The Iron Fey - Author Interview + Giveaway!

Now don't get use to all these blog posts in one week ;)  However, I have another special guest today.  Julie Kagawa author of the popular and excellent Iron Fey series!!  This is also part of my countdown to Ohio, where I will be having two signings near Dayton, Ohio with my fellow Harlequin Teen authors, Mara Purnhagen and Julie.  We will be there next Friday, April 1, and Saturday, April 2nd - please go to my appearances page for more details: http://www.mariavsnyder.com/appearances.php

Back to my guest.  Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series consists of, The Iron King, The Iron Daughter, and the recently released, The Iron Queen.  I read the first two and LOVED them - the main character, Meghan Chase is a great spunky girl and you know me....I'm all about the characters! These books are filled with wonderful characters like His Royal Iciness.  I also thought the iron fey were an unique addition to the world of fairy.  I'm reading The Iron Queen now.

And leave a comment with your email addy by next Thursday, March 31st and be entered to WIN a signed and personalized copy of the first book, The Iron King.

Take Ten with Julie Kagawa:

1.) What made you want to write the Iron Fey Series?

I’ve always loved faeries, but when I started writing The Iron Fey series, I wanted to do something a little different. In many YA faery novels, there’s always Mab and Oberon, the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, and they all mention the Fey’s aversion to iron. Well, what if there was a type of faery that not only was immune to iron, but born of it? And so the Iron Fey came into existence.

2.) Which authors inspire you?

You do! Also, Neil Gaiman, Jim Butcher, Terry Brooks, and Joss Whedon. (Okay, so Joss isn’t technically an author, but his writing does inspire me.) Poison Study is one of my top tier fantasy books, mostly because of a certain dark assassin.

[Maria: I'm honored :) and I have to agree about Joss. He rocks!]

3.) Why YA fantasy? Is there something special about fantasy that draws you to write in the field?

I’ve tried to write in other genres. It just doesn’t work. I’ll start a story about a nice, normal person with a nice, normal life, but eventually elves, dragons, vampires, ect. start showing up on their doorstep, and this nice normal person would freak out and have a nervous breakdown and then somehow they’d find themselves dressed in armor and riding a unicorn. So I just resigned myself to writing fantasy. Lol, not really. I just love the genre. Growing up, all I read were novels like Dragonlance, Lord of the Rings, and The Sword of Shannara, which influenced me a great deal. I think I’ll always be drawn to it.

4.) What do you find most interesting about Meghan Chase and Prince Ash?

I’ve always been intrigued by stories of the ordinary person called to do something extraordinary. At the beginning of The Iron King, Meghan was a normal teenager struggling to fit in. At the end of The Iron Queen, she is so much more. I think her character arc is the most interesting thing about her. As for Ash, he’s a dark, broody Unseelie Prince who falls for a human girl. ‘Nuff said.

5.) What else do you enjoy doing besides writing? Interests? Hobbies?

Well, three times a week I go to Kung Fu and Kali class, which I LOVE, especially when we put on armor and hit each other with sticks. When I’m not at class, most evenings you can usually find me on the couch playing video games. (Right now I’m obsessed with Dragon Age 2 and have completely fallen in love with Fenris. Wear your geekdom proudly.) I’m a manga/anime lover, and I also enjoy drawing, painting, and of course reading.

6.) Did you have to do any special research for this book? What did you learn that you didn't know before?

I did mostly online research, read a little Brothers Grimm, and watched A Midsummer Night’s Dream for inspiration. I learned several methods for dealing with the fair folk, so if you find yourself plagued by a bogart or leprechaun, I know how to make them go away.

7.) How did you become a writer? Is this what you saw yourself growing up to be? Or did it take you by surprise?

I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Wait, scratch that. For awhile, I wanted to be a veterinarian, but that changed sometime before my teen years. Throughout high school, all I wanted to do was write. I would even hide notebooks behind my textbooks during class, writing when I was supposed to be taking notes. My poor teachers; I probably drove them nuts.

8.) Do you have a writing routine? Talk process for a moment, how do the words get on the page?

I start writing in the morning (After checking email, twitter, blogs, facebook, my other email account, goodreads, ect. This can take awhile.), and usually don’t stop until my hubby gets home around 5:30. Since I write full time, I consider this my job and I must put in the hours, but its nice to show up to “work” in pjs. One of the perks of being a writer. :D

9.) Office? Closet? Corner of the living room? Do you have a set place to write? A favorite?

I do have an office with a lovely desk all set up for writing, so of course I use the end of the table sitting right next to it. I wish I could be one of those authors who go to coffee shops and bookstores to write, but I’m so easily distracted by people and movement and birds hopping on the sidewalk that I have to stay home.

10.) What are you writing now? What's coming out next?

I just finished the first book in a new YA series, this one set in a post-apocalyptic world. With vampires. :)

[Ohhh....sounds scary- but I've no doubt it'll be another gripping read!]

Links:
Website: http://www.juliekagawa.com 
Blog: http://juliekagawa.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#!/profile.php?id=1025868155
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2995873.Julie_Kagawa