Inbetween Blog Tour: Playlist, Interview, and Giveaway!

Hey guys. Today we have the Inbetween Blog Tour visiting us!

 

The Interview

This is your future God.

Nickname as a Kid: Okay, this is embarrassing, but I'll tell you. My name is Tara Ann, so of course my nickname was "Tarazann".

Astrological Sign: Aquarius

Coffee or Tea?: Tea

Favorite Video Game: Michael Jackson The Experience  in the Wii

Favorite Color: Red

Last time you got pulled over: Hmmm...I think it was 7 or 8 years ago.

Brand of Shampoo You Use: Herbal Essence

Q: Inbetween is a book that’s very much based on stories, with

Heaven, Hell, and “reincarnation” of sorts playing a part in it.

How much of it did you research, versus the amount of literary

license you took in making it your own?

A: When it came to the "reaper" world I made most of it my own. I didn't rely on mythology for that at all. I wanted to make something unique. I did  however did do a lot of research on poltergeists, hauntings, world war 2 fighter pilots, and house fires.

Q: Speaking of, where did you get the idea for reapers?

A: I got the idea for Inbetween from an Edgar Allen Poe quote.

"The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins?"

After I read this, I knew I wanted to write a book where death was a person. Most people fear death more than anything, so I wanted to explore what it would be like for death to be a person, and what would happen if he fell in love.

Q: There’s a certain scene in this book that had me shedding a

few tears. Can you tell us how to go about creating an emotional

scene without making it cheesy, or making me want to stab my

eyeballs?

A slightly related picture! From Roger Hoyt's blog.

A: First of all I think the scene has to come naturally as part of your characters development and growth. I don't think you can set out trying to make the reader cry. There were times while writing the book that I was literally in tears as I wrote. Those were the moments that my characters felt very real for me. Also one way to avoid too much "cheese" is to read it out loud. Then cut anything that made you cringe to say out loud, lol.

Q: Inbetween is such an electric love story. How do you make swoon

worthy characters like Finn? Do you have to research these kinds of

things?

A: Actually...no. I guess I don't, lol. I did lots of research to find out who Finn was as a person. Like the fighter pilot stuff, and his Dad being a farmer. But when it comes to the depth and emotion that went into him, he was just in my head, wanting to get out. The love he felt for Emma felt real for me in the moment.

Q: This book is pretty hilarious at times. Do you gain a sense of

humor like that through experience, or do you just inherit it? (Or

is there something you aren’t telling us?)

A: I'd say I inherited it, lol. My Dad cracks me up and he's always said that I'm way too much like him. He says I've turned being a smart ass into an art. I think a lot of that went into characters like Easton and Cash.

Q: Okay, okay, so you have to answer this question: If you’re in

Hell, and you’re mad at someone, where do you tell them to go?

A: Since Easton is my go-to reaper for Hell, why don't I let him answer for me. Easton?

     Easton: "The Gap."

Thanks so much for the interview Isabelle! 

Tara also sent me her playlist, and I took a listen to all of these and really enjoyed them- I must say she has impeccable taste. For your convenience, I linked to the YouTube videos for them. Just click on the title!

 

Inbetween (Kissed by Death, #1): Playlist

Iris by: Goo Goo Dolls
[Izzy's note: This is the best song...ever. Seriously. You should also listen to the Sleeping With Sirens cover.]

Into Dust by: Mazzy Star

Gravity by: Sara Bareilles

Impossible by: Anberlin
[Izzy: I fricking LOVE THIS SONG SO HARD.]

Help I’m Alive by: Metric

Girl is on My Mind by: The Black Keys

Get Higher by: Paper Tongues

I Will Follow You into the Dark by: Death Cab for Cutie
[Izzy: Easily my favorite band ever. True story. Listen to their album and you'll agree.]

The Very Thought of You by: Billie Holiday

Northern Wind by: City and Colour

[Izzy: Beautiful. Just... beautiful.] 
  
In My Veins by: Andrew Belle

By the way, if you like this playlist, you can see it here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hard Hitting Questions with Stephanie Lawton (whom I suspect is a ninja)

Oh hey, check out my REVIEW before you read this. There's also a giveaway.

Stephanie Lawton, aka Queen Cool.

Website/ Goodreads/ Twitter


Nickname as a Kid: Stephie (only a select few people are allowed to call me that!)

Astrological Sign: Taurus

Favorite Video Game: I hate video games

Last time you got pulled over: In a speed trap when I was sixteen

Brand of Shampoo You Use: Burt's Bees

Questions:

1.The first line of WANT is something ravenous readers like myself want to hear so desperately. Let me reiterate it here: "If you want vampires and werewolves, faeries, fallen angels or zombies, you won't find them here." I found myself cheering as I read these lines. Did you start out writing WANT because you wanted to write something that deviated from the popular, or was this idea always in your head?

Real Life Monsters can definitely be scary.
From The Daily Scoff

I had been reading tons of paranormal YA books at the time I began writing Want, and while they're great, I was getting a little tired of them. I wanted to make it clear that Want was contemporary, but that real-life monsters can be just as scary, or even more so. 

2. The main characters, Julianne and Issac, are very meticulously and wonderfully crafted. Even the secondary characters are electric and riveting portraits. Did anybody you know in real life influence their characteristics and behavior?

Julianne's mother, Margaret, was inspired by a stuck-up lady we bumped into at a Mardi Gras parade, but otherwise, the characters are all from my imagination. There are bits and pieces of people I know in some of the characters, but I think that happens with anything you write. It wasn't intentional, although I will admit that Dave Gaston is kind of the male version of me. :) [Isabelle's Note: I want to be your friend. LIKE RIGHT NOW. Please.]

3. How did you go about crafting sympathetic characters like Juli?

I had a hard time with Juli, but I wanted to show what years of a messed-up family life could do to a girl. I did a lot of psychological research and drew on some past experiences to create a character that was--sickly--attracted to the same thing she loathed in another situation. (I'm trying to avoid spoilers!) 

 

 I did a thorough character profile, and as I researched, I noted how someone in her situation would probably react to things, but honestly, she kind of just "told" me how she'd react.

4. There are a lot of things in this book that you either have experienced or haven't. For instance, Juli likes to scrape herself, something that I wouldn't have known unless I looked it up. How much was experience, and how much was from your life travels?

 There's a lot of both, though I prefer not to go into details. I do need to make it clear, though, (Hi Mom!) that my parents were great and I never experienced anything like Juli does from her parents. In many ways, we write what we know, so yeah, many of the terrible things in the book either touched me directly or someone I knew, and I was shocked when some of my beta readers said Want affected them deeply because they'd been touched by these things, as well. That's pretty scary when you think about it.

From If It Ain't Baroque

5. Julianne and Issac breathe for music. Are you musically inclined yourself?

I wish! I took ten years of piano lessons and played French horn for a number of years--I even considered being a music major in college--but I didn't have that spark of genius that you need to make it in such a small, competitive field. Maybe I was fullfilling that dream through Juli? :)

6. Another reviewer commented that this story reminded them a bit of Wuthering Heights. Do you think so?

Oh, wow, I haven't seen that review! Hmm ... [major spoilers ahead] I can see the comparison in that Juli and Isaac are terrible for each other like Cathy and Heathcliff are. Neither relationship is healthy and will ultimately end in disaster. I like to think Want is a little more hopeful, though, and I don't think Isaac and Juli feel as deeply about each other as Cathy and Heathcliff.  

7. I live in the South, and so do the characters. What do you think about the South makes it such a popular setting for novels?

You know, as a relatively new citizen of the Deep South (we moved from Ohio to Mobile three years ago) I think it's that the South is such a study in contrasts. In many ways, it's extremely old-fashioned. Men still hold doors, we refer to others as "ma'am" and "sir," and etiquette it alive and well. Add in some Spanish moss dripping from live oaks and you've got a fantastic setting. Yet the South has large, modern cities that rival any you'll find north of the Mason-Dixon Line.

[Isabelle's Note: I didn't actually say goodbye here, but I'll add it for kicks. Goodbye, Stephanie! You are awesome. Write more books. Be my friend.]

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Don't forget to check the other blog tour stops! Clicky!