Charlotte Nicole Davis Interview - The Sisters of Reckoning ~ JeanBookNerd

Photo Credit: Brett Pruitt

Charlotte Nicole Davis is the author of The Good Luck Girls, a young adult fantasy novel releasing in Fall 2019 with Tor Teen. A graduate of The New School’s Writing for Children MFA program, Charlotte loves comic book movies and books with maps in the front. She currently lives in Brooklyn with a cat with a crooked tail.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08GZXVXXL
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Teen (August 10, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 10, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English

Praise for THE SISTERS OF RECKONING

Featured in Teen Vogue

“Populated by a unique and diverse collection of characters that you will immediately fall in love with, this is a novel that will make you think, make you feel, and make you cry out, 'glory to the reckoning'.” ―Lauren Shippen, author of The Infinite Noise: A Bright Sessions Novel

“Davis has a knack for effortlessly tying in character development to the fast-moving plot. Readers will enjoy meeting and continuing to get to know the diverse cast[.] This book is hard to put down and readers will be inspired by its ending...Perfect for fans of Snowpiercer and Firefly.” ―School Library Journal

Why is storytelling so important for all of us?
Well, storytelling is an exercise in empathy, first and foremost, and empathy is vitally important to any human experience. We don’t tend to think of art as *essential* in the way we think of medicine, politics, technology, etc. -- but without empathy, all these things can become incredibly violent and oppressive. So that’s what art does for us, it forces us to put ourselves in others’ shoes, to recognize their humanity and express our own. It’s the way we record our history, preserve our culture, and force change for future generations. It’s incredibly important.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
I have been so humbled by my interactions with young people, especially young queer people. I’ve had the opportunity to do some school visits and the kids are always so bright and funny and excited to talk to you.

What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?
I have a short story coming up in an unannounced anthology, but there’s not much else I can talk about yet!

Can you tell us when you started THE SISTERS OF RECKONING, how that came about?
Well, THE GOOD LUCK GIRLS was always intended to be part of a duology, so we always knew there was going to be a book two. I started before the first book was even released.

What do you hope for readers to be thinking when they read your novel?
I hope they can make connections between the events in the book, which are very much inspired by real-world history, and our own struggles here and now in the present day, and I hope it helps them find courage in these challenging times. But, more importantly, I hope readers are just having a good time. The books are supposed to be fun first.

Which of your characters do you feel has grown the most since book one and in what way have they changed?
Violet, for sure. At the beginning of THE GOOD LUCK GIRLS, she’s this very selfish, manipulative character who wields what little privilege she has against the other girls. But it’s very much a trauma response, and once she begins to work through that trauma, we see her start to break the cycle of abuse. She’s a very complicated character, very morally gray, but she’s my favorite to write by far.

What do you feel is the most significant change since book one?
I think book one was very focused on the main group of girls, while book two zooms out a bit and shows us more of the world of Arketta and the people in it.

If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it be and why?
Not a book, but I think Westerworld’s Maeve would be a great mentor to the Good Luck Girls. She’s a really fun, really powerful character.

TEN RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME

My birthday is August 20.
I grew up in Kansas City on the Kansas side.
I have a little tabby cat named Miles, after Miles Morales.
I have a black belt in taekwondo.
I love video games, and my favorite are the DISHONORED series.
I never learned how to whistle.
I have three tattoos (so far!).
I ran track in high school, and the smell of a track surface is still one of my favorite scents.
I have seven fake teeth! I was just born with a bunch missing.
I love thunderstorms. It’s my favorite kind of weather.

Tell me about a favorite event of your childhood.
I guess if we’re staying on brand with Westerns, my family and I used to go down to this lake in southeastern Missouri and I loved hiking through the nature trails out there. Just gorgeous mountains and forests. It definitely helped inspire the books.

What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives?
I think everyone should travel outside their home country at least once. It’s a privilege to be able to travel at all, but I think it’s really rewarding, if you can, to see how other people move through the world.

Best date you've ever had?
I went to Comic-Con with a girl once, and I had never been before. A great afternoon.

What was the first job you had?
Well, my first job was babysitting the neighbor boys, but my first *real* job was making protein shakes at the local gym.

Which incident in your life that totally changed the way you think today?
Going to my first Pride. I grew up very sheltered, in a very conservative part of the country. I’d never even heard of Pride until I was 20. I went with some queer friends I’d made at a summer writing program in Boston and I came out two weeks later.

What were you doing the last time you really had a good laugh?
Probably just last night when my friends and I were talking about the word “cheugy” lol.

First Heartbreak?
When Kataang beat Zutara.

Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a heart break or have never loved before?
I’m not wise enough to be able to answer that! True love and heartbreak, I guess.

The Sisters of Reckoning is the blockbuster sequel to Charlotte Nicole Davis's alternate Old West-set commercial fantasy adventure.

The Good Luck Girls are free. Aster's sister and friends have new lives across the border in Ferron, while Aster remains in Arketta, helping more girls escape. But news of a new welcome house opening fills Aster with a need to do more than just help individual girls. And an unexpected reunion gives her an idea of how to do it. From there, grows a wildly ambitious plan to free all dustbloods, who live as prisoners to Arketta's landmasters and debt slavery.

When Clementine and the others return from Ferron, they become the heart of a vibrant group of fearless fighters, working to unite the various underclasses and convince them to join in the fight. Along the way, friendships will be forged, lives will be lost, and love will take root even in the harshest of circumstances, between the most unexpected of lovers.

But will Arketta's dustbloods finally come into power and freedom, or will the resistance just open them up to a new sort of danger?

You can purchase The Sisters of Reckoning at the following Retailers: