Interview + Giveaway: Andrea Cremer, author of Nightshade series

I'm very excited to be joined today by Andrea Cremer, author of a phenomenal Nightshade series.

Guys, please give a warm welcome to Andrea!

E: Evie
AC: Andrea Cremer

E: Welcome to Bookish Andrea! Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

AC: Thanks so much for having me! I grew up in a small town in Northern Wisconsin, which means I get restless if there aren’t lots of trees and large bodies of water around. I currently live in Minneapolis. In addition to writing I’m a history professor at Macalester College.

E: Who or what inspired you to write Nightshade?

AC: Calla was the inspiration for Nightshade. I knew she was a girl who was also a wolf. Having always loved the wilderness I wasn’t a fan of traditional werewolf mythology which posits lycanthropy as a disease or curse. I wanted to portray wolves as I’ve always seen them: beautiful, intelligent, graceful, and social. Calla’s character, my love of wolves, and my interest in the history of witchcraft came together to create the world of Nightshade.

E: Do you mind telling us how long did it take for you to write your book?

AC: From first draft to copy edits at Penguin it took about 9 months.

E: How would you describe the “Nightshade” series in 5 words?

AC: Mysterious, addictive, thrilling, seductive, passionate.

E: Your book is full of fantastic and charismatic characters, which of them do you feel is most like you? Are any of your characters based on people in your own life?

AC: I’m going to answer these questions together because the answer is the same. I’m the most like Ansel, Calla’s younger brother. Ansel is the only character based on someone in my life – he is loosely based on my own little brother. My brother and I are very close and a lot alike, so I think I’m like Ansel too: a romantic idealist.

E: I would kill to see Nightshade being made into a movie! If that was to happen and you could pick the cast yourself, who would you chose?

AC: I hope Nightshade will someday be a movie – we’ll have to wait and see. In terms of casting I still haven’t found a perfect Calla, but I think Ben Barnes would be a great Ren and Chace Crawford a fantastic Shay

E: Where is your favorite place for writing? Do you have any special writing rituals?

AC: I can write anywhere as long as I have coffee and my iPod. I create playlists for all of my books, having the right music channels my characters and the settings of my novels.

E: What advice would you give to aspiring authors who are interested in writing YA novels?

AC:  The most important thing is to keep writing and know that writing is revising. The more you write the better your craft will become.

E: What genres do you like to read in your free time?

AC: I’ll read almost anything. I tend to read outside of the genre I’m writing in while I’m in the middle of drafting to keep my headspace clear. Fantasy will always be my favorite genre, but I also love horror and science fiction.

E: Which of your favorite books would you recommend everybody to read?

AC: Calla and I share our favorite book: Watership Down by Richard Adams. I also recommend anything by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Margaret Atwood, and Neil Gaiman. I have an unbelievable number of YA authors I’d recommend but to name just a few I read everything written by Libba Bray, John Green, David Levithan, Kiersten White, Brenna Yovanoff, Maggie Stiefvater and so many others!!

E: Do you have any other hobbies that you enjoy?

AC: I love gardening, hanging out with my dogs, playing WoW with my husband.

E: If you could have a paranormal power, what power would you want and why?

AC: Flight – because flying would be soooooo amazing.

Random Questions:

- white or dark chocolate? Dark.

- coffee or tea? Coffee

- favorite fictional character? Severus Snape

- favorite movie? Last of the Mohicans 

- favorite song? Too many!!! I listen to soo much music I could never pick. Some of my favorite bands of the moment are: Yeasayer, Mew, Broken Bells, Shadowplay, R.I.S.E., TV on the Radio, Stars, Low, Metric

- favorite TV show? Of all time: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. On television right now: Tie between Dr. Who, Supernatural, and True Blood

- Team Ren or Team Shay? I’m Team Calla because it’s her choice, not mine

- ebook or printed copy?  Printed copy – I’m one of those “love the smell of pages” people

Andrea, thank you so much for joining us today!  

I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing your next books!

I hope you guys enjoyed the interview, for more information about Andrea Cremer and her books, please visit her website:  Andrea Cremer or/and read my review of Nightshade
Stay tuned for my review of Wolfsbane coming up some time around the release date!

If you're wondering where to get Nightshade, here are the links:

Barnes and Noble | Amazon | Book Depository

Hardcover, 452 pages
Published October 19th 2010 by Philomel

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers.

But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything— including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice?

Giveaway Time! 

Interested in winning a copy of Nightshade + Wolfsbane?? I'm buying!

Rules:

Open to International (as long as Book Depository ships to you!)

Ends: Saturday, July 30th 

*Mandatory entry: be a GFC follower of my blog and fill out the form below

*Extra entries: 

+1 Follow me on Twitter @SeoEvie

+10 Add my blog button to your blog

+5 Follow Andrea on Twitter @andreacremer

+5 Tweet: I want to win a copy of Nightshade and Wolfsbane by Andrea Cremer @SeoEvie from Bookish Blog (International) http://t.co/kbfer9A

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About the Author

Evie is the Blogger behind Bookish. She enjoys reading many different genres, especially YA, Paranormal, Contemporary Fiction and Fantasy.

She loves talking to authors and is always happy to welcome them for interviews, and guest posts. She also likes spreading the love for awesome books and  chatting with fellow book-worms.

You can find Evie here: Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Shelfari | The Library Thing