WHAT KILLS ME TOUR - Author Interview & Review

INTERVIEW - Wynne Channing

Thank you so much to Johanna for hosting me during the What Kills Me book tour at My Miscellaneous Bookshelf!

THE BOOK
Where can you get the book?
Participating e-book stores include: Amazon, B&N, Kobo and iTunes.

Will there be more to this story? Prequel, a second book..?
Yes! Everyone’s been asking and I’m happy to say that What Kills Me is the first book in the series.

Why vampires and something paranormal altogether? And why a teen protagonist?
When I was a little girl, I loved/hated being scared so I read a lot of paranormal novels. Since then, I’ve always wanted to write YA lit.

The book felt more action based than the vampire books I’ve previously read, or at least in a different way.  Did you always see the book being that way or was there room for more of the romance side at some point?
I definitely saw the first book as being an action-adventure. (I’m a kung fu film fan so I was hugely inspired by that genre.) I also wanted the relationship between my heroine Zee, and her only companion, Lucas, to be organic. I wanted them to develop a bond over time and establish a connection. I’m always skeptical of heroines who fall for heroes amidst destruction and chaos. (“I’m going to die any minute now and everyone I love is gone...hey, you’re kind of cute...”) There will plenty of time for Lucas and Zee to continue their relationship in Book Two.

If you could get anyone to read your book, who would it be?
My grandma. (She doesn’t speak English.)

If your book was to be made into a movie, who would you choose to play the leading roles?
Honestly, I have no clue. I love how they appear in my mind. Any suggestions?

THE AUTHOR
On Goodreads What Kills Me is your only book listed in there, but have you written something else before?
What Kills Me is my first published novel!

Did some music inspire you while you wrote the book?
The Matrix soundtracks, 30 Seconds to Mars, or anything angry helps when you’re writing fight scenes and everyone is getting their heads chopped off.

What was the hardest part in writing this book and finishing it?
Writing it wasn’t as hard (it took me six months) as trying to spread the word and market the book.

Did you do everything in the book yourself, or did you have some help?
I had some amazing people help me. Liliana Sanches Davis, a designer based in Lisbon, created the gorgeous cover.  Marie-Lynn Hammond edited my novel and Michael Mandarano rescued me from the nightmare of formatting it.

THE PERSON
How did you end up writing a book?
I’ve been writing stories since before I could spell and I’ve always dreamed of writing a novel. I finally built up the courage to put my first book out there.

What sort of things do you enjoy doing?
In my spare time, I teach and perform Latin dance.

What is your pet peeve?
Big egos.

Your favourite authors/books?
My favourite book is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

Do you prefer reading paperback/hardback/ebook? Why?
I’m loving my e-reader. I take it everywhere and get new books instantly!



What Kills Me Links
Goodreads | Wynne Channing’s Website

What Kills Me is now $.99 on Amazon and Smashwords

                                                                   Amazon US | Amazon UK | B&N | Kobo | iTunes


About the book: An ancient prophecy warns of a girl destined to cause the extinction of the vampire race. So when 17-year-old Axelia falls into a sacred well filled with blood and emerges a vampire, the immortal empire believes she is this legendary destroyer. Hunted by soldiers and mercenaries, Axelia and her reluctant ally, the vampire bladesmith Lucas, must battle to survive. How will she convince the empire that she is just an innocent teenager-turned bloodsucker and not a creature of destruction? And if she cannot, can a vampire who is afraid of bugs summon the courage to fight a nation of immortals?

About Wynne: Wynne Channing is a national newspaper reporter and young adult novelist. Wynne loves telling stories and as a journalist, she has interviewed everyone from Daniel Radcliffe and Hugh Jackman to the president of the Maldives and Duchess Sarah Ferguson. The closest she has come to interviewing a vampire is sitting down with True Blood‘s Alexander Skarsgard (he didn’t bite). She briefly considered calling her debut novel “Well” so then everyone would say: “Well written by Wynne Channing.”


                                                                                             Connect with Wynne
     
                                                                             Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

REVIEW

What Kills Me

by Wynne Channing

Originally published 2012

Published by Jet & Jack Press

Paranormal, YA

3 stars

This book is about an ancient prophecy, claiming that a girl is destined to bring an end to the vampire race. The venue is in Italy, where Axelia happens to meet Paolo, who will change her life forever..

So there´s a teen girl. There´s vampires. You know. But! This is a lot more action packed a book than the vampire books I´ve read before! So it is quite different! There is a little bit of romance there, but that is not what the book revolves around. Maybe those two things are the reasons I did not immediately get into it, I need my books to have romance in them. I began the book with not that interested but later I really liked it! There were characters I would like to learn more about, and there´s definitely more to the story that what this book reveals! Now that I know what kind of a book it is, I think I will like it even more if I read it again.

I wish the character Lettie would have had a bigger part in the book, there was something about her that I liked.