Search This Blog

Dark Days Wrap-Up and Giveaway!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012
I was fortunate enough to be the blogger for the Anderson's Dark Days tour stop.  I loved hearing the authors read from and speak about their books.  I never knew Dan Wells had such a great sense of humor or that Kimberly's Derting's inspiration comes, in part, from her husband.  Jill Hathaway confirmed that there would be a sequel to the wonderful Slide!


Dan Wells was a riot.  The first thing I noticed, besides the awesome copies of Partials next to him, was his hat.  He admits to being identified by his hat, and I can see why! I can also commiserate with his hat sadness over a lost precious hat, the same thing happened to me a day before the signing! When I asked him what the inspiration behind his book was, I have to say I never would have guessed his answer.  He stated that he looked at his own children and realized that some high school students may not even remember 9/11 or acknowledge its huge impact on our nation.  In initially creating the world behind Partials, he never truly explains the events leading up to the dystopian world (now he said there will be a novella coming this Fall that will!).  He felt that the disconnect between society and certain extreme events that affected that society was an interesting concept to write about.  He mentioned that he wrote the last line of the book first; to me, that seems like an impossible thing to do, but the more I think about the meaning behind the last line, the more sense it makes.  To all the romance fans out there, Dan Wells has good news!  There will be more romance in the next book!  One of the most interesting explanations concerning Partials' characters was how Dan Wells approached writing from a girl's perspective.  Originally, he said he experienced difficulty writing from Kyra's perspective, but then realized that he needed to write about Kyra as a person, not just "some girl in a novel."  Overall, I loved talking to Dan Wells, he has to be the funniest author I've met. 

Kimberly Derting amazed me.  She writes so many books in such a short time.  As for fans of the Body Finders series, you will all be happy to know that there will be a fourth in the series!  Although the third book is titled The Last Echo, fans will be able to enjoy another book from this wonderful series.  I have always wondered how authors create their main characters.  Kimberly Derting explained that the main character in the Body Finders Series was most like her oldest daughter.  Kimberly admitted to being more like Chelsea, the best friend from the series.  Anyone wondering about the inspiration behind the series?  Kimberly Derting's husband pitches ideas to her which she takes into consideration.  One of those ideas turned into the Body Finders!  When I further probed the inspiration for the series, Kimberly's answer really surprised me.  Her husband had found one of the Green River killer's victims. His idea for a "thirteen year-old boy who can find bodies" may have originated from that experience.  I can see how everything ties together, but never would have guessed that that real experience would be the inspiration!  Anyone dying to read the next book in the Pledge series?  The second will be called The Essence!  The author says she has always been fascinated by language and how it can be such an effective barrier between people.  She was interested in the Indian caste system and began to think of Pledge's plot, in part, from that idea.  One of the most difficult transitions from The Body Finders series to the Pledge series was when the author had to transition from writing in the third person to the first.  I loved meeting Kimberly Derting and hope I will see her at another convention or signing soon!

The Last Echo


I loved finally talking to the author of Slide, one of my favorite debut novels!  Jill Hathaway is a teacher as well as an author.  Although she completed the manuscript for Slide in roughly 4-6 weeks, the book took a couple of years to come together.  I wanted to know how she decided upon her characters' names, some were so unusual while others seemed to have a story behind them.  For Silvia, Jill stated Silvia Plath was a large influence.  Zane's name was interesting because he was originally a "Gabe," but Jill decided that Gabe was a name that kept popping up in books and preferred a less common name.  Archibald Rowlings although unusual, made my day.  The author admitted to reading Archie comics and chose Archibald partially because of that (I love the Archie comics too, yay!).  Rowlings was more from J.K. Rowlings.  Looking for the next in the series?  Jill confirmed there will be a second, and it will be titled Impostor!  The inspiration behind the series was more of a unique idea.  Jill liked the idea of someone being able to touch an object that was cared for or particularly special and experience memories and emotions from that person.  The character who had this ability had to have a great deal of empathy.  A trait I think shines through in the main character of Slide.  Wondering about the love interest?  He wasn't created from Jill's past, but from her head; an interesting idea that grew into the love interest in the series.  I can't wait for Impostor, I loved Slide so much, and the idea of touching objects and feeling their history holds such excitement and mystery behind it! 


Slide


How about all you readers.  Do you have any questions for these authors or anything to say about these awesome books!?

Now for the giveaway!  One USA winner will receive the three Dark Days book above!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

69 comments:

  1. I just want the authors to know that I love them and their novels. I just wish the tour came to Atlanta.

  1. Angie said...:

    I want to ask what do they think about the dystopian crazy that is ocurring in YA lit.

  1. Hannah said...:

    Well to Dan I would just have to say... Can I get an ARC of Fragments? lol. :D

    But nothing else comes to mind! Love the books! Thanks for the giveaway!

  1. TayteH said...:

    What's your favorite part about writing a book?

    And thanks for stopping by!

  1. I would love to know how the authors celebrate the release day of their books?

  1. I'm afraid my biggest comment is selfish...
    Can I have the books? I am so curious about Slide and Partials and I need The Last Echo to go with The Body Finder which I have! :)

  1. Amy S. said...:

    I'm excited that Dan Wells is writing a novella telling us more about the dystopian world of Partials. Thanks for the chance to win!

  1. deasuluna said...:

    All these books look so good, I can't wait to read them. Though I wonder will Slide be a series? Thanks for this chance at this great giveaway!!

  1. books4me said...:

    do the authors find that more teens or adults come to their book signings?

    Wendy/books4me

  1. That is so interesting about Dan Well's inspiration for Partials. All the authors sound brilliant!
    Thanks for the giveaway!

  1. M.A.D. said...:

    *sigh* that's the down side to living in the rural midwest, I miss all these wonderful author events!

    BUT ... still a huge dose of *thanks* for all your creativity & efforts that gives so much joy to your readers, me included :)

  1. Christina K. said...:

    I've always wondered if authors used a little bit of people they care about in their favorite characters - not completely, but some of their loved ones' character traits.

    Also, I wonder if they cast their characters, to have a clear picture of what they look like in their mind.

  1. Gi-Gi said...:

    Can you come to New Jersey please? XD No authors come here and it makes me sad lol

    Plus what inspired you to start writing? :)

  1. erin said...:

    Thanks for a fabulous post and giveaway! I've had book lust for these titles ever since they came out :) Thanks for such a great post... it's so cool to find out the inspiration/thought behind these awesome titles!

  1. Natasha said...:

    Thanks for the awesome giveaway! All of these books sound very good!

  1. Sayomay said...:

    I know this is gonna sound wierd but i had a dream about the blue book i think its called the body finder? from the last echo series. Ive never read any of the books, ive just seen them around blogs and stores.
    Any I had dream were i picked up that book and it was going to help out of a bind that i was in, in my dream. So im now def interested the book!

  1. I would like to know how they keep from going crazy when things start getting busy when they have a new book ready for release and their lives get insanely busy?

  1. Dyniy said...:

    To any of the authors, how did you come up with the idea for your books and did you ever get discouraged and want to stop? Thanks for the giveaways. ;-)

  1. Julie S said...:

    All the books sound really good. Thanks for participating!

  1. Unknown said...:

    I am dying to read Partials!
    And he's right. I don't remember 9/11.
    I was too young, 7 or 8, maybe.

  1. This is such an awesome giveaway!! Thanks so much for hosting this for your followers!

  1. Steph said...:

    Thanks for this amazing giveaway! I'd just like to know where the authors get these great ideas for their books from.

  1. I'm dying to get my hands on Partials!! I've had my eye on it for a while now. Every book blog has had a post and raved about it. Dan Wells sounds like an incredible author. Kimberly Derting & Jill Hathaway are new-to-me-authors. I haven't read any of their work yet. It sounds like a couple of great reads I'll have to add to my reads-list.
    Thank you for the chance to win!! :D
    DeAnna Schultz

  1. Arianne said...:

    thank u for writing amazing books :D

  1. Nicki said...:

    I am so excited for these books! They all sound fantastic!

  1. Favorite part about tour?? :-)

  1. Which Tour stop had the most fans/largest turn out?

  1. Alisia said...:

    awesome these books are!!
    Love them!

  1. Samantha R. said...:

    I've had Partials on my list for a while now, and am excited to read the next in Derting's series.

  1. Twisty J said...:

    I am looking forward to reading each of these books, as I have heard so much about them. Thank you for the chance to win them!

  1. FIRST OFF I GOTTA SAY TO THE AUTHORS I LOVE YOUR BOOKS. SECOND WHAT KIND OF ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR A BEGINNER WRITER LIKE ME AND HOW DO YOU KEEP FOCUSED ON WRITING. butterfli262002@yahoo.com

  1. Unknown said...:

    I've been wanting to read these books! I am looking forward to reading them and I know I'm going to love them. Thank you!

  1. I'm just excited to read their books! :D

  1. Ask them about their first signing experience !

  1. I don't really have a question that wasn't already asked. Thanks so much for the giveaway

  1. Anonymous said...:

    All of these books sound great. I'm especially looking forward to The Last Echo. I love the Body Finder series and I've heard this is the best one yet. Can't wait to read it!

  1. Thank you for the giveaway! I have been dying to read all of these books!

  1. Kristi said...:

    The covers are all beautiful - to the authors - do you get much say in what they look like?

  1. I'd like to know how long it might be till Jill Hathaway's Imposter comes out? Soon I hope. Thanks.

  1. I've been looking forward to partials and the last echo for ages but hadn't heard of slide before today.Going to be adding that one to my wishlist as well now! Love the interviews you have done, it's lovely to feel like you know the author a little bit better :)

  1. Anne said...:

    rd to Partials. For some reason, the cover really draws me to it.

  1. Anonymous said...:

    Thanks for this amazing giveaway - I would love to win these books! I liked reading that Dan Wells wrote Partials after thinking that some readers will be too young to have experienced 9/11. I'm glad he wrote with that in mind because it was too huge an event with such a big impact that everyone should be aware of it. Can't wait to read Partials and the novella!

    Suz Reads (in Rafflecopter)

  1. I really want to read Slide and Partial. They're so intriguing!

  1. Sarah C. said...:

    There are all in my wishlist and I can't wait to read them. I had heard so many good things about all three books:) Thanks for the giveaway!!

  1. I love that Dan is (rightly) concerned that our youth don't realize the impact of huge events in recent history. His book looks fantastic and I'm going to give it a read for sure:)

  1. I love to find out from authors if they hear 'voices' in their head that in essence become the story that they are writing.

    Thanks for this amazing giveaway! I love all three of these books!!

  1. I've yet to read Partials, (it's on my TBR!), but I read Dan Well's John Cleaver series and fell in love with his writing! I think I would have liked to ask him the different experience between writing about John Cleaver's stories and Kyra's, besides being male/female. They are both completely different genre's, so it's interesting to see that he's able to work outside one genre and be influential in another!

    Thanks for doing this giveaway!

  1. Tressa said...:

    I haven't read any of these yet, but have heard good things about them all. I think the thing they all have in common is that each of their plots are unique. Sometimes I wonder how authors come up with these ideas, what inspired them to write that particular story.

    Thanks for the giveaway!

  1. I'm curious to know just how many books there will be in the Slide series. I loved it, and I'm so glad there will be another but I don't know if just two books will be enough to satisfy my craving for more :)

  1. Brooke said...:

    I just bought the audio book of Partials... can't wait to listen to it!

  1. All of these books have been on my wishlist since I read the first blurb about them.

  1. Miss K said...:

    I always want to know when authors knew that writing was what they had to do.

  1. Do you take breaks between writing books, like for more than a day/week, etc.?

  1. Denise Z said...:

    I have been trying to follow this tour and it has been loads of fun. Thank you so much for sharing with us and for the incredibly generous giveaway opportunity. I have been wanting to read this series and it is definitely on my wishlist :)

  1. Jennifer Haile said...:

    I'd just like know if they imagine the story completely before they write it or does it come trickling in while writing the book.

  1. All of these books have been on my TBR list but I just haven't gotten to read them. I would be so excited if I won.

    sweetreaderma@comcast.net

  1. Where do each receive their inspriation? And what book inspired them to write? I also think it would be interesting to know whether they can compare their style to any classic writer?
    scarlettkitty at hotmail dot com

  1. i'd like to know if the authors always knew they wanted to write books at a early age or later on in life :)

  1. Comment:

    Dan, I LOVE the cover for Partials. So intriguing. I have to read it now!

  1. Mandy said...:

    I love the covers. All of them have been on my TBR/wishlist for months. How exciting.

  1. Kelly said...:

    Interesting how Dan Wells started with the last line first. That would be difficult for me. Guess that's why I am not an author. My dad had a hat forever and one year we made him burn it! It was a sad day for him.

  1. LorettaLynn said...:

    Sounds really good and im adding to my to read list:) thank you so much for sharing i really enjoyed reading the post.
    elliott2668(at)yahoo(dot)com

  1. Nicole said...:

    Wow!! Such great books :)
    Can't wait to read them all someday

  1. What is the best part of being an author?

  1. Shelby said...:

    I can't wait to read Partials. It's been on my TBR list for ages now. Slide also sounds great. I've read The Pledge by Kimberly Derting, and loved it to pieces. I'll have to check out her Body Finder series. Thanks for the giveaway!
    ~Shelby
    http://gobsandgobsofbooks.blogspot.com/

  1. Pam said...:

    I'm afraid I can't think of any questions for the authors, but I will say that I would love to read all those books.
    Thank you for the giveaway.

    Pam

  1. tjmetz said...:

    Thanks for the giveaway! Where do the authors draw inspiration from and do they include any real life events or do real life events ever inspire parts of their stories?

  1. No questions just an admiration for them. People who can imagine such stories and then get them onto paper is amazing. Thank you for a lovely giveaway.

  1. That I'm very very excited to read their books! :D