Setting the Record Straight, Allegiant Style

So, every so often an Allegiant “spoiler” will pop up on Tumblr or on Twitter and I get a lot of frantic questions about it. It’s kind of tough to answer those questions, and here’s why:

Reader: “Is it true you said Tobias doesn’t die in the third book? I saw it on Tumblr!”

Me: “It is not true that I said that. I never said anything about who dies or who doesn’t die.”

Reader: “Ahh! This must mean that he DOES die!”

Me: “No, it doesn’t!”

Reader: “So you’re saying he doesn’t?! I am so relieved!”

Me: “I am not saying that either! All I’m saying is that I didn’t say that thing that Tumblr said I said.”

Reader: “Wait, what?”

And so on.

I love that so many people are so concerned about what happens in book 3, because it means that you care, and that is awesome. I am lucky to have readers who want to throttle me for answers, really. I’m just trying to find a way to clarify things without alarming anyone with the pesky limitations of the English language, so here are the things I have actually said about Allegiant:

-It contains both Tris and Tobias’s POVs (points of view), alternating by chapter. (More on that here.)

-It is slightly longer than Divergent and Insurgent

-In it, you will find out what’s outside the fence

…and I’m pretty sure that’s it? And honestly, it’s pretty much all I will say before it comes out, because I want everyone to have a clean slate when they crack it open. Or as clean a slate as possible.

I feel like we need a word for “I did not say [insertspoilerhere] but I’m not saying it’s not true and I’m not saying it is true, I’m just saying that I didn’t say it.” Maybe it can be…shenanigans? As in:

Reader: “Veronica, did you say THIS?”

Me: “Shenanigans!”

Reader: “Ah, that clears it up.”

I’m going with it.

In other news, I am REALLY enjoying reading some of your theories about what’s going to happen. We will see if you are right…on October 22nd.

Or whenever you get around to reading it. It’s cool.

68 days left!

Book Recommendation: STARGLASS by Phoebe North

Starglass, book of amazing writer and human being Phoebe North, is out today! I read this a long time ago and pretty much immediately sent in a blurb (FYI, blurbs = those quotes from other authors that end up on book jackets and websites and so on). It is a wonderful, fascinating, well-written book. Here is the cover:

Here’s what it’s about:

Terra has never known anything but life aboard the Asherah, a city-within-a-spaceship that left Earth five hundred years ago in search of refuge. At sixteen, working a job that doesn’t interest her, and living with a grieving father who only notices her when he’s yelling, Terra is sure that there has to be more to life than what she’s got.

But when she inadvertently witnesses the captain’s guard murdering an innocent man, Terra is suddenly thrust into the dark world beneath her ship’s idyllic surface. As she’s drawn into a secret rebellion determined to restore power to the people, Terra discovers that her choices may determine life or death for the people she cares most about. With mere months to go before landing on the long-promised planet, Terra has to make the decision of a lifetime–one that will determine the fate of her people.

***

And here is my blurb about it:

"Starglass is a richly imagined, beautifully written book. It’s science fiction, mystery, and coming of age story all wrapped into one; creative but also firmly grounded in a real human experience, with all its loss, pain, and disillusionment—but also beauty, hope, and belonging. A wonderful story."

***

If that sounds like something you’re into, there’s more info about where to get it here (under the synopsis). Happy Book Birthday, Phoebe!

FAQs: Why Two POVs?

In case you haven’t heard already, I confirmed on Thursday that Allegiant will be written from two POVs (points of view), Tris and Four’s. This is obviously a departure from how I chose to write the first two books, which has a lot of people excited (yay!) and some concerned, so I thought I would say a little more about it here.

So: why two POVs? Well, I tried repeatedly to write Allegiant in just Tris’s voice, but it didn’t work; her perspective, her way of seeing things, was a little too limited for the story I needed to tell. I wanted to do two things with it: A. let two characters experience different things, and B. let them react differently to the same things, so that I (and eventually, the reader) would get a better sense of the whole story, the whole picture.

I’ve said before that I’ve always seen Four (increasingly, as the series goes on) as a plot-mover alongside Tris, so he was the obvious choice for the second POV (though not the only one I tried). Exploring him and his choices and his assumptions about the world was incredibly interesting to me.

It was a big challenge, it took me a really long time, and I did my very best with it. I feel confident about the way it turned out, and I hope you enjoy it! On October 22nd! AHH!

Jeanine!

Image by: Jaap Buitendijk, courtesy of: USA Today

First of all: check out this article about Kate Winslet as Jeanine Matthews in USA Today!

I was able to see a little bit of Kate’s Jeanine while on set, and she was incredibly good. I feel like this should shock no one, considering her level of talent, but still: wow. And even better? As a person, she is so warm and lovely.

All’s well in Divergentland!