Interview:
1) First, tell us about yourself – where you live, your family, and those sorts of details.
Well, first I want to say thank you so much for having me! I’ve actually lived in many places. I went to middle school in Canada, high school in Australia, took a gap year in California, and went to law school in New York City. In other words, I’m Canadian! I fell in love with NYC and haven’t left it since. I’m currently living in Brooklyn with a handsome cat named Blue and a furry boyfriend named Oliver.
2) How long have you been writing?
For as long as I can remember. I used to write stories for my friends as birthday presents, and would always write to avoid gym class. After high school I had a long gap where I stopped writing, thinking that I should be doing something else, and I questioned everything—what I was meant to be doing, where I was going, all of it. I can tell you, I wasn’t happy at all. That gap was an eye opener. It made me realize that I should do what makes me happy, and that was always writing. Ever since I started up again, I couldn’t be happier. This is what I’m meant to be doing.
3) Do you have a favorite place to write?
At my kitchen table, overlooking the river. I live on the 10th floor, and I can see the Statue of Liberty out my window—she’s about the size of my thumbnail, but she’s still out there!
4) Why did you decide to write Dark Souls?
It was actually the second title I’d come up with. I originally had the title as what Emily ultimately turns into, but then thought I was probably giving away what could be a big surprise in the book. I just thought for a minute, and “Dark Souls” popped into my head randomly one morning when I was making eggs. I have no idea why, but it couldn’t be more perfect for the story.
5) Who is your favorite character in your book and why?
This is a tough one. I love all my characters (for obvious reasons), but if I were to choose who stands out to me the most, I’d say Derek. I’ve always loved characters that have layers to them. With Derek, you have to wonder, is he good? Evil? What are his motives? He’s funny and disarming, but you can’t help but sense the undercurrent of something dark. Or at least, I hope that’s what I’ve accomplished!
6) How about your least favorite character? What makes them less appealing to you?
I can’t say that I have a least favorite since I’ve become attached to them all! But if you asked me who is the hardest to get to know, I’d say my male lead, Asher. There’s a lot he needs to do, and a lot on his shoulders. As a result, he comes off as a bit distant, maybe aloof. My goal was to make the reader want to get to know him since all the other characters are very much open books. I plan to have him open up a bit more, but in order for his role to be believable, I had to make sure those walls were up.
7) Do you proofread/edit your own books or do you get someone to do that for you?
I definitely make sure to proofread my own books—five or six times! I do it so often that by the end of it, I want to throw my laptop out the window. I think that’s necessary. I make sure to take breaks in between so every time I look at the book it feels fresh and I’m able to catch more holes, but I’m only human. I make sure someone objective edits my book, and I also have beta readers help me with any plot holes or inconsistencies. As you can see, all of the above is why the first draft is my favorite part!
8) What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Read! It’s true, I’m an avid reader. I read anything I can get my hands on. I’m from a big family of readers, so I’ve been exposed to all kinds of genres: thrillers, romance, sci-fi, historical, young adult, you name it. If I’m hooked, I’ll read it.
9) Do you read much and if so who are your favorite authors?
I love to read, and because of my exposure to all kinds of genres, there are a lot of authors I love. Right now I just finished Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, and it was amazing. I also love Nora Roberts, both as herself and J.D. Robb, and I’m always craving a book by Harlan Coben. But I have to say, I’ve always had a soft spot for Young Adult Paranormal and Urban Fantasy. I was really shy in high school and books often let me escape and see things from fantastical perspectives. It’s why I write in that genre now, because I know there are still girls like me who crave that escape.
10) What question do you wish that someone would ask about your book, but nobody has? Write it out here, then answer it.
Paranormal books often feature the heroine falling in love with the bad boy with heart. Do you ever get tired of it?
I wouldn’t say I’d ever be tired of it because there’s something about that storyline that just pulls at your heartstrings. But I will say that I wanted to try something a little different. I wanted to show that these lines are often so blurred. You can be evil, but have a good purpose behind it. You can be the good guy, but have to do bad things in order to accomplish your goal. With that in mind, I made my lead characters possess both qualities because, in my world, I didn’t want pure innocence. I wanted inner battles, wrong choices, mistakes with love. In the real world, there wouldn’t be pure good versus pure evil, so I asked myself, if this all actually happened in real life (supernatural happenings and all), what would my characters do? How would they feel? They wouldn’t be perfect—not at all. Flaws are a part of life.
Date Published: July 19, 2013
19-year-old Emily desperately wants a name for what she is. For what is consuming and torturing her. For what is changing her.
But she’s not crazy like her mother. She’s not.
Emily may not be as crazy as she thinks, because her body is no longer her own. Something is stirring inside her. It is soft, seductive, and tells her what to do to survive. As Emily learns that her world has been infected by demons that consume human souls and fit seamlessly into the bodies they empty, she must also accept that she is one of them. Yet, she is different from the rest, because her darkness didn’t inhabit her, it was awakened. And it doesn’t just want the humans.
Excerpt:
I was never supposed to live.
At least, that was what my mother would scream at me during her rages, her face twisted into savage fury as she lunged at me—either to kill me or mutilate me, I could never really tell.
“You are wrong! You are an abomination!” she cried before charging at me, her right arm raised high as if to slay me in one swift, ferocious plunge.
Yet, for reasons that still escape me, she would never make that one final move. She would always stop mid-leap, her face frozen and twisted for a few terrifying seconds before I would see her body slacken, her tendons snapping and releasing like broken cords as she fell heavily to the floor, just before reaching me. What I remember most clearly was that moment of calm, chilling stillness, just before her legs would collapse beneath her, where her eyes, wide and unblinking, would focus solely on mine. Even when the rage turned into haggard despair and she crumbled before me, she would never look away.
That memory, that horrifying image of my mother that I could never entirely erase, was the first thing that entered my mind when my world started falling apart.
Ketley Allison
Ketley Allison is a twenty-something (maybe almost thirty-something) author who believes that supernatural love shouldn’t stop at eighteen. She began her career by writing books as birthday presents for her friends (with her friend as the main character and opposite a super sexy lead, of course) before ending it in order to walk down a path she thought she was supposed to follow.
The writing bug never left her—and, in fact, would often bleed into the official papers she was supposed to write—so now Ketley’s putting down her suit and finally following her dream. While her friends are no longer the stars of her books, she still throws in bits and pieces of them into each and every one of her characters.
As a result, her books tend to focus a lot on friendships as well as love, because let’s be honest, friends are what really get you through—especially when your epic love turns into epic heartbreak.
BUY LINKS
Thank you so much for having me, Dalene!
ReplyDelete