I have the fantabulous luck of interview the author of Lailah (releasing October 7th!!) NIKKI KELLY!!!!!
I read (and LOVED) Lailah a few months ago (my review will go live next month!) and I instantly felt this urge to push it onto the rest of you love bugs. The I started talking to Nikki on twitter and it became my mission to get this book into the hands of as many people as possible….my. MISSION.
And to help with that mission I invited the fabulous Nikki over for an interview!
Before we start, I just wanted to say that your gif reactions when you were reading Lailah were amazing, and so I have decided to return the favor by answering your questions in gif form!
I am the gif Queen and I reign supreme!!
Blurb Lailah in one tweet!
I’d simply use the opening quote:
As someone who has read (and LOVED) Lailah I really want to know where this entire concept came from!? I’ve read my fair share of vampire/angel/ vampires AND angels stories and the concept behind this one is just so cool!
Here’s my quick and dirty gif explanation:
Advice given to me about writing—-“Write what you know and write what you love.” For me that was YA Fantasy Fiction…
Then, I met Lailah in a dream one night…
I did much thinking and drank much tea…
Lailah was the spark, my heroine, so now I wanted to build an original setting in which to place her! In The Styclar Saga the worlds, the beings and their history stem from a mixture of my own musings about the universe, and a hell of a lot of me sitting and asking ‘what if…’
I got excited…
When the what ifs were sufficiently explored, I moved onto the how, when and where.
The beginnings of a grand plan were born…
Now the what, how, when and where had been addressed next came the ‘who’. Starting with Lailah: Who is Lailah? Who was she before? And who will she become? In fact, I asked the same question of all the characters. And every single one of them offered me an opportunity in which to explore themes such as the light and the dark, to challenge preconceptions and assumptions, and of course to find the extra in the ordinary and pull out the ordinary in the extraordinary.
What are your top 5 favorite books of all time?!
Four out of my five have already been adapted for the big screen, which is rather useful for gif purposes!
In no particular order:
The Grisha Trilogy – Leigh Bardugo
The Twilight Saga – Stephanie Meyer
The Sookie Stackhouse Novels – Charlaine Harris
The Lord of The Rings – J R R Tolkien (yes, I know there were bigger moments than this in the books/movies, but it’s Orlando… as an Elf!)
The Time Travellers Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
One of my favorite parts of blogging is being able to converse with my fave bloggers and authors. What’s your favorite thing about being a writer?
Exactly the same! Being able to interact through ALL THE MEDIUMS! Whether via wattpad, twitter, tumblr, pintrest, I love nothing more than chatting to the readers who really connect with the characters and the story. I’m very lucky to be on the Fierce Reads tour this fall, so I will get to meet the readers and bloggers in person!
….this was me when I got the news:
So Lailah…let’s just say I will never forgive her if she doesn’t pick my amazing honey View Spoiler ». And yes I realize that’s not a question *stares at you till she accepts my View Spoiler » love!*
Yes, less of a question, more of a threat I would say!! I’ll be sure to pass the *stares* onto Lailah 😉
…As the writer, how I feel about this:
It was an absolute pleasure to interview you today Nikki! You really are an amazing person and I know Lailah is going to be a HUGE hit! Thank you so much for answering all my questions, and because you used such amazing gifs I crown thee QUEEN OF GIFS!
Guys don’t forget to go pre-order your copy of Lailah NOW! This book was crazy good and you’re going to NEED it in your hands come October 7th!
