Meet Us At The Crossroads Blog Tour - Day 16

What was it about Anastasia Romanov’s story that made you want to write your own story about it?

I have always been drawn to the Romanov story because it’s just so darn tragic. Anastasia was so filled with promise – young and pretty and smart and funny and snarky and witty. And she was murdered before she had an opportunity to reach her adult potential – which I’m sure would have been amazing. She died because of politics, because of people who wanted to get rid of her parents. (obviously that’s an over-simplification, but it’s part of the truth) And it’s just so horribly sad. I totally understand why so many people over the years just couldn’t believe that she was really dead. And I wanted to pay homage to her here – even though I’ve created some definite fictions inside the historically accurate parts. If anyone could survive being held captive in a witch’s hut, I think Anastasia could definitely do it!

What are 3 of your favorite books or series? 

I am a voracious reader. I can’t get through a day without reading something. So I really do have more than three favorites. But if I can be so bold as to alter your question a bit, three of my current favorite books have been Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series (because it is total awesomeness in plotting, character development and romance); Maggie Stiefvater’s Shiver and Linger (because the werewolf nooky is beyond compare and they are deeply romantic books); and my friend Lauren Strasnick’s Nothing Like You -which is out in paperback now and which has the funniest book trailer I’ve ever seen except maybe Libba Bray’s book trailer for Going Bovine where she dresses up the cow costume, which is hysterical – ( because Nothing Like You’s ending makes me cry every time I read it. Beyond those, if I was absolutely pressed, my favorite piece of American lit is F.Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, which just blows me away at how it manages to stay fresh and contemporary in its view of the corruption of the American Dream.


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