Alex Aster Returns!! - Female Rage, Enemies to Lovers + Sword Magic | Booked & Busy BONUS EP

Hi, angels. Welcome back to Bookton Busy. As you guys know, we've already had the queen here. Miss Alex Haster. But we're here today to talk about her newest book, which is called Star Side. And okay, so my first question. Obviously, you built like a huge fan base with LightLark, i.e. me. Also, I found her through summer in the city we were talking about that earlier. How does it feel to kind of like transform into this new kind of genre? Yeah, I think because I was writing LightLark for so many years. And I always wanted to write more romance or more, you know, like an adult experience. And so I had Star Side in the back of my mind. And I've been writing in secret for many years. And I didn't tell anyone. And so I just didn't want any limits to what I wanted to explore in the story. And so yeah, I just wanted not necessarily a character finding themselves because she's in her 20s. Like she kind of knows who she is. But it is like a journey of her being like so full of rage and then kind of learning how to open her heart up a little bit to love. And so I knew I wanted to write a quest. And I don't know. I just wanted to go more beyond what I wrote in LightLark. I feel like female rage is like, yeah, I feel very. Star Side has so much female rage. But I feel like that's like the epitome of Gen Z is like, I feel like we hold on to a lot of fantastic things. Yeah, yeah. It's like a revenge quest. Like she, she's going in the quest not for magic. She wants to get revenge. And so, but then you see these parts of her that she's not as monstrous as like she thinks she might be. And she's really kind and she cares about other people. And so her, her journey, she's going in a quest. But obviously she also has like an inner journey that she's going through too. The personal arc. Well, going into that, I feel like we can relate to the characters that we are reading as consumers. Reading is having such as like cultural moment right now in my opinion, especially with Gen Z. And that's like what I'm promoting so much with my friends. You know, like this book, it will change the way that you think about life or if you have friends going through breakup. So whatever it may be, it's like you don't understand how much a book can shift your thought process, I would say. So how do you hope that people? I guess what do you hope that people resonate from this book and learn besides female rage? Yeah. I think so. The dedication is like for all those phoenixes out there, keep rising from the ashes and eras in this book is a phoenix in many ways. Like she, she has like a whole kind of sad backstory, but she's had to kind of like fish herself out of the ashes and like rise up again and again. And so I think just finding the strength even if you're going through something really hard or it feels like it's the end and you can't get back up, like just just keep getting back up is kind of the process that like eras learns and there's always something else out there and there's more to your story. And so I just hope like I cried so much writing this book because you really go through it with eras. Like she goes through a lot, but there's also magical moments and in this deadly world of star side, like you see like magical balls and like beautiful dresses, but also like deadly creatures that are trying to kill you. So it's like it's kind of you see both sides of it, but through it all she just keeps rising up and rising up. And I hope that readers and the book kind of having gone through that journey with her and kind of finding their own inner strength too. Well, well, that's what I hope to. Why do you think like romanticine fantasy specifically are resonating with such a young audience right now? Yeah. I think that like 10 or 20 years ago, obviously like Twilight the Hunger Games divergent were so big and so many of us discovered are are love of reading through those books. And then a lot of people just stopped reading for the last like decade. And so I think romanticine is this amazing blend of a really fast pace that you find in in YA books, but it has the adult romance and the adult like stakes and a story through like an adult lens. So I think it really is an amazing escape, especially right now people want to live in another world. You want to like be in the magical ball, but you also want to follow a strong character who's going through it. But still, you know, rising again. And yeah, I think the enemy lovers or bands is like also like huge because you got to explore things that in real life would never be okay. But in fantasy, yeah, these characters go through like the most extreme circumstances and then they still manage to find love. They still manage to find happiness and magic. And I think that we all want to read books like that. Yeah, I agree, because that's how I am. I just keep my eye on this like popover. Yeah, and nothing I like I don't know about you like obviously like I also love to TikTok. I love like watching movies and TV shows, but nothing gets me out of my head more than a good book. Like that's the only thing that will just quiet my mind and like just swallow my existence for days. And so I really think of every book I buy as like a portal like you're in that world and nothing else needs to exist, especially like when I'm going through something tough, nothing like a book. Like that's like the best medicine. When I say I'm having anxiety at time, like if I read five pages of a book. Yeah, I weirdly will just really calm down because I forget when I'm going through because I'll be like in a magical world with pictures and I'm like I don't have time for my anxiety in here. Exactly. I know. I started like swapping scrolling on my phone in the morning till I just opening a book and I'm so much calmer. I still scroll like later. But at least like not starting to notice that I started putting my phone. Well this wasn't even like on purpose, but my I was staying in a hotel and the charger like the outlet wasn't near the bed. So I had to put my phone in across the room, but I let my camera next to my bed and I was like okay, I'll read before I go to bed and then I woke up and I was like okay, so I just started reading and then you know 20 minutes turned into an hour and then I was like oh wow like this is instead of being barred in the morning with all these notifications from teams and from your friends and from whomever about hanging out or work that needs to be done, you're like living in a magical world. Yeah, I know. No, so it's like I can't get enough of these stories and like I write exactly what I want to read. Like always this is just like stars and especially it's exactly what I wanted to read. So I wrote it and so I think I love discovering books like this too. Like I love I always want to be transported and there's so many amazing books coming out on this year like last year. So yeah, I'm just really excited that people get to finally read the story that's been in my head for years. Yeah, okay, we'll speaking of the world. That star side is built upon. Can you give us a little background on the actual world itself and like what created like we were looking at the map. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's kind of wonderful. Like kind of what inspired those like new places. Yeah, so there's star side and that's the land of magic and immortals and the gods live on star side and then there's storm side and that's the side where mortals like fight to the death for like little scraps of magic. Like so it's like not a great place to be like kind of like post-apocalyptic and then there's like these magical giant gates between them and they only open every 50 years and then 50 mortals are allowed to like go through deadly quests across star side to try to bring back like a cup of magic and you can use like little drops of magic for like different things like you can heal you can like have wealth you can like you you know transform a part of star side but you have to survive and come back and so that's the deadly quest that Aerith is trying to go on but she doesn't want magic she wants revenge and so I just kind of wanted to have a world where like one side is this beautiful magical place that you've heard legends about like for for your entire life but it's also super dangerous and you're mortal in a world of immortals and and magic and powers and then sword magic is a huge part of it to the metal of your sword really matters so even on storm side even though they don't have magic if you have like a copper sword and it goes against like a silver sword the copper blade will like just shatter like yes so so there the magic that's left on storm side is like metal because it comes from the ground but then on star side you have magic swords that have power and it has to be claimed by both sides so if you are like you know like you're a really strong person like you will be able to claim an amazing like powerful sword and so Aerith claims a sword but it makes her a big target because if you kill her you get her sword so it's like a good thing to have a powerful sword but also it's not a great thing very immersive yeah holy cow what is it like well obviously if it's since your story line is so immersive what's it like to get it to have it be an audiobook form how does that so I from the beginning asked my publisher if they would please do a duet narration because I wanted his name is Harlan Raker he's like the end of this book and I just wanted him to have a voice and so Anthony Palmini is like plays like Harlan Raker and he's so good and so and he actually like voice grim in the lightlark books so that's how I discovered him and he did such a great job and so I just wanted like the lines that he says you hear from his voice and so I really I really wanted to have that because that's what I kind of like listening to so I'm grateful that my publisher did it so it is a duet narration and it was really important to me to have voices that to me sounded like them yeah funny random story about audiobooks I was taking a flight from Switzerland to L.A so I wanted to download Anna Huang's third book in the king okay I think it's called king of greed okay download it on German oh no I brought it in German and I was like oh no what yeah that was a duet learn German I was like the question mark I'm not gonna know what they're saying wait that's amazing that they have it in Germany like I think German and Spanish oh my god that's cool okay I love podcasts and I love audiobooks now too but I just feel like I don't know when you have the characters but like they have their own voice it just makes a difference especially because like Harlan Raker is like super scary he I wanted him to have like a deep like a medicine oh my gosh okay so Spotify is clearly such like a destiny yeah to consume their audiobooks on how do you hope that people have a different experience with listening versus reading. I honestly hope that it's some who reads it like with a physical copy, we'll go back and listen to it and find something new because at least with me I got sent some clips of the audiobook and I was listening to them and even though I wrote every single word, it does sound different like they almost make it their own because when I'm reading it in my head or out loud when I'm editing, I put a different intonation on words so like even if they're saying the same sentence the way they say it really makes a difference and I actually there was a section I was listening to and I started crying like the voice actor is so talented and the way it wasn't just reading it like you could tell she was putting her entire emotion into it it was like almost like watching a movie just like listening to it and so I think that if you've read it in a physical copy you should maybe try listening to it as well because it did feel like a totally different experience like very immersive experience because you feel like you're there with the character how does it feel that you're reaching a new audience through I mean I'm young 23 after there's other like I'm reading as well also kind of discovering your book through this I'm really excited because it only takes a one good book to make a lifelong reader and so I know that there are so many people have come up to me like at book events and they're like oh I hadn't read for 10 years and I picked up lightlark and now I've read like 100 books and like if Spotify is recommending a book and someone's like I haven't read a book for fun in like five years if that's there like gateway into it it's so cool because you're you're reaching just a new consumer that is not the person who would go buy it you know at the store and so I'm just really excited because I know how much books have done for my life like it really is life changing it really adds so much like experience and like richness and just emotion to a life and it helps you learn about yourself it's just so magical and in my life truly just as a reader has been so transformed by reading all of these amazing books I've come out in the last few years so to have someone discover that I'm just so excited for that like welcome to like I'm sure you like have friends that you're like there's nothing more satisfying than having someone that's like I don't like to read and then you give them a book you love and they're like oh my gosh and they're like I bought the whole series I'm like 10 books in and so I just I just know that honestly anyone who's there listening to music try try a book like you're gonna be obsessed even when you're like walking in the treadmill or you're going on a run or like yeah it was kind of mind these things like I feel like I was listening to your audiobook like lark through what was I doing I was like cleaning my heart yeah yeah taking a shower or whatever it may be laying on the beach and it's like using that as a substitute to music for me is way less overstimulating yeah actually Spotify came out with this new feature called i think page match okay and then what you can do is the audiobook will be on Spotify like a playlist and then you like scan where you're at with the book and then it will go to that moment oh in the audiobook okay that makes me yeah yeah yeah for me personally as someone who like I'll want to listen to the book while I'm cooking dinner yeah but then after dinner I want to read the book yeah yeah that has been a person for me yeah yeah it's normally I have to be like scrolling through yeah yeah I think I think I think I'm also that smart how do you think that's also what I hope with like the immersive aspect of reading I just think it's great no you know I think like I love reading really long books because they truly like swallow your entire life like you live in that world it's really hard to like travel with it sometimes so the idea that you could kind of like go back to where you are and and the fact that even if you're like in a waiting room you could like just you know get some reading done oh it's it's so special and audiobooks have really opened up like an entire new world of someone who might be like intimidated by like oh I I could never like read a 500 page book but then you do and and I think it's amazing so I'm really grateful that all these new readers are coming to this space because there's so many like cool stories waiting my sister's not a reader she's 26 I don't think she's touched a book yeah seven years yeah and obviously I never shut up yeah books literally ever and especially at family events I'm like trying to get my pleasure yeah yeah everyone's like pick up this book and it's kind of like a running bit in my family that they're like oh my god you know after her so so I talked about and my sister finally picked up 4th wing by Rebecca Houston she was reading and she was like oh my god I get it now and then so I sent her a list of books I put light lark on it I was like these are kind of like in the same realm but we'll change the way that you view yourself and I feel like she could really use a main character to look up to that strong and that's getting pushed down and you know similar to what you're saying in light lark like you just constantly get knocked down but you have to like have that moment where you're like I'm going to come strong from this reading is like transformative and like you think because you are a part of book talk like it's not just like oh a casual like we all get so invested in these worlds like people get tattoos you go to conventions you meet friends and there's communities out there like like book talk that will like tell you like okay now you have to try this and so it's just a never ending like really cool community of readers and I agree with you it's really special that when you read a book it's not just like you're going into a portal but you feel changed by the end of it and honestly like a lot of people will like come up to me as an author like I have books like that have done this to me like you feel stronger at the end of it because you almost like go through things with the character um and so yeah I especially because this book has set an internal journey with Arias and and she really has to be strong and find her strength and also like kind of shed some of the anger that she's had so that she can like be happy um I just can't wait for for people if you could give this book like a playlist or a song I feel like maybe like I love Taylor so she's like who's afraid of little old me like that's a good one I listen to like so much Taylor Swift during writing this like for for lie-lark like the prophecy is like such it like I was listening to that a lot while I was writing Skyshade um and then like for someone city like welcome to New York like yeah I feel it's just like a song for every everything or like the weathering heights like the all the romance like the that like sound track is like so moody like like that or like the you know on TikTok like there's like all those songs that are kind of related to like fantasy or like nights like Alex Warren or Neri yeah yeah yeah that like book talk is like adopted these songs like any of those like we're on book talk like that like you know like as that's how I find my recommendation so if you could describe this book star side in three words to do like enchanted because it's it's so magical like I love dresses and and magical swords and like fairy tales like there's a ball scene but it's also like the second word like dangerous um Harlan raker is dangerous like he's he's a deadly night like he's scary and she hates him like they have a history and they hate each other it's it's like it's very much like enemy solvers but true enemy solvers they actually really hate each other and they want each other so that dangerous and then this isn't like it's a script or like Phoenix like that's like that the whole book and and he always has a character and everything you learn about this world it is like very much like transformative I guess yeah well okay last question that I'm just generally curious about and I want to know more about is the sword tattoo that you're talking about. Oh yes yeah can you explain both of those little works that you're telling me okay so it's not the main character but it's a character she means along the way because the swords are such a huge part of the magic system and so there's one character her name is Zara and she's like a magical inn and so um she has like a silver tattoo down her neck and down her spine and when she goes like this like grip the hilt it becomes a real sword so like she can so it's and it's just beautiful like tattoo and so the metal is like made into ink and then she also has like a little blade on her finger that if she goes like this like it kind of like comes off because she's like a dagger sister and so she has other like friends that are also like dagger sisters and just little things like that are things that I want like I don't want a magical tattoo of a sword that like becomes a sword that would be so beautiful in New York City yeah just like come on take off the sword like do know that's okay on the subway page I got a magical sword right here yeah we could get the tattoos and be dagger sisters yeah I I love this genre I'm a reader like I put everything that I want to read like inside this book so there's like the enemy lover is the magic system I wanted a book that people could fall into it just lose themselves in and hopefully finish it first of all wanting the next book immediately but also like feeling like they also took a journey and they they were on their own quest wow are there any other like we're not weird but like works of like magic that are like we've never really read in a book oh there's like god swords so there there's only a few of them and they glow and they have powers and there's also something called the beast tree which is one of my favorite parts I saw that on the map yeah it's like this massive tree that you climb like there's stairs on the outside and if you reach the top and you have to like jump off there's a ring of beautiful creatures like dragons and like Helmhawks and like a bunch of other like fantasy creatures with wings and you have to just like jump off the tree and hope that one gets out of the ring and catches you and if it doesn't like you get crossed you're done like so it's like a big risk but that's something that like I want to yeah I want a silver dragon I wanted to pop a diet tree I wrote what I want to live it and I wrote what I wanted to read so I'm so excited wow thanks for answering my questions I'm sorry I'm excited I'm always so good to talk to you thank you so much yay thank you so much for watching you can listen to the audio book now on Spotify I hope you love it