The Fading Dusk by Melissa Giorgio
(Smoke and Mirrors, #1)
Publication date: July 19th 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
In the gritty city of Dusk, seventeen-year-old Irina makes her living as the street magician Bantheir’sassistant. The job isn’t glamorous, but she loves the crowds, the shows, and most of all, the illusion of magic. But Irina’s world is shattered the night she is arrested and charged as Bantheir’s accomplice to murder—murder by magic.
Real magic, the kind that’s been forbidden since the old wars.
Irina finds the idea of flashy showman Bantheir using actual magic to kill someone laughable, but she’s the only one who sees how ridiculous the claim is. But how can she convince everyone Bantheir is innocent when they’ve already made up their minds? Desperate, Irina must decide who she can trust to help her win her freedom. Is the surly, handsome Captain Leonid telling the truth when he says he believes Irina is innocent, or is he just using her to get to Bantheir? What about Aden, the sweet soldier and longtime fan of Irina’s who claims he’s on her side?
Irina said she wanted to know the truth, but when she stumbles across a dark secret that changes everything, will she be strong enough to survive?
INTERVIEW
Hi, Melissa! Welcome to We Do Write. Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hello and thanks for having me! My name is Melissa Giorgio, and I’m the author of both the Smoke and Mirrors series and the Silver Moon Saga. I’m a giant book nerd who loves attending book events and meeting my favorite authors. I also enjoy traveling, although New York, my hometown, is my favorite place to be.
Tell our readers a bit about THE FADING DUSK.
The Fading Dusk is a YA fantasy set in a world where magic is forbidden after a catastrophic war a thousand years ago nearly wiped out all of the magicians and led to the extinction of the dragons. Irina, our protagonist, is Bantheir the street magician’s assistant. The magic might not be real anymore, but the citizens of Dusk who visit the shows still love being dazzled by the tricks. After one such show, Irina’s world is thrown for a loop when she’s arrested for aiding Bantheir in the murder of innocent citizens—murder by magic. Convinced of Bantheir’s innocence, Irina must work together with the very same people who arrested her to discover the truth.
How did the idea of the story come to you?
I was having a conversation with my dad (unfortunately I don’t remember exactly what we were discussing!) and the term “smoke and mirrors” came up. For some reason that phrase stuck with me (it was the original title for a little while!), and it conjured up images of a girl walking through the dark streets of a city. Who was she? Where was she going? I needed to know the answers to those questions, and that’s how The Fading Dusk came about.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
My process for each manuscript is different, but I’m definitely a little bit of both. I try to do a general outline (I need a beginning and character names before I can start writing!) with major plot points, but I don’t have to know every single detail. Most of the time my outlines change once I start writing the manuscript, so writing out a detailed outline would be a waste of my time. However, I do try to come up with the ending as soon as possible, down to what the very last line will be. That usually does not change.
What’s the hardest part of writing for you?
When a scene doesn’t work and I have to figure out a way to make it work. I usually have to take a step back (which I don’t like doing!) and think about it long and hard before I can go back to the scene and start fixing it. I don’t mind cutting thousands of words and rewriting scenes, but sometimes I can’t for the life of me figure out what needs to go in that scene to make it work. It can be very frustrating, and the longer I go without a solution, the worse I feel. Both The Fading Dusk and its sequel required rewrites (sometimes scenes needed to be rewritten multiple times), but I always say the books that give me the hardest times are the ones I end up loving the most.
What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?
My USB drive so I can back up my document as soon as I’m done. I’m paranoid my computer will crash and I’ll lose everything!
If you could have any super power, what would it be?
Flying, so I wouldn’t have to deal with airport security and long taxi lines on the runway!
What's the weirdest thing you've googled?
I was researching different types of poisons earlier this year.
Finish this sentence: If I'm not writing, I'm probably ...
Reading!
Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.
First of all, a huge thank you to Amy McNulty (author of the Never Veil series), my best friend and beta reader. She reads everything first, and if something doesn’t work, she not only lets me know, but she helps me figure it out. I send her many, many rambling emails in which I discuss the scenes and characters, and it helps so much. And a thank you and so much love to my parents, who are my biggest supporters. They push my books to everyone I know, and it means the world to me. Also, thank you to my friends for being with me every step of the way.
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog to chat with us!
Thank you! It was a blast!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Melissa Giorgio is a native New Yorker who graduated from Queens College with a degree in English. She’s always dreamed of being a writer and has been creating stories (mostly in her head) since she was a little girl. Also an avid reader, Melissa loves to devour thick YA novels. When not reading or writing, she enjoys watching animated films, listening to music by her favorite Japanese boy band, or exploring Manhattan. She is also the author of the Silver Moon Saga.
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