Author interview and giveaway: Penelope King

Everyone, I would like you to meet one of my favorite authors, Penelope King. She's been awesome like that and agreed to share some of her secrets with us. Read on to learn more about her and her work!!! At the end, there's a giveaway of TWO of her books!! Enter your name for a chance to win!!! Also, if you want to visit her blog (for special excerpts of her novels) click here . Enjoy!!!

Hello, Penelope. I'm so happy that you accepted to be my guest today. You are not a debut author, you already have three books out from two different series. When did you start writing, and how long does it usually take you to complete a novel?

Hi, Vanya. Thanks so much for having me! I’ve been writing almost my whole life…I wrote my first “book” (and I use the term loosely here) when I was eight years old called “The Dirt Bike Time Machine”. It was awesome. But I’ve only been seriously writing full time for the past 3ish years. I’d say it normally takes anywhere from one to three months to do a rough draft, then anywhere from one to six months of editing and revising (depending on what shape it’s in and how busy my betas/editors are). 

How do you manage to write two different series at the same time? Don't you get confused between the characters?

Right now I write two series at once because, well, basically I need to stay sane! LOL. I really get into the stories and my characters heads…so I like writing a darker, edgier series (Demonblood), and then balancing it out with the lighter, more magical feel of Spellbound. I don’t get confused with the characters as I know all of them so well and know their places. However, I DO get confused with my tenses, as Demonblood is written in present and Spellbound in past.  It always takes me a while to get my brain to switch properly.  

I absolutely LOVED your Demonblood series. Could you tell me how it came to be? Where did you get your ideas?

Thank you so much! I’m always thrilled when a reader tells me how much he/she likes one of my books. I know the Demonblood series is a bit different from the typical para/rom out there, so I’m always stoked when people get what I was trying to do.

How it came to be? There is an actual answer for this…and it is pretty long and involved so I’ll do my best to simplify   For many years I lived and worked in Las Vegas in some pretty high-end night clubs doing promotions. Basically, I was paid to dress to the nines, party, and be the life of party. During the daytime we (my co-worker friends and I) were these normal, boring, dorky, quiet girls who led extremely ordinary lives. But at night…out came the crazy outfits, hair extensions, dramatic makeup, and alternate (outgoing) personality. Sometimes we even made up fake names and yes, I used Lucky a few times (hey, it was Vegas). I was always fascinated by the contrast of my “day” life and my “night” life. It literally seemed like I was in two different worlds. We’d always start our nights off with double shots of Patron tequila at the bar (hence Lucky’s need). For years I knew I wanted to write some sort of story that captured these paradoxes, but I had no idea how. Then one night I was watching TV and flipping back and forth between watching The Omen (love) and United States of Tara (double love). And it just clicked.

If you could enter your made-up Demonblood world, which character would you like to be?

Oooh…awesome question…hmmmm…maybe Aria?  She has such a cool power and she seems like a sexy woman. Yeah…I’d wanna be her. With the exception of the thing that happens (spoilery).

One reason I picked up your books, were the pretty covers. How did you end up with those?

Thank you so much! I’m always a bit nervous about my covers because when I first published my books I had a very teeny tiny budget. And although I had a very clear vision of how I wanted them to look, I could never afford the kind of artwork that I really wanted. So a friend helped me make these…but all my books are soon getting cover makeovers starting with Spellbound. I’m so excited!

What do you want to convey to your readers with your stories?

I don’t start off with a particular theme or message, but one always seems to emerge. For in Demonblood, I’d say it’s the perception of the “other” and the traditional roles of “good vs. evil”.  Personally, I LOVE it when something happens to give me a nice paradigm shift and allow me to see the world in a different, bigger way. Am I trying to get people to “like demons” with my books? No. What I’d like is someone to take a look at an alternative point of view and maybe gain a new perspective. 

Which novel was the hardest/easiest to write? Why?

Hardest was (and still is) Spellbound series because it just wants to be a reallllly big and loooong book and I really don’t want to write the next War and Peace here. So I’m always fighting with it. The easiest by far was both Demonblood books (A Demon Made Me Do It and Fire with Fire). Both practically wrote themselves, I just tried to make my fingers keep up. 

I know that you have a new release coming up soon - Spellbound #2. Could you tell us when we should expect it? Have you thought of a title for it yet?

Yes! Spellbound # 2 is called “Kiss the Crystal Sun” and I wish I had a definitive date for its release but I don’t! *hangs head* but it will definitely be sometime in February or early March. I’ll post it on my blog as soon as we know for sure!

 
And those of us who have read "Witchy, Witchy", a.k.a. Spellbound #1, would really love to see some small non-spoilery spoiler from book 2. Could you please grand us this wish????

This question actually inspired me to post this on my blog, so if it’s okay I’ll post the answers here:

Nicholas and Calista get a lot closer and get to know each other better...this may or may not be a good thing...they actually travel to Australia where Calista learns some shocking things about his past…

Turns out Justin's problems are only just beginning...and they are threatening to tear everyone’s lives apart.

Ana reveals a devastating secret about her family's past...and Callie will discover the most important truths in her life are lies.

At the end of the story she has to make a choice...one that turns everyone's life upside down.

**A note about this story...the beginning first few chapters start off a few months in the past...before Calista comes to Crystal Cove, and shows what her life is like in Basile, Louisiana.  I think it's interesting to see just how much her life changes and how she evolves. Fans of the Demonblood series might recognize a cameo from one of our favorite characters ;)

Thank you, Penelope for sharing all that exclusive information!!! I can't wait for "Kiss the Crystal Sun" to come out!!!

Thank you, Vanya!! It’s been my absolute honor. Thank you for your amazing support!

And now, hither comes the giveaway!!! Two awesome people will win an e-copy of either "A Demon Made Me Do It" or "Witchy, Witchy". Enter below for your chance to win!!!



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