[Blog Tour] These gilded Bones May Bloom by C.G. Honer – Magical Author Q&A + Review!

Hi C.G., thanks for chatting with me about your gorgeous book! Can you tell us a little about your author journey? How These Gilded Bones May Bloom went from seed of an idea to finished novel in your hands?

Thanks for having me! And I love talking about the book, so I’m excited to dig into its evolution! These Gilded Bones May Bloom exists primarily because I thought it’d be cool to publish something on my 29th/golden birthday. In March of this year, that idea morphed into a short story anthology consisting of 29 stories across three different worlds–each of which stemmed from existing novels I’m planning/drafting. Originally, in my head, the anthology was going to act as a jumping off point, or a prequel of sorts. But once I actually started writing—met new characters, learned their stories, saw vague glimpses of their possible futures—the anthology became its own entity, a demanding one at that. It wanted interior character/world art and fancy chapter headers and so many little details that required so much patience. It has been a long journey from idea to finished novel, but despite the frustrations, I’m so proud of the end result.

You should be so proud!! It’s an absolutely beautiful book. Favourite thing about writing fantasy?

I think one of the best parts about fantasy is making up the rules of a world, uncovering the history and lore. I am very much a pantser, I discover the world as I go along, so it’s a super fun part of the process. The first two sections are set in a fantasy and contemporary world respectively and were pretty fleshed out already. But the third section was new, giving me lots of room to play and explore what made this world unique. Spoilers: it’s sirens and fallible gods.

We do love some sirens and fallible gods 👀👌🏻 Which was the easiest vs hardest of the stories to write?

The easiest story was probably The Way Cities Breathe. It’s short, and inspired by a chapter from Adrienne Young’s novel Spells for Forgetting, where the POV is a place rather than a person. The reality is some stories don’t need an author to figure out plot twists or foreshadowing, they just need someone to transcribe them, and for me that was The Way Cities Breathe. The hardest story to write was probably the very last one that I wrote, A Rose By Any Other Name. At that point I was dealing with burnout after drafting so many stories in such a short time span. There were lots of false starts and repetitive ideas, but eventually I found my way and now it’s actually one of my favorites.

I really enjoyed the Way Cities Breathe and just that perspective. Did any of the stories turn out differently to how you expected?

Yes! More than one, because characters have a will of their own, but the first that comes to mind is To Brave the Sea. It had a few early iterations that were more romance focused, the typical girl meets boy, boy owes dangerous (and hotter) boy money, and ensuing violence is followed by girl and hotter boy having a Moment™. Delightful as that was, it just wasn’t as strong as the other stories. The final version focused more on the main character’s internal struggles and the pressures of familial expectations. But also there’s a cute boy.

When do you usually write and what is your writing space like?

I’m a night owl, so most of my writing takes place after midnight and ends somewhere around three or four in the morning. Basically, I have a really terrible sleep schedule and I’m sure that’s gonna come back to bite me at some point, but for now it works. My writing space is pretty undefined currently–usually just the couch. My ideal writing space is one where I’m surrounded by books, bookish art, and aesthetically pleasing lighting.

Oh same 🤣 What is a sleep schedule anyway. Can we beg for a hint about what you’re working on next? 👀👀👀

Yesssss! Writing twenty-nine short stories introduced me to a lot of fun characters, and some of them have very loud ideas about future adventures they’d like to go on. Because of that I’m kinda working on a few things. The project I’m drafting is a new adult fantasy novel, with enemies-to-lovers, assassins, royal politics, and elemental powers. The novel I’m plotting (and occasionally writing scenes for) is probably going to fall under the romantasy genre. Also new adult, also enemies-to-lovers (I like what I like), and takes place primarily at sea.

It already sounds amazing and knowing how beautiful your writing is…I can’t wait! One last question! What have been some of your favourite author moments so far?

There have been a lot of amazing moments: seeing the cover art for the first time, getting early feedback from readers, connecting with talented artists, holding the physical book in my hands, finding a solution to a formatting issue that I was really worried about, and watching my Grandma (who the book is dedicated to) open a finished edition at Christmas. It’s very surreal to me that These Gilded Bones May Bloom is coming out this month, but I’m so excited for people to read it and fall for these characters the same way I have.

Wishing you the very happiest release on January 29th!! And thank you for the amazing answers and all these insights about your epic book. ✨💛

Enter the Rafflecopter below where one reader will win a physical copy of These Gilded Bones May Bloom and the preorder incentives (3 phone wallpapers, 2 art prints, 1 sticker, 1 bookmark)! Ends on January 14th, 2022. Winner will be announced in the Rafflecopter & contacted via email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway