Interview & Contest: Carrie Jones

So exciting! I'd like to welcome back two very special guests: My dog Logan and Carrie Jones's dog Tala. Logan has a massive crush on Tala is very interested in Carrie's latest, fantastic, NYT bestselling release CAPTIVATE and begged for a chance to interview Tala again.

This is Logan:

This is Tala:

This is CAPTIVATE:



Zara and her friends knew they hadn't solved the pixie problem for good. Far from it. The king's needs grow deeper every day he's stuck in captivity, while his control over his people gets weaker. It's made him vulnerable. And now there's a new king in town.

A turf war is imminent, since the new pixie king, Astley, is moving in quickly. Nick nearly killed him in the woods on day one, but Zara came to his rescue. Astley swears that he and Zara are destined to be together, that he's one of the good guys. Nick isn't buying it, though Zara isn't as sure -- despite herself, she wants to trust the new king. But it's a lot more than her relationship with Nick that is at stake. It's her life -- and his.

Without further ado, I turn the blog over to Logan and Tala!

Logan: What was it like for you while Carrie was writing CAPTIVATE? Was it any different than when she was writing NEED?

Tala: DUDE. She was so distracted. It was all, “Revise. Revise. Revise.” I would nudge her hand while she was typing, looking for a good scratch behind the ear and it was all, “Tala. Not now.”

Logan: Terrible. Note to self: Beware sequels.

Tala: On a positive note, she would procrastinate a lot, which meant longer walks.

Logan: CAPTIVATE opens up Zara’s world to something new: Norse mythology and some guy named Odin. (Humans are so complicated.) How did that come about?

Tala: I wish I knew. I don’t understand the whole Norse mythology thing. The only gods I pay attention to are the gods of Snausages.

Logan: And Greenies. Don’t forget the Greenies gods.

Tala: I do remember her staring at the computer and shrieking, “Odin! Odin! Of course!” She then smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand, which made me bark. I thought maybe Odin was a new kind of way of calling me for food. You know? Like “Oh-din-ner.” No such luck.

Logan: CAPTIVATE also introduces a new boy, Astley—a Pixie king who insists that Zara is his queen. Did Carrie name him after Rick Astley?

Tala: Yes. She did. It’s all about the Rick Roll**. He doesn’t look like the 80s pop singer though. He looks more like Chris Pine, the new Kirk on Star Trek.

Logan: Thank the Greenies gods. So, are you on Team Nick or Team Astley?

Tala: I am on Team Nick. Canines have to stick together.

Logan: Speaking of which, on page 103 of CAPTIVATE, Carrie refers to Wolverine. Everyone knows that I’m named after Wolverine. *wag* That was totally a shout out to me, wasn’t it?

Tala: Totally! That’s how much we love you. I insisted on it, actually. I was all, “We need a shout out for my main dog man, Logan.”

Logan: Aw. Big, wet, face slurpies for you! But, listen: Zara is faced with some pretty tough decisions in this book—the kind that, no matter what you decide, mean you’ll have to give up something important. Did Carrie know right from the start what Zara would do?

Tala: She knew what would happen. Zara is the type of person who would do anything for her friends, absolutely anything. She’s a hero kind of girl and there was no question.

Logan: Did Carrie ever ask you for advice?

Tala: She did not ask me for advice. My advice would have been, “Have Zara wag her tail and bark and make big puppy eyes. That always works for me.”

Logan: Me, too. Doggie superpowers rock. Speaking of superpowers, CAPTIVATE and NEED both landed on the NYT bestseller list! Congratulations!! What did you guys do to celebrate?

Tala: We danced around the kitchen and barked. We didn’t even have a party. Carrie stinks at celebrating. I was hoping for steaks at least, but nope. Someone needs to talk to that girl.

Logan: Tala, baby, I hear there’s a new man in your life.

Tala: Logan, let me tell you. There is no competition. Carrie adopted Scotty, a rescue dog, and he’s always trying to be pet and the other night he peed on the Littlest Human’s fake white Christmas tree (she has it in her room because it is so kitschy) and let me tell you: I was not impressed. I barked at him because he was trying to hone in on my bed space, and he just freaked the heck out. * shakes head * He doesn’t hold a candle to you, baby.

Thanks Logan and Tala! And thanks, Carrie! Now for the contest...

I'll give away one unsigned copy of CAPTIVATE or NEED (winner's choice) to a random winner. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Additionally, for every place you cross-promote CAPTIVATE and/or this interview (e.g., your LJ, blog, website, Twitter), Logan will send a pawful of treats to Tala and Scotty. Just leave a comment in this post with a link to your cross-promotion and Tala & Scotty get treats! All comments must be left by midnight EST one week from today, Wednesday 3/3.

Wanna buy CAPTIVATE? Barnes and Noble | Amazon | IndieBound

**Awww yeah. The Rick Roll:

Interview & Contest: Karen Mahoney

There's an interview with Karen Mahoney and a chance to win a copy of THE ETERNAL KISS over at my LiveJournal account. I'm having trouble cross-posting, so you'll have to click through. Sorry!

Friday Five: Anticipation and Teaser Edition

Five things I'm highly anticipating:

1. My dinner. Ben's supposedly bringing Indian food home but I might die of hunger before he gets here. Srsly(tm). Teaser:
(Mmmm. Channa Masala and garlic naan.)

2. Monday's interview and contest for The Eternal Kiss! Here's a hint: My Logan (dog) is interviewing 's Karen Mahoney's Logan (cat). Teaser:
(There may have to be a Logan cute-off.)

3. Richelle Mead's THORN QUEEN, Book 2 in the Dark Swan series, which released this week. Teaser:
(Okay, it's not really a teaser, just the cover. But you can read the first chapter on Richelle's website.)

4. RITUAL, a brand new comic illustrated by a very talented friend of mine, Shawn McCauley. Shawn will also be stopping by for an interview soon. Teaser: You'll have to click on the RITUAL link to see the cover or Shawn's link to see other samples of art. Sorry! :)

5. The next 59,603 or so words in my book. *big grin*

Teaser: A rabbit hopped lazily into view, nibbling the sparse grass that was at eye-level with my basement window. Maybe that was the answer. Did rabbits ever want for grass to eat or water to drink? Did they ache when their mothers tumbled into the bellies of wolves?

397 / 60000 words. 1% done!

Interview & Contest: Chandra Rooney

Back by popular demand, it's another Logan interview! This time Logan's interviewing a friend of Chandra Rooney's. Chandra is the author of The Tarot Cafe Volume 1: The Wild Hunt. Here's an overview of The Tarot Cafe series from Chandras FAQ:

Briefly, The Tarot Cafe is a seven volume manhwa (Korean comic) by Sang Sun Park released in English by TOKYOPOP. While Park occasionally has light-hearted stories, the series is best described as a dark paranormal romance. It follows Pamela, an immortal tarot card reader and proprietress of the Tarot Cafe in contemporary London. During the day, Pamela assists people through her accurate readings and at night she helps her Midnight Visitors—all sorts of paranormal beasties in need of guidance. Over the series, we see Pamela's tangled, tragic past unfold.

Oooh. Sounds juicy. While I haven't read The Wild Hunt, Chandra is one of my CPs (critique partners), so I can attest to her writing talent. (And her ability to make me develop hard core crushes on the boys in her stories!) So! Let's get this show on the road.

Today, Logan:



will be speaking with Ariake, a stuffed fox who adopted Chandra as his "keeper" when she was visiting Kyoto, Japan, in 2007:

Logan: I’m guessing based on the Paris Hilton sunglasses you’re sporting that you weren’t the fox who was in our yard last year, were you?

Ariake: No, oh large dog of many teeth.

Logan: Are you being sarcastic? Because I’ve had the stuffing and squeaker out of toys bigger than you in less time than this interview will take. I may only weigh 31 pounds, but that’s 31 ferocious pounds when it comes to your kind, okay? Hmph. Now, why don’t you tell us what The Wild Hunt is about?

Ariake: It is not about a noble fox being hounded by vicious beasts, if that is your dreadful hope. No, it is an illustrated telling of a young actress poised on stardom who is tragically separated from her soul mate. Seeking guidance from an immortal fortune teller, the actress must choose between a comfortable life of fame or unending torment at the side of her love. The fortune teller has a secret of her own—most dark and woeful. They are females worth our utmost pity.

Logan: Wow, what a terrible choice to have to make. I understand The Wild Hunt is a companion novel to a manhwa series. I’m new to the whole comic scene. What’s the difference between a comic, graphic novel, manga and manhwa?

Ariake: Perhaps we can put aside the generations of loathing between our kinds to resolve our mutual confusion. This one does know that manga is the Japanese word for comic and manhwa is the Korean term. Like kitsune is the Japanese word for fox while kumiho is the Korean word. Of course, Korean foxes eat their victims while Japanese foxes do not, so this one could hypothesize that there are similar differences between manhwa and manga.

Logan: Was Chandra a fan of The Tarot Café manhwa prior to her work on The Wild Hunt?

Ariake: That would suggest this one’s honorable keeper has time to stop pondering the twisted plot threads of CLAMP’s Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle long enough to indulge in any other comic reading. She does, mind you, but seems to be of little encouragement for her to do so.

Logan: I don’t know about you, but I find it quite challenging to deal with the human language barrier all day. What was it like for Chandra to work with Sang Sun Park?

Ariake: Their interaction was limited and removed as it channeled through the appropriate servants and diplomats. This one recalls a lengthy waiting period and much fretting on the part of this one’s distracted keeper over whether or not the outline and sample chapter would be found appropriately pleasing. The items had to be sent more than once, you see. [lowers voice] This one suspects our kumiho foes ate the first delivery in an attempt to assert their territory.

Logan: *growls* Listen, if you or Chandra have any more trouble with those kumiho guys, you just let me know. I’ll take care of them for you! But getting back to the interview—my mom’s always, “when I get an agent this” and “when I get an agent that.” (Though, I notice she never says, “When I get an agent, I will stay home all day and cater to Logan’s every whim.”) Did Chandra have an agent before she wrote The Wild Hunt?

Ariake: Unlike the other tales our benevolent keeper weaves, this “Tarot Cafe” story was written after the publishing deal was struck, instead of the other way around. However, in order to secure the most auspicious conditions, this one’s keeper sought the guidance of Miriam-sama. This one has not met Miriam-sama but has heard she is a something of a patron goddess for writers. It would explain why this one’s keeper had to approach through the priestess Vicki Pettersson.

Logan: My mom occasionally mentions your name, which I find to be highly suspicious. What gives?

Ariake: [curls tail over paws] This one’s keeper has written an account of this one’s fascinating existence. It is true, she denies that her adult manuscript, THE TALE OF ARIAKE, concerns this one’s day to day adventures of minding a young writer whose heart is full of burning spirit and whose pockets are mostly empty, but this one finds it highly suspicious that she knows another fox of the same name.

It does befuddle us on occasion, as this one’s keeper will speak of us to Miriam-sama and this one will be left pondering why the gods of publishing do not pay us a visit.

Logan: What’s a typical day like for you and Chandra?

Ariake: This one could better answer the question if the Starbucks would allow this one to accompany this one’s keeper to ensure she is eating, laughing and writing as a proper keeper ought. They are a fearsome coffee ninja clan. This one had seen so little lately of our keeper that we feared she had forgotten us. We had no choice but to spirit her away for a few weeks to ensure her safety.

Logan: What was the last really good book Chandra read and why did she like it?

Ariake: This one recalls overhearing recent gushing in a most disgraceful manner over a nekomata* named Rachel Vincent and her author Faythe. We disapprove, as cats are the most prideful creatures. In fact, that was what they called their novel: PRIDE. This one’s keeper claims to be enamored with “political intrigue” and “moral complexities,” but we suspect she just skims to the chapters involving someone named “Ethan.”

[*Note from Chandra: A “nekomata” is a cat monster from Japanese mythology that can turn into a beautiful girl.]

Logan: Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?

Ariake: An expression of deep and sincere gratitude to you for neither devouring nor slobbering upon this one.

Logan: You’re welcome! You’re kind of interesting to talk to. I mean, I’m not going on the stuffed animal wagon or anything, but maybe when the “publishing gods pay you a visit” you can come back and talk to us about THE TALE OF ARIAKE.

Thanks Logan, Ariake and Chandra for taking the time for this interview!

I'll be giving away one unsigned copy of The Wild Hunt to a lucky winner. To enter, leave a comment in the corresponding LiveJournal post telling me why you want to read the book. US shipping addresses only, please (I'm so sorry overseas friends - I don't love you any less, but my wallet is suffering.). All entries must be received by midnight EST Friday, January 16th.

Interview and Contest: Carrie Jones

Hi everyone! I've posted an interview (with a twist!) with Carrie Jones over at my LiveJournal. You can enter to win a copy of her latest book, Need. Check it out!