About the Book:
Inexperienced but determined, Connie is desperate to become a caster to save her village from the deadly Shade.
Arrogant and privileged, Jasper is everything she detests. He intends to become a seeker like his father before him, and he has no time for a no-hoper like Connie.
Thrown together at Blackwood, Connie and Jasper are pledged to each other as caster and seeker, learning to light the oath lamps and conquer the Shade, as well as their mutual dislike… but could the undeniable connection that flickers between them become an unbreakable bond? Their lives depend on it, for the vows are failing, the Shade is advancing, and only those with the strongest conviction will survive.
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org UK (affiliate link).
About the Author:
Ellen grew up in Sheffield on the border of the Peak District and still misses the moors. As a child, she spent a lot of time writing long, rambling stories, which somehow over the years have evolved into proper books. These days she lives in Bristol with her young family and you can find her writing around the edges of life.
Interview:
Pitch your book in 10 words!
An unlikely pair unite to fight darkness with light…
If you were a Blackwood cadet, would you want to be a seeker or caster?
Caster! I think I’d be better at perceiving danger than facing it – and I’d love to walk fearlessly through the darkness as a projection, so long as my partner was confident, of course! I like the idea of having amplified senses as well.
This is very much an enemies to lovers arc for Connie and Jasper with Jasper starting out as an arrogant, entitled, spoilt brat. Through his time and experiences at Blackwood he has to confront a lot about himself. What was the biggest challenge in bringing him to the point of being a sympathetic character the reader is rooting for as a love interest?
Let’s hope I succeeded! Jasper is very much the product of his world, and I wanted readers to understand why particular influences in his life (like his friendships with Rowan and Dolapo) mean so much to him. He is essentially lost at the beginning of the story even though on the surface, he appears to have the most certainty. His arc was about discovering a new kind of certainty, rooted in different motivations, so I would say the biggest challenge was in getting that transition right. It’s not a character transplant, it’s a realisation of what actually matters to him – and Connie is the catalyst for that.
The world of THE SEEKER AND THE SHADE is not so different from ours apart from the darkness literally draining the world.. What inspired the Shade and its creatures?
I had a picture of a circle of light – a clearing in a wood – surrounded by darkness. I was fascinated by the idea that stepping out of the circle of light would put you in danger. Not just because you can’t physically see, but also because you have no idea what’s actually there. There is an act of faith and courage even to walk into such a thing. I was also playing around with light and dark and the obvious analogies with the forces of good and evil. What if the creatures inside were not so much natural monsters as light-starved? The idea developed from there!
The only defence against the shade for ordinary people are the oath lamps that must be lit by casters through vows that form the basis of the magic system. How did you go about developing the magic system?
I wanted the source of the light to be something fragile. Something that couldn’t necessarily be relied upon and need some kind of renewal. For me, the art of a promise was an interesting proposition for the magic system – what if making a promise to somebody actually determined how strong the light was? It suddenly gave extra meaning and weight to all the ingredients that go into a promise – trust, commitment, compromise. It felt like an excellent lens to look at relationship, not just romantic relationship, but also common purpose and the desire to save humanity.
What was your favourite location you created for the book?
Definitely the Hallows in Blackwood, filled with thousands of lights. I imagined it as a room of comfort and serenity, where you’d go to recharge or reflect or just exist. Somewhere beautiful but also transcendent.
Connie is unusual in that she has zero training and is a complete novice fuelled on pure determination, what drove her inception and development as a character?
I was considering what somebody might look like in this setup who felt completely powerless. Somebody deeply invested – her home is on the border – but completely ill equipped to fight back. What can she do? I liked the idea of a character who was so desperate she would do anything, whatever the cost, and how that actually becomes her superpower in the story. Compared to the others, she has the greatest conviction. She’s also a great foil to Jasper’s preparation, they represent inverses of each other.
Please recommend a UKYA book you think readers will love.
THE SLEEPLESS* by Jen Williams. A brilliant fantasy quest with an innovative take on a love triangle (think: two souls, one body). Jen is an excellent world builder and the setting is unique and intriguing. Extra marks for banter.
Thank you, Ellen!
*Affiliate link
#UKYASpotlight 
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