Interview with Kassy Taylor!

1. The dome seems so forbidding and yet strangely comforting (when you consider the supposed alternative), would you ever live inside "the dome?"

I guess it depends on the alternative. I enjoy being outside and would definitely miss the sky and the trees and the mountains.  It also depends on the restrictions.  I could never give up my pets, nor would I want myself, or my children and my children's children to be restricted in what they could do with their lives.  Everyone should be able to follow their dreams.

2. Did you draw on your own or others' personality traits for Wren? Was she difficult or easy to write about?

I'm a dreamer, like Wren.  I would like to think I have her courage but I've never been tested as she has.  Wren came to me as a full blown character. She's her own person, not a model of anyone else.

3. What can readers expect from Wren in this book? A lot of questions and a lot of determination.  She's a deep thinker, but once she decides on something, she sticks to it and goes after it.

4. What was your main inspiration for writingAshes of Twilight?  i wanted to pay tribute to the miners in West Virginia who lost their lives in the coal mines, including my Uncle, who the book is dedicated too.

5. Which scene was your favorite to write about?  the scene where Pace is stuck in the tunnels because I am claustrophobic too.

6. What can we expect in any follow-up books (and we hope there are a few!)? A lot of action and growing up on Wren's part once they are outside and a new young man from America named Levi Addison that has Wren questioning her feelings for Pace. The next book is Shadows Of Glass and will be out next July.


Imagine a world with virtually no sunlight—where the air you breathe is so heavy and laden with coal that it will eventually cause your lungs to collapse.  You must accept this world you were born into and understand that your dreams and ambitions will never come true.

In Kassy Taylor’s debut dystopian young adult novel, ASHES OF TWILIGHT (St. Martin’s Griffin; November 13, 2012), for coal miner Wren MacAvoy this is the only life she has ever known.  But unlike the others who accept this predetermined fate, Wren yearns for something more than shoveling coal and being forced to marry a man she does not love.

ASHES OF TWILIGHT takes readers into Wren’s underground world full of secrets, mysteries, and uncertainties.  The domed city in which she lives was constructed in 1878 to protect the royal bloodline of England from Haley’s Comet that collided with Earth.  But after nearly two hundreds years of life beneath the dome, coal is running out and people are beginning to wonder if the world is still consumed by fire.  When Alex, one of Wren’s friends escapes from the dome in the hopes of a better life, he is captured and burned alive as a warning to others to stay in the dome. Wren witnesses Alex’s death and he leaves her with these haunting last words, “the sky is blue.”

And so begins Wren’s dangerous quest to find a way out of the dome and see for herself what the
outside world truly holds.  What follows is a remarkable love story between Wren and Pace as they and a group of unlikely friends do whatever it takes to avenge Alex’s murder and find a way out. Wren’s determination for a better life unwittingly causes a revolution that destroys the dome and changes everyone’s destiny. Will Wren and Pace make it out alive and establish a life together outside of the dome?

Full of romance, excitement, action, and heartache, this thrilling first installment of the three-part series is not to be missed.

Summary






Author BIO:
Kassy Tayler has always been a writer.  Since the beginning of her memories, her biggest desire has been to put words to paper. Now she is living her dream and has several published novels to her credit in multiple genres.  She’s been married for several years to the man of her dreams.  They’ve raised two exceptional sons.  Kassy lives within the shadow of Pilot Mountain, NC with her husband, her doxie, Cody, and two cats, who continually make life interesting.  Follow Kassy on twitter @kassytayler.