Day Seventeen - All About The Gathering Storm + Giveaway!

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Book Profile

Name - The Gathering Storm ( Goodreads ) 

Author - Robin Bridges

Genre - Historical Fantasy/ Paranormal Romance

Release Date - 10th of January 2012 

Available -  The Book Depository

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1888. As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial Family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue.

An evil presence is growing within Europe's royal bloodlines—and those aligned with the darkness threaten to topple the tsar. Suddenly Katerina's strength as a necromancer attracts attention from unwelcome sources . . . including two young men—George Alexandrovich, the tsar's standoffish middle son, who needs Katerina's help to safeguard Russia, even if he's repelled by her secret, and the dashing Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, to whom Katerina feels inexplicably drawn.

The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power, but which side will she choose—and to whom will she give her heart?

The Insider's Scoop

4 Author’s Secrets about The Gathering Storm

1. Sometimes, I’ll come up with an interesting title and then figure out the story that goes with it, but this book was different.  This book has been the most difficult for me to come up with a title!  I called it “the Russian book” when I started outlining the first draft.  The first working title was THE NECROMANCER’S DAUGHTER, but that really didn’t fit the story.  It changed to FORESTALLING THE MORNING when I discovered the Orthodox chant with the same name.  Then I thought that was too wordy, so I wanted to change it to A NOBLE MAIDEN’S GUIDE TO RAISING THE DEAD.  That was really too wordy. The title changed again, to THE GATHERING STORM, then to TEMPEST after it sold to Random House, and then back again to THE GATHERING STORM! Whew! 

2. There was never a Duchess Katerina of Oldenburg.  But almost every other character in the book was inspired by someone of the Russian aristocracy.  Even Konstantin Pavlovich. 

 Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich
(Who was not really a lich tsar)

  

3. There really was a school in Saint Petersburg named the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens.  Under the patronage of the Russian empress, this school was a place for young girls to learn everything from music to chemistry.  It was also the building later used by Lenin as his headquarters for the Russian Revolution in 1917.

Dance lessons at Smolny

(Photo taken from the Alexander Palace Forum)

4. I fell in love with the name Katiya, so I knew my main character’s name would be Katerina.  The real Duke and Duchess of Oldenburg, Alexander Petrovich and Evgenia Maximilianovna, never had a daughter.  But if they had, I imagine they might have named her Katerina after her father’s sister who had died young, or maybe after her great-grandmother, Grand Duchess Katerina Pavlova.   Katiya hates that everyone thinks she was named after Katerina the Great, who was her great-great-great grandmother.

(Katerina the Great)

Grand Duchess Katerina Pavlovna:

~Giveaway~

I don't know about you but I'm craving to get my hands on a copy of this debut! I liking the sound of a necromancer and a setting in Russia! Lucky for you, Robin has kindly donated (1) ONE copy of The Gathering Storm + a Imperial Russia Calendar. This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL and please show your support by leaving a comment :) Rules are stated below :)

Rule of Entry -

- International

- Ends 17th of February 

- Must be 13 or older

- Optional Entries :

   * Leaving comment on either of Robin's posts +1 each

   * Tweeting Giveaway +1

   * Putting Giveaway on Sidebar +2

   * Follow Badass Bookie +2

   * Placing 2012 Debutante Event Button on blog +3



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