H. L. Burke has drawn my attention numerous times, and I’ve featured her books in several of my book lists. This newest one has elements of fairy tale and includes elves and fairies. The book is now available on Amazon, but before you run off to purchase it, here’s an interview with one of the main characters, Sevaine.

You’ll need to know a little bit about her before jumping into the interview, so here’s H. L. herself to introduce our character.

“Sevaine is a young felys (sometimes called “cat-elf”) slave working in the palace of the fairy queen, Agalea. She’s also on a mission, but that would be spoilers. “

What is it that you most dislike?

When people call me a cat-elf. I’m a felys. Yes, we have fur-tufted pointy ears. Yes, we are agile and good at climbing. We live in trees. You don’t survive long living in trees if you are clumsy and afraid of heights … and sure, there’s the whole night vision, fangs, and prowess at hunting small game. And we do call our communities “Clowders” … I forgot my point. Oh! Yes!
Not cat-elf. Felys.

Now that we’ve gotten that matter straightened out, we can continue.

What is your most treasured possession?

I’m not sure if he counts as a possession, but Telvido is my horse. He used to belong to someone I cared about, but now he is mine. He is beautiful. He is fast. He is a smart, handsome, good horse, yes, he is. (Sevaine realizes she’s slipped into talking in that “baby talk” voice, clears her throat, and stands a little straighter.) Telvido is an elven steed, bred by half-elves. He’s sensitive to magic, and can keep his speed up for much longer than a human-bred horse.

Which living person do you most despise?

I try not to hate. It’s such a prickly feeling. However, Queen Agalea has killed off half the male population of her kingdom and driven the other half to flee for their lives, all to satisfy her vanity. She’s spent the last five years holding a competitive for her own hand. If a man fails one of the three trials—and so far all but one “suitor” has failed the first, and the only one who got through the first failed on the second—she kills the poor fellow. At first she had willing idiots dying to try and earn their place as her consort. After folks caught on, though, she started forcing men to compete. She’s killing off a man every few weeks just for the delight of seeing someone die at her feet … so yeah, for her, despise might not be a strong enough word.

Which talent would you most like to have?

If I’m honest: magic. Just a little magic. I don’t want the big flashy magic the fairies have, but they make such a big fuss over how we felys don’t have any magic, and there are so many wonderful things I’d do if I had even a little bit.

What is the quality you most like in a man?

Toss up between sense of humor and lack of pretentiousness. EVERYONE in the fae realms takes themselves so seriously. It’s ridiculous. They rarely laugh except when making fun of other people, but they get offended if you make fun of them even a little bit. I’d like a man who can laugh, especially at himself.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Definitely beauty. Everyone and everything in the fae realms is beautiful, and worse, everyone knows they are beautiful. If you are even a little less beautiful, it’s a major point against you. Plus it leads to them labeling things that “aren’t them” as not beautiful, when what does beauty even mean really? It means things that please you, more or less. Well, most fairies do not please me, at all. I’d rather deal with someone whose a little more plain on the outside but not so ugly on the inside.

I can’t wait to learn more about Sevaine in the book. I’ll include the blurb and where you can hang out with H. L. on social media as well. Believe me if you like dragons and cats and smark, you’ll love H. L.

Blurb

He doesn’t want to get married, but he wants to be a frog even less.

Knight errant, Devin, takes a shortcut through the woods, only to be captured by fairy forces. The fairy queen has run out of breathing males to fight for her hand, and Devin, while not ideal fairy stock, is breathing–for now.

Telling a vain fairy queen you’d rather not be her one true love is a ticket to life on a lilypad, so the knight agrees to face three challenges to win Queen Agalea’s hand. When a clever servant girl offers to help him navigate the trials in order to stop the constant bloodshed of the courtship ritual, Devin jumps at the chance. However, as he balances “flirting” with his “beloved” and overcoming tasks specifically designed to kill him, he finds his heart drawn to his new partner in survival.

You can grab your own copy now on Amazon. Be sure to follow H. L. Burke on her social media.

twitter.com/hlburkewriter (for random snarkiness and occasional book snippets)
facebook.com/hlburkewriter (for longer form random snarkiness, occasional book snippets, and #dailydragon posts where I share my favorite dragon related finds)
my website (and mailing list) for news and deals www.hlburkeauthor.com
my instagram for #TheodoretheDragon awesomness instagram.com/burkesdragons
and my reader group if you want to be the first to hear about beta and ARC reading opportunities as well as my day to day struggles and weekly live videos. https://www.facebook.com/groups/hlburkereaders/

You can catch the rest of the blog tour on the following sites:

January 30th-Book Review
https://cobonham.com/

February 4th-Book Spotlight
BlondeRJ.wordpress.com

February 7th Author Interview
https://thearrowandsong.blogspot.com/

February 8th Author Interview/Book Review:
aarondemott.com/blog

February 13th Character Interview with Sevaine
http://kandijwyatt.com

February 10th Character Interview with Devin: 
http://corinnejet.wordpress.com

February 12th Author Interview
Www.dragonpenpress.com

February 15th Book Review/Interview
http://amelianichole.com

February 17th Character Interview with Devin: 
http://corinnejet.wordpress.com

February 19th Guest Post 
SuperBokerah.com

February 21st Guest Post
Unicornquester.com

February 26th Character Interview with Sevaine:
http://jenelleschmidt.com

February 26th Book Review 
www.jmbutlerauthor.com/blog

Also Possible Unscheduled Appearances:

Feature Shout Out:
www.leliaroseforeman.blog.com

Bio

H. L. Burke is the author of multiple fantasy novels including the Dragon and the Scholar saga and The Nyssa Glass YA Steampunk series and Coiled. She is an admirer of the whimsical, a follower of the Light, and a believer in happily ever after.