Be Our Guest Post: Michele Israel Harper

Today I have the honor of kicking off the blog tour for Michele Israel Harper’s latest book, Silence the Siren.

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of dropping a sneak peek of the third book Quell the Nightingale. Silence the Siren is the second book. So I guess we’re going out of order a bit.

Silence the Siren follows the adventures of Ro, the beast hunter, as she travels to the Caribbean to deal with the deadly sirens that have been sinking ships.

Author Michele Israel Harper is joining us today to share about her inspirations for this exciting fairytale reimagining.

But first, here’s what the book is about:

Huntress Ro LeFèvre is hired to hunt the sirens who have been sinking the king of
Angleterre’s ships, and in turn, vast amounts of his wealth. All who have gone before her
have failed.

Fleeing heartbreak, Ro gladly accepts, but there’s just one problem. The king will credit the
Marquis de la Valère, and no other women are allowed on the voyage.

Ro will just see about that. Hiring an all-female pirate crew without the king’s knowledge,
Ro hopes they will follow her to the Caribbean, not take the gold and flee.

But when Ro is plunged deep into the ocean by the siren she’s being paid to kill, presented
the sirens’ side of the story at knife point, and pressed to join them or die, Ro must decide
whether to complete her mission, join the sirens, or something in between.

Before the sirens sink the ship full of men above.

The Official release date is tomorrow. You can order/preorder at the following Link: https://www.love2readlove2writepublishing.com/books/silence-the-siren/

Be Our Guest Post:

Inspirations for Silence the Siren

By Michele Israel Harper

Thank you so much, Cathrine, for hosting me on your blog today! I am so thrilled to be featured for this first stop of my blog tour.

Three things specifically inspired my latest book in the Beast Hunters series, Silence the Siren.

One, Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.

You see, I had been raised with Disney’s versions of fairy tales, not so much Brothers Grimm. So the first time I read Andersen’s Little Mermaid, I threw the book across the room.

(Okay, so I threw my Kindle, so I immediately had to cradle it and apologize.)

The mermaid didn’t get her prince? She died? And turned to sea foam?

Oh, heck no.

So I had to right certain injustices in Silence the Siren, though my characters totally took over and changed a few things from what I had originally planned.

Two, “The Ballad of Mulan.”

So I thought this would totally be my Mulan story! (Hint: it’s not.)

Mulan is easily in my top-five Disney animated princesses (Belle, Ariel, Moana, Mulan, and Tiana, in that order. Gah! Love Jasmine too. Anyway.), and although I try to pull story elements from the original fairy tale, there isn’t much to Mulan’s ballad.

(Read a lovely version of it here: https://mulanbook.com/pages/northern-wei/ballad-of-mulan)

(Also, can you tell I’m totally obsessed with parentheses right now? I will do my best to refrain for the rest of this post. We shall see if I succeed . . .)

Anyway (can you tell I also get easily distracted?), the main elements I could retell from the ballad are that Mulan dresses as a male soldier to take her father’s place, the men have no idea, and she travels with them for twelve years before she returns home and reveals who she is to her soldiers.

They’re all like, “Wow! We had no idea!”

And that’s it.

(Disney did a smashing job retelling this, if I do say so myself.)

So in Silence the Siren, someone dresses as a boy, sneaks aboard the ship the huntress is on—and none of that plus the many other things happen to her are Mulan-esque.

BUT. Mulan seamlessly moved into my next book, Quell the Nightingale, as herself, and it is glorious. I mean, I’m retelling Andersen’s Nightingale in that one, so it’s even more perfect!

(She is such a cool warrior chick, you guys.)

And three, the story of Snow White and Rose Red.

I have to tread delicately here, because this story thread contains some major spoilers, and these sisters’ full story is revealed in book four, Slay the Wolf.

(Yes, I have the full series outlined and mostly drafted—we’re just in the revising and revising and revising phase.)

Once Quell the Nightingale goes to my editor (next month, I hope?), I shall begin revising what I’ve written for Slay the Wolf. And then I can tell you all you want to know about my Rose Red and Snow White and more!

Whew! This series has taken on a life of its own! And it’s somewhat difficult to focus on Silence the Siren once again when I’m so close to finishing Quell.

But I hope you will love following French huntress Ro LeFèvre on this latest adventure, where she faces off with the English king, travels across the Seven Seas, and faces the Sirens of the Caribbean.

Thank you so much for having me today, Cathrine! I thoroughly enjoyed every moment.

Michele

Giveaway, photo challenge, and party oh my!

Author Michele Israel Harper is hosting a giveaway through Kingsumo. There will be extra entries for joining in the Instagram challenge on the 15th-21st.

Silence the Siren Newsletter Giveaway: https://kingsumo.com/g/2owetc/silence-the-siren-newsletter-giveaway

Want more giveaways?

The Facebook release parties from L2L2 publishing are always a tone of fun and chock full of giveaways.

Online Silence the Siren Release Party, Thursday, August 19th, 8–10 PM EST.

RSVP at this Party Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/l2l2bookreleaseparties

About the Author:

Michele Israel Harper spends her days as an acquisitions editor for L2L2 Publishing and
her nights spinning her own tales. Sleep? Sometimes . . . She has her Bachelor of Arts in
history, is slightly obsessed with all things French—including Jeanne d’Arc and La Belle et
la Bête—and loves curling up with a good book more than just about anything else.

Author of nine published novels as well as an award-winning freelance editor in her spare
time, Michele prays her involvement in writing, editing, and publishing creates many
enjoyable books in the years to come. Visit http://www.micheleisraelharper.com to keep in touch
or sign up for her newsletter.

Social Media Links:
Website: www.micheleisraelharper.com
Amazon Author: www.amazon.com/Michele-Israel-Harper/e/B016YW4Q6Q
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/14554353.Michele_Israel_Harper
BookBub: www.bookbub.com/profile/michele-israel-harper
Instagram: www.instagram.com/michele_israel_harper
Twitter: www.twitter.com/micheleiharper
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MicheleIsraelHarper
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/micheleisraelharper

C. O. Bonham