Your first YA novel, The Mephisto Covenant, just released. Tell us a bit about the book and the main characters.
A descendant of the daughter of Eve, born before Original Sin, Sasha falls in love with Jax, a son of the dark angel, Mephistopheles, then discovers she alone can save him from Hell, but only if she gives up mortality and her birthright of certain Heaven to join him and his brothers in a brutal war to save mankind’s free will.
How did the idea for this book, and the rest of the series, come to you?
I was going through a difficult period after someone close to me was sexually assaulted. I sort of obsessed about evil – why does it exist? Is there really a devil, or Hell? One night, I dreamed of kick-ass guys who could destroy evil. It was hazy and weird, like all dreams, but when I woke up, they were fully formed in my head. As I created the story, I wanted a girl who could be with them only because she was unique in some way. I came full circle to where I’d begun, thinking about original sin. According to the Bible, original sin began when Eve ate the apple and tempted Adam to eat it, too. It’s like they doomed each of us to constant temptation, and only by rising above it can we reach Heaven. At least, that’s what so many religious doctrines teach. I imagined what a human would be like if they weren’t around when Lucifer visited Eden and offered the apple to Eve. So I invented Aurora, born before the fall, who wandered away and was lost. It kind of went from there.
Did you have any moments during the writing of the book when you went, "This is freaking awesome!"? Any when you wanted to pull your hair out?
Writing the first draft was awesome. Revising based on feedback from agents was not so awesome. Throwing the whole thing out and starting over was back to awesome. No, really. Revisions from my editor were…difficult. I’m not sure if that’s because of what he wanted, or that I was going through a major health crisis and surgery during first and second round revisions.
You previously wrote for Harlequin's Bombshell line before it closed. How is writing YA different from writing those earlier books? How is it similar?
I wrote the Bombshell books in first person, and they were funny. The heroine was a divorced down-on-her luck CPA. Her entire worldview was more mature and jaded than Sasha in Mephisto, which I wrote in third. The Pink books were light, even though they dealt with a serious subject, but Mephisto is very dark. I was more conscious of my audience with Mephisto, although I didn’t pull any punches.
Are you a big fan of reading YA? If so, what are some of the best YA books you've read this year?
Huge fan of YA. I haven’t read much since June, when I got serious with writing book 2 in this series. Before that, I read OyMG by Amy Dominy, about a Jewish girl at a Christian camp, and I loved it. As soon as life slows down, I’m excited to read Simone Elkeles’s third Fuentes brother book, Chain Reaction. I’m a total fangurl! Also really excited to read Heather Brewer’s first book in her new Slayer Chronicles series.
If The Mephisto Covenant was made into a movie, who would you love to see cast as the leads?
I never think about this. Really. Never.
Tell us about what you're working on now?
Getting some sleep after turning in book 2 of the Mephisto series, which right now is only two books. Here’s hoping there’ll be more!
If you could ask the Banditas and our Bandita Buddies one thing, what would it be?
How do you guys stay so fun, fresh and on top of things? And where can I buy some? LOL!
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Trinity will be giving away a copy of The Mephisto Covenant today to one lucky commenter. Tell us, are you a fan of YA fiction? If so, what are some of the best YA books you've read this year? What are your all-time favorites?
