Karen Mahoney is the author of THE IRON WITCH, the first book of a trilogy that continues in 2012 with THE WOOD QUEEN. She has also published stories about a kick-ass teen vampire called Moth in THE ETERNAL KISS and KISS ME DEADLY. Karen is British and currently lives in London, though she dreams of one day living in Boston in the USA. She doesn’t mind if you call her Kaz.

Q. 1 Your debut novel, The Iron Witch, will be published in 2011 (Congrats!). Can you tell us a bit about it and what the journey through to publication has been like for you?

Thank you! The Iron Witch is the story of 17-year-old Donna Underwood, born into a secret society of alchemists in the modern world, and sworn to keep those secrets – even from her best friend, Navin Sharma. Donna has magical iron tattoos on her hands and arms that give her super-strength, and keeping things like that from the regular people in her life is getting harder. When Navin is abducted by the dark elves (the life-long enemy of the alchemists), Donna has to decide what she’s willing to sacrifice in order to save him.

The journey to publication seems short, on the surface. Three years between finishing the first draft of the book to actually seeing it on shelves in three countries, but I’ve been writing (on and off) since I was 12. It’s something I always wanted to do, but I gave up in my late twenties and honestly thought it wasn’t going to happen for me. I realized, however, that I’d made a mistake with the kind of writing I was doing – I kept trying to write literary fiction, but as soon as I embraced my true love of all things genre (and especially urban fantasy), I found my writer’s voice.

Q. 2 Karen, there’s really been an explosion in urban fantasy over the past few years. Where do you see it heading?

That’s such a good question, and all I can really say is that I certainly don’t see it going away any time soon. I think that the current boom in urban fantasy, and all things paranormal, will continue, though of course it will drop back to a less overwhelming level. I hear some people saying that it’s ‘over’ or whatever, but I honestly don’t think that’s going to happen – it’s too popular and has almost become a ‘true’ genre in itself, rather than just a sub-genre. I think it will change and develop, sure. And editors will become more picky with projects they take on. But the demand from readers will continue. How do I know that? Because, first and foremost, I’m a reader of UF and love it – I never want to stop reading it! 🙂

Q. 3 You’re an avid blogger & Tweeter. How important is social networking to you? Before blogging, did you always keep a journal?

I love blogging and now I love Twitter! I’m not on Facebook (I’ve tried it, but just don’t… ‘get’ it.) Personally, I don’t like the term ‘social networking’ – though I know that’s the term people give it, so it’s fine. For me, though, when I first started blogging at the start of 2007 (on LiveJournal, though I’ve moved to WordPress since then), it was simply a means to making writing friends and finding information about the publishing industry. Being based in the UK, but trying to break into the US market, it was important to me to find US-based friends who I could share my experiences with and learn from.

Four years ago, I didn’t know what social networking was! I was just journaling my ‘journey’ towards publication. Now, of course, the fact that I’ve been active online for so long has really helped me to get the word out about my writing, but I didn’t set out that way – and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Maybe people have responded positively to my online presence because I’m just being myself and genuinely have no ‘hidden agenda.’ I think those things are easy to pick up on, you know? I think people should blog if they enjoy it, otherwise what’s the point? Do the things you’re good at/have fun with. Twitter is fun and fast, and also easy to do while you’re out-and-about thanks to the Blackberry and iPhone.

Yes, I’ve always kept some kind of journal – right back from when I was a young child. And in my late twenties, when I gave up writing for 5 years (!!), the one thing I DID do was to keep a diary. I wrote all about how I WASN’T writing fiction. It was cathartic, if not exactly productive. 😉

Q. 4 Which of all your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

Much as I love my characters in The Iron Witch – and I really do, especially my main character Donna – I still have a soft spot for my teen vampire, Moth, from the short stories published in The Eternal Kiss and Kiss Me Deadly (both by Random House Children’s Books in Australia). If anyone burns bright, it’s my Moth. I hope to publish a novel about her, one day, but vampires aren’t the easiest to sell right now. She’s such a contradiction, though: an undead 18-year-old who is so full of life – I want to give her the chance to shine so that more people can meet her.

Thank you very much for having me!

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Visit Kaz’s website/blog

Check out the Deadline Dames

Tweets away!… Twitter: @kazmahoney (http://twitter.com/kazmahoney)

Andrea Cremer spent her childhood daydreaming while roaming the forests and lakeshores of Northern Wisconsin. She now lives in Minnesota, but she thinks of her homeland as the “Canadian Shield” rather than the Midwest.

Andrea has always loved writing and has never stopped writing, but she only recently plunged into the deep end of the pool that is professional writing. When she’s not writing, Andrea teaches history at a very nice liberal arts college in St. Paul.

In the little spare time she can find, Andrea stares up at trees, rescues infant rabbits from predatory cats, and invents names for pug puppies with her husband. She has an unfortunate tendency to spill things – white carpets beware!

Q. 1 You’ve said that you were a daydreamer as a child. How important is daydreaming to your writing process now?

Absolutely essential. I’m often asked what the most difficult part of writing is for me, and, honestly, it’s not the writing – it’s getting my head out of the story. Especially when I’m in the middle of creating the first draft, I struggle with stepping out of the world I’m writing and doing every day things. So, I’ll end up pouring orange juice on my cereal, stepping in the shower and out again without having washed my hair – it’s wonderful to be that caught up in the story, but also a pain, because I don’t function like a normal person. In many ways a part of me is always daydreaming, but I think that’s pivotal to the way I write.

Q. 2 Nightshade made the New York Times bestseller list. Congratulations! How did you first hear the news and what was your reaction? What did you do to celebrate?

Thank you! I was, and am still over the moon about hitting the New York Times list. My publicist at Penguin called at the same moment that my editor did and so I was on the phone with call waiting beeping in. I screamed and laughed and cried and danced around. I called my mom and cried some more. It was wonderful! A friend of mine was visiting and she, my husband, and I went to dinner a fabulous restaurant to celebrate.

Q. 3 The Nightshade werewolves exercise self-control, yet still obviously delight in their animalism. Did you add that element of ‘civility’ to challenge the traditional werewolf stereotype of the unpredictable beast?

I’ve never been a fan of traditional werewolves, so when Calla jumped into my head and I knew she was both young woman and a wolf I thought I was in serious trouble. How could I write a werewolf tale when I don’t like werewolves? I had to do some soul-searching about the source of my ambivalence and realized that it was tied in to my childhood. I grew up in the Northwoods of Wisconsin (go any further north and you’d be in Canada!) and spent my days out in the forests with my brother and best friend, building forts and inventing imaginary worlds. The wilderness was beautiful and magical and all the animals in it – including wolves – were fascinating to me. I couldn’t come to terms with the way werewolves were portrayed as savage, slavery beasts, when I saw wolves as beautiful, graceful, and intelligent, with complex social relationships – not unlike human relationships. I created the wolf mythology of Nightshade to reflect my admiration of wolves.

Q. 4 Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

It’s hard to choose because each member of the pack is so important – they rely on and learn from each other constantly. However, because Calla was the inspiration for Nightshade, I’d have to say its her. Nightshade is about her struggle to find her own path through life, battling between her own desires and the expectations of others. Despite everything that’s happening around her, ultimately her success or failure will depend on her ability to learn who she truly is and live her life accordingly.

You can get the scoop on upcoming releases by Andrea @ the Atom Books site

Visit the gorgeous Nightshade web page here.

Sue Bursztynski lives in Melbourne, where she has a full-time day job. She has written ten books for children and young adults, but this is the first full-scale novel – there are seven non-fiction books on subjects ranging from monsters to spies, archaeologists to women scientists (she got a Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable for that one), plus two children’s fiction chapter books. She has done articles for the NSW School Magazine and short stories for Pearson’s Spinouts series, plus some adult speculative fiction.

1. 1. Our reviewer adored Wolfborn and found herself becoming very emotionally involved with your characters. Could you tell us a bit about the experience of creating characters? Do you also feel this level of connectedness when you’re creating them?

Yes, my characters are very dear to me. I created them to answer questions I needed to ask about the story. I don’t think I could have told my story from the viewpoint of Lord Geraint, the werewolf knight, although I do give him one scene to himself, so I told it from the viewpoint of someone from outside. That’s Etienne, a boy from a coastal area who has a family secret of his own that worries him, but helps him sympathise with his lord’s troubles. I gave him a friend who could help him in time of trouble – one very different from himself – and I decided that Geraint had to have a background that would give him more depth than the knight had in the original mediaeval romance that inspired the story. That brought in two more characters, the wise-woman Sylvie and her daughter Jeanne. As the book was being edited, I could say, “No, that character doesn’t talk like that” or “No way would he do this!” Even the King, who appears briefly near the end, had a voice I heard as clearly as those of the main characters. In fact, I got so interested in him that I went back to play around with a prequel in which he appears as one of the protagonists, in his teens. I’m still working on that one.

2. I’ve read that you have a great interest in ancient history (particularly Roman, Greek, and Egyptian). If you could transport yourself back to any historical period and place, which would you choose and why? Which historical figure fascinates you the most?

May I confess something? I do still love ancient history and when I was a child, I dreamed of becoming an archaeologist and following in the footsteps of Heinrich Schliemann. I’d still like to be an archaeologist, but recently I have found myself most fascinated by local history, wherever I am. You don’t have to dig up Egyptian tombs to do real archaeology.

I work in Sunshine, Victoria, a working-class suburb with a proud industrial relations history. It was the scene of the Sunshine Harvester Decision, which was the first of its kind in the world to give wage justice to workers. I wouldn’t mind being around to see that happen. But in the other kind of history I’d like to see one of Shakespeare’s plays from the galleries at its first performance. Or – assuming I could speak the language – one of the classes of Hypatia, the mathematician of Alexandria.

3. Among other things, you’re a librarian and get to spend a lot of time around young people. How important is it, as a writer, to see what kids are reading and what’s current? Do you think reading appetites have changed much since you were a child?

Yes, things are different. That’s not altogether a bad thing, because when I was growing up, we were mostly reading overseas writers and there wasn’t a lot being written for teens anyway – children’s and adult books and not much in between. Now young adult fiction is huge – and we’ve got plenty of terrific Aussie YA writers. That said, some of the classics are coming back with fresh new covers and I’m pleased to say that one of my Year 8 students has discovered Rosemary Sutcliff, whose books were languishing on the library’s shelves, through a nifty new-cover Sutcliff book – not a nerdy kid, either. It is important to know what they’re reading. The best place to see that is from the coalface. I suspect if I wasn’t working in the school system I might not know much more than that they like paranormal fiction. As a teacher-librarian I know that they also love non-fiction, the more over-the-top the better. My non-fiction book on crime in Australia is rarely on the shelves for more than five minutes at a time – and there are five copies in the library alone, more in the literacy collection. Kids come and ask for it because they heard it was good. Some are actually surprised when they find out I wrote it.

4. Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind, and why?

You mean who’s my favourite character? That would have to be Armand, the hero’s best friend. He’s one of a long tradition of comic sidekicks. Armand isn’t dumb, though. He’s the one who knows when it’s time to go look for help and insists on doing it. He’s poor as aristocrats go – his family has only one manor, and if you realise how expensive horses and armour were in the Middle Ages, that means he’s going to have a hard time getting the equipment he needs to become a knight one day. But he has his dreams, of breeding bigger horses he can ride and raise the money for his sisters’ dowries – even if the only horse he can ride at the moment is a mountain pony which turns out to be a disguised unicorn, much to his embarrassment! Etienne drives him nuts at times, but he’s a loyal friend all the same.

Head on over to Sue’s blog and read what she has to say.

Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens.  She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, and Glamour. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends, and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.

1. Congratulations on the success that you’re enjoying with Misguided Angel: The New York Times Bestseller list… USA Today Bestseller list… Wall Street Journal Bestseller list!  What amazing achievements! What’s it like to see your name on such internationally recognised lists and how do you keep grounded in order to concentrate on the next project?

I think what keeps me grounded is that I enjoy and celebrate it when it happens, and it’s always a surprise: I never expect it–I am always primed for disappointment rather than triumph. Also, Revelations, the third book in the Blue Bloods series, was my first book to make all the lists; but it was my 16th book, so for books 1-15, I never had this experience. So,I think paying dues and being a veteran keeps my feet on the ground. I know all too well what it’s like on the other side. My motto is “don’t get used to it!” Also, when the lists come out, I’m deep into writing the next book, which is more important than any list. But it is nice to have the accolades and the champagne dinner. We make it special so that it’s not just any other day.

2. When did you first develop an interest in speculative fiction? Which texts, authors and characters were your greatest influences?

I’ve always loved fantasy and sci-fi. My favorite authors are Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, JRR Tolkien, and Stephen King. I loved Roland the gunslinger and Jake from New York from the Dark Tower series, Paul Atreides and Chani and their tragic love story, Aragorn and Arwen…. I love tragic couples!

3. You’ve worked as a fashion and beauty editor for a number of high-profile publications and TV shows for many years. Do you miss that world? If you could give your YA readers only 3 style tips, what would they be?

Sometimes I miss it. Not really. I am much more introverted and more comfortable in the writing world than the fashion world. I think there is an “extrovert mask” that introverts wear, that I wore for many years as a fashion and trend editor and reporter. Style tips depend on age, I would say when you’re young, you can really wear anything. Everything looks great when you are young. So go wild, try all the trends… Vintage–I used to wear these vintage dresses and get them chopped off at the thigh and they looked fabulous. Once you get older, invest in well-tailored clothes–it’s better to buy $40 jeans from the Gap and get them tailored for $20 so they fit perfectly than spending $200 on jeans that don’t. Wear what you are comfortable with and don’t forget to add some flourish. I love a big cocktail ring, a great scarf, crazy high platform heels.

4. Which of your fictional characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

I would say all my girls are my stars: Schuyler, Mimi and Bliss are my favorite to write about. They are all part of me so I can’t choose. Schuyler because of her quiet strength, Mimi because, for all of her flaws, she is incredibly loya,l and Bliss because she remains true to herself in adversity.

Click here for the official Melissa de la Cruz website.

Fantastic Misguided Angel trailer here!

Melissa’s Awards Info (woah!!):

The Au Pairs is an ALA Quick Pick, a YALSA Top Ten nominee and on the PSLA Fiction List. Skinny-Dipping is an ALA Quick Pick Nominee, and Crazy Hot is a New York Public Library Book for the Teenage and was named a best teen series book by TeenReads.com. The series has been optioned for a major motion picture by Warner Brothers, with Drew Barrymore’s Flower Films producing.

Blue Bloods is an ALA Top Ten Quick Pick, a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best, a TAYSHAS pick, an Alabama Public Library “Best Fang” nominee, a Cybils nominee and merited a starred review from Booklist. Masquerade is an ALA Quick Pick and a New York Public Library Book for the Teenage. Revelations is a New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly best-seller. The Van Alen Legacy debuted at #3 on the New York Times Children’s Series Best Sellers List, #12 on the USA Today Top 150 Best Seller List, #4 on the Wall Street Journal Hardcover Fiction List and #2 on the Bookscan Juvenille List.

Fresh off the Boat is an ALA Quick Pick nominee, a New York Public Library Book for the Teenage and a Bank Street Bookstore Best Children’s Book and a California Readers California Collection.

Angels on Sunset Boulevard was named Best Debut Series by TeenReads.com.

L.M. Fuge is seventeen years old and lives in Adelaide, South Australia, with her family and an insane dog. She won the Young Aussie Writers’ Awards in 2008 for her short story True Colours, and her first novel, When Courage Came to Call, was written when she was fourteen and is now published by Random House Australia. She is currently in her final year of high school, and when she’s not writing or studying, she enjoys wreaking havoc with her friends, playing sports and attempting photography.

1. I hope you’re not tired of questions about your age but I think most of us were probably still wondering what we wanted to be ‘when we grew up’ at 16; your focus and discipline are very inspiring. How old were you when you realised you wanted to be a writer and how did your friends and family react?

I never really decided that I wanted to be a writer when I ‘grew up’; I actually still don’t know what I want to be. Writing is just something that I love doing, and it started off as more of a hobby than anything. I used to write in school in ‘creative writing time’, but it wasn’t until I was about ten that I realised how much I loved it and began to write in my free time. At the start, I think my family humoured me. I never let anyone read my work – and didn’t even tell my friends that I was a writer – so they didn’t realise how serious I became about it. They didn’t expect me to get published, and to be honest, nor did I – not for many years to come.

2. ‘When Courage Came to Call’ is filled with gritty, realistic scenes of combat and violence. What sort of research did you do for the book and what other books in the genre do you enjoy reading?

Before I started writing, I did almost no research. What I wrote was based purely on my experience – really only things I’d read or watched. I decided to research after I’d finished the first draft, which in hindsight wasn’t the best way to go, but it ended up okay! I’m more of a fantasy reader, so I hadn’t read too many books in the same genre as When Courage Came to Call (I don’t even know how I ended up writing something like that). I do remember reading John Marsden’s Tomorrow When the War Began, but more than anything it was simply war that interested me.

3.  I bet the kids at school are dead jealous of your author status! How are you handling your success in general and how has life changed for you?

Even though I had my mind set on getting published eventually, it was still a huge shock to get there so soon. It took me quite a while to adjust to the idea, but I think I’m handling it pretty well. Life hasn’t changed a whole lot for me, which is a relief, but my success has changed me as a person. The most unexpected yet most rewarding part of my journey has been media attention – I certainly didn’t expected newspapers, magazines, and even TV to be interested in me. I used to be a really shy person, and still am to an extent, but I think dealing with the media has made me more confident and self-aware.

4. Which of your characters Burns Brightest in your mind and why?

I love all my characters, but Imm by far burns the brightest to me. He intrigued me right from the very start, and there was never any doubt that When Courage Came to Call was going to be written from his perspective. Because of this, I connected with him the most – the story was not mine, but his. He became more than just a character; he was my constant companion throughout the writing journey.