Interview Special: Sherrilyn Kenyon answers our questions!
The #1 New York Times bestselling author, Sherrilyn Kenyon, who is proud of her Cherokee heritage, lives a life of extraordinary danger… as does any woman with three sons, a husband, a menagerie of pets and a collection of swords that all of the above have a major fixation with. But when not running interference (or dashing off to the emergency room), she’s found chained to her computer where she likes to play with all her imaginary friends. With more than twenty-three million copies of her books in print, in over thirty countries, she certainly has a lot of friends to play with too.
In the past two years, her books have claimed the coveted #1 bestselling spot twelve times. This extraordinary bestseller continues to top every genre she writes. Her current series include: The Dark-Hunters, The League, Lords of Avalon, BAD Agency and the Chronicles of Nick. Since 2004, she has placed over fifty novels on the New York Times.
Her Lords of Avalon novels have been adapted by Marvel and her Dark-Hunter novels are now a New York Times bestselling manga published by St. Martins.
PBD: How did you come up with the concept of daimons? They are so unlike anything we’ve seen before….exploding when stabbed in the heart. Now that they are able to be out in the sunlight will the Dark Hunters be able to stop them?
SK: That’s the question :) It does turn things up a bit that the Daimons have the advantage. As for their birth, I was working as an editor on a small SF magazine when my boss asked me to come up with a serial to boost subscription rates. I asked if I could do vampires and he agreed even though it wasn’t our usual fare. Later that day, I was doing an article for the local paper on the origins of vampire lore and as I was chatting with my professor, I asked him why, since so many of the legends go back to ancient Greece, had no one ever written one that led back to Apollo since he was god of the sun and the god of curses and plagues. The moment I asked the question my brain went DING DING. Maybe *I* should write a legend about Apollo…
PBD: And why use vampires to fight them? That seems like an odd choice.
SK: The Dark-Hunters aren’t vampires. They don’t live off blood or other people. They have limitations put on them by Apollo and Artemis that are similar, but they are humans (with a few exceptions). They’re merely immortal warriors who sold their souls to protect us.
PBD: Everyone loves Acheron – his story was so heartbreaking it was hard to read. How did his personality come about? And how did you come up with the empty backpack (from which he can pull out anything in the world)?
SK: When you’re a god who has infinite powers and want to appear human, the backpack comes in handy. No one knows what’s in it so when you pull something out you just conjured, no one thinks it’s strange.
Like all the people in my books or in real life, he was forged by his experiences and life.
PBD: Nick has always been important, but now he’s assumed a more pivotal part. Will he and Ash ever reconcile? Does he still harbor any good feelings toward Ash?
SK: He does indeed. He’s extremely torn by his loyalty to Ash, but he was born to be the ultimate evil. It’s that constant internal struggle that makes him unpredictable and that drives him. He wants to do good, but it’s really hard for him since he is the instrument of destruction. I don’t know if I can save him. I’m not sure Nick will let me. But we’ll see. I hope he’s not too far gone.
PBD: Your use of Greek mythology is seamlessly woven into the stories. Do you have a background in Greek studies?
SK: All my life :) I’ve always been fascinated by all pantheons and cultures.
PBD: The heroines in your books are voluptuously plump women. Is there a message behind that?
SK: Not all are plump or voluptuous or even beautiful. They come in all shapes and sizes- just like real life. The only message is that everyone, regardless of their past, deserves to be respected and cherished for who they are, not what was done to them in the past.
PBD: Now that you’ve written about women as Dark Huntresses, how has the feedback been? Are your readers accepting them as well as their male counterparts?
SK: I’ve been writing about them for years. The fans have always accepted and loved them the same as any of the other people in the books.
PBD: Bad Moon Rising was a testament to your timeline tracking abilities. Was it difficult to write a story that pulled in information from previous books while telling its own story?
SK: Not really. The whole series runs like a continuous story in my head and each book is only a chapter. So I know the past, present and future for all the people who live in those worlds.
PBD: Your B.A.D. series takes a completely different track. Will you be instituting paranormal angles in it?
SK: No. The BAD Agency is a “real” organization that has nothing to do with the paranormal.
PBD: Of all the books you’ve written, which is your favorite? Which was the most difficult to write and why? Which was the easiest and why?
SK: They’re all my favorite or they wouldn’t be in print. I refuse to put my name on anything that I haven’t given 110% of myself to. It’s not fair to the readers or the characters. If I don’t absolutely love it, it stays on my hard drive. Readers may not care for it, but I can honestly say every single time that I did my absolute best and that I loved it, otherwise it wouldn’t have been released. I refuse to rush a book. I’d rather it be delayed than to throw something out just because of a deadline.
PBD: How many more Dark Hunter books do you have planned? How many B.A.D. books?
SK: The only series I have a finite number for is Chronicles of Nick (13). The others, League, BAD, Dark-Hunters, and Lords of Avalon are continuing series without a set number.
Special Thanks to Ann-Marie at Get Red PR and of course to Sherrilyn for taking the time to answer some questions for Paperback Dolls. We really appreciate it!
Special Thanks to Sherrilyn Kenyon for answering these questions for us.
*sniff*
I don't want Nick to be too far gone! :(
why do most of the people in the book has two names? like Kody or Neoda…and Cody.(invincible page 406-407 bottom or top shows her name has cody)Other then that it feels like its missing parts like the end of chapter 17 and the beginning of 18. caleb’s bleeding on a couch (that it never says he lays down on)then skips to nick and Kody/neoda/cody (whatever you call her, and when did she come over? also were did caleb go?) who are trying to find something (again never tells us what he’s trying to do). so my question is who let you print this and NOT SEE THIS PROBLEM AND TELL YOU? other then that good book and keep going