Tuesday, January 17, 2012

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! 
  1. 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)
  
  1. 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)


  1. 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



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Badass Bookie xx

70 comments:

  1. You already had me before I even came to the part about the Insider Scoop! I always find it fascinating to learn more about the background to a book, how the title came to be, historical setting, etc. Oh and needless to say - I love the cover!!

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  2. EEEEEEE!! I'm SOOO excited for this book <333 I feel like I just had another interesting history lesson :D (ahh I miss those days!) THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS GIVEAWAY!!

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  3. Gosh, it must be interesting to be able to attend a finishing school like Smolny Institute.

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  4. Thanks for the giveaway ;)
    Can't wait for this book! looks like it's really good!

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  5. This sounds so interesting and different from the books I've been reading lately.
    Thanks a lot for the giveaway!

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  6. I really think Russia is very interesting, the culture, people, history, food and everything! So I'm very very interested in this book! Thanks!

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  7. Thank you for the interesting post and awesome giveaway!!! I'm dying to read this book!>_<

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  8. What an awesome giveaway, thank you so much! I love historical fiction <3

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  9. The Russian culture really intrigues me! Being German, I adore the different cultures out there. This sounds like a good historical read!

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  10. This book sounds amazing! This era of Russian history always intrigued me.

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  11. Sounds like an awesome read! I just finished a non-fiction book about Russia, and I can't wait to see how Robin incorporated history into this book!

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  12. Thanks for the giveaway! I've had my eye on this one for awhile now!

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  13. I am not going to enter the giveaway since I've already read the book, but I just have to say that I loved it! So much amazing history mixed in with both romance and paranormal, and you've got one great book in your hands!:)

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  14. Anyone want to brush me up on Russian history? Haha.

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  15. I love to hear about interesting books like this one. It makes me excited, because I feel like a lot of YA books blend together in my mind. Thank you for the lovely pictures and the giveaway, of course. :)!

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  16. This sounds like a wonderful book.

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  17. whoa this sounds so interesting! i might learn some Russian history from this....

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  18. This sounds like a really interesting book and I have added it to my wishlist.

    Maybe I can get lucky and win it !

    THanks.

    Carol T

    buddytho {at} gmail DOT com

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  19. Necromancer and Russian Imperial families!

    Cool!

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  20. What an awesome giveaway, thank you so much! I love historical fiction <3

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  21. Great giveaway. This book looks awesome!

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  22. Thanks for the giveaway! Looks like a great book!

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  23. That is a lot of name changes! And it sounds like an absolutely amazing book! Thanks for the great giveaway!

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  24. I was already looking forward to this book but now I'm more excited, it's very cool that some of the character have basis in real history, thanks for the giveaway :)

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  25. such a cool book, I love the creativity and I can't wait to read it. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  26. Dang, that's a boatload of titles! I really like the final title though. The Necromancer's Daughter sounds cool too, though I think The Gathering Storm is more foreboding and mysterious.

    And yay for lots of historical detail! Very very cool. I tried reading this book and just could not get into it (very palace-y at the beginning, a bit confusing with names and stuff, just too much at once! @@) but I'd definitely try it again if I had a physical copy.

    Thanks for the giveaway, and welcome to the Debs, Robin!

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  27. OMGOMGOMG I HAVE HAVE to win this book! I got it long ago arc & i was in LOVE with it! It was my WOW & TBR & everything.
    *fingers crossed*
    TYTYTYTY

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  28. What an interesting plot! I definitely want to read this.

    Kel

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  29. Very excited about this book and the series. Thanks for hosting.

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  30. Eep! Russia+Necromancer= Book Heaven! I can't even begin to say how awesome this books. Thank-you both so much for the chance and the terrific post. It was so enlightening!

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  31. This post is interesting because here I learn a little bit of Russian.

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  32. I have seen this book around. Most recently on Chapters.ca and hadn't realized how interesting it was!! I am going to add it to my wish list for sure now!!! Thank you for the chance at winning it!!

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  33. Interesting. I'm literally dieing to read this! Thanks you so much for the chance to win! I love the cover, too.

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  34. I had been eyeing this look hungrily for ever! I'm pretty sure my local book store thought I am crazy :P

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  35. I was fascinated by the cover and a litlle bit of Russian hystory would do me good!

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  36. Thanks for the giveaway I would love to read this.

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  37. Thanks so much for the chance. Cant wait to read this.

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  38. Thanks for the giveaway!
    Katiya is a beatiful name :)

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  39. Necromancers, faerie's, vampires all wrapped up in a Russian setting, YES please:) Thanks for the generous giveaway!

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  40. haha interesting! and thanks for the giveaway!!

    - juhina

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  41. Thank you so much for this international GA, I have this book in my WL *o*

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  42. The amount of research staggers me! So great! Thanks for this giveaway!

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  43. This book looks great. Thanks for the giveaway.

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  44. copy paste error, here's my tweet:
    https://twitter.com/#!/deadtossedwaves/status/162692830060482560

    Sorry about that!

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  45. i've seen mixed reviews, but i still want to read this so much! thank you!

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  46. i love this idea, i really hope to read this book one day

    thanks you for this great opportunity

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  47. Thanks for the amazing giveaway! I totally love history, and Russian history is AMAZING, so I can't wait to get my hands on this book :D

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  48. Thx for this giveaway! I heard lots of good things about it and it'd be awesome if I win :D

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  49. Thanks for the awesome giveaway and thanks for making it international!! Wow this book looks amazing. I love Russian history and a good romance aspect so this seems perfect!!
    Pavan H

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  50. Loved reading about the secrets! Thanks for the giveaway!

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  51. The Gathering Storm sounds awesome, I can't wait to read it! Thanks for hosting the giveaway!

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  52. Awesome giveaway:D I have heard quite good reviews on The Gathering Storm. It'd be cool if I won though:D Thx for this opportunity:D

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  53. This is a great giveaway...this book sounds so awesome, Thanks!! <3

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  54. Thanks for the giveaway! The book sounds intriguing. I'm really looking forward to reading it.

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  55. The story sounds really original, I love when books are set in other countries because we can learn a lot about their culture by reading.
    Thanks for the giveaway, love your blog.
    XX

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  56. Haven't read any books of this nature before, I am looking forward to it! Thanks for the giveaway!

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  57. I want this book so so bad!! :S Fingers crossed! Thanks for the giveaway!

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  58. I've been looking forward to this one for a long time. Love the cover! And love the story of the title!

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  59. That was a great informative post. I can't wait to read this book. Thank you for the giveaway.

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  60. Ive seen this book around and it looks great! Thanks!

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  61. So excited! I really want to win this!
    *crosses fingers*

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  62. I can say how I feel about this!
    I reaaaally wanna read it!!!
    the history, the cover!! GOD!

    haha Thank you!

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  63. History and fantasy in a book! I'm so in!!
    This sounds like a must read!

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