Guest Blogger Interview~Danyelle Leafty

Thanks for visiting, Dnayelle. Let's get moving! Tell us a little about yourself.

What is your favorite time of day?
Having always been a night owl, my favorite time of the day is around sunset when the sky's on fire.


Chocolate or Skittles?
Definitely Skittles. :)

What was your favorite TV show when you were a kid?
My favorite show as a kid was (and probably still is) X-Men. O:)

Is there a book or author who changed your life/viewpoint/writing?
I have a couple. :D

J.R.R. Tolkien showed me that language can both beautiful and accessible.
Patricia C. Wrede showed me how fun it can be to turn fairy tale tropes on their heads.
Sherwood Smith showed me how subtle things like court intrigue can up the stakes.
Patricia McKillip showed me how beauty and humor can intertwine to create a masterpiece.
Diana Wynne Jones showed me how to look at the world sideways from the corners of my eyes.

What is your favorite thing to do in the summer?
I would say long walks on the beach, but as there are no beaches in Utah, I'll settle for reading a good book or visiting the Parade of Homes.

Do you snack while writing? Listen to music?
No, no eating. I need both my hands to type. I also can't listen to music, because it distracts the part of my brain that does the writing. :)

Now tell us about your book.
BITTEN: A NOVEL OF FAERIE
 Bitten can be summed up by the first sentence: Death has bright green eyes and a wide smile. (wow!)

It's about death as a state of change, learning how to let go, and fairy venom.

Fourteen-year-old Cherrie Wilding stopped believing in fairies after her Grams had a stroke that left her a silent, empty stranger. But whether she believes in them or not, one of them bit her, and now the venom is spreading through her system and causing  . . . complications. Like an allergy to iron and a craving for milk.

It turns out that fairy venom has the power to turn mortals into small, winged versions of themselves. And it gets better. Grams's stroke was the result of her light—her fairy soul—being stolen. The fairy who bit Cherrie demands her to help steal Grams’s light back.

As much as Cherrie wants to save Grams, her need to protect her older brother from the fairies and the rest of the real world wins out. Who knows what lurks in a world populated by winged menaces? But when the fairy talks Cherrie’s brother into going to the fairy realm, Cherrie mounts a rescue attempt to save him. To her surprise, it’s not her brother who needs rescuing—it’s the fairies. Someone is stealing their lights and imprisoning them, and it’s up to Cherrie and her brother to free them. But saving the fairies, keeping her brother safe, and returning home requires the help of the Phoenix. And the price for his aid doesn’t come cheap. If Cherrie wants to succeed, she must be willing to part with her greatest possession: her heart.

Do you have a favorite character in your book?
My favorite character is Thorn. She is a little on the sharp-tongued side, but I like her sense of humor. And the fact that she's venomus. O:)

What was the hardest pat of writing your book?
The hardest part for me in all my books is writing the ending. Not because I don't know how it will end, but because the book itself is coming to an end.

The other hardest part was nailing down Rowan. My son has autism, so I understood how things work a little, but he's not verbal. Rowan is. I had to do a lot of research to identify typical (if there is such a thing) speech and thought patterns.

When will it be released?
August 13, 2012. :)

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?
Work hard. Find someone to believe in yourself when you're unable to. Write what you have a passion for. Never give up.


~Collector of dragons, talking frogs, and fairy godmothers~

danyelleleafty.com
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myth-takes.blogspot.com
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