Last week Kayla and a few other book reviewers had the opportunity to interview Marie Lu about her new novel Prodigy. Below is the entire transcript of the interview! Prodigy is the sequel to the amazing Legend. If you don’t believe me, read Kayla’s reviews for Legend and Prodigy! Prodigy will be released next Tuesday, January 29th. Click here to read an excerpt from Prodigy.

At the end of this post, we will be giving away a signed copy of Prodigy, thanks to the wonderful people at Penguin Group!

About Marie:

Marie Lu writes young adult novels, and has a special love for dystopian books. She likes food, fighter jets, afternoon tea, happy people, electronics, the interwebz, cupcakes, pianos, bright colors, rain, Christmas lights, sketches, animation, dogs, farmers’ markets, video games, and of course, books.

She left Beijing for the States in 1989 and went off to college at the University of Southern California. In her past life, she was an art director in the video game industry, but now she writes full-time.

Visit Marie and the Legend series around the web:

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Legend Website | Legend Facebook

Want to read more from Marie Lu?

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Group Interview with Marie Lu

January 22, 2013

6:45 PM

Ms. Marie Lu:  Hi, my name is Marie, and I’m super glad to be on the phone call with you guys.  My voice is a little bit shaky today, so if you need me to repeat anything, just let me know.

A quick recap of Prodigy is it continues right where Legend left off, and Day and June are forced by circumstance to join the Patriot rebels, who want them to help assassinate the new Elector of the Republic.  But, of course, not everything is at it seems, and when June starts to wonder if killing the Elector might only make things worse, she and Day come into direct conflict.

They also explore a lot more locations in the Republic as well as uncover the truth of what happened so many decades ago.

Amy:  So, after the success of Legend, how do you feel having the second book come out, and the pressure that comes with it and the early reader reaction to it?

Ms. Marie Lu:  The pressure is definitely different.  I had a really hard time writing the second book, pretty much like every other writer I’ve ever talked to. With the first book, I wrote it and nobody knew that I was writing it and I was really in the vacuum of my own deadlines and schedules.

And with the second one, it was due on June 1st, I have to turn it in, there are readers who are expecting certain things and I can’t help seeing some things online where people are asking for certain things to happen and certain things not to happen.

So the pressure was definitely different.  And I kind of had to learn how to go back to writing in a vacuum. There were many nights where I was crying and eating chocolates over this book.

Rachel: Hi, Marie.  When you first began to write, what spurred you to create your fantasies that may not have been quite publishing ready, but they were still yours?  And is it the same thing now?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I lost a little bit of your question halfway through.  Would you mind repeating it one more time?  Sorry.

Rachel:  Sure. When you first began to write, what spurred you to create your fantasies?  Sort of like what inspired you?  And is it the same thing that inspires you now?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I first started writing when I was really, really young.  I think the first “story” that I wrote, which is like those stapled together papers, was when I was five. I think the inspirations are still pretty much the same though.

Back then, I was inspired by a lot of my favorite stories.  I remember reading Brian Jacques’ Redwall series back in middle school and loving it so much that I wrote a whole series of my own spin off Redwall stories in these 80 page bound journal books.  And I did that sort of thing all throughout high school, just getting really inspired by other people’s writing and by people in general as well as books, movies and games.  And they all sort of combine into one.

Legend in particular was inspired partly by Les Miserables.

Michelle:  Did you have a story arc already planned when you started writing Legend, or did the story develop as you wrote?  Like, for example, did you know what would happen to Kaede in Prodigy already?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I didn’t really know exactly what was going to happen to Kaede.  I sort of write by the seat of my pants. I have a very basic outline, and I try to follow it.  But I’m really, really bad at following my outlines.

The characters really get away from me, and they kind of take on a life of their own.

For example, Kaede was supposed to be a walk on character in book one.  She was supposed to appear in that bar scene, and that was it.  That was supposed to be her only scene.  But, somehow, she managed to worm her way into two of the three books.

So I definitely don’t always know what’s going to happen.  That can cause me quite a few panic attacks along the way, but it’s sort of more fun that way in hindsight.

Anna:  My question is what’s been the toughest criticism given to you as an author, and what has been the best compliment?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I would say the best compliment I’ve ever gotten is from actually, at that time, young seventh graders or eighth graders who have never finished a book before, very reluctant readers. I actually just got an email a couple of weeks ago from a little boy who had never finished a book before.  He belonged to a remedial reading class.  His teacher recommended Legend to him, and he ended up finishing it in two days, and he was really proud of himself.  And I was so proud of him.

It’s the stories like that really get to me.  And I find those the best compliments.

As for the toughest criticism, negative reviews are always difficult to read, but I don’t think I’ve ever gotten anything that was extremely hurtful.  I tend to read all of my negative reviews just in case there’s something really valuable mentioned somewhere in them.

For example, one of my first negative reviews commented on how June in the advanced copy of Legend tells time in civilian mode instead of military time, using the 24 hour clock.  And I thought that was like a great comment.  I hadn’t even thought of that.  So that got changed for the final version.

I don’t think I’ve ever gotten anything that was so tough that it broke my heart.  So far all of it has been actually pretty constructive and helpful in its own way.

Kayla:  What other project are you working on that you would like to tell us about?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I just finished up the first few drafts of Legend 3, so I am working on some new stuff now.

I am working on a new fantasy series.  Fantasy is sort of my first love.  It’s the first genre that I really fell in love with back in middle school, so I kind of want to go back to that.

The new story is set in an alternate fantasy version of Renaissance Italy.  And that’s hopefully what will be my next series.  So we’ll see what happens.

Amy:  So, since Legend was inspired by Les Miserables, have you seen the new movie version, and how did you feel about it?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I have seen it, and I really loved it maybe with the exception of Russell Crowe, who I just felt so sorry for.  I thought he was gonna pop a vocal cord.  But, other than that, I thought the movie was really, really good.

I loved Anne Hathaway as Fantine, and it was just really cool seeing the big screen version of the musical paying homage to the musical.  I’d seen like the old Les Mis movies, but they were movie movies and not so much the musical.  So I thought it was really, really fun.

Rachel:  In the book Legend, you created a contrast between the poor citizens and an elite military group.  Will the readers of Prodigy be able to look for another contrast as extreme?

Ms. Marie Lu:  In Prodigy, the contrast is a little bit different.  I think in Prodigy, a lot of the contrast comes from what one person thinks of the Republic and what the other person thinks of the Republic and also with the areas outside of the Republic that are very different from the Republic itself.

Pamela:  What was the hardest scene that you had to write in either Legend or Prodigy?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I find June incredibly hard to write. Every time one of her chapters comes up, I kind of have to stop and do random research for her lines because she just knows random things.  For example, in Prodigy, there’s an early scene where she starts listing off the metal composition of a paper clip.  So I had to stop and go online and read about the history of paper clips and just really random things like that.

So June’s chapters definitely are slow going for me, and they’re very challenging.

And a particularly difficult scene in Prodigy was when Day and June have a really drawn-out dramatic verbal fight. That took me 10 or 20 different tries to get their dialogue the way that I wanted to.  It was definitely a challenging scene.

Michelle:  If you could spend a day with any of the characters in Prodigy, who would it be and what will you do with that character during your day together?

Ms. Marie Lu:  That’s an interesting question.  I would really love to spend a day with Anden, actually.  I think it would be really fun to see from his point of view what it’s like to run the Republic from the inside.  I would probably like to tell him all of the things that people are conspiring to do against him.

And he seems like he would be a fun person to hang around because he’s very elegant and might take me to a really nice restaurant.

Anna: My question is what made you choose to write about a young adult instead of more of an adult?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I actually went into this story not knowing that I had written a young adult.  I think I had always been writing young adult without realizing it, ever since high school.

When I took Legend to my agent, I just gave it to her as  science fiction, and she was the one who told me that it actually fit really well into the young adult dystopian section.

I wasn’t entirely sure what I was writing, but now that I know about young adult, I really find the genre fascinating, and pretty much everything I read these days is young adult.

In the future, I might write something for adults.  But right now, I’m having a pretty good time with the young adult category.

Kayla:  In an animated version of Legend or Prodigy, who would you want the voice of June or Day?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I would love an animated version.

Oh, gosh, I don’t even know. I think it would be really fun if Day’s voice was Leonardo DiCaprio because when I was a little girl, I was totally a fan of Leo DiCaprio, and his Romeo and Juliette personality probably inspired Day just a little bit.  So I think it would be fun if he was voicing Day.

For June, I’m not entirely sure.  But I really like the voices of the girls in Avatar:  The Last Airbender.  I really loved the voice actresses in Airbender and in Korra.  So I think it’d be fun if she was voiced like Korra or Katara.

Pamela:  While you were writing Legend, it says in your biography that you were an art director at a game design company. What did you like about game design, and were you a gamer growing up?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I definitely was a gamer growing up.  My first game was Sonic Hedgehog II on my Sega Genesis, and I’ve been a gamer ever since.

I find games to be so fascinating because it’s just another creative media.  All creative media inspire me, and they’re sort of interchangeable for me.

Playing games a lot and working in games definitely influences my writing.  When I’m writing, I tend to see in my head either a game sequence or some sort of movie sequence that’s kind of related to my former art director job.

In Legend, the seen where June and Kaede have their street fight, that was solely inspired by Street Fighter.  So in my head, I kind of picture it like a game scene.

And I just find it really fun.  Sometimes if I have writer’s block, I do like to put the writing aside and go play some games or watch some movies or something, get my creative juices flowing in a different sort of media.

Kayla:  What is your definition of a bad writing day, and how do you deal with those days?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I do get bad writing days quite frequently.  Usually, my best solution is to stop writing and to start drawing.  I notice that I can usually break a writer’s block if I stop and just start drawing my characters or the scene that I’m trying to write or some sort of landscape. I notice that switching the creative media will usually help me break that.

And sometimes reading books helps a lot. I can usually like go and read something and then get inspiration from that.

Rachel:  What was the most personally related event or thing or concept or maybe even a lesson you learned that you incorporated into your new book Prodigy that you really want your readers to digest and think about?

Ms. Marie Lu:  One thing that I really wanted to emphasize in Prodigy was the fact that everything is sort of gray.  There’s no black and white to anything.  The Republic is not completely evil. The people who live in the Republic are not all evil.  And the world outside of the Republic is not always good.

I really wanted to reflect some of the reality of our real world.  A lot of the political elements in Prodigy were inspired directly by the state of American politics right at the beginning of our Great Recession, which was around the time I had started to work on Prodigy and on Legend.

I think that that’s something that I really hope that readers will pick up on and be aware of – that dystopia is relative and it really depends on who tries it on and how you see it.  It’s something that I saw when I was living in China, and I see it in America, too.  So that’s definitely something that I wanted to come across.

Pamela:  I’m representing Surviving College, a site about surviving college life. Do you have any advice for college students who are looking to break into a creative industry like gaming or writing?

Ms. Marie Lu:  There’s definitely certain majors that you can pursue that will help you.  If I could go back to college, I probably would have majored in creative writing or game design.  I was a political science major, which is mainly because I was kind of afraid to take that jump.

I really hope that college students who are interested in the creative industry won’t be afraid to pursue those industries because I know they can be very challenging to get a foothold in, but your best bet is to try to steer your major towards what you want to do and start searching for internships.

If you’re looking to go into the arts – gaming or movies or any sort of art design – just know that your portfolio is king.  Even if you don’t have a major in art, you can actually get a job if your portfolio is strong enough.

Definitely do your research and go online and find certain people that you can look up to.  A lot of the great creative artists are online, and they have art blogs.  A game designer has game design blogs.  And you can probably get informational interviews with them to just ask them about how their industry works.

In the creative industry, like all industries, it’s all about who you know.  So building those early connections really helps a lot.

And as far as writing goes, there are a ton of resources online for aspiring writers and great writer communities.  Twitter is a great tool to follow established writers and see what they say and what advice they have to give.

I think the biggest thing is just don’t be afraid to pursue it. I was afraid for a long time because I thought I would be a starving artist.  But I think anyone can make it in the creative industry if they’re passionate about it and they have the talent.

Anna:  Where do you like to go to write, whether it be at your house or your local Starbucks?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I’ve sort of gotten in the habit of writing anywhere.  I used to not be able to do that.  I used to just write exclusively at home.  But I did a lot of traveling this past year, so now I kind of like writing in coffee shops more and writing on trains–I’m not sure why, but trains seem to be a fun place to do writing, for whatever reason.  And I do still enjoy writing at home, too, since it’s the most convenient spot.

Amy:  What are you most excited for readers to discover in Prodigy?

Ms. Marie Lu:  I would really love to see readers meet Anden and see what they think of him.  I had a lot of fun writing Anden.  A fun little piece of trivia is that he and Day were actually both in an old manuscript that I wrote back in high school, and they were best friends in that one.

So he was a character that I revised from the old one, although his personality iss a little bit different in this one.

I’m excited to see what readers think of him.  I’m excited to see readers meet Kaede again and see the role that she plays.

And I just hope people like the new direction that Prodigy goes in and the new characters that sort of take the reigns.

Michelle:  What was your inspiration for the colonies?

Ms. Marie Lu:  For the colonies?  It was definitely part of the whole feeding off of American politics during the Great Recession.  It was just sort of disturbing and baffling to see how extreme our two political parties had to go in order to face off against each other during dire circumstances.

I feel like, in the Legend world, since it’s very dystopian and there are a lot of crises, that was why the two countries became such polar opposites.  So that was definitely an inspiration, the whole American politics that we know for the last four years.

Chelsy:  Thank you all so much for being here.  Marie, thank you for your time and your patience and your willingness to go through a couple of different workarounds.  And all of you guys who were able to participate, as well, thank you.

Ms. Marie Lu:  Thank you! I had a great time talking with you guys.

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This giveaway is provided by Penguin Group

One lucky winner will receive a signed copy of Prodigy by Marie Lu

Available January 29, 2013 from Putnam Juvenile/Penguin

About this Book:

Prodigy is the long-awaited sequel to Legend, the must-read dystopian novel for all YA fans of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Divergent by Veronica Roth. A brilliant re-imagining of Les Miserables, the series is set to be a global film sensation as CBS films have acquired rights to the trilogy.

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—-June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

Click HERE to read an excerpt

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Dark Faerie Tales is thrilled to have the talented Jay Bonansinga here today to  discuss The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor and The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury, the first two books in The Governor Trilogy written in conjunction with Robert Kirkman. Sheila recently reviewed the audiobook versions of The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor and The Walking Dead: The Road to Woodbury. Click on the titles to read her reviews.

About Jay:

Jay Bonansinga is a New York Times bestselling author of sixteen books, including the Bram Stoker finalist THE BLACK MARIAH (1994), and the International Thriller Writers Award finalist SHATTERED (2007).  Jay’s work has been translated into nine languages, and he has been called “one of the most imaginative writers of thrillers” by the CHICAGO TRIBUNE.  Jay has won major film festival awards, including a Gold Remi at the Houston International WorldFest and a Best Comedy Feature at the Queens International Film Festival, and his 2005 novel, FROZEN, is in development as a major motion picture starring Dennis Haysbert (THE UNIT).  Jay’s 2004 non-fiction debut, THE SINKING OF THE EASTLAND, won the Certificate of Merit from the Illinois State Historical Society, and is currently the source novel for the acclaimed musical “EASTLAND” at the Tony award-winning Lookingglass Theater.  Jay’s recently released non-fiction work, PINKERTON’S WAR, out from Lyons Press in 2011, is a true historical thriller about the creator of the U.S. Secret Service.  And Jay is currently hard at work co-writing a trilogy of original novels based on the universe of Robert Kirkman’s brilliant graphic novel, THE WALKING DEAD (the inspiration for the mega-hit AMC series of the same name).  Jay is also a Visiting Professor at both Northwestern and DePaul universities where he teaches screenwriting.

You can visit Jay around the web here: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Want to read more from Jay Bonansinga?

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Welcome Jay!

DFT: In the first book, why did you choose Phillip to be so haunted by his own internal demons yet become the original group’s de facto leader?

Jay: Much of this was already cooked up by the great and powerful Robert Kirkman — I’m the one who simply puts the rotting flesh on the bones of the story — but I think this character was critical to set up a lot of things in the story and in Woodbury — not the least of which is the BIG twist at the end of the first book.  Plus… I think you want a bad-ass leading your group.  I would want the governor on my side in a dark alley, and then later, I would politely get the hell away from him.

DFT: Do you believe that Phillip’s fractured mind is an attribute or a hindrance?

Jay: Oh man I totally LOVE the weirdness of “Philip’s” mind — it jibes perfectly with the desperate times and the almost feral nature of protecting your family and friends no matter what the cost.  I guess you could say it cost Philip his sanity.

DFT: What would you say about Phillip that makes him so much more interesting than some of the other Walking Dead characters?

Jay: I always tell my creative writing students to make your heroes flawed and nasty, and your villains sweet and sympathetic… and I think Philip is the ultimate villain — savage, creepy, and yet almost sympathetic, full of love and neediness and warmth.

DFT: What was behind the decision of making ROAD TO WOODBURY from an outsider’s perspective?

Jay: Again, this was Robert’s decision early on – he gives me an 8-page outline and I turn it into a 400 page book — but for me, as a writer and storyteller, the outsider perspective works beautifully.  You need to see the freakiness from a character that you identify with, and you process it through Lilly’s point of view, and you go: “WHOOOOA KEEMOSABI, GET ME OUTTA HERE.”

DFT: Almost all of the characters have significant addictions (i.e. drugs, sex, violence), do you believe that to be the likely outcome of surviving a zombie crisis?  Why?

Jay: Oh my God yes… oh my God… if it were me, I would be drunk or stoned or zonked out on Xanax the whole time… I mean… well… not that I have any experience with these things… this is just a hypothetical… right?… um… anyway… from what I’ve read, a martini and an ambien, and maybe some superficial sex, can make a zombie apocalypse go down a heck of a lot easier.

DFT: What are the motivations driving Phillip once he takes on the mantle of “The Governor?”

Jay: He feels as though he is loved.  He feels as though he has the family that he so tragically lost.  He feels whole.  In a very warped, twisted, creepy way of course.

DFT: What are we likely to see for the last installment, without giving too much away?

Jay: You’re going to see a TOUR DE FORCE of action, a ZOMBIEPALOOZA, where all the strands and characters and storylines that have been both explored or hinted at come together!!!!!!!  I can’t wait!!!!!!

DFT: Are there any plans in the works for back stories of some of the other characters?

Jay: Yes… but that’s as far as I can go and stay breathing… otherwise, if I told you, I would end up in a trunk.  Or zombie lunch.

DFT: If you were to meet someone who has not seen either the show or read the comics, how would you a) sum it all up and b) entice them into reading or watching The Walking Dead?

Jay: It seems like everybody working in this field always says, “Well, you know, it’s not really about zombies.  It’s really about characters, or the human condition, or love, or the electoral college…” or some such crap.  I would tell people it is pure, unapologetic, kick-ass survival horror that does not pull any punches.  It is like rock and roll for the imagination.  There’s a lot of action and sex and violence and cool stuff that will make you shudder, scream, laugh, and gawk.  If you like classical music, wine, Oprah, and stinky cheese… this may not be for you.

DFT: Who is your favorite character and why?

Jay: Easy… so easy… hands down… no contest… the inimitible, sexy, exotic, dangerous, take-no-prisoners MICHONNE and her gorgeous dreadlocks and bad-ass kente sword.

DFT: What would you do if there was a zombie outbreak?

Jay: Take Xanax, enjoy stiff martinis, use lots of porn… and hide.  (See question 5)

DFT: What item(s) would you suggest that people have in case of a zombie outbreak?

Jay: Xanax, Ketel-One, lubricant, ambien, porn, valium, bandaids, a vibrator, Neosporin… and a chain mail suit.

DFT: Who do you normally root for in a horror movie; good guys or the monsters, and why?

Jay: Always the monster… even in zombie stories… because there always going to be characters like Shane and Laurie whom you just want to see get eaten.

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About this Book:

The zombie plague unleashes its horrors on the suburbs of Atlanta without warning, pitting the living against the dead. Caught in the mass exodus, Lilly Caul struggles to survive in a series of ragtag encampments and improvised shelters. But the Walkers are multiplying. Dogged by their feral hunger for flesh and crippled by fear, Lilly relies on the protection of good Samaritans by seeking refuge in a walled-in town once known as Woodbury, Georgia.

At first, Woodbury seems like a perfect sanctuary. Squatters barter services for food, people have roofs over their heads, and the barricade expands, growing stronger every day. Best of all, a mysterious self-proclaimed leader named Philip Blake keeps the citizens in line. But Lilly begins to suspect that all is not as it seems. . . . Blake, who has recently begun to call himself The Governor, has disturbing ideas about law and order.

Ultimately, Lilly and a band of rebels open up a Pandora’s box of mayhem and destruction when they challenge The Governor’s reign . . . and the road to Woodbury becomes the highway to hell in this riveting follow-up to Robert Kirkman and Jay Bonansinga’s New York Times bestselling The Walking Dead: Rise of the Governor.

Click HERE to read an excerpt

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Dark Faerie Tales is honored to have author Jocelynn Drake drop by for an interview about her new novel, Angel’s Ink! The first book in the Asylum Tales series was released yesterday, Tuesday, October 16. Angel’s Ink is an entertaining novel about warlocks, tattoo artists with strange and magical creatures. Click here to read an excerpt.

About Jocelynn:

Jocelynn Drake, urban fantasy author of the New York Times bestselling Dark Days series, was born and raised in the Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati, Ohio region. After gaining her Bachelor of Arts degree in the literature, she pursued a career in the financial industry, where she wrote articles and gave interviews regarding the stock market. When not at her desk, she is most likely to be found playing video games, watching movies, or hanging with her family. In 2012, she launched a new urban fantasy series entitled The Asylum Tales featuring a warlock tattoo artist. All her novels are published through HarperCollins.

You can visit Jocelynn around the web here: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Want to read more from Jocelynn Drake?

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DFT: Could you start things off by telling us a little about Angel’s Ink?

Jocelynn: The Asylum Tales is a completely new and strange world.  Humans live in a world surrounded by every magical and mythical creature we’ve ever run across in a story.  Your next-door neighbor may be a werewolf, your office cube mate could be an ogre, your dentist is a siren, and your favorite bartender is a minotaur.  What’s more, this is normal for you.  In this world, everyone needs a little help every once in a while.  Maybe it’s some good luck.  Maybe your love life needs a boost.   That is where a good tattoo artist comes in handy.  With a magic potion added to the ink, the tattoo artist can help you woo your sweetheart or maybe hex your ex.

The series focuses on Gage Powell, owner and tattoo artist at Asylum Tattoo Parlor in Low Town.  Gage, along with fellow tattoo artists Bronx (a troll) and Trixie (an elf), help people with their troubles while trying to stay out of trouble as well.  Unfortunately, that’s not very easy for Gage, because he’s a former warlock from the Ivory Towers – the dark rulers of this world.  The members of the Towers are still hunting for Gage because he left them.  Dodging witches and warlocks, Gage tries to help his friends without losing his own head in the process.

In Angel’s Ink, Gage attempts to help a woman who’s dying, but she gets a little more help that she bargained for.  Gage has to quickly fix his mistake while avoiding his old mentor from the Ivory Towers who is out for his head.

DFT: Could you tell us about your main characters in Angel’s Ink?

Jocelynn: Gage Powell is the main character and storyteller of The Asylum Tales series.  He is the owner of Asylum Tattoo Parlor, an accomplished tattoo artist, and a former warlock of the dreaded Ivory Towers.  He’s generally a good guy, but he has a knack for finding and stepping into trouble.

Bronx is another character who appears frequently in the series.  The troll is a tattoo artist and is one of the first employees hired by Gage.  Over the past few years, he’s become a close and trusted friend of Gage.  Bronx is the calm, level-headed person of the group.  He’s more likely to stop and think about a situation instead of just rushing in – he’s leaves that to Gage.

Trixie is an elf, but she’s hiding her true identity because she’s got a group hunting her.  Gage knows that she’s really an elf but can’t admit it because then she’ll know that he’s really a warlock – and that’s just bad.  Trixie is also a tattoo artist and works at Asylum.  Trixie is sweet, funny, and loves to give Gage crap, which he usually deserves.

DFT: Who is your favorite character in this book and why?

Jocelynn: I have to pick just one?  Nope, can’t do it.  I love so many of the characters in Angel’s Ink, and it’s so hard to pick a favorite.  I love watching how they all interact with Gage in their unique ways.  I love Bronx’s calming influence over Gage and the tenderness between Gage and Trixie.  I love Chang because he is this adorable, wily black market seller who can get his hands on ANYTHING and has a twisted sense of humor.    I love Sofie because she’s so good at aggravating Gage.  And I have an extra soft spot for Gideon because he has this secret that I can’t tell but Oh My God!  Yep, love Gideon.

While I worked on both the first and second book in the series, I found myself looking forward to certain chapters because these characters were returning to the page and they are so much fun to work with.

But overall, I probably love Gage the most.  He is so much fun for me to play with. He’s a good guy with so much potential and power at his fingertips.  Despite not being “human,” he’s the most human character I’ve ever worked with.  He’s fallible and he’s not trying to be perfect.  He’s just trying to live and have a normal life with friends and a girlfriend and a job he enjoys.  He’s also fun because he rarely censors the comments that come out of his mouth and that’s just dangerous.

DFT: Do you have a favorite scene or line in Angel’s Ink?

Jocelynn:  I don’t have a favorite line in particular, but I do have two scenes that I adore.  They both relatively minor but I still chuckle to myself when I think about them.  The first is when Gage is in a bad part of town, looking for his former tattooing mentor Atticus Sparks.  Gage is already have a bad day and as he’s passing through town he gets hassled by a pack of werewolves.  Instead of keeping his temper, Gage casts a spell on the alpha werewolf that  … well … it isn’t something a powerful werewolf would want to be turned into.

The other scene is Gage’s visit to black market seller Chang.  Gage wanders through Chang’s warehouse as they talk and readers will get a glimpse at all the goodies that Chang has accumulated over the years – among them are a flying carpet and a gorgon’s head.  It’s a relatively short scene, but it was so much fun working with Chang.

DFT: How much research went into creating this series?

Jocelynn:  I’d have to say that I did a fair amount of research for the Asylum Tales.  By the time I decided to do a series on a tattoo artist, I was already getting my third tattoo.  I had made friends with a couple artists, so I was asking them a lot of questions on vocabulary, techniques, and just collecting their own personal stories about things that have happened while they tattooed people.  Sometimes real life is stranger than fiction.

Other than the tattooing, I did only minor research into the various creatures that appear in the series.  I would look into their basic mythology, and choose small bits from it before adding more of my own unique touches to make the world mine.

DFT: What is your favorite part about writing this series?

Jocelynn:  I think the thing I love most about The Asylum Tales is that anything can happen.  The Dark Days series was limited in the number of creatures that could appear and that everyone was in hiding.  With the Asylum Tales, all the doors have been thrown open and the story is only limited by my own imagination.  Over three short stories and two novels, I’ve encountered vampires, shifters, goblins, ogres, minotaurs, trolls, sirens, incubi, elves, pixies, faeries, hobgoblins, Vestal Virgins, succubi, and so much more.  It’s an insane place that constantly keeps you on your toes.  Despite the fact that Gage has lived there his entire life, there are still creatures that surprise him.  I guess I just love playing with the impossible.

DFT: Do you have a long-term plan or goal for this story universe?

Jocelynn:  Yes and no.  When I wrote the Dark Days series, I had a very specific goal in mind from the first book.  I knew where I was headed the entire time, even if I wasn’t always sure of how I would get there.  For the Asylum Tales, I’ve got a list of ideas.  Gage is walking toward three paths: the dark wood; the epic, world-changing road; and the smaller, life-altering path.  I am laying the ground work for each in the first couple of books, but I will soon have to choose which road Gage will finally choose.  Right now, there are a lot of things that could happen in the series and I’m having a hard time settling on just one.

DFT: Do you have a particular writing process or ritual?

Jocelynn:  I don’t know if I’d call it a ritual so much as a habit.  When I sit down at my computer, I pull up both the manuscript and the plot outline so I know where I am in the story and where I’m headed.  After a quick glance at the outline to see what I’m going to be working on, I’ll pull up my music.  I guess my one quirk is that I need the right music to match my mood for that day’s writing.  Usually after writing the first few chapters of a book, I start pulling together playlists for that book.  For Gage, I tend to listen to a lot of Shaman’s Harvest, Theory of a Deadman, Violent Femmes, Blue October, and Foo Fighters.

DFT: What influences and inspirations (both literary and non-literary) do you draw from while writing?

Jocelynn:  Funny enough, when I’m writing, I try to block out anything I’ve ever read and admired.  When it’s time for the words to hit the page, it’s just me, Gage, and the blank page.  The world slips away completely so that I can find my own voice, my own thoughts.  Those influences are limited to my subconscious.

As for writers I admire, I love Richard Kadrey’s voice and I love Kim Harrison’s dynamic for working with a large cast of characters.  I love Simon Green’s amazing imagination when it comes to creating the world in his Nightside series.  I love Raymond Feist’s character development and plotting.  I love the humor of Kerrelyn Sparks and Lynsay Sands.

As for the classics, I love Oscar Wilde, Mary Shelley, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Alexander Dumas, and Jane Austen.  Great writers, great storytellers.

DFT: Which genre do you prefer to read? Do you have any favorite authors or series?

Jocelynn:  When I get the time to pick up a book, I tend to read a lot of urban fantasy, but I will occasionally slip over into historical romance.  I also love fantasy.  But I will try just about any genre.  I love a good story and that’s what’s most important.

Authors I love: Richard Kadrey, Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, Simon R. Green, Raymond Feist, Kerrelyn Sparks, Lynsay Sands, Pamela Palmer, Oscar Wilde, Mary Shelley, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Alexander Dumas, Jane Austen, Vicki Pettersson, Rachel Vincent, Dani Worth, Eve Silver, JR Ward, Amanda Quick, Johanna Lynsay, Elizabeth Hoyt, Christine Feehan, and many many more.

DFT: What can you tell us about any other projects you are working on?

Jocelynn:  I am in a quiet period at the moment.  I have just handed in the second book in the Asylum Tales series and a new short story in the Blood by Moonlight anthology is getting ready to come out this month (Oct. 23).  At the moment, I am looking ahead to a potential third book in the Asylum Tales series while toying around with a few other stories that are trying to grow.  I am also contemplating a pair of novellas featuring characters readers will meet in Angel’s Ink.  I am thinking that by the first of the year, I will have a more solid plan as to what I will be working on during the next couple of years.  But don’t worry.  More books are coming.

DFT: If you were to get a tattoo for an extra boost, what tattoo would you get and why?

Jocelynn: I would get a “perfect weight” tattoo.  After getting the tattoo, my body would reduce or expand to be the perfect portion for my height and body shape.  No matter what I ate, I would always be the perfect weight.  I am a lover of junk food and have poor restraint.  I’d like to be able to eat without worrying over my weight.

DFT: What is your favorite faery tale? Why?

Jocelynn:  I think that my favorite faery tale is the story of Beauty and the Beast.  It’s a beautiful tale of love blooming from what is inside of a person, moving beyond the superficial.  It isn’t about princes or castles.  It’s about love and the heroine saving the hero.

DFT: I want to thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.

Jocelynn:  Thank you so much for having me.  It’s always a pleasure to talk to readers.

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Available October 16, 2012 from Harper Voyager

About this Book:

Buyer beware . . .

Looking for a tattoo—and maybe a little something extra: a burst of good luck, a dollop of true love, or even a hex on an ex? Head to the quiet and mysterious Gage, the best skin artist in town. Using unique potions—a blend of extraordinary ingredients and special inks—to etch the right symbol, he can fulfill any heart’s desire. But in a place like Low Town, where elves, faeries, trolls, werewolves, and vampires happily walk among humanity, everything has its price.

No one knows that better than Gage. Turning his back on his own kind, he left the magical Ivory Tower where cruel witches and warlocks rule, a decision that cost him the right to practice magic. And if he disobeys, his punishment—execution—will be swift.

Though he’s tried to fly under the radar, Gage can’t hide from powerful warlocks who want him dead—or the secrets of his own past. But with the help of his friends, Trixie, a gorgeous elf who hides her true identity, and a hulking troll named Bronx, Gage might just make it through this enchanted world alive.

Click HERE to read an excerpt

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Please join us in welcoming author Laura Bickle to Dark Faerie Tales today! Her debut young adult novel, The Hallowed Ones, follows a young Amish girl as the world around her quickly falls apart. The Hallowed Ones officially releases tomorrow September 25, 2012! Click here to read an excerpt.

About Laura:

Laura Bickle’s professional background is in criminal justice and library science, and when she’s not patrolling the stacks at the public library she’s dreaming up stories about the monsters under the stairs (she also writes contemporary fantasy novels under the name Alayna Williams). Laura lives in Ohio with her husband and five mostly-reformed feral cats.

You can visit Laura around the web here: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

Want to read more from Laura Bickle?

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DFT: Could you start things off by telling us a little about The Hallowed Ones?

Laura: My September release is THE HALLOWED ONES, a YA thriller. Katie is on the verge of her Rumspringa, the time in Amish life when teenagers can get a taste of the outside world. But the outside world comes to her when a helicopter falls out of the sky near her house. Katie must confront not only a massive disaster unfolding in the world outside her community, but also the threat of darkness in her own increasingly fragile society.

DFT: Could you tell us about your main characters in The Hallowed Ones?

Laura: Katie was an interesting character to write because she’s very strong in a quiet, enduring kind of way. She struggles to develop her own moral compass, independent of her parents and community. That requires a great deal of fortitude, just as much fortitude as dealing with the evil creatures in her world.

Alex is an injured man Katie finds outside the boundaries of her community. Katie brings him inside her barn to recover, but can’t be sure what kind of evil he’s bringing in with him. I think Alex works because he challenges Katie. He’s an anthropology student in the outside world, and he both infuriates her and makes her consider ideas that she might not otherwise have encountered. His presence forces her to take risks, and she learns a great deal about herself and her own ethics in attempting to protect him.

Elijah is the boy Katie has grown up with, who she expects to marry someday. Elijah is something of a straight arrow. When the end of the world happens and he loses his brothers, he falls back on tradition. Hard. This really puts stress on his relationship with Katie, and Katie begins to question both him and the rules he’s following.

DFT: Describe your main characters in 3 words.

Laura: Katie’s quiet, strong, and curious. The last characteristic is the one that gets her into trouble.

DFT: Do you have a favorite scene or line in The Hallowed Ones?

Laura: My favorite line is the first one:  “After the end of the Outside world, the Plain folk survived.”

DFT: How much research went into creating this book?

Laura: I spent some time visiting the Amish settlement near where I live. I also did a good deal of reading…there are a lot of great books out there that look at the Plain way of life from a sociological perspective. National Geographic has also done a number of very good documentaries about the Amish.  Many of the ideas were very foreign to me. For example, the Amish do not wish to be connected to the outside world, so power lines, phone lines, and electricity are not used. That kind of voluntary isolation is fascinating to me. The only parallel I can draw in my own life is when storms came through our area and we were without phone, cable, electricity, and internet for a week. It was very still and very peaceful.

I’m acutely conscious that I can’t know or understand everything about the Amish, never having lived in an Amish community. But I learned enough to develop an immense respect for the Amish way of life.

DFT: What is your favorite part about writing this book?

Laura: Telling my husband: “Hey! I’ve decided to write an Amish dystopian book with vampires in it. Pretty cool, huh?”

And then watching complete bafflement come over his face. “You’re writing a what?”

DFT: You also write two adult urban fantasy series, how much did you have to adjust your writing for this young adult novel?

Laura: I always have a lot of fun writing fantasy. I love asking those ‘what if’ questions and building worlds around the answers. Writing as Laura Bickle and Alayna Williams, I wrote four urban fantasies. Two are best summed up as “Ghostbusters in Detroit with dragons and arson” (EMBERS and SPARKS). The other two, DARK ORACLE and ROGUE ORACLE, are about a criminal profiler who uses Tarot cards to solve crimes.

The funny part about THE HALLOWED ONES is that I didn’t set out to make it YA. It just came out that way…I knew that I wanted to tell the story from the perspective of a young Amish woman who was dealing with issues of conformity and autonomy. I was completely unaware that it was YA until I turned it in to my agent.

So I guess…the answer is that I didn’t consciously adjust my writing. The story just developed on its own in a YA way.

DFT: Do you have a particular writing process or ritual?

Laura: I do my best to keep a writing calendar and to commit to writing a certain number of words a day. My favorite place to write is out on the patio, where I can hear the frogs and the crickets. I can’t write very fast or well in front of the television or in coffee shops…I have to really shut the door on distractions to get focus.

DFT: What influences and inspirations (both literary and non-literary) do you draw from while writing?

Laura: Robin McKinley’s HERO AND THE CROWN started my love of fantasy. I read it when I was a pre-teen, and fell in love with fantasy ever after. It was the first book I’d read that had a female protagonist who slew her own dragons. I was hooked.

And before that…Wonder Woman. I read every comic book I could get my hands on as a kid. And I still do. I gave Katie a stash of Wonder Woman comic books as her own secret rebellion in THE HALLOWED ONES.

DFT: Which genre do you prefer to read? Do you have any favorite authors or series?

Laura: I love reading all flavors of fantasy. I adore FEVER by Lauren DeStefano.  Her voice is so incredibly powerful – I can’t wait for the third book in the Chemical Garden trilogy. Both WITHER and FEVER were books that lingered with me for a long time after I finished – I love it when a story takes up real estate in my head and haunts me like that.

DFT: What can you tell us about any other projects you are working on?

Laura: I’m working on the sequel to THE HALLOWED ONES. The sequel is due for publication in spring 2013. We’re still working on a title, but I hope to have one soon!

DFT: What creature are you afraid of the most? Why?

Laura: Do clowns count? When I was a really little girl, my grandmother gave me a pair of slippers with plastic clown heads on them. They terrified the daylights out of me, staring at me from the floor near my bed.  I couldn’t sleep – I was a shrieking, teary mess.

My mom, thinking she needed to get those clown slippers out of my sight, shoved them under my bed.

And all I could think after that was that the clowns were under my bed. Who knows what terrible things they were doing in total darkness? Eeek!

DFT: What is your favorite faery tale? Why?

Laura: That’s a tough one, because I adore faery tales. My favorite film version, hands down, is HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. I know that’s not a traditional faery tale, but I love how it has many of the same elements. And Toothless is the most adorable dragon, ever. I’m hoping to catch the live show if it comes to town.

DFT: I want to thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.

Laura: Thank you so much for interviewing me today!

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Available September 25, 2012 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

About this Book:

If your home was the last safe place on earth, would you let a stranger in?

Katie is on the verge of her Rumspringa, the time in Amish life when teenagers are free to experience non-Amish culture before officially joining the church. But before Rumspringa arrives, Katie’s safe world starts to crumble. It begins with a fiery helicopter crash in the cornfields, followed by rumors of massive unrest and the disappearance of huge numbers of people all over the world. Something is out there…and it is making a killing.

Unsure why they haven’t yet been attacked, the Amish Elders make a decree: no one goes outside their community, and no one is allowed in. But when Katie finds a gravely injured young man lying just outside the boundary of their land, she can’t leave him to die. She refuses to submit to the Elders’ rule and secretly brings the stranger into her community—but what else is she bringing in with him?

Click HERE to read an excerpt

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Dark Faerie Tales is excited to bring you today’s interview with Kat Zhang. Her debut novel, What’s Left of Me, is about two souls that inhabit one body and the risks they go through to share that one body. What’s Left of Me releases today! Read an excerpt here.

About Kat:

Kat Zhang is an avid traveler, and after a childhood spent living in one book after another, she now builds stories for other people to visit. An English major at Vanderbilt University, she spends her free time performing Spoken Word poetry, raiding local bookstores, and plotting where to travel next. What’s Left of Me–about a girl with two souls–is her first novel and will be released by HarperCollins on 9/18/2012. She is represented by Emmanuelle Morgen of Stonesong.

You can visit Kat around the web here: Website | Blog | Twitter

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DFT: Could you start things off by telling us a little about What’s Left of Me?

Kat: Sure! WHAT’S LEFT OF ME is a young adult novel about a fifteen-year-old girl, Eva, who lives in an alternate version of our world–one where each baby is born with two souls but one usually disappears by age five or six. Eva is the soul who should have faded away, but she never did. Instead, she lost all control of her own body, existing as only a voice in Addie’s–her twin soul–head.

Both girls must keep Eva’s existence secret; society fears and hates hybrids like them. If they were discovered, they’d be locked away. But when another secret hybrid reveals that Eva might be able to learn how to control her body again, Eva can’t help but risk everything for the chance to move and speak aloud.

DFT: Could you tell us about your main characters in What’s Left of Me?

Kat: Eva is our POV character. By the beginning of the book, she’s been trapped in her own body for three years and is desperate for a chance to actually live. Addie, her twin soul, is just trying to fit into a normal life while keeping this enormous secret from the world. There’s a lot of friction between the girls sometimes, but also a lot of love.

DFT: Do you have a favorite scene or line in What’s Left of Me?

Kat: Most of my favorite scenes are rather spoiler-y One of my favorite lines, though, is: “I would always wonder what might have happened if we’d listened.” I like the line they use on the back of the book, too, though! “By the time our younger brothers reached settling age, Addie and I had been through two therapists and four types of medication, all trying to do what nature should have already done: get rid of the recessive soul. Get rid of me.”

DFT: What inspired you to write about a girl with two souls?

Kat: There wasn’t one big thing that inspired WHAT’S LEFT OF ME. I just started thinking about that little voice everyone has in the back of their head, and how sometimes in movies and such, it’s portrayed as this whole other voice, and what if that voice was really another person, and what if they were stuck inside your body…? That’s how the idea for Eva came about, and the rest of the story was based around her

DFT: How much research went into creating this book?

Kat: Well, I’ve always been interested in psychology, and since I took a lot of pre-med courses at school, I had a vague background in science just by virtue of that. I did take a neurobiology class, as well. Other than that, I did some research on neurology and asked my parents (both in the medical field!) some questions. However, WHAT’S LEFT OF ME was never meant to be “hard” sci-fi, so the concept of two souls and how that might work is handled more on a emotional and societal level than on a scientific one.

DFT: What is your favorite part about writing this book?

Kat: WHAT’S LEFT OF ME was only the second book I ever finished writing, so it was not only a learning process in terms of navigating the publishing world, but in terms of just plain writing and storytelling technique, as well. I really loved learning so much while putting this novel together, and I hope to use all that knowledge to make book 2 even better.

If we’re including all of publishing as part of “writing,” though, my favorite part has definitely been getting to know all the wonderful writers and bloggers and industry people I’ve met

DFT: Do you have a particular writing process or ritual?

Kat: My favorite place to write is somewhere very dark and silent as a tomb. I don’t like being reminded that any world exists but the world in whatever manuscript I’m working on. So while the stereotypical place for writers to write seems to be a cafe or some picturesque cabin somewhere, it would all be quite lost on me! I’d rather be buried deep in the stacks of some library

DFT: What influences and inspirations (both literary and non-literary) do you draw from while writing?

Kat: When I first started writing as a kid, I was very much inspired by Philip Pullman, who taught me about creating fantastical worlds so vivid they felt real and crafting characters so vibrant you wished they were your best friends. I was also inspired by Orson Scott Card’s ENDER’S GAME, which showed me the power of brilliant dialogue and (again), deft characterization. Finally, I was inspired by Alice Hoffman, whose GREEN ANGEL was one of my first lessons in how a sentence can be beautiful.

Today, I’m definitely inspired whenever I read a beautifully crafted book, but I also draw inspiration from all kinds of art, whether it be dance or film or music or visual art. In fact, I think it’s often easier to get inspired by non-literary art

DFT: Which genre do you prefer to read? Do you have any favorite authors or series?

Kat: I do love my YA I’ve also gotten into reading adult literary after reading a lot in that genre for my creative writing workshops. I tend to not have favorite authors so much as favorite books, but I’m definitely a big fan of my fellow Pub(listing) Crawl ladies!

DFT: What can you tell us about any other projects you are working on?

Kat: Well, at the moment I’m revising Book 2 of the Hybrid Chronicles. I’ve also got two other fantasy projects and a contemporary on the back burner (or the back, back burner in one case!)

DFT: If you could be a paranormal creature, what would you be and why?

Kat: Hmmm…I think I’ve be a fairie! Why not? They tend to be super powerful and have magic powers and, as far as I know, not a ton of limitations. Though the aversion to iron thing might become a huge hassle…;)

DFT: I want to thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.

Kat: Thanks for inviting me to interview with you!

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Available September 18, 2012 from Harper Collins

About this Book:

I should not exist. But I do.

Eva and Addie started out the same way as everyone else—two souls woven together in one body, taking turns controlling their movements as they learned how to walk, how to sing, how to dance. But as they grew, so did the worried whispers. Why aren’t they settling? Why isn’t one of them fading? The doctors ran tests, the neighbors shied away, and their parents begged for more time. Finally Addie was pronounced healthy and Eva was declared gone. Except, she wasn’t . . .

For the past three years, Eva has clung to the remnants of her life. Only Addie knows she’s still there, trapped inside their body. Then one day, they discover there may be a way for Eva to move again. The risks are unimaginable-hybrids are considered a threat to society, so if they are caught, Addie and Eva will be locked away with the others. And yet . . . for a chance to smile, to twirl, to speak, Eva will do anything.

Click HERE to read an excerpt

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