It all started with Fullmetal Alchemist.

I first saw it when I was in college, and I was immediately sucked into this world where alchemy had consequences. I love my fantasy stories with a hint of danger, and FMA definitely provided that for me. I particularly liked the history of the two main characters. As children, they'd dabbled with power they shouldn't have, and it changed the course of their lives immensely. They were good people trying to do a good thing out of desperation that backfired horribly.

That story sat around in my brain for awhile. Inspiration doesn't always hit like lightning. Sometimes you're inspired by a story or work of art or event, and you don't really see the impact right away.

Nearly a decade after first watching Fullmetal Alchemist, I saw a movie called Snow White and the Huntsman. I'll be honest, the main storyline of the movie—the part with Snow White and the Huntsman—didn't really intrigue me. What I loved? Charlize Theron as the evil queen Ravenna. She was GLORIOUS.

Later, on tumblr, I saw a clip of Charlize's interview with Elle DeGeneres online, talking about how she embodied the character. Her instant transformation on screen from beautiful actress into evil queen struck me—that one line of hers in that single image sank into my brain, mixing with Fullmetal Alchemist.

I started working on a book. It was about a girl who had good intentions and was trying to do the wrong thing with alchemy, but it backfired horribly. It was about a girl who started good, but eventually has to walk with shoulders down, neck long, thinking murder.

In that first draft, my heroine Nedra Brysstain is trying to learn medical alchemy to save people from a deadly plague sweeping the nation. Along the way she meets another medical alchemy student who she falls in love with. But as the plague grows, Nedra starts to think she can't save patients...but she can raise the dead. Her descent into an evil necromancer was the core of the story...but something was missing.

And then Hamilton came out.

Lin Manuel-Miranda, you clever bastard. I started listening to the soundtrack of Hamilton nonstop (see what I did there?) while I worked on revising my novel. And suddenly...a subplot about a revolution happening in the background of my story started seeping in. I never saw that coming! But once the seeds of this rebellion fell into place, so did history of the island where Nedra lives, and that influenced the government, and the government influenced the way the people were treated, and that influenced...well, you get the idea. Basically, the revolution was the missing piece that made everything else work.

The story eventually became Give the Dark my Love, and I worked on it for years, trying to fit all the different, mismatched pieces of inspiration into the story I wanted to tell. From a writer's perspective, I can see that my character Nedra has roots in the Elric brothers in FMA, the plot of her descent into darkness has a source in Charlize Theron's character, and the world developed thanks to Hamilton, I also know that my story morphed and changed into something unique and totally my own.

Give the Dark my Love will be for sale on September 25th. You can get it from any major bookseller, but pre-orders can make or break a book—please consider ordering your copy now! If you'd like a signed copy—along with exclusive, limited edition swag—order your copy from Malaprops.com. When the book ships, you'll get a free full-color poster map of the book, plus a really cool sticker that illustrates a quote of the book and a mini-graphic novel illustrating a scene of when Nedra and Grey fall in love—all for just the price of the book!

If you love stories where magic has dark consequences, where good people do bad things, and where a girl takes power for herself regardless of the consequences—get Give the Dark my Love!

In addition to the giveaway at the bottom of this post, I'm also holding a giveaway where literally EVERYONE, no matter where you are in the world, will get something. Some people will get books, some will get swag, some will get bookish goodies! Sign up for it here --> http://bit.ly/gtdml-giveaway

PREORDER HERE:

Malaprops—where you get a signed copy and exclusive swag: http://bit.ly/gtdml

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2JVdusO

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2LVJgpY

Books-a-Million: http://bit.ly/2HXzSjj

Indigo Chapters: http://bit.ly/2teRxh3

Book Depository—where you get free international shipping: http://bit.ly/2HXhVRY

Also, to celebrate this book and the #WattpadBlockParty, I'm giving away one copy of my latest novel, A World Without You. In it, a boy thinks he has the ability to travel through time, but the school for superheroes he's attending is actually a mental institution. This giveaway is open to the US only (sorry!). I'll also be throwing in some exclusive GTDML swag! The giveaway link will be posted at the bottom of this post as well as on my profile!

Thanks for checking out my post! All votes and comments are massively appreciated!

Love and Darkness,

Beth Revis