Kate Elliott is at the Sasquan 73rd World Science Fiction Convention in Spokane, WA this week (see her schedule or follow her adventures on Twitter), but you can still learn about the inspirations for her YA debut novel, COURT OF FIVES (available now in the USA & Canada) over at review blog, Once Upon a Twilight.

These five things are at the core of Court of Fives: In a world of magic and peril, four sisters try to make a difficult transition to adulthood in a society suffocated by rules of class and privilege. Fierce, determined Jes wants nothing more than to make her mark in the most popular game in the country, but disaster is about to strike her family, one that will bring her into stunning contact with her long-buried heritage.

One of the great pleasures of writing fantasy is being able to combine many very different elements and create something new.

Find out what these five inspirations are at the link!

Want to know more about the influences for COURT OF FIVES (available today!)? Head over to The Book Smugglers to read Kate Elliott’s guest post on history and myth-making, the life and myth of Cleopatra, and the setting of Greco-Roman Egypt as Efea’s template.

“As I was writing I took to heart the story of Cleopatra. People often say that history is written by the conquerors and that history has an agenda. This is true of how the Romans wrote about Cleopatra and certainly true of how later historians and tale tellers turned Cleopatra into the seductress queen rather than the hard-headed, ambitious, and fiercely intelligent woman she obviously was.

It’s that gap between myth and history that is part of what inspired me to write Court of Fives…”

Read more at the link and enter to win a copy of COURT OF FIVES!

Also, be sure to check out Kate Elliott’s handpicked playlist, “I Am the Best,” for COURT OF FIVES at Two Chicks on Books.

I write to music, and I love to create unique playlists for each of my series…The key is to set a mood that matches the feelings I hope to evoke. For Court of Fives, a fantasy story set in a world of Patrons and Commoners, with a heroine who is a fierce competitor in a sport she is not supposed to be participating in, I needed a playlist that reflects the conflicts and the range of emotions in the book.

Listen while you follow Jessamy’s story in COURT OF FIVES, which you can pick up at your local independent bookstore, Indiebound, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other online and bricks and mortar stores TODAY (USA & Canada only)!

Thank you so much to The Book Smugglers, Two Chicks on Books, The Book Wars, and The Artsy Reader Girl for all the COURT OF FIVES love. (P.S. Check out The Book Wars’ latest review of COURT OF FIVES, too!)

It’s here! Kate Elliott’s YA debut novel, COURT OF FIVES, is out TODAY in the USA and Canada!

On the Fives court, everyone is equal. And everyone is dangerous.

In this imaginative escape into an enthralling new world, World Fantasy Award finalist Kate Elliott begins a new trilogy with her debut young adult novel, weaving an epic story of a girl struggling to do what she loves in a society suffocated by rules of class and privilege.

Jessamy’s life is a balance between acting like an upper class Patron and dreaming of the freedom of the Commoners. But at night she can be whomever she wants when she sneaks out to train for The Fives, an intricate, multi-level athletic competition that offers a chance for glory to the kingdom’s best competitors. Then Jes meets Kalliarkos, and an unlikely friendship between a girl of mixed race and a Patron boy causes heads to turn. When a scheming lord tears Jes’s family apart, she’ll have to test Kal’s loyalty and risk the vengeance of a powerful clan to save her mother and sisters from certain death.
Recent reviews:

“Elliott immediately thrusts the reader into Jes’ head and heart, and the result is a wonderful immersion in both familial love and the tensions at work within these relationships. […] What makes this such an outstanding novel is Elliott’s experienced hand at revelation and building compelling characters. […] the woman knows how to write and tell a damned fine story, and those skills translate seamlessly into this YA tale.” – Robert H. Bedford, Tor.com

“Elliott’s ability to create intricate societies with tangled social, political, and economic realities that generate obstacles for her characters is one of her great strengths, and this book highlights it wonderfully. This is a sharp, gorgeous, brutal story about familial love and the complex nature of trust, and an excellent beginning to a new series.” – Renay Williams, Barnes and Noble

“Jes will remind readers of fearless Katniss with her skill and strategy for games. But it’s the fascinating descriptions of traditions, royal interactions, and, of course, the intensities of the Fives that will enthrall readers most of all. Let the games continue!”―Booklist, starred review

COURT OF FIVES comes out in TWO DAYS — 18 Aug. 2015. In celebration of Kate Elliott’s YA debut, That Artsy Reader Girl interviewed Elliott, John R. McKay, and Alexandra Sirowy about their upcoming releases.

The Debut Dish, a Debut Author Challenge feature, is where you go for the scoop on some pretty awesome debut authors and their new books!

Elliott reveals a little more about COURT OF FIVES and some of her surprising favorites:

Describe your book in five words or less.
Jes is a fierce competitor.

Why should readers pick up your book?
A fantasy novel about sisterhood and family loyalty in the wake of treachery, a conquered country ruled within a rigid social hierarchy, a popular game that’s more than it seems, and one girl’s challenge to run the Fives even though it is forbidden to her.

Read more at the link.