Mundie Moms

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Author Interview with Shannon Delany

We are very excited to apart of Shannon's blog tour and to have her here with us today. We are big fans of her book, 13 To Life. Recently we were able to ask Shannon a few questions about 13 To Life.

Congratulations on 13 To Life's upcoming release! Being wolf girls (most of us lol) we've fallen in love with your story and characters. What inspired 13 To Life?

Thank you. 13 to Life started out as a combination of things: a phrase, a lack of wolves in YA (of course that was 2008), and several of my favorite things (wolves, tales of transformation, Russian culture and the strange experiments done throughout relatively modern history) all slamming together in my head.

In three words, how would Pietr's brother Max describe 13 To Life?

Max would focus on these 3 words and ignore everything else: hot, rockin' babes. The boy's definitely focused. ;-) LOL! Luckily 13 to Life is much more than what's on Max's mind (or Jessie's, or Pietr's). Like the story's genesis, a lot of things come slamming together during the course of the series.

What inspired you to choose the rich Russian heritage, which is where Pietr's family comes from?

Boys. Well, sort of, at least. We hosted a couple Russian exchange students when I was a teen and I found them absolutely fascinating. Their visit made me curious about their country (then the USSR and firmly behind the Iron Curtain) and their culture. They brought gifts of nesting dolls, Soviet coins and beautifully painted lacquerware. My imagination was captured. In college I studied the Russian language and Eastern European History. I had fabulous professors in those subjects (which I couldn't always say about some of the other courses I took). My college, Kutztown University, also had one of the largest collections of Russian books at the time, second in the nation to a collection in Texas, I believe.

You've really embraced the blue of your cover, how does the blue express the book? (thank you Stacey @ Page Turners for this question)

Ironically, blue was one of the last colors I hoped to see on the cover--There's so much blue everywhere! But my cover designer, Ervin Serrano, did a lovely job with the overall presentation and it quickly grew on me. As far as the blue expressing the mood or motif of the book, I'd say it's suitable because of the way Jessie feels at the beginning of the book over the loss of her mother. She's kind of wandering in a twilight of emotion. She can't pull herself out of her grief far enough to see what's going on around her, and yet, she's not totally in the dark. Oh! And Pietr's eyes are blue (as is the worry stone Jess carries). There's actually a lot of symbolism that ties back into the worry stone that works with the cover and the blue.

You have an amazing werewolf mythology in 13 To Life. What made you want to write a wolf book?

It was sort of a fluke. I've always loved wolves (never was a werewolf fan, really, until recently) and they have traditionally been feared and hunted to the brink of extinction. I remember vividly an old photo in a college text of a Russian hunter sitting in front of a house hung with so many wolf pelts... And there are just as stunning things documented in American history. Maybe that's part of the allure Russian culture holds for me--there are so many parallels (nearly mirror images historically) and yet we were so terrified of each other for so many years. Ironic, huh? "Monster in the mirror" sort of mentality. But back to the wolves! Wolves almost always got a bad reputation (especially when you consider traditional western mythology). What devours the world in Norse myth? Wolf (and, by the way, he gets the fuzzy end of the lollipop, too, when you really dig into the myths). What chases innocent little Red Riding Hood? Wolf. What dresses in sheep's clothing? Wolf. We have a deep fear of their primal nature, yet they have one of the more complex family structures in the animal kingdom. Geez, I could go on for days about wolves and their roles in myth, legend and nature. Okay, in short? Wolves are cool.

We've enjoyed having you on our Mundie Moms forum sharing writing advice with our members. What advice would you share with those just starting to write?

Thanks! I keep intending to get back there and see if anyone needs anything, but I'm pretty swamped. My advice to beginning writers (and authors of all levels) is to read a lot and write even more. And read a wide selection of things. If you write paranormals, for goodness sakes don't just read paranormals!

If were to ask Jessie who her favorite author was, who would it be?

Ha! Great question! We're actually putting together a spot on the series website where you can see Jess's book picks and pick them up yourself through an online retailer. Jess is pretty well read. She definitely likes her paranormals (and Shakespeare). She's big on vampire books: The Twilight Saga, The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod, Vampire Academy, House of Night and Sookie Stackhouse novels (along with Bram Stoker's classic Dracula) would top her list, so Meyer, Brewer, Mead, Cast and Harris.

Thank you Shannon for answering our questions. We agree, Wolves are cool!
13 to Life will be on bookstore shelves June 22nd!

You can pre-order 13 To Life here http://tinyurl.com/23kon79 and be sure to visit Shannon's site here:

Be sure you're following us on Twitter today, as we're giving away some signed 13 To Life swag!!

Don't forget, we'll be chatting with Shannon on June 28th here on our site.

16 comments:

  1. Awesome interview!!! Love the books that Jessie likes to read too! ;)

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  2. i agree, those Russian boys are fascinating. *wink*
    Great interview!

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  3. I love the idea of a story set in eastern Europe. There is so much hidden culture there. Sounds like an interesting book. I'll have to add it to my list. :-)

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  4. Terrific interview. Those were some great questions! :) I like hearing where the ideas for covers come from and how the authors like them.

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  5. Excellent interview, how fun! Thanks for putting the trailer on your site, love it! Only a few days left until I can hold this book in my hands! Don't forget to stop by my blog this Saturday when Shannon drops in for her Serial tour!

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  6. Thank you! I have really enjoyed this book! I highly recommend it. I think fans who weren't wolf fans, will quickly fall in love with Shannon's wolves!!

    Heather-we'll definitely stop by!

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  7. Oh, I just love Jessie!!!! So fun! Great interview, KatieB (MundieMoms)!

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  8. Fun interview! I love the cover of this book. It's certainly one of the better ones I've seen!

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  9. Great interview. Really looking forward to the book.

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  10. Nice interview. I didnt really like the cover at first but its really growing on me.

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  11. Great interview! Loved Jessie's picks in books, and yes - wolves are cool =D

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  12. Great interview! Happy release day!

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  13. I agree the cover is really eye-catching. Happy release day, best of luck to you!

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  14. The cover is definitely really nice! I agree, Russian culture is definitely interesting.

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  15. Yeah, it is true that blue is very popular on book covers, especially in paranormal fiction. But I find it a very attractive colour all the same.

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  16. I LOVED the cover! Anything really that depicts a night scene tends to be awesome!

    The blue and the trees and the guy's face with the moon in his eye and the girl walking below! When I saw the cover I got chills! I had to have it!

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