Interview & Aust/NZ G!veaway: Julie Kagawa - The Lost Prince (The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten #1)

I am honoured to have the opportunity to interview the wonderful and extremely talented, Julie Kagawa, author of the ever popular The Iron Fey and her newest series, Blood of Eden and The Iron Fey spin-off, Call of the Forgotten.

Many thanks to Morey Media and Harlequin Teen Australia for this opportunity.

My review of The Lost Prince

Buy links: Harlequin Australia - Amazon – Barnes & Noble – The Book Depository

 Author: Julie Kagawa

Series: The Iron Fey: Call of the Forgotten

Pages: 379

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Australian Release Date: 1st November 2012

Source: Morey Media / Harlequin Teen Australia

www.harlequinbooks.com.au

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

Don't look at Them. Never let Them know you can see Them.That is Ethan Chase's unbreakable rule. Until the fey he avoids at all costs—including his reputation—begin to disappear, and Ethan is attacked. Now he must change the rules to protect his family. To save a girl he never thought he'd dare to fall for.

Ethan thought he had protected himself from his older sister's world—the land of Faery. His previous time in the Iron Realm left him with nothing but fear and disgust for the world Meghan Chase has made her home, a land of myth and talking cats, of magic and seductive enemies. But when destiny comes for Ethan, there is no escape from a danger long, long forgotten.

About Julie Kagawa:

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.

Interview with Julie Kagawa:

I have just read and loved The Lost Prince - was it difficult starting a spin-off series after the success you have had with The Iron Fey and what inspired you?

        Thank you!  I think the most difficult thing about beginning a spin off series is returning to the world with new characters.  In this case, Ethan isn't completely new, but he is no longer that scared little boy we saw in The Iron King.  I know many readers will be looking for the characters from the original series, and while they do make appearances, this is Ethan Chase's story, and it is time to pass the torch onto another set of heroes.  I only hope Ethan, Kenzie, and Keirran will earn the same place in reader's hearts as Meghan, Ash, and Puck did in the Iron King.

In The Lost Prince was there a particular scene or character you found challenging to write?

        Keirran, in particular, was a bit of a challenge.  Because of his infamous father (which I won't name in an attempt to avoid spoilers), I wanted him to be different, his own person.  And Ethan already had the "angry and brooding" thing down pat, so Keirran had to be interesting without resorting to angst.  Readers of the original series might be disappointed that he isn't like his dad, but that's the point; Keirran is not his father.

What three words would you use to describe Ethan Chase?

        Brooding, tortured, brave.    

Have you developed a particular fondness to a certain character as yet?

        In The Lost Prince, I'm quite fond of Keirran, because of his history and certain things I cannot go into.  Keirran will play a crucial role in the series, and his friendship with Ethan will go down some very twisty paths.  We'll have to see where the two end up when this is all over.   

Do you mind telling us how long it took you to write The Lost Prince?

        About five months for the first draft, than another couple months for the editing/rewriting.

Are there certain influences that inspire you when writing? (literary and non-literary)

        I'm kind of a geek in that much of my inspiration comes from anime and video games.  I firmly believe that video games are just another medium for telling a story, and in these games you become the character, just like in books.  There have been some games that have made me cry (Dragon's Age, FFX), and some that have been so inspiring and powerful all I wanted to do when I finished them was write a story as magnificently as that.  And if that isn't a case against "all video games do is rot your brain," I don't know what is.      

What is your ideal day as an author?

        My ideal day is when I sit down to write, and hit that zone when you're writing as fast as your fingers can move; when the characters take over and you're just along for the ride.  And when you finally stop, you're amazed at how much you've written, because it really didn't feel like that at all.  That's my ideal writing day.

What is one important writing advice that you’d give our aspiring authors?

        Persist. Don't let anyone tell you you're too young or inexperienced or immature or whatever.  Keep writing, keep practicing.  Writing is a skill that has to be honed, just like any other craft; you're not automatically good at it. (At least, I never was.)  Know that if you're serious about getting published, you're going to be rejected, probably many times.  But remember that all published authors started exactly where you are right now.  The only difference is that the published ones never gave up.

What is up next for you?

        Right now I'm working on the second book in the Call of the Forgotten series, and after that I will be starting on the third book in the Blood of Eden series. 

Thank-you so much Julie!

        Thanks so much for having me!

Giveaway:

Thanks to Harlequin Teen Australia, we have 2 x finished copies of The Lost Prince to giveaway to a resident of Australia/New Zealand.

The Lost Prince will be released on the 1/11/2012 so a copy will be shipped after this date.

The winners will be announced on my blog, twitter and facebook page

To enter just follow the Rafflecopter below.

Good luck & thank-you for stopping by!

a Rafflecopter giveaway