I
am so pleased to have the wonderfully talented Pixie Lynn Whitfield on my blog
today for an interview and a guest post on ‘Finding Inspiration’.
Pixie’s
debut novel, Darkness Comes this Way
was released on the 15th May and is the first book in The Guardian’s of the Night series.
Author: Pixie Lynn Whitfield
Series: The Guardians of the Night
Pages: 380
Genre: Paranormal / Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Self
Synopsis.
(Goodreads)
Zarah Duncan is a
Guardian. It’s an elite job that protects humans and the untainted vampires
from the real monsters: those lost to the bloodlust. Rogues infest the city.
Missing humans, unsolved cases…Zarah knows what the real cause is and she’s
been trained since childhood to destroy them.
But she has a haunting past that catches up one day. Zarah was Rogue once, and
until her, no one else has ever cured from the poisoned state of mind before.
She’s been labeled a miracle, and the mystery only builds. She gets the awful
feeling there’s more to it than just a lucky magical come-back. There are deep,
dark secrets being kept. Maybe her boss Nathanial knows something? When she
gets paired with a partner, Draven Kinsley, it only adds more difficulty. He
hates her and swears that with a single look, she’ll poison him. To make
matters worse, her Rogue brother has to show up, and he brings with him a
shocking announcement. What Zarah learns from him rocks her entire world upside
down. She not only begins to question who and what she is anymore, but it can
possibly change the Vampire race forever.
The scary part: someone else knows too…and they’ll do anything to get her
special blood, spelling disaster for the humans that Guardians have secretly
been protecting for decades.
Vampires, fallen angels, war, betrayal, and romance fill this Paranormal/Urban
Fantasy debut, the first book to a high-action trilogy.
INTERVIEW:
Welcome to Obsession with Books Pixie,
Are you able to tell us a little about your book Darkness Comes This Way and yourself?
First,
thank you so much for having me, Sharon!
Darkness
Comes This Way is my debut novel, released last month, and is the first book to
a YA Paranormal trilogy. Though it is technically classified “YA”, I find that
it can be easily crossed over for adult, too (no, no explicit content, with the
exception of some language). There’s action, vampires, fallen angels, and
twists. I wanted to create something unique, and I hope I did.
I’m
a bookworm, history nerd, and I have an unhealthy obsession with all things
strange and quirky. I live in Texas
with my husband and three step-kids. Constantly kept on my toes between the
family and my various projects. ^^
When and why did you begin writing?
I
started writing at a young age, about ten I believe when I sat down and began
writing my short stories. I’d been telling stories before that. I liked playing
out the stories in my head when I was little with puppets and dolls. Haha.
Around the time I really started writing though, I was going through a very
harsh moment in life and learned that writing was therapeutic.
Where did the inspiration for your series
The Guardian’s of the Night come from?
Partly
a dream, and partly a word prompt from an old writing contest when I once
visited a writing site. The word was “insanity” but I was mentally blocked and
couldn’t figure out what I wanted to write revolving around the word. It was a
just-for-fun contest anyway. That night, I dreamt of Draven. Or partially. I
imagined his accent and saw his eyes. I felt this strange annoying anger that
was buried in this character, and then when I woke up the idea was just…there.
Zarah was in my head with Thomas and Draven the moment I awoke and I was like “YES!”
Probably not a very exciting story on how it came to be, but I’m honest at
least.
What is your ideal day as an author?
Wake
up, jump on Twitter, procrastinate, read, write about a hundred words or so,
procrastinate some more, Twitter/Goodreads/FB,
read or blog, write about another four hundred words. Haha. This is an
average day. I have different types. Some days are much much better. I try to
write at least 500-600 words a day though if I can’t do much more than that.
Do you mind telling us how long it took
for you to write Darkness Comes This Way?
Sure.
It took me a year and a half. And most of that year I had writer’s block. Once
I really started writing it, I finished within a couple months. The editing
process is the longest. It took me almost three months to work on editing (and
I’m probably still not fully satisfied, but an author will always edit if they
could. We’re our own worst critics.).
Is there anything about you that
would surprise your readers? Any quirks, habits, routines etc.
I
actually have many quirks and what not. I’m a bit OCD. Dishes go in the
dishwasher a certain order. No one is allowed to rinse off dirty dishes in the
left side of the sink. It MUST be the right side. Books, though a bit chaotic
because I’m out of space on my shelves, still get shelved in a certain order. I
used to shelve them alphabetically but later changed it to shelving by series
so that they’re all in order. Haha.
Are you able to describe what your
writing process is like?
I
don’t do outrageous, detailed outlines. Mostly, I just write and take small
notes. When ideas strike for later chapters or character sheets, I take notes
in a notebook I keep. I might do small chapter “brief summary” outlines for
chapters if I need to keep the ideas flowing and to prevent plot holes. I do
make detailed character sheets so that every detail of my characters are on
pages. When writing, I usually just let the words flow though! I never edit
until I’m finished. I just keep writing. Editing is last.
Are there any books or authors that
have most influenced you?
There
are quite a bit really. Shakespeare. Anne Rice. Stephen King. Richelle Mead.
Melissa Marr. Just to name a few.
Is there a book you are reading at
the moment? And do you tend to favor a particular genre?
I’m
reading a few at the moment. Haha. I’m reading Cold Fury by T.M. Goeglein, Glitch
by Heather Anastasiu, and Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. And yes, I tend to favor
YA mostly—and many of YA’s subgenres—Fantasy, Dystopian, Contemporary, and
Paranormal. I really love a lot of Dystopian and Paranormal.
If Darkness Comes This Way were to be
made into a movie, who would you chose to play the roles of your main characters
Zarah & Draven?
Oh
gosh, that’s a hard one! I really don’t know. I was asked this once before and
I thought maybe Emma Stone might look good as Zarah. But I have no idea for
Draven. Perhaps Cam Gigandet (and no, I’m not a Twilight fan. Did not mention
him because of that. I just like the guy’s image)
In
all seriousness, I would be more interested in fans’ choices and visions for
character cast when it comes to this question. Everyone has different views and
sees their own vision of the characters. I think it’d be neat hearing the
different suggestions.
What is up next for you?
Book
two for The Guardians of the Night trilogy is due out around January of 2013.
I’m also currently working on a stand-alone YA Dystopian/Horror (it also deals
with vampires but extremely different) and a stand-alone YA Contemporary
Romance. There are no set release dates for these two projects yet though. I’m
hoping to announce something for one of these in the near future.
Quick
Questions:
Fave band / television series /
movie?
Lot
of bands/musicians, so I’ll just name a few: Godsmack, Green Day, Three Days
Grace, Avenged Sevenfold, David Bowie, Alan Jackson, Lady Gaga, Coldplay,
Maroon 5, Luke Bryan, Apocalyptica, and more. Television series: I’m
Supernatural and True Blood obsessed. Probably my two favorite. I also love The
Walking Dead, Ridiculousness, Big Brother, Pretty Little Liars, Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, and when it’s baseball season, I’m watching that also. Movies:
Pirates of the Caribbean, Sweeny Todd, Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, Labyrinth, Underworld,
Stardust, Star Trek (the new one), Zombieland, and Resident Evil. These are the
movies I can never get tired of, no matter how many times I see them.
Coffee or tea?
Tea.
I don’t like coffee (the horror!).
E-reader or hardcopy?
Hardcopy
preferred. I don’t have a problem
reading e-books though. But nothing can replace a physical book—the smell and
feel—and that is that.
Cats or Dogs
Cats.
I have a cat and dog. But I’ve always had more of an affinity to kitties. I
think it’s because I was viciously mauled as a child by a large dog, so I do
have an underlying fear of them even now as an adult. :/
Ideal travel destination?
Ireland. Hopefully one day!
Thank-you so much Pixie for taking
time to talk to us today!
Thank
you for the opportunity and wonderful interview!
ABOUT
PIXIE:
My name is Pixie. I am a twenty-seven year old author and book
geek. Writing and reading are my passions, and have been for as long as I can
remember. I love collecting books, talking books, and book shopping. I think I
can safely say that a lot of my current "debt" is attributed to
books. Haha. It's an addiction that I'm proud of. :) Sadly, I don't have many
local friends that are into the book scene, so I'm a bit of a loner at times.
Being a part of the blogging community in the last year and a half has been
wonderful and I've met so many great people!
Some like to put the label "nerd" on me, but I don't mind a bit. I
embrace my geeky-chic!
Growing up, I wasn't like the "normal" kids, and always had my nose
either stuck in a book, or a pen dashing along the pages of a notebook.
I'd known from that first “I do not like green eggs and ham” line that
all I wanted out of life was to be a writer one day too. And when I
started learning about ghost stories and other creepy things not much longer
after that, I fell in love with the paranormal.
I write YA-- Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Dystopian, and some Horror,
and just finished my second full-length novel currently in the process of
publication. Darkness Comes This Way
is to be released this June. Asides from my novel works, I'm also constantly
working on novellas and short stories on the side, as well as two other
novels in progress. I have had some short stories featured in publications
before.
Outside of writing and reading: I love history, baseball and tennis, rock
music/concerts, tattoos, Johnny Depp, Supernatural (Sam and Dean!), western
boots and ballet flats, spunky clothes,
band tees, all things purple, and my friends.
GUEST
POST:
Finding Inspiration
By: Pixie Lynn Whitfield
Every
writer has their inspirations, true?
Today
I’d like to take a few moments to tell you about mine. They’re not all in my
own genre, or even writers themselves, but at some point in my life, I was
inspired or felt thankful to these people or events and
it’s what molded me as the writer I am today--and the writer I’m continuing to
grow and shape into now.
I
was a young reader and my first foray into reading was gifted by my father. He
wasn’t a writer, but he taught me to read. Between him and my mother putting a
focus on the love of books and my education at a young age, I found my love of
reading and telling stories early on. The first books I have to attribute an
inspiration to are Dr. Seuss, most particularly that special one, Green Eggs
and Ham, that I must’ve read at least a hundred times by the time I was six
years old. Then came the leap into older, more advanced books. I’d been tested
in the first grade and determined to have a high reading level then--which gave
me the freedom to read whichever books I wanted from the school library (we had
a system back then that if you were in a certain “reading level”, you couldn’t
check out books above that reading level, just so you wouldn’t struggle to read
and then fail the reading tests later). I read and enjoyed Nancy Drew, R.L.
Stine, and Babysitter’s Club for a short time. They didn’t seem to satisfy me.
I liked them okay enough. I was really drawn to the mysteries of Nancy Drew and
the darker side of R.L. Stine books, but I wanted something more.
The
paranormal and supernatural beliefs have always been strong in my family. We’re
mostly Irish. It’s probably a given. I think I was a naturally born
curious-driven individual with a need to know more, a need for learning. I love
history. I love legends. It’s why I’m drawn to the paranormal stories. They all
come from some kind of ancient story that’s been passed down through the
generations.
I
was around ten when I picked up my first Stephen King book. It was scary. I
think I had nightmares. But I was so drawn into his writing and world-building
that I wanted to read more, despite the possibility of more bad dreams. Then
came Anne Rice, and my already-growing love of vampires became an obsession.
How are they overused? This is a creature that can be molded and shaped many
times, in many unique ways. This is a legend that has been around since ancient
times--long before Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I was going through rough times in my
life. Books and writing became my escape from the harsh reality I was really
facing. The way I’d looked at it, I’d rather read monsters and serial killers
than stay in the real world. I don’t think I could ever properly thank Mr. King
or Ms. Rice enough for that brief escape every time I opened one of their
books. Just like, as odd as it may sound, if he were still alive, I probably
would thank my molester of three years. If it weren’t for that event, I may not
have opened my eyes up to the books before me as soon as I did. I may not have
started writing as soon as I did. Of course, after thanking such a sick freak,
I’d have to hurt him. Of course, I would never call this man an inspiration.
I’m just saying that I would feel obligated to thank him briefly because of my
turn to many books and writing back then. But that’s not what this post is
about.
I
found my love of classics shortly before going into high school. I was glad for
this. A lot of my classes had required reading and I would have had to read
them anyway. I noticed a bad trend of my fellow classmates hating the required
reading, while I either loved it (if I hadn’t read it by that point), or
already had read it and loved it. I owe a lot most particularly to Shakespeare.
Most everyone who knows me knows I’m a Shakespeare geek. You may wonder how
does Shakespeare have anything to do with my own work? He probably doesn’t. I’d
never make the impact he did and I don’t write poetry exactly. But he inspired
me to keep persevering. Focus on my own characters and build them. His
beautiful words always inspire me. Even when it’s only needing something good
to read.
The
Bronte Sisters--Emily and Charlotte--inspire the romantic in me, with a bit of
an edge sometimes.
When
I grew into an adult, my inspirations remained the same, but the list continued
to grow. Some newer writers were added: Melissa Marr, Richelle Mead, and
Charlaine Harris. Just to name a few.
Music
inspires me. Old and new rock, country, classical. Sometimes I can get whole
chapters or characters after hearing lyrics.
Movies
influence me. I love action-packed films, the strange and unusual, and comedy,
laugh-until-you-cry movies best. Sometimes I like the sweet and romantic, but I
have to be in the mood. Sometimes I see movies that were never books, and I
think why wasn’t this a book? But that only tells me the cast and crew did their
job. As a viewer, I connected with the characters. As a writer, I want the same
thing for my readers. I want them to connect with my characters and say the
same thing one day: why isn’t this a movie?
I
find inspiration in many people--writers, family, friends--and things. I
continue to find it each day. They help me grow as not only an author, but as a
person. I admire them. I aspire to be just a small inkling of what they’re
like. I love them all for it, even if I never meet some of them. I hope as writers
and readers, you can proudly announce your own inspirations. Share them! You
don’t have to be a writer to be inspired by other writers. An author can
inspire readers everywhere for their own everyday lives.
Thank
you, Sharon,
for the great opportunity to be at your blog today!
With
all the love,
Pixie
Also, be sure to check out the next stops on the blog tour:
