We are so excited to share with you our Q&A we had with Fallen author, Lauren Kate. Torment, her sequel to Fallen will be released this Fall. You can find her beautiful cover for Torment below.
Arriane came the most naturally to me. I think of her as a breath of fresh air in the novel, and the scenes where she appears (I mean, takes over) were always a lot of fun for me to write. People ask me which character is most like me and I guess and there’s a little bit of me in all the characters. There’s also probably a little bit of all the people I love in them too. Of all the characters, I had to go most deeply inside of Luce so I could examine how she'd react in the various situations she finds herself in. And how I wrote her changed a lot of the course of the book. Towards the end of the book, I'd often realize that the way I'd written her in an earlier scene was not at all the way she'd react, so I'd go back and rewrite her response until I got it right.
Who was the hardest character to write? Why?
Daniel was the most challenging, mainly because the full truth of his character has to come to light very slowly over the course of the entire series in order for the books to work. The reveal at the end of the first book was probably one that most readers saw coming...it is book about fallen angels after all! But there's a much bigger, game-changing reveal between Daniel and Luce to come later in the series. It's challenging for me because I know what's coming, but I can only to show the reader a portion of the story in each book. Daniel's character is difficult enough as it is!
I like to think of him as a work in progress, a developing story, and someone who--above all--knows Luce better than anyone else (including herself) does. He always has her best interest at heart.
Are you thinking of doing different points of view in the next book? (We got to see a little bit of insight into Daniel's mind, will we see more?)
Yes! For each of the books in the series, I plan to follow the same structure of Fallen. That is, the prologue and the epilogue will be written from Daniel’s point of view, while the main body of the novel will always be a close third person on Luce. Point of view is something I’m really interested in and I give it a lot of thought in all my books. Daniel’s prologues/epilogues came as a surprise to me, actually. I had a different prologue originally from Luce’s POV, and I went back after writing the first draft of Fallen and rewrote the current prologue from Daniel’s eyes. I think I chose to do this because of what I was saying above about Daniel’s character—how he can seem a little impenetrable at times. I wanted to give readers a better “way in” to him, a chance to see his motivations and passions more clearly than we can when Luce is narrating. I like the way his prologue and epilogues frame the novel so I’m going to keep that consistant in each book.
Is whoever can claim Luce's soul (since she wasn't baptized) going to win the ultimate good v. evil fight?
Great question. Wow. The answer is…yes. But the story is going to take several surprising turns before that happens.
How many books will be in the series?
Four books. The second book, Torment, comes out in the fall. I just finished the final draft yesterday, and I’m reallyreallyreally excited about it. After Torment, the next book in the series will actually be a prequel, which will look back at Daniel and Luce’s relationship across time. I love the idea of this prequel and can’t wait to get started on it. The final book will conclude the series…and we’ll learn all about the destiny of Luce’s unbaptized soul!
If you had to be on an airplane for 24 hours and could only bring one book, what would it be?
Lolita by Nabokov. Or! The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner. I’ve read both of them at least five times and they just get better and better.
Do you have any other projects (books) in the works?
I’ll start working on the prequel to Fallen very soon, but in the meantime, I’m working on a screenplay adaptation of my other novel, The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove. Never written screenplays before and I’m looking forward to the challenge of a new genre.
Who's been your greatest influence as a writer?
I find it impossible to answer these kinds of questions with a single name. Nabokov and Faulkner (see above). Also Virginia Woolf and Dickens. Don DeLillo. Roald Dahl. F. Scott Fitzgerald. I’m an insanely avid reader and am always looking for new authors to be inspired by.
Thank you Lauren for taking the time to visit with us. We are looking forward to reading Torment and can't wait to read the prequel.
You can read our 5 star review of Fallen here-http://tinyurl.com/ykra7ms
You can find out more about Lauren Kate at her website here-http://laurenkatebooks.net/
Don't forget to follow Lauren on Twitter here-http://twitter.com/laurenkatebooks
In case you missed Lauren's announcement this past friday, she has revealed the beautiful cover of Torment (out this September)-