Welcome to the Kuramagi.
For today’s festivities we will be playing a very fun game of chance.
It’s called the Japanese Lottery, but we are going to change the rules just a little bit.
I am going to have you reach inside this lovely box and pull out a piece of paper.
Generally when playing this game the number on the paper will determine what your prize will be, but for our game it will determine the time period you are going to visit.
You see our historic village has many secrets and one of them allows you to travel through time.
You won’t be the first to play our little game.
A lovely young women by the name of Reiko recently traveled through time and down below we have a little bit about her experience.
What do you say, are you ready to play?
A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith
Published by Roaring Brook Press on October 25th 2016
Genres: Asia, Historical, Self-Mutilation, Social Themes, Time Travel, Young Adult Fiction
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A troubled girl confronts her personal demons in this time-travel thriller alternating between present day and 19th century Japan.No one knows how to handle Reiko. She is full of hatred; all she can think about is how to best hurt herself and those people closest to her. After a failed suicide attempt at her home in Seattle, Reiko's parents send her to spend the summer with family in Japan, hoping she will learn to control her emotions. But while visiting Kuramagi, a historic village preserved to reflect the nineteenth-century Edo period, Reiko finds herself slipping backward in time into the nineteenth-century life of Miyu, a young woman even more vengeful than Reiko herself. Reiko loves escaping into Miyu's life . . . until she discovers Kuramagi's dark secret and must face down Miyu's demons as well as her own.
B: To start things off can you please tell us a little bit about your book and where you got the inspiration to write it?
L: Thanks for having me! My newest book is called A Darkly Beating Heart, but before I settled on a title, I called it the angry bisexual Japanese time travel revenge fantasy. Which pretty accurately sums it up! Itâs about a Japanese-American girl named Reiko who goes to visit distant relatives in Japan after a family tragedy. Reikoâs dealing with a lot of troubles of her ownâheartbreak, self-harm, obsessive thoughts, and a general feeling that sheâs been wronged by the world. So when she visits the historical village of Kuramagi and finds herself slipping back in time to Edo-period Japan, she relishes the chance for escape. But there are plenty of dark secrets awaiting her in the past, as well.
Reikoâs story came to me while my husband and I were on our honeymoon in Japan. We visited a truly wonderful historically preserved village called Tsumago. They allowed no external signs of modernityâno electric lighting, visible cables, or anything. On Halloween night, we took a stroll through the fog-shrouded village, just barely lit by paper lanterns lining the streets, and my mind started conjuring up all sorts of dark things that could be lurking just out of view. Then I imagined how that darkness might seek out someone to prey on, and the story wove itself together from there.
B: If someone searched your computer today, what would be the strangest thing they found due to book research?
L: This book is probably not my weirdest in the âresearch rabbit holeâ department, but things I looked up for this book included: how many pints of blood are in the average human body; various forms of cyanide and their effects on the esophagus; electronic voice boxes; and lots and lots of details about Edo-period clothing and weaponry.
B: Reiko sounds like a fascinating character and I would love to know what is your favorite quality of hers?
L: Ooh, this is tricky. At the bookâs start, Reiko is a deeply unlikeable characterâmy favorite kind, honestly! Sheâs angry, sheâs hateful and bitter, sheâs convinced sheâs been wronged by pretty much everyone around her, and most of all herself; she has obsessive thoughts about harming herself and others. But while she doesnât know it, I think sheâs a survivorâresilient and adaptive, though she starts out with some pretty terrible coping mechanisms. I think her very unlikableness and strength despite it makes her very relatable, and lets readers see that they arenât the only person whoâs ever dealt with dark or angry or obsessive thoughts, and I think thereâs a lot of comfort to be had in that.
B: If you can without spoiling things will you share your favorite scene from the book?
L: For a non-spoilery sceneâthereâs a moment early on where Reiko goes to visit the Meiji Shrine, set in this beautiful forested park right in the center of ultra-modern Tokyo. Within moments, the Harajuku cosplayers and clattering trains and J-pop music all melt away and sheâs in this silent, empty wooden shrine, seeking some sort of guidance or inner peace. I loved writing that moment for how much it shows the dual sides of Japanese culture, and reveals that for all that Reiko does like reveling in her anger and bitterness, there is still a part of her that wants to be better.
B: If given the chance to travel to any time period which would you choose and why?
L: Iâm bad about romanticizing certain aspects of older time periods, but when you look at the whole of them, I canât think of a single one Iâd want to be stuck in! If I was only visiting, though, I think Iâd go to the bohemian cafés of 1890s Paris and listen in on the artists there. Iâd go to V-Day celebrations in 1945 New York City, and smoky Harlem jazz clubs in the 1920s. And Iâd definitely like to be a fly on the wall in Imperial Russia during Catherine the Greatâs reign.
B: When it comes to carnival rides, do you like the slow, scenic type rides, or the fast, thrilling rides?
L: Fast, scary roller coasters, every time! I love the adrenaline rush and that fearful dread in my gut at every sharp bank.
B: I believe that A Darkly Beating Heart is a stand alone. Can you tell us anything about your next project?
L: I donât have anything definite yet, but Iâve been writing a lot of fantasy lately, both YA and adult, so hopefully I can announce something soon! Iâm also the lead writer on The Witch Who Came In From the Cold, an episodic story from Serial Box, and the second season for that begins next January.
B: If someone dared you to write “book nerd” on your forehead while wearing your favorite pajamas – and then share a photo of it – would you do it? (If so, we double dog dare you to do it and share it with us right here!) ð
L: I would totally do it!! I donât have a picture for you today, but maybe sometime soonâ¦. ð
About Lindsay Smith
Lindsay Smith is the author of Cold War-era espionage novels Sekret and Skandal, as well as the fantasy novel Dreamstrider. She writes on foreign affairs and lives in Washington, DC.
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Thank you for the giveaway! I cannot wait to read this book!!
This book sounds amazing! The fact that it’s a historical fiction mixed with time-travel sounds so intriguing!
Oooo a honeymoon in Japan sounds amazing! And it’s crazy that the periods in time she would choose to go back to would be the same ones I’d choose! Amazing interview ^_^ I loved this book <3
Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles
Woah, this sounds really cool!
I love Japan and want to visit there myself someday. I have lots of Japanese friends and enjoy their culture and food (especially the sushi). I love how you got the idea for this book.
I am so excited for this book!! I just love it when a book is set outside of the US. This has been on my wishlist for months!
This sounds like a really interesting book! Happy to see more Asian American protags in fiction (: This may be too personal to ask, but I am curious if Lindsay Smith drew any inspiration from personal experiences with mental illness to write this book.
This sounds really interesting. I like that it has realism to the story which is Reiko being a real human being suffering from some mental illness. I like the fantasy and science fiction part too. Would be great to know how the story turns out.
Thanks so much for doing this giveaway! I hope I win!
Really excited about this one – love time-travel books and the fact that it’s partially set in 19th century Japan. Also, it’s always interesting to read how the author approaches mental illnesses.
I am sosososo excited about this book. I’m Japanese, but I don’t know much about Japanese culture, so I’m hoping to get a taste of it in this book.
I’m sort of curious about this book ð Looks awesome. As always, thank you for sharing this amazing interview sweetie ð
Oh this book sounds really interesting! I love time-travel stories and Reiko sounds like an amazing character. Can’t wait to read it! Great interview! ð
This book sounds amazing and I love the book cover!
Thanks for the chance to win!
I’m so excited to read this book!! Also, the book cover is FLAWLESS
The cover, the setting, the MC, the story… this sounds like it could be a massive winner!
Oh this book sounds fantastic! I love the diversity, the setting, the storyline and the MC’s character traits make for a very interesting read!
This book sounds seriously amazing! And Japan! I can’t wait to read this one!
This seems like another good title. Time-travel + ancient Japan? Instant TBR material! ð
Wow a time-travel thriller alternating between present day and 19th century Japan?!? COUNT ME IN!! This book sounds incredible and I cannot wait to finally read it!
I want this book so much!