Dark Days Tour Recap + a Giveaway

On Saturday, I got to go to the Dark Days tour stop at Anderson's Bookshop here in Chicagoland.  Let me just tell you, it was crowded and really warm and I couldn't sit down, but it was SO MUCH FUN.  Kiera Cass is one of the sweetest, most adorable authors ever, and Danielle Paige is awesome.  I didn't talk to Kelley Armstrong or Kimberly Derting much (I did have cards for them, though!), but they seemed cool, too.  I forgot my mom's iPad at home, so I wasn't able to record the Q&A, but I did write down most of the questions and answers to include below.  They're not going to be an exact quote, because I was trying to write down as much as possible and get the main point of their answer.

The Q&A

First, the moderator asked questions for all of the authors to answer and then she opened it to the audience.

1) How does it feel to start, and end a series?

Danielle: Exciting.

Kimberly: She likes both; first and last books of series are always her favorite to write.

Kiera: Weird; she thought she'd be totally relieved.

Kelley: Likes first and last books best when writing, but they're both equally terrifying.

2) How did the titles come about?
Kelley: Sea of Shadows came from the Sea of Trees in Japan, which is a dead forest with the 2nd highest suicide rate.  The working title was Sea of Trees.
Kiera: It was obvious for The Selection. [Then she talked about what the ending of The Selection originally was, but when it changed, it brought about the title of The Elite.] And interestingly enough, the title for The One is different in Brazil.
Kimberly: She is apparently the world's worst titler, in that she's always had a placeholder title.  It's become a collaborative effort with her editor.
Danielle: It's an obvious title, and she likes that it stands out on a shelf.

3) If you could hang out with one of your character, who would it be?
Danielle: Dorothy, even though she's a little scary and would probably kill her [Danielle].
Kimberly: Chelsea from The Body Finder series.
Kiera: She first called us punks because she knew we hoped she'd choose one of the boys, but she said May because May is a fangirl like her.
Kelley: Moria because they could talk folklore and swap monster stories.

4) What's one book you wish you'd written?
Kiera: The Book Thief or The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender
Kelley: White Cat by Holly Black
Danielle: Cinder
Kimberly: Wicked Lovely

5) How did you decide to write YA?
Kelley: Her daughter.
Kiera: Her soul is stuck in her teen years.
Kimberly: She was writing YA before YA truly existed; her first protagonist was a teen girl so she just went with that.
Danielle: Started in soap operas, and every time she wrote a scene with teen characters, she loved it.  She decided to try writing YA when soaps began to die.

6) If your book could be adapted into anything, what would you want and why?
Danielle: A show on the CW [Apparently that may actually be happening?] or a musical.
Kimberly: The Taking would, according to her, be a terrible musical, but she wanted that after Danielle mentioned it.
Kiera: First she tried to imagine Maxon and Aspen singing, but then she said she'd want a graphic novel.
Kelley: A graphic novel.

7) What's your writing process like?
Kelley: A lot depends on the project, but she'll start with research and do a lot of that until she can research no more and has to write.
Kiera: She says it's like a laser and a cat for her.  She began by asking America what happened next, wrote key plot points first for The Elite, and started at the end with The One.
Kimberly: Doesn't do heavy outlining.  She outlines/writes in a linear fashion and visualizes big plot points/big scenes.
Danielle: She needs an outline and an idea of where the story is going, but she likes the analogy of the cat and the laser.

8) What's up next?
Danielle: The Dorothy Must Die sequel.
Kimberly: The Taking sequel.
Kiera: The prequel novella about Queen Amberly, and a new duology.
Kelley: The sequel to Sea of Shadows. [If I heard correctly, it's going to be called Empire of Night.]

9) What's something that had to be edited out that you miss? (I think that was the question.)
Kiera: The entire middle of The Elite.
[Kiera then borrowed a blogger friend's sunglasses, because she thought they were cool.]
Kelley: She had to change the first 100 pages from 4 POVs to 2.
Kimberly: A major reveal was moved to the second book, so she had to rewrite the last third of The Taking.
Danielle: A few scenes between Dorothy and the Tin Woodsman.

10) If you could rewrite anything of yours, what would it be?
Kiera: The Siren (her self-published novel), but she rarely rereads her stuff.
[Both Kelley and Kimberly don't reread their books either.]
Danielle: She's only written one book, but she'd probably want to take another pass at Dorothy Must Die.

Kiera was then asked about the dedication in The One.  She talked about the dedications in each of her books, and then explained that The One's dedication is for Callaway, her husband because he's a mix of Aspen (the tree house) and Maxon (the crown).  She also said it comes from a verse in Proverbs that talks about a wife being the crown of her husband's heart.

11) If you could be BFFs with any book character, who would you choose?
Kiera: Lily Potter
Danielle: Anne of Green Gables
Kimberly: Scout Finch when she was little; now she isn't sure.
Kelley: Didn't answer.

12) What are you reading?
Danielle: Just finished The One and is currently reading Sea of Shadows.
Kimberly: She's just finished Sea of Shadows, and then something I can't remember but that she described as Southern Gothic.
Kiera: Code Name Verity and her own manuscripts.
Kelley: The Graveyard Book

Then I asked Danielle what her favorite element to pull from the movie or the original books was.  She said Ozma was one of them.

Pictures

(When the authors first came out.)

(Kiera talking about The One.)

(A group of friends with awesome shirts.)

(Team Aspen or Team Maxon?)

(Loved meeting Danielle!  She is so awesome and was such a pro on her first book tour.)

(Totally blurry, but I don't care because I'm standing right now to Kiera Cass.  She's so sweet and adorable and gives great hugs.)

(Two of my signed books!)

Giveaway

I got two of my ARCs signed for y'all (Dorothy Must Die and Sea of Shadows), so I have that, plus Kate allowed me to have her swag from the event for the giveaway.  This is open to all 13 and older, and to US only. (Sorry, guys! I'm on a really tight budget right now.) I will be checking entries, so please be honest and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And don't forget!  You can check out the four featured books on Goodreads. (Clicking on the pictures will take you to the Goodreads page.)