Spotlight on Julie Kagawa

Today, I am doing a spotlight on the amazing author, Julie Kagawa, the author of the fantastic Iron Fey series and the amazing The Immortal Rules, the first book in the Blood of Eden series.

Julie kindly answered a few questions for us so without further ado, let's get started.

From a faery world to a vampire world. What challenges, if any, did you face while writing The Immortal Rules?
I loved every minute of writing The Iron Fey series, but after four books and two novellas, I was ready to move on to something different. I'd been wondering if I could write something a little darker, and The Immortal Rules was the perfect opportunity for that. It’s always fun to explore new and unfamiliar characters and learn who they are as you write them, and I enjoy building new worlds and filling them with stories. At the same time, the characters of the Iron Fey series are like old friends, and going back and writing more on them and their world is like putting on an old, comfortable hoodie.

Allie hates the vampires, and yet when faced with death, she chooses to become one. What choice would you have made in this situation?
Me personally? No, I'm like Zeke in the belief that there is something better beyond this life, and that I just have to wait and do my best until it's time for me to go. Besides, as a vampire I'd have to give up pizza and Mt. Dew; I don't think I could survive. ;)

Can you give any hints as to what we can expect from book 2.I'm in the middle of writing the sequel now, and all I can say is that Allie will meet new and old faces, fight her Hunger, and discover a monstrous enemy who has dark plans for her and the entire world.

Quick-fire round
Tea or Coffee: Neither (Mountain Dew)
Favourite Book: Pass. Too many to count.
Favourite Author: Neil Gaiman
Favourite song: It changes daily. Right now it’s Awake and Alive by Skillet
Favourite colour: Black
Sweet or savoury: Sweet
Summer or Winter: Winter
Vampires or faeries: Faeries (but the old fey, not the Tinkerbelle versions)

About Julie

Julie Kagawa was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn't getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.

When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dogtrainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full-time.

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and the latest addition, a hyper-active Papillon puppy. (Taken from Julie's website  http://www.juliekagawa.com)

You can read my review of the Immortal Rules here and my reviews of The Iron Fey series here.


Find Julie on Facebook, Twitter or on her blog.