Author Interview& Giveaway with Lauren Kate

Last week I had the oppturnity to have a phone interview with Lauren Kate. Can I just say how much fun it was to interview Lauren. I have never done a phone interview and I'll be honest, I was nervous. Lauren was so much fun to talk to.

I have fallen in love with Lauren's writing, and I wanted to know What Inspired Lauren to Write Her Series:

When Lauren first proposed Fallen to her agent, she said they knew it would be bigger than one book. She said it was impossible to write everything she wanted to and make it fit in one. Making it a series has been very rewarding for her. I was curious if she outlined or not and she said she doesn't outline, but she has a bare-boned one page synopsis for each book. She said each of her characters has changed and grown so much from when she first started writing them. Her husband is her biggest supporter and he's helped her with her characters.

Fallen & Torment's Mythology:

Lauren's mythology has fascinated me. In asking her what inspired her to write her series, she said she was inspired from Genesis, when the Angels are cast out of heaven for falling in love with women. She wondered what type of women it would take for an angel to fall in love with them. Lauren added her own twists by blurring the lines of Good and Evil, as Angels have flaws and in-perplexities like humans.

Torment's Characters & Setting:

I really love the setting in Torment and in asking Lauren what inspired Shoreline, she told me about a cliff in Monticello, CA, where she and her husband were engaged at, inspired the setting.

I asked Lauren if she found it easier or harder to write a sequel. She said it was easier writing Torment, as she already knows where the series is going and what the reader expectation is. She said she's taken some great advice from her readers feedback and reviews.

In talking about the challenges in building the characters in Torment vs Fallen, Lauren said that Luce is not as independent in Fallen as she is in Torment. She grew into the character she wanted her to be in Fallen, but Luce had to find her own way. Cam's character becomes more important, as he's the adversary. He's suppose to be reckless and out of control, like we see him in Fallen. In Torment he becomes one of the most enduring characters. Daniel is still very withdrawn.

I really love how much Luce grows in Torment. I was curious how Lauren wrote the more emotional scenes when Luce discovers her past family. Lauren said she had to go as deep as she could with Luce, in order to write those scenes. There's so much pain with the families Luce has left behind. She had to go there and experience the pain of what her family went through and the pain Luce feels.

In talking about her characters, Lauren said that Arriane was the most fun to write. When I asked her who inspired her characters, she said each of her characters has a little bit of her in them and a little bit of everyone she loves. Luce is physically is based on her oldest friend, though in the beginning her had written her character to be more like her. Luce turned out completely different.

What We Can Except From Passion:

We talked a little about Passion, the 3rd book in the series, which is a prequel to the series. Passion is about Luce and Daniel, and YES Cam will be in there too. Lauren said Passion was a little harder to write, as she's did a lot of historical research for the book. As far as writing about Luce and Daniel, it was easy to write about their story, as she already knows about their relationship. We'll also see Luce's past and current family, which I'm really looking forward to reading about.

What We Can Except from Rapture:

Lauren assured me that all the characters, including the new ones from Torment will be back for her 4th book, Rapture, which will pick up from where Torment left off.

I'm really looking forward to both Passion and Rapture's releases. Really, I can't wait to find out who Luce chooses and where her decision she makes at the end of Torment, takes her to.

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If you haven't already, I highly recommend picking up Torment today. You can read my review here http://tinyurl.com/36xerxf

You can read more about Lauren Kate and her books here http://laurenkatebooks.net/

Thank you so much Lauren for your time and for the interview. Thank you Random House for arranging our interview and for our giveaway. Random House has provided us with a couple copies of Torment to giveaway!