Storytellers On Tour Presents: Truth and Other Lies by Lyra Wolf

Today marks the official kickoff of the Truth and Other Lies Book Tour presented by Storytellers On Tour, and throughout the week we’ve got a great lineup helping us feature Lyra Wolf’s Norse-inspired Mythic Fantasy novel! This is one of those books that quickly made its way onto my TBR, and I’m very much looking forward to giving it a read – can I humbly request more hours in the day, please?! I can’t wait to hear what our hosts have to say in the coming days, so be sure to keep an eye out for some incredible content.

Lyra was kind enough to stop by to have a chat about how Truth and Other Lies came into fruition, the research that went into this novel of hers, and what lies ahead. So, keep scrolling for the tour schedule, more info about the book, the interview, and the giveaway to snag yourself a copy!

The Tour

We’ve enlisted a group of wonderful and talented bloggers and Bookstagrammers to help us feature Truth and Other Lies. This is what we have going on, so make sure to check out each and every one throughout the week for some brilliant content, including reviews and more.

JANUARY 30TH – THE WELCOMING
Whispers & Wonder
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JANUARY 25TH
Spells & Spaceships
@beatrizfayereads_
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JANUARY 26TH
FanFiAddict (IG)
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JANUARY 27TH
Sadie’s Spotlight
@the.b00kreader
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JANUARY 28TH
Life of a Nocturnal Bookworm
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JANUARY 29TH
Sue’s Musings
@theenchantedshelf
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JANUARY 30TH – THE ENCORE
Queen’s Book Asylum

For more about this tour visit Storytellers On Tour.

AVAILABLE AT

The Blurb

Nothing is trickier than the truth.

All Loki the trickster god of Asgard wants is a quiet, peaceful life where he’s free to needle Balder, occasionally stir up the inter-realm porridge pot, and get Thor to dress in women’s garments (for all the best reasons).

Getting beset by sudden, painful, and terribly inconvenient visions of blood, ash, and death are definitely not on his to-do list. But, because of some small, ridiculous remnant of caring that refuses to be extinguished, Loki feels he must save Asgard…and that means warning Odin, his least favorite god (next to Thor).

But getting the gods to believe the boy who cried Fenrir is harder than it looks, and time is running out, not just for Asgard, but also for a mortal woman named Sigyn who may just hold the key to Loki’s future.

Loki is about to find out the hard way that the only thing crueler than truth are the lies behind it all.

Meet the Author

Lyra Wolf is an author caught between worlds. Ours, and those of the characters that won’t stop pestering her.

A lover of travel, Lyra has lived all over, from the cornfields of the Midwest, to the rugged mountains of Switzerland. Now, she calls the swamps of Central Florida, where “The Mouse” rules as supreme overlord, her home.

When Lyra isn’t at a theme park, listening to classic rock, or otherwise procrastinating, she writes about fantastical places and the complicated people who live there.

Lyra has earned a B.A. in History and M.A. in English.

WEBSITE: www.lyrawolf.com/

NEWSLETTER

Thanks so much for stopping by for a chat, Lyra. Since we already have your official bio, care to tell us about yourself in ten words or less?

I’m a combo of Monty Python and Edgar Allan Poe.

Give us an idea of how Truth and Other Lies came to fruition.

The idea for Truth and Other Lies came to me because I am a classic over thinker. One day I was contemplating Norse mythology and Loki, as one does, and three questions started to buzz in my mind:

1. What drove Loki to start Ragnarok? 
2. Why would Odin make a blood oath with Loki, knowing who he was/what he would do?
3. What if gods weren’t born, but made? 

You know, super easy, not at all weird questions like that. I kept stewing and stewing over these mysteries, and slowly, a plot started to form…

…And a certain god demanded a voice promising to answer these questions for me. 

How could I refuse? 

Can you share with us something about Truth and Other Lies that isn’t in the blurb?

There’s definitely a thick, delicious slice of lovers-to-enemies going on between two rather prominent gods…Remember question 2 I wanted to find an answer for? Well, I found it, and I’m definitely making an evil grin right now. So much glorious, glorious angst buried in layers of memories, broken promises, and…sorry, I tend to get carried away. I just love to hurt. 

Was there any specific research you’ve done or inspiration you’ve pulled from for this story of yours?

I was living in Vienna, Austria when I started writing Truth and Other Lies, so I was lucky enough to have the ability to make easy trips to Basel, Switzerland, where the majority of the book is set. These trips helped me discover more of the story. For example, visiting Basel’s paper and printing museum (an original 13th century paper-mill) gave me the idea for Sigyn’s passion for printing and medical texts. A walk down the street to the pharmaceutical museum made my imagination grow even more. I was also able to take photos of the actual streets, houses, and the cathedral I mention as locations. 

My favorite, however, was getting to use my Swiss husband’s family’s 500-year-old house as one of the interior settings! So many leaded windows and oak beams! It makes me swoon. 

All these trips and experiences helped grow the story and the characters. It also helped me determine the exact date of 1526. This was a book that basically told ME what it wanted to be. 

What do you hope your readers take away from Truth and Other Lies?

I hope to ignite a love and interest for Norse mythology, and the amazing figures in these old tales. I tried to make something accessible and fun, yet also with multiple deep layers to dig through for those who are famil-iar with the original myths. I want others to discover a passion, or re-discover their passion, for mythology the same as I have for these stories that have been a part of our collective consciousness for thousands of years. 

What comes first, the plot or the characters?

Is it cheating if I say for me it’s actually a situation? I tend to discover both characters and plot along the way, but the SITUATION, or “what if” question, is what always comes first. 

Do you have a favorite character you’ve written? If so, who? What about them sets them apart from all the others?

Definitely Loki. No one comes close to him. He keeps surprising me, both in what he is willing to do, and how many ways he can make me rip out my own hair. It’s an interesting friendship/partnership/co-tormentor-ship, but it seems to work. I just love him. 

What do you think makes a good story?

If a story touches you, makes you smile, makes you forget you are even reading…I consider that a good story. 

If you could go back and change how you approached writing your debut novel, what’s the one thing you’d do differently?

I’d be less hard on myself for making a total swing and a miss with getting Loki’s character right in the first draft…and having to do a total rewrite. 

In the first draft, where I kindly refer to him as Loki 1.0, he reacted more like any of us would in scary situations. Afraid, anxious, worried. Loki 1.0 also liked to cry. A lot. I know… 

I just tried to put myself in his shoes, OKAY! And I would be a terrified mess 110% of the time, so OF COURSE HE WOULD TOO! THIS WASN’T A POOR DECISION AT ALL. 

Shockingly, this was a major mistake in how to approach this character, and when it came to the major rewrite, I knew Loki 1.0 just wasn’t going to cut it. 

So, after weeping through an entire box of tissues and sucking in a determined breath to right this grievous error, I “interviewed” new voices. Yes. Interviewed. I swear it wasn’t creepy at all. But I had to find the voice that could carry the story. And, a voice found me…and he was like a blazing ball of fire that laughed at danger and thought death a pretty fun prospect. I fondly named him Loki 2.0, and he saved Truth and Other Lies from the pit of despair. 

Loki’s entire being is to have a good time and as much fun as possible. He has little patience for wet blankets, like Loki 1.0 had been. Loki 2.0 pretty much drop kicked Loki 1.0 across the Nine Worlds, and it was spec-tacular to watch. 

But this is all part of the writing process, and in the end, it happened as it was supposed to happen. Some-times characters don’t show up until later, when they WANT to show up. It’s not annoying at all.

Writing can be a stressful pursuit. Do you have any tips for aspiring authors?

Try to relax and surrender to the story. Enjoy the process and don’t be afraid to start over. I also particularly love Anne Rice’s advice, which is to go where the pain is and to go where the pleasure is. Focus on that. Just focus on the character, the story, and what you are seeing.

Ok, let’s see what kind of person you truly are.

Coffee or Tea?
COFFEE
–
Winter or Summer?
WINTER
–
Physical books or Ebooks?
PHYSICAL
–
Mountains or Oceans?
OCEANS
–
Beer or Wine?
WINE
–
Books or Movies?
BOOKS
–
Cowboys or Aliens?
COWBOYS
–
Pie or Cake?
PIE
–
Rural or Urban?
RURAL
–
Work hard or Play hard?
WORK HARD

Thank you again for taking the time have a chat, Lyra. Tell us what lies ahead for you!

I’m working hard on continuing this series. I love these characters with my whole heart and I want to do justice by them. I just finished book 2, Chaos Rising, which releases April 9^th, and am currently in the second draft of book 3, At Realm’s Edge (for me, my most major revision stage).

The Giveaway

Enter to win yourself a paperback of Truth and Other Lies by Lyra Wolf! One copy is ready to find its forever homes!
(Ends January 31st, INTERNATIONAL!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

That’s all I got for ya! Be sure to keep an eye on the official Truth and Other Lies tour page over at Storytellers On Tour (https://www.storytellersontour.online/2020/12/22/tour-schedule-truth-and-other-lies-by-lyra-wolf/) to see what the other bloggers and Bookstagrammers have to say!

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Happy Reading!
🖤