Jennifer Estep joins us today to talk about her new book YA fantasy Touch of Frost, on sale today in stores! Here’s a link to my review of the fantastic book.
And keep reading after the interview for a giveaway of Touch of Frost!
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Can you tell us a bit about Touch of Frost in your own words?
Sure. Touch of Frost is the first book in my Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series. The books focus on Gwen Frost, a 17-year-old Gypsy girl who has the gift of psychometry, or the ability to know an object’s history just by touching it. After a serious freak-out with her magic, Gwen is shipped off to Mythos Academy, a school for the descendants of ancient warriors like Spartans, Valkyries, Amazons, and more.
In Touch of Frost, Gwen is getting used to going to a new school and trying to figure out how she fits in with the other warrior whiz kids, as she calls them. Gwen doesn’t think that she belongs at Mythos Academy, but when a girl is murdered in the Library of Antiquities, Gwen decides to use her psychometry magic to figure out who killed the girl and why. Of course, Gwen gets into a lot of trouble along the way.
Basically, Touch of Frost features myths, magic, monsters, and mean girls.
The mythology and lore is quite extensive in this series debut. How much research did you have to do?
I researched information on various gods, goddesses, monsters, and more. But really, I tried to put my own spin on things. I’m using a lot of Greek and Norse myths in the books, but I’m definitely twisting and changing them around to fit in with the world that I’ve created and the story that I want to tell – about this girl who finds out that she’s stronger and more of a warrior than she ever thought she could be.
A majority of recent YA fantasy seems to be geared toward the female audience. What do you think sets apart your new series from others?