Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Interview: Samantha Young


Today I'm excited to welcome paranormal young adult author Samantha Young to the blog to talk about her Tale of Lunamorte trilogy. All three books are available now, so be sure and check the bottom of the post for links on where you can find them!

You got some of your inspiration for Moon Spell by studying Greek mythology; was there one myth in particular that most influenced the creation myth in the book itself?


I wasn’t really influenced by one particular myth; it was more that I was inspired by the personalities of the Greek gods and their individual connections to nature. As my ideas developed certain myths (such as Hades stealing the goddess Demeter’s daughter, Persephone, and making her Queen of the Underworld) just fit. I could use these myths to exact consequences that shaped the evolution of vampyres and lykans etc.

If you could be the descendant of a Greek god, who would you most like to be related to and why?

I think I would be a descendant of Athena. She was intelligent, powerful and wise, and although she was the goddess of war she preferred to sort out disputes through wisdom and practical thinking rather than violence, like her brother Ares. Plus, she was the patron goddess of heroes, which I think is pretty cool; she helped shape the destiny of heroes and I’d like to think I’m creating modern heroes with my books :-)

Out of the three books in the Tale of Lunarmorte series, which would you say was the most difficult to write or had the largest number of significant changes?

Blood Solstice (Part three) was probably the most difficult to write as there is more history in it – I took real events from ancient Greece, Rome, medieval France, and 18th Century Russia to shape around the events in the world I’d created, and this took me a while to research. Moreover, Blood Solstice is the darkest of the three novels and I had to make some pretty tough decisions about the fate of certain characters, which wasn’t easy because as a writer you become pretty attached to them :-(

If you were to interview one of your characters, who would it be and what’s the first thing you would ask them?

If I could interview any one of my characters it would be Saffron. Saffron is an old faerie (shapeshifter). She’s beautiful, confident, smart-mouthed, and pretty much awesome at what she does so everyone thinks she’s not got a care in the world. However she gets kind of vulnerable (and by vulnerable I mean lashes out irrationally) around this one guy. I’m not going to mention who because it would be a spoiler, but if I could ask her anything, I’d ask how she really felt about this certain person… because she never really lets us know :-)

What’s one paranormal book you would most like to see made into a movie?

Vampire Academy without a doubt. The others I would like to see are already on their way to becoming movies, but Vampire Academy isn’t. I wouldn’t want it to be a tv program because sometimes I feel the books lose their edge when their chopped down into episodes. But I’d love to see Rose and Dimitri on the big screen. I also think Nina Dobrev from The Vampire Diaries would make a fantastic Rose. Not sure about Dimitri… maybe a hot unknown.

If Caia could switch fictional worlds and jump into a different young adult book, which world might she choose?

I think Caia might like to help out the gang in The Mortal Instruments series. There’s always so much going on, and it’s such a fun and creative world that she’d never be bored. And since she’s always on the go in The Tale of Lunarmorte, she’d need the same never-ending problems to fix.

What would you say is the best part about being self-published? The most difficult?

The best part about being self-published is the amount of control you have over the entire process. I write when I want, I write what I want and I distribute where I want and at what price I want to retail the books at. Also I get to choose cover art and release the books on a much faster schedule than traditionally published novels. The most difficult part, however, is the fact that I’m doing it all alone. For the most part the editing comes down to me, the formatting of the ebooks and paperbacks (including formatting cover art) comes down to me, marketing and promotion and accounting etc. It’s a lot of work and if you’re serious about self-publishing you have to be prepared to give up a lot of your free time to get it done.

You have a spinoff series releasing in 2012; what element of the world you’ve created are you most looking forward to continuing and expanding in the new books?

At the end of The Tale of Lunarmorte, Caia and the gang were facing a whole new world with a whole new set of problems. I’ve got a lot of fun ideas planned for the new establishment and I’m looking forward to setting it all up. Plus, even though Caia is no longer the protagonist of the new series, she’s going to be popping in and out of the books and I’m looking forward to sharing how things have turned out for her with my readers.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions Samantha! For more information on Samantha and her books, you can find here here:


Website
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Moon Spell (Book 1)
River Cast (Book 2)
Blood Solstice (Book 3)

MOON SPELL (from Goodreads)

Existing in the shadows of our world are supernatural races; children blessed by the ancient Greek gods with unimaginable gifts, and at present they are fighting a two thousand year old war with one another. Into this war Caia Ribeiro is born...

Caia has lived a life shrouded in mystery, isolated from her lykan pack and the supernatural world she belongs to. At seventeen years old it comes as a shock to be uprooted from her dull life playing human and plunged back into pack life. Returning to her world is not an easy one. It comes with the threat of the global underworld war, pack politics, and an impossible attraction to her Alpha, Lucien. It is also an extraordinary and addictive world, a place she feels she may actually belong. If only Caia could get past the feeling that Lucien and the pack were keeping secrets from her. Dangerous secrets about her heritage and the war. In the end… unforgivable secrets.

Forgiven or not, when an old enemy resumes his deadly pursuit of Pack Errante, they will need Caia to come to terms with the truth in order to help save them from their powerful adversary.

26 comments:

  1. Great interview! I agree Vampire Academy would make a awesome movie! It definitely would have some kick butt fight scenes :)

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  2. What a pretty cover! Yes, great interview. Wow, there's a lot of Greek mythology trends in ya lit right now. Is it the new vampire? I was never really big into Greek mythology, but I think I will check this one out. Awesome name -- Saffron!

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  3. The cover is really pretty!

    I love the Hades and Persephone myth. Athena is a great choice! Great interview!

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  4. I think it so cool that Samantha has control over the publishing process especially cover art. I think a lot of covers would be better if the writer was more involved in the process. I also am quite interested in reading this one as I am a sucker for anything myth oriented. Terrific interview!

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  5. Props to self-published authors who are writing great material and finding success in it! That's hard work, all on your own.

    This sounds like a great series -- I'm a total sucker for anything mythological (yay for your Athena choice! She's one of my faves.).

    Best of luck and success to Samantha Young!
    Mary @ Book Swarm

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  6. I love this interview! I will have to check out the series. I completely agree with her concerning Demeter and Persephone as well as Athena. And I definitely want VA made into a movie too! Thanks for sharing this, Jenny!

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  7. Nic - I would be beside myself if they made VA into a movie! I agree I wouldn't want to see it as a series, I think too many things would have to change to make it work in episodes:)

    Julie - I love the colors on the cover - gorgeous! I'm a huge mythology fan, so I'm loving the new trend:)

    Misha - Me too, I never get enough of that one:)

    Jan - It would definitely be a lot of pressure wouldnt't it? So much fun though:)

    Mary - I can't even imagine trying to self publish. Of course I'd have to write something first which would be pretty impossible for me:)

    Christina - You're welcome, glad you enjoyed!

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  8. Thanks Jenny for such a great interview, I really appreciate it! And thanks to everyone for their great comments; I'm pleased you like the cover art :-) I'm partial to it myself :-p

    Samantha Young

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  9. Interesting premise and very cool question Jenny! :)

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  10. Never heard of this book but I love Greek mythology! I'll check it out! Thanks Jenny for the wonderful interview!

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  11. I think I'd like to be related to Athena, too. She was a pretty awesome goddess! Samantha sounds like a fun person; thanks for the interview! :)

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  12. Great interview, I give Samantha loads of credit for self publishing. It's nice to have control but you need the confidence in your product to do all the work yourself. Great job.

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  13. Samantha - You're so welcome:)

    Carissa - Thanks! Hope you give it a try:)

    Juju - Thanks, I do try:)

    Savy - I do too. And Lykans:)

    Lauren - Me too, I'd feel pretty special if that were the case:)

    Cathy - Thanks, and I agree completely on the self-publishing:)

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  14. Super fun questions. I wish I were that creative. LOL

    Mythology is something that has always baffled and fascinated me. I can certainly see how the personalities of the Greek gods inspire enchanting tales. :)

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  15. Oh I really have been enjoying the different takes on mythology!! Seriously... enjoying! So, I already know I need to read this book. What a great interview. I would love to be descended from Athena too. Unfortunately I don't know if I'd be wise enough. lol

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  16. Nice interview :)A
    Athena, good choice! I do wonder who I would pick

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  17. Great questions, Jenny! I think I would've picked Athena too. Out of all the goddesses, I think is the most "stable" one. :)

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  18. The cover of that book is so pretty. I want to read it for that reason...because I AM a book slut.

    I also would like to see Vampire Academy on the big screen. I really REALLY think that Dimitri should be a hot unknown too because that man deserves to be stripped nekked and I can't think of a soul that would perfectly fit him. *ponders*

    But, I think Rose should be someone a bit unknown too. I almost think the unknown aspect gives them the edge we need. That way there isn't any prior "stuff" clouding our vision. [I'm rambling...:D]

    Sorry. Love the post!

    Jen
    In the Closet With a Bibliophile

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  19. I've never heard of this one before, thanks for putting it on my radar! It was nice to learn a little more about the author and her book :)

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  20. I love Vampire Academy and TMI! I have to make sure and check out your book! :) Great questions and answers of course! :)

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  21. Fab interview! I want to see Vampire Academy as a movie too. I do think it would make a great TV show b/c it's too involved for a single movie. But I also agree with Samantha's point that things are watered down for TV.

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  22. What an intriguing-sounding series...and one I've yet to hear of! Plus, who can argue with the idea of VA being a movie, hm? ;)

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  23. Great questions, Jenny! I especially liked reading about her thoughts on the pros and cons of self-publishing. Very interesting.

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  24. fantastic set of books, kept me enthralled all the way through, good luck with what happens next Samantha xx

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  25. Great interview, Jenny. If I could choose a Greek god/goddess to be descended from, I'd pick Athena too for the same reasons. Also, I would love to see Vampire Academy on the big screen ... they better do a good job because it's one of my favourite series. I'm waiting impatiently for the release of Bloodlines.

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