Hi!
Wow! It feels like I haven't read a YA debut novel about vampires in a very long time, so when I was given the opportunity to read and review In the Shadows, I jumped right in! And I wasn't disappointed at all! I'll tell you everything about it, but first, here's the interview I had with the awesome author Julieanne Lynch .:D
Deea: Hi! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions! It’s an honor to have you on my blog!
Julieanne Lynch: Thank you so much for having me, it is great to be here.
D: First off, tell us a bit about yourself.
JL: I am a thirty-something mother of four, soon to be five, married to my childhood sweetheart and am obsessed with Gothicism and classic literature. I love fast cars, fine wine and adore old bookshops. I can be highly sensitive but have a very bad temper, and nothing means more to me than family.
D: Can you give us a short description of “In the Shadows”?
JL: In The Shadows 
is about an eighteen year old girl, Giselle Bergman who is pretty much your average teenager and one most readers can relate to. Her family who is far from perfect love her, she is dating a popular guy and is best friends with a boy who would do anything for her. The only problem is she is deceived in the worst possible way, and by two people she loved the most. Giselle embarks on a journey that opens her eyes to the supernatural elements of her world – or what she thought was her world.
is about an eighteen year old girl, Giselle Bergman who is pretty much your average teenager and one most readers can relate to. Her family who is far from perfect love her, she is dating a popular guy and is best friends with a boy who would do anything for her. The only problem is she is deceived in the worst possible way, and by two people she loved the most. Giselle embarks on a journey that opens her eyes to the supernatural elements of her world – or what she thought was her world. D: Your take on the vampire myths is very interesting and refreshing. I found the idea of Nelapsi especially intriguing! Can you tell us a few words about it? Where did you get your inspiration from?
JL: I have read many books about vampires and just adore the genre. But when I was planning my novel, I wanted to break away from the clichéd version of the mythical creature. So I investigated different European folklore‘s, and found Slavic folklore the most interesting. I loved the folklore that surround the Nelapsi, a breed of vampires who are known as gluttons amongst other vampiric clans, and originate from the Zemplin region of Slovakia.. The vampire both sucks the blood and suffocates his victims. It can also kill a person by a single glance. By bringing a plague, the nelapsi can kill a whole herd or an entire village. The people in the Zemplin region also believed that the vampire has two hearts and hence two souls.
The inspiration came from my love of vampiric-lore, and my obsession with the different descriptions of the nightwalker throughout literature.
D: If you didn’t write about vampires, what would you write about? Would you like to try a different genre as well?
JL: I love writing about demons, angels, gods, and goddesses, and I enjoy writing horror. I have also penned a more contemporary, middle of the road tear-jerker called Liddy’s Prayer. I like to keep an open mind to writing and like to step out of my comfort zone quite a lot.
D: There is a lot going on in the first book of the trilogy and Giselle goes through many painful changes. What was the most difficult part to write?
JL: The most difficult part for me to write was possibly Giselle finding out her mother had leukaemia and the dialogue written in Slavic. At the time of writing the book, my uncle had just passed away from prostate cancer, and the wounds within the family were still pretty raw, so I found it quite an emotional journey. In a sense I honed in on my own feelings about the illness and used that experience to bring some kind of realism to the scene.
With some of the dialogue being in Slavic in chapter seven, I had to turn to some friends who just happen to be from Slovakia to help me construct believable discourse between Atarah and Angelika, as well as the confusion it caused Giselle. Without my friends, the scene would not have worked.
D: This question might be a bit spoiler-ish, but can we hope for a new love interest for Giselle in the upcoming books? Things didn’t go that well for her in the love department so far.
JL: Yes, someone does capture her heart and helps heal the wounds, but we will have to wait until book three to really see how that plays out. In book two she begins to see that he is the one she wants, and has to battle her own insecurities to overcome her doubt.
(D: *Praying silently that someone is who I think he is**swoon*)
D: Speaking of upcoming books, what is coming up next for you? Are you working on a new story?
JL: Next, Walking With Shadows will be released and there will be the release of my adult novel Ice Goddess in the new year, as well as the last of the trilogy, Fighting Shadows. I am currently writing a new book called Into The Light, as well as editing Cinnamon Falls.
I am pretty busy for the next twelve months.
D: I also love asking authors a few short questions; it gives us the opportunity to know more about the person behind the author. So:
Early bird or night owl?
Early Bird!
Coffee or tea?
Tea.
Winter or summer?
Winter!
Hardback, paperback or e-book?
Paperback.
Favorite color?
Purple.
Favorite drink?
Orange juice.
Biggest pet peeves?
Queues, rudeness, arrogance, and bad body odour
Guilty pleasure while writing?
Chocolate, muffins and good music.
Thank you so much for having me :)
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About the book
In the ShadowsBy Julieanne LynchPublished: July 21st 2011by Strict Publishing InternationalISBN 9780857791962
“In The Shadows”, the first of The Shadows trilogy, is an urban fantasy of vampires and the supernatural, and much, much more. In the shadows you will find lust and passion, battles for power and for blood, and death and fear around every corner. In the shadows you are carried away to an unknown future. Your destiny awaits, and you are no longer who you thought you were. You have a thirst, for blood perhaps, but a thirst for very much more than that.
Giselle was a normal girl with an attitude common to most girls of her age. Her family might not have been perfect (whose is?) but she loved them, and her future looked bright. She had an awesome best friend and a steady boyfriend, but how could she possibly have been so wrong about someone she loved? And how could she have been prepared for the darkness and for what she was to become?
What fellow book bloggers have to say about it:
“In The Shadows is a must read for anyone who loves urban fantasy.” ~Review by Dawn and Wini Book Lovers
“ Julieanne writes so eloquently you can feel and picture everything Giselle is going through, with no question as to what role every character in the book plays.” ~ Review by Ada McEwan
“Julieanne is a great story teller with a vivid imagination for the supernatural. I absolutely love everything about it.” ~ Reviewed by Firefly and Wisp
About the Author
Fiery Librian Julieanne Lynch is an author of urban fantasy books for both adults and teens. Originally from Northern Ireland, Julieanne now lives in Ireland, where she works on her Shadows Trilogy and other series full-time. Before becoming a writer, she considered a few different career paths, a rock star being one of them. She studied English Literature and Creative Writing at The Open University, and considered journalism as a career path. However, she decided writing was the way for her and believes all of her education and reading prepared her for it.
An avid reader, Julieanne has always had an encompassing fascination with folklore. When not writing, she enjoys crime series such as Criminal Minds, CSI, NCIS and Cold Case, and loves anything with Vampires, listening to metal, meeting new people, drinking lots of green tea, and sharing her dreams with her children. She is a self-professed goth wanna-be,and is happy when left to write into the early hours of the morning.
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Giveaway
Prizes:
-In the Shadows ebooks
-2 prize packs that consists of: In the Shadows signed cover art, key ring, magnet, personalized mug, business card, and pen
-International
-ends Sept. 19th
-Fill in THIS FORM
Good luck everyone! (This is one of those giveaways I wish I could enter myself! The book cover is GORGEOUS and imagine how awesome the custom prizes, mugs and everything must be! <3)
I hope you enjoyed the interview and the book piqued your interest! Good luck everyone!
Great Interview! I loved this book. And can not wait to read the next one.
ReplyDeleteGreat review! It sounds amazing.
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