in England and that we were the last table to leave.

In Ireland, it was that our bartender would sling hilarious insults at the band members playing Irish jigs by the peat fire.

In Rome it was getting locked out of the hostel after missing the ten o’clock curfew and hanging out with police academy cadets all night long. (A version of that even made it into HIGH DIVE.)

In the end, it’s always about the people I meet. Traveling seems to open me up to experiences that I probably just miss running errands in my neighborhood.

5. What's next for you writing wise?

I’m working on a companion to KINDRED. A very minor character from KINDRED will have their very own book where their story and their celestial encounters will be told.

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Thanks so much, Tammar! For more info on Tammar visit her website or check out my review of Kindred.

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I also have an ARC of KIndred to pass on to one lucky reader. US Only. Ends February 22.

Please fill out THIS FORM to be entered.

Review: Kindred by Tammar Stein

Kindred by Tammar Stein

The first time I meet an angel, it is Raphael and I am eighteen.

Miriam is an unassuming college freshman stuck on campus after her spring break plans fall through. She's not a religious girl--when pressed she admits reluctantly to believing in a higher power. Truth be told, she's about as comfortable speaking about her faith as she is about her love life, which is to say, not at all. And then the archangel Raphael pays Miriam a visit, and she finds herself on a desperate mission to save two of her contemporaries. To top it all off, her twin brother, Mo, has also had a visitation, but from the opposite end of the good-evil spectrum, which leaves Miriam to wonder--has she been blessed and her brother cursed orvice versa? And what is the real purpose behind her mission?

Review:

Going into Kindred I had no idea what to expect. The summary was rather vague and I had read only a few reviews. The novel started off a bit slow and jumped around a lot, but I ended up liking this original and intense new release by Tammar Stein.

To start off, Kindred was a very religion centered novel. There were many references to Christianity, Judaism, the Bible, God, the Devil, and more. I'm not religious at all so I didn't always understand what was going on. I wouldn't say I was extremely uncomfortable reading it, but some people might be.

The main character Miriam is visited by an archangel and she is sent on a couple of missions to "save" people. After feeling she failed her first mission, Miriam leaves school and starts working at a newspaper firm down south. Living there she meets a variety of new people and makes a good friend in Emmett, the owner of the local tattoo parlor. Emmett was a sweet guy under all his ink and was always there for Miriam when she needed someone the most. Miriam's life was never easy after being first visited by Raphael. She starts to suffer from chronic diarrhea, aches and pains, and sleeplessness. When she gets another vision and discovers the identity of the next person she needs to help Miriam hopes succeeding in "saving" them will make God happy enough to cure her. Miriam is forced to question her faith and belief in both herself, God, and, eventually, her twin brother Moses as the novel progresses. She suffers a lot and is faced with some difficult decisions.

The first few chapters jumped around a bit but after I got into it I was very intrigued by Miriam and Moses ("Mo"). Their experiences with good and evil was a different concept and religion was presented in a unique way in Kindred. The plot was very complex and a variety of sub plots tied together by the end. I was constantly wondering what was going to happen next.

College age characters are few and far between in YA literature so it was interesting to read about a girl entering the "adult" world and living on her own.

All in all, Kindred was a unique and complex start to a series that while at times slow was an overall interesting read. I learned some religious references and ideals I'd never heard before and Miriam was a main character I did like. I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for Tammar.

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars

February 8, 2011/Knopf BFYR/272 Pages/Young Adult

Source: Publisher/Author (ARC)