2023 Author Showcase
Liz Sauco
Published: 11/13/2023
Welcome to the 2023 ARIA Author Showcase and Giveaway Event!
How to enter – Comment on the daily showcases to enter the daily giveaway. Comments close one week after the initial Showcase post. GRAND PRIZE drawn on Dec 8th (1 -$250, 1 -$100, or a 1 -$50 Amazon gift card. One grand prize pp) – For every showcase you post on, you automatically gain one entry to the grand prize. 30 Authors = 30 entries.
Liz Sauco will be at the Rhode Island Author Expo
On to the Showcase!
What name do you like to write under? Liz Sauco
Where do you call home? RI, East Greenwich
What genre(s) do you write? High fantasy, blended with science fiction and urban fantasy. Occasionally I dabble in other things too for short stories, but fantasy is always the underlying genre.
What genre(s) were you drawn to when you were younger? Definitely fantasy! I've been drawn to the fantastical since I was very little. Don't ask my parents how many times I watched The Last Unicorn. I can quote whole pieces of that movie from heart.
What were some of your favorite books growing up? Why? Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar series. I love her characters! And Lord of the Rings was big in our household. The worldbuilding really drew me in. Oh, and Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders - I love the dragons!
What are some of your favorite books today? Anne Bishop's Black Jewels is amazing. Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber, Terry Brooks Shannara Chronicles... I do like large worlds with multiple books haha. I like having a world I can sink my teeth into. I'm also a big fan of anime and video games - Destiny 2, Genshin Impact, Sailor Moon, and K Project are all favorites!
What inspired you to become a write? I've always told stories to myself, and in high school I wrote short stories and fanfiction. I wanted more of the media I already loved. I've also been a Dungeons and Dragons player since I was twelve years old. In college I decided to try my hand at NaNoWriMo. I did not win that year (did not even come close), but the next year for NaNo I did start what would become Lost Blades, even if I didn't finish it for another decade. Still, I spent those ten years or so working on my world!
Lost Blades
*As the world ends once more, the Goddess chooses who she will wield against Abomination* In Lyndiniam: A street thief attempts a heist far more ambitious than anything he has done before, but due to circumstances outside his control, finds himself locked up for crimes he both did and did not commit. A strange woman with abilities Jamirh does not understand breaks him out, and he finds himself on the run - fleeing to Romanii, a country he thought no longer existed. In Ni Fon: A shinobi is banished by the Empress for killing her daughter and his fiancée, Princess Hotaru. This is a ploy, however - Takeshi is still working for Ni Fon despite the murder, trying to learn information about a rebellion against the Rose Empire that Ni Fon will be able to leverage to regain their own freedom. Though thousands of miles apart, both Jamirh and Takeshi find themselves pulled into an ancient struggle between forces far beyond anything they have ever dreamed of, whether they want to be or not.
Tell us a little about how "Lost Blades” came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma or something else? It started... very differently, actually. I had an idea for an adventure fantasy, made some maps, drew some character concepts, outlined about 3/4 of it. Then I decided it was boring. But I liked some of the characters a lot of the worldbuilding, so I decided to write a different story - set in the same world, but a thousand years after the story I abandoned. That story still shows up as lore in Lost Blades. Who knows, maybe one day I'll go back to it.
Which scene, character or plotline changed the most from first draft to published book? Chapter two changed the most. I added a lot more than what was in the first draft, and rewrote a bunch of what was left. I really like the final draft, though, so it was very worth it. One part of that chapter makes me giggle every time I read it.
Which character was the most challenging to create. Why? Hmmm challenging to create? Maybe Jeri. She wasn't originally going to be in it for very long, but she refused to leave, so I had to shift directions with her a bit, which meant giving her... more. A lot more. Of everything.
What do you like best about being a writer? Reader reactions! I love hearing what they think about different elements and plot points. When did they figure out the twist? What are their theories? I live for that.
If you could collaborate with any author past or present, who would it be? What would the title of the book be? (If possible) - Give us a one sentence blurb. I think I'd want to collaborate with Neil Gaiman - he seems like a fun person to work with! Perhaps we would write some sort of mythology retelling. "A Tale (or maybe "Tail," for the pun?) of Cats" - Follows Bast and other cat/feline gods as they push things off tables and generally make a nuisance of themselves.
You can follow Liz Sauco here -
https://www.facebook.com/authorlizsauco/
https://www.instagram.com/authorlizsauco/
Liz is giving away a copy of “Lost Blades.” To enter, comment below --> If you chose two champions (fictitious and real) to save the world, who would they be?
(Comments are open for one week)