Hello!

Long time no blog! Hope everyone’s been staying healthy and busy, and sane as the year shifts once again into the school year!

Today, I have the immense honor of hosting one of my dear friends Michelle, and her DEBUT novel Songflight which releases TODAY!! I got to read an early version of this book and really loved it. I now have the shiny paperback on my shelf (the Amazon gods decided to ship it early!) and I cannot recommend this book enough!

Dragons, telethapy, amazing heroines, Celtic-inspired worldbuilding, DRAGONS! music, and just all the amazing things!

Here’s the official synopsis before we get down to interviewing Michelle!

As the only child of a dragon slayer chief, Alísa’s purpose should have been simple: lead the clan in ridding humankind of the dragon scourge. But while gaining respect from hardened warriors is difficult enough with a vocal stammer, when they learn her empathic powers connect uncontrollably to the dragon enemy, it becomes impossible.

Confidence shattered, Alísa resigns herself to silent service under her father’s apprentice. But when her growing connection reveals one dragon’s capacity for good, she realizes the war isn’t as black and white as the slayers teach. Now Alísa faces an impossible choice: stay with her family in comfortable but condemning silence, or follow the dragon claiming to know her true purpose. But if she can’t lead slayers, how on A’dem is she supposed to lead dragons?

Find your copy here – https://www.michellembruhn.com/buy-links

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I’m so excited to have you here, Michelle! I hope you’re ready for some randomness. 😉

Bring it, gurl!

First off, can you describe Songflight in 3 words?

I only need two: Epic Awesomeness.

(Believe iiiiit!)

I kid, I kid— Dragons, Telepaths, & Music

What was the easiest aspect of the book to write? The hardest?

The easiest aspect was the psychic element—the rules of telepathy and empathy, their applications, and ways that they affected the dragon and dreki cultures all either came easily OR were super fun to think through even if they took a long time to figure out.

Hardest aspect was figuring out the order of events (this is really kicking my rear for the sequel right now too)—I knew everything that had to happen, but balancing the slower scenes with the faster ones, figuring out what order made the most sense, and figuring out how switching the order affected everything else, were all so hard! Developmental edits are scary…but I definitely ended up with an order of events that makes me happy!

Making sure events line up in a good sequence is no joke one of the hardest parts of writing a book! Songflight is all about dragons! Do you have a favorite dragon?

TOOTHLESS!!!!! I mean, is there another answer?

No, no there is not. As a writer, I find that bits of myself end up in all my characters (even the villains sometimes…). Is this the same for you?

Goodness yes. Well, I don’t see myself in Rorenth, but I’m not upset about that. Alísa has my shyness and the emotions I rarely let out, Graydonn has my calm exterior demeanor no matter what emotions are roiling inside, Sesína says all the sassy things I think, Falier has my people-pleasing tendencies. There’s even a piece of me in Kallar—the passionate, sometimes angry part of me I rarely let anyone else see but is there nonetheless.

I’m glad you don’t have any other similarities with Kallar. XD Would you survive the plot or storyworld of Songflight?

Oo… I don’t know! I want to say yes, but the world is kind of harsh. I think I would survive if I were plopped into Me’ran or another forest village, but not so much in the war-ridden hill country. As far as the plot… Can I be Alísa’s supportive but otherwise useless friend who tags along? Then I might survive—the dragons might protect me too, then. X-D

Ooh, yes, supportive friend is totally a thing that I’d be if dropped into a book! You are stranded on top of a mountain for a year. What 3 books or movies are you bringing to help keep you entertained?

Only three? You are evil! I think I would bring the three books thus far in Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive. I’ve been meaning to read them, but a little intimidated by the size. But if I’m on the mountain for a year with no other books or movies I don’t think I’ll be intimidated anymore, haha!

Baha! Yeah, they’d keep you busy for awhile. *aoids looking at book 3 that I’ve been scared to start* Last question! You step into a magical elevator. Floor 1 takes you to a magical forest of giant mushrooms. Floor 2 opens to a fire breathing dragon. Floor 3 opens to an underwater kingdom with a seahorse steed ready and waiting. Which do you choose and why?

This is where Michelle’s inner fraidy cat comes out, because my first thoughts are of all the ways I could die. X-D

Fun(?) fact: I’m terrified of most sea-life, so Floor 3 is a no-go (although the seahorse steed sounds awesome). The magical forest of giant mushrooms sounds beautiful and glowy, but without a guide to get through it who knows what creatures or plants might eat me. And the dragon…is it friendly? I don’t know! And if it isn’t, I don’t think I’d have the skills to tame it (for all my love of the How To Train Your Dragon movies, they don’t actually give instruction on training dragons… maybe I need to try the books).

I think I’ll go with the dragon, expected though it may be. Dragons tend to basically be giant, fire-breathing cats, and I am quite the cat-whisperer in real life. Even cats who hate strangers eventually succumb to my skills of “ignore the ignorer until they’re interested enough to like you”. Hopefully it works on dragons too!

Ooh, yeah, I’m not much of an ocean girl either. Dragon-whisperer!

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Author Bio:

Michelle M. Bruhn is a YA fantasy author whose stories focus on outcasts, hard questions, and hope. She is passionate about seeing through others’ eyes and helping others to do the same, especially through characters with diverse life experiences. She finds joy in understanding others, knows far too much about personality theories, and binge-watches TED Talks on a regular basis. She spends the rest of her free time making and listening to music, walking, reading, and snuggling with her cats.

Instagram | Facebook | Reader Group | Free Short Story | Website

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And that’s a wrap, folks! Go check out Michelle’s book! She’s an amazing human that I’ve loved getting to know over the last few years and she has put in so much on this book and I’m so excited for all the amazing things she’s gonna go do!