hi alyson! welcome to the enchanted inkpot
thanks so much for visiting! we're very excited to have you!
i just recently finished your new york times bestselling novel,
EVERMORE, and cannot wait to read the sequel, BLUE MOON.
i've read in other interviews that the premise of EVERMORE
was based on tragedies you had experienced in your own
life. is EVER a little based on your own self then? her thoughts
and feeling toward the loss of her family are expressed so
well throughout the novel. it felt authentic, i loved her voice,
and she was a heroine i rooted for from the beginning.There’s definitely a bit of me in Ever. A few years ago I lost
three people I loved in five months, and then my husband was
diagnosed with leukemia (he’s in full remission now!), and it
felt like the end of my world. Going through that time of
intense grief and loss got me thinking a lot about life and
death, mortality and immortality, and how you can still feel
a connection to someone even after they’re gone, and since
Ever also experienced great loss, losing her entire family
in a car accident, I really mined that time in my life and
drew upon those feelings and experiences when I created her.
now, let's talk about your enigmatic and super hot hero,
damen. how did he appear to you? did ever and damen
emerge in your mind as a couple together, immediately?
how familiar are you with him? did he surprise you as you
wrote his story?Ever and Damen were paired up from the start. But while
I knew Ever inside and out, Damen I sort of discovered
along the way. In the original synopsis I sold to
St. Martin’s Press, he was too much of a nice guy—not
that I have anything against nice guys—I married one—
but when I realized he’d been around for 600 hundred
years, with the sort of powers one could only imagine,
he became much more complex. So I rewrote him in a way
that’s more complicated, flawed, with a bit of a tragic
history—and to be honest, I like him so much better now!
i love the idea of reincarnation as my own novel alludes
to it. tell us briefly about the research you did for this book--
as well as what you took away from these experiences.
what do you think about reincarnation after writing EVERMORE?I’m fascinated by the idea of all things paranormal,
including reincarnation, and did quite a bit of research
on it while I was writing EVERMORE. I read a ton of books
on psychics, near death experiences, reincarnation, etc,
and took a three-day psychic development class with
world-renowned medium, James Van Praagh, and underwent
hypnosis for a past life regression with Dr. Brian Weiss.
And though I went into it with a somewhat skeptical
(yet open!) mind, I was fascinated by what I saw
(and a little disappointed that I was neither Marie
Antoinette nor Cleopatra!). All of those experiences
informed certain moments in the books.
okay, not too much in regards to spoilers, but what can
we find in store in your sequel BLUE MOON. and how long
is this IMMORTAL series? did you sell the series with all the
stories already in mind and outlined? can you tell us a little
about your writing process?There will be five books in total. And though I wish I could
say I started with some sort of master plan, the truth is,
I approached EVERMORE with only that story in mind and when
I finished it I realized there just might be more to the story
(seeing as they’re immortal and all)! Then, somewhere around
the middle of BLUE MOON, I realized it didn’t really end there
either, but once we determined it would be an actual series,
I knew exactly where it would eventually end—it’s the getting
there that keeps changing!
In BLUE MOON, Ever and Damen’s story continues, with Ever
growing used to her immortal powers just as Damen’s are waning.
In an attempt to save him, Ever travels to the mystical dimension
of Summerland, where she comes across an ancient text revealing
the workings of time, and she’s forced to choose between going
back in time and saving her family from the accident that claimed
them, or staying in the present and saving Damen . . .
what is your favorite scene in the book?Hmmm, probably when Ever’s in the parking lot at school and
learns the truth about her existence. I really enjoyed writing
that part!
where do you hope to be as a writer ten years from now?Still employed! Seriously, I love my job—it’s a dream come
true—and I plan to keep at it for as long as they’ll let me!
i don't doubt you most certainly will be. you're an
inspiration! finally, for fun, because i love to eat. what is your favorite
pastry? (that would be anything baked! =)I love to eat too! And can I just say that reading your
book made me sooo hungry! You have the most amazing way
of describing those meals in a way so tangible, it was
like I could smell it—taste it!
Okay, as far as pastries go, well my favorite would be
the Cupcake. It’s like a little celebration—a small,
self-contained party, in a paper skirt! I love ‘em!
i couldn't have said it better myself! thanks so much
for taking the time to visit and much continued success!to learn more about alyson visit
alysonnoel.com.
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Malinda Lo: When did you begin working on Rampant, and what was its publication process like? Was your agent on board right away, or were there any concerns about killer unicorns (or, conversely, a book about virginity)?