Chloe is the author of both the YA 'Dark Elite' series, and the 'Chicagoland Vampires' series, and is here today to talk a bit about book 4 in the series, 'Hard Bitten', which is released May 3rd.
So without further ado, let's get started!
Ailsa: Welcome to the blog Chloe! I really love the series, so it's great to have you here. How did you first come up with the idea for Merit & her world? Was it Merit first?
Chloe: Merit was first, but her name was Katie and she was in a band with her best friend, Mallory. She was attacked by a vampire in a club, and saved by Morgan (who owned the club). I thought that was a little silly, so I put the pages aside. And then one day I had a mental image of Ethan, and the rest flowed from there.
Ailsa: It's interesting that Ethan wasn't there straight away. Do the characters ever do things that you aren't expecting, or do you have things pretty tightly planned out?
Chloe: A little of both. I generally know where I want a book to go, but sometimes the characters surprise me. The antagonist in DRINK DEEP, the fifth book (Nov. 2011) was a complete surprise to me!
Ailsa: Ooh, I'm intrigued! And I'm very glad that Drink Deep comes out relatively close to Hard Bitten. So can you tell us a little bit about your journey to publication - did it take you a while, or was it fairly quick?
Chloe: SOME GIRLS BITE was the second manuscript I wrote. I received one rejection for my first manuscript, then sent SOME GIRLS BITE to one publisher--Penguin. My editor bought the first two books, and the rest is history! I consider myself very lucky to have had such a quick route to the shelf.
Ailsa: That does sound very quick! Has your life changed much since the books were published?
Chloe: I have a full-time dayjob, so it's mostly become much busier with writing, editing, marketing, blogging, interviewing, etc. I don't get many days (or hours) off.
Ailsa: Twice Bitten was a bit of a rollercoaster ride for my emotions - can we expect more of the same in Hard Bitten?
Chloe: I hope that readers think all my books include a good emotional rollercoaster and with some resolution at the end!
Ailsa: They do, but I thought it was especially true for Twice Bitten! I can't wait to see what happens next! Finally, I know I'm going to love HARD BITTEN - can you tell us one reason why you think readers will love this one?
I think we see Ethan's and Merit's relationship grow, and we see Merit really dive into her position as Sentinel. I'm very
proud of her!
Thanks for having me today!
Ailsa: You're welcome! I'm so excited to read the book now!
HARD BITTEN comes out on May 3rd in the USA, and 11th May in the UK.
