Author Interview: Samantha Young

Hey Samantha, thanks so much for taking the time to do this interview. So you have written, The Tale of Lunarmorte series. Can you tell us a bit about this series.

Sure. The Tale of Lunarmorte centres around Caia Ribeiro, a seventeen year old lykan who, after ten years of separation, is returned to her pack only to discover they've been keeping secrets about her parents death and her heritage. These secrets have a huge impact on Caia, and she suddenly finds herself drawn into an ancient war that wages between two factions of supernaturals. I pulled from Greek mythology to explain the orgin of the supernaturals- lykans, vampyres, faeries, witches and warlocks (they're called magiks in the novels) and daemons. There's plenty of lore, action, and romance in the trilogy.

 

Where did you get the idea for The Tale of Lunarmorte series?

I was actually studying ancient and medieval history at the University of Edinburgh and I took as class in classical literature. During one of the lectures I began to see how supernaturals could easily be connected to the Greek Gods with just a little imaganation. I was looking to write something fresh in the YA paranormal genre at the time and already had Caia in mind for a heroine, so it came together quite nicely.

 

You are writing a spin off series for The Tale of Lunarmorte called Repersussions. How is work on it coming along?

 

I have all the fundamentals together for Repersussions. I know what the premise of each book will be, and I've worked out the main series plot running throughout them. I also have book one completely plotted out. However, Repersussions has been put to the sidelines until the beginning of 2012 , while I work on my other projects.

 

You have also written The Chronicles of the Fade series. Can you tell us about the first book in the series Slumber.

 

Yay, I'm really excited about Slumber. It's actually out now in E-Book and Kindle edition. The paperback edition will be available by the end of May; I'll be posting specific dates soon on my blog. Slumber is a little bit different from my other novels, it's fantasy rather than paranormal, and I got the idea from the basic concept of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale. There are quite a few fairytale retellings out in the YA market but they're usually modern retellings, sticking pretty close to the original. I wanted to create an entire world- it's called Phaedra and it's populated by mage- and I wanted the heroine to be sleeping beauty's best friend. In Slumber, the princess falls ill to a mysterious disease and her best friend, Rogan, a mage with magic that can help her to locate the plant that will save the princess, sets of across the land of Phaedra to find it. Her journey to save the princess and their world is not an easy one, and Rogan definitely discovers more than she bargained for. Slumber is marketed as YA Fantasy Romance for older readers, as it's a little darker that the average fairytale.

 

I love the cover of Slumber. Who designed it, how much input did you have in the cover?

 

I'm so pleased with the cover art for Slumber, I absolutley fell in love with it. I'm a huge fan of artist, Claudia McKinney- http://phatpuppyart.com/ - and was browsing her website when I came across this piece. Claudia does do commission work but I knew I wanted this and she let me purchase it for the cover art, so I was ecstatic. Claudia doesn't do the typography. That was me on the handy old photoshop :-p

 

 

Warriors of Ankh is a new series you have coming this summer. Can you tell us a little about this series?

 

Warriors of Ankh came into existance because I wanted to create a heroine who had a dark side. I think morally ambiguous characters are so interesting and I wanted a character I could really develop over the trilogy- that character is Eden. Eden is a soul eater ( a race of creatures originating from ancident Egypt, who feed on people's souls to survive). Although Eden is a little different from her kind, in general soul eaters are mortal but super strong and super nasty. Enter the Warriors of Ankh. The Ankh are rare immortal warriors created to hunt soul eaters, and they work along side their greater populated mortal brethren the Warriors of Neith. Noah is the youngest of the Ankh and his next assignment is to test Eden for possible redemption....because she's special... Blood Will Tell is the first novel and is due for release in July!

 

 

You also have a novella called Drip Drop Teardrop. Can you tell us a little about this book?

 

Well Drip Drop Teardrop, a novella is entirely inspired by the song "Overload" by the Cardigans. I was driving down the motorway listening to it and the lyrics helped me create the story. It tells the tale of Avery, a nineteen year old girl from New York, whose only living family member is dying of cancer. In her desparation to save her, Avery makes a deal with Brennus, a reaper with a romantic interest in her. This is marketed as YA Paranormal for older teens.

 

 

You write YA pararnormal & fantasy book's is there any other genre you would like to write?

 

I'd love to write an historical epic and also turn my hand to a dystopian novel. For now I'm concentrating on the YA side of writing but I'm definitely not discounting moving into adult fiction.

 

Do you like reading YA yourself, who are some of your favourite authors?

 

I love YA. Not only do I read a ton of it to keep up to date with what's out there, but I'm slightly addicted to the genre. My favourite authors are Richelle Mead, Rachel Caine, Cassandra Clare, Holly Black, Amanda Hocking, Suzanne Collins, Patrick Ness, Maria V.Snyder, Melissa Marr, Lauren De Stefano, Melissa de las Cruz, Tabitha Suzuma, Kiersten White, Jenna Black, and Andrea Cremer. LOL. I could go on... there are just too many to name!

 

Is there any books you are looking forward to reading this year?

 

I cannot wait for Dearly Departed by Lia Habel, Supernaturally by Kiersten White, Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer, Sirensong by Jenna Black, Bloodlines by Richelle Mead and Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. There are loads more but we would be here all day... :-p

 

Do you have any advice for upcoming/aspiring authors?

 

Write. It seems so simple but that is the best advice I could give. Just write and write and write. Your writing improves the more you do it and the entire process becomes easier once you have your style and your structure locked down. Also, there are some great sites out there now, like Wattpad, where you can put your work in a public forum and get feedback. This is a free and easy citique from the masses, and it really will help you become a better writer, and determine whether or not people are going to like your work. Criticism and rejection are a big part of being any kind of artist, and my advice is to take the constructive and use it to help you, and just keep pushing though. That old cliche is true for a writer. Never give up.

 

You can buy Samantha's books at this link here: http://samyoungyafantasyauthor.blogspot.com/p/buy-novels.html

 

Check out Samantha's blog: http://samyoungyafantasyauthor.blogspot.com/