Katie: Hello Nina and welcome to the flock! Just step around the
herd droppings…it's been a busy week!
*Sharon walks up with the pooper scooper* Um…lift your
foot…thanks!
Nina: *lifting foot* Have you tried litter box training?
Katie: Great idea!
Nina: It’s about a girl with a back brace who learns she can shape-shift
into a tiger. Almost the exact moment that happens, she’s captured by a secret
group bent on wiping out her kind – the otherkin. She escapes with help from a
mysterious, handsome boy and is off to find allies, foil the bad guys, learn
the truth about who she is, and maybe fall in love. It’s got fiery helicopter
crashes, first kisses, and a tiger. Something for everyone!
Katie: How long did it take you to come up with this story idea?
Nina: I wanted to write about a girl with a back brace for years,
because I had one in high school, and it had a big effect on me. But I didn’t
know quite how the story would go until I got a separate idea about a girl who
turns into a tiger. Then I thought – how would my life have been different if
I’d found out I could shift into a tiger while I had the brace? Would that have
changed how I thought about myself and my body? So you could say it took years,
or you could say it was – bam! One second when the ideas came together. I took
maybe a couple weeks to outline it, then I started writing.
Katie: What can readers look forward to in the next installment?
Nina: Othermoon will be out January 31, 2013. I think of it as “The
Empire Strikes Back” of the trilogy. It’s darker and deadlier. The bad guys
come back stronger and more dangerous than ever. And there’s trouble on the
love boat between Caleb and Dez, from a direction you would never expect. Book
three should be out early in 2014.
Katie: Oh! You dirty tease!
Nina: Mwhahaha!
Sharon: Would you want to be your heroine?
Nina: Ooh, tough one. On one hand I’d love to be able to shift
into a tiger – to be that powerful and fearless. On the other hand, I’d rather
not have an entire secret organization bent on killing me and those I love.
Drama’s better on the page than in real life.
Katie: I wonder as the series grows, and the characters ages, will
this move into the adult realm of PNR?
Sharon: I think what she wants to ask is will there be
of-legal-age smut eventually.
Katie: Yes, yes I do.
Nina: Hmm, don’t want to be spoilery, so let’s just say things do
get hotter and heavier in the second book. But this is YA, so we won’t be going
fifty shades of tiger, if you catch my drift.
Sharon: Katie, should we make her spell it out?
Katie: I’ve still got the duct tape and feathers from the last
author that tried to hold out with the juicy details…
Nina:
Sharon: What would you use a do-over spell for?
Nina: Wow, so many
things. The worst events were all things I couldn’t control, like friends and
relatives passing away, so even a do-over spell wouldn’t help, unfortunately. So
I wish I could go back in time knowing it’s silly to worry about what people
think and dedicate myself more to writing earlier in life. I’d trust myself a
bit more. Also, there was this cute guy in college who really seemed to like
me, and looking back, I can see I was super clueless. Do over!
Katie: Was Harry Potter an influence while writing because I hand
some strong Potter moments!
Nina: I know what you’re talking about. I loved the Harry Potter
books, but I wasn’t consciously thinking of them when I came up with the
concept. Then, when I got to writing the school parts of my book, I realized
the similarities and they worried me. I comforted myself with the thought that
Morfael’s school is a lot less cozy than Hogwarts, and way smaller. They don’t
have magical spells at my school to keep the bad guys out. Also, all the
students hate each other. At least at first.
Sharon: Sounds like middle school…
Katie: In no way was I trying to say anything negative about the
story Nina. It’s fantastic!
Nina: Oh no worries. It’s an honor to be compared to Harry Potter.
And thanks!
Katie: If you could shapeshift in to an animal that's not listed
in your stories what would it be and why?
Nina: A dolphin. I love the water. I grew up in Hawaii and learned
to bodysurf when I was nine, and I go back every year to my favorite beach.
It’s where I feel happiest. Can you imagine how awesome it would be to surf as
a dolphin? I’d slice through the water with all their power and grace, and I’d
have a huge school of dolphin friends around me who love to do that too. We’d
figure out a way to free all the dolphins and whales currently living in
captivity and stop those damned whaling ships too. Now you’ve made me want to
write a book about dolphin shifters, so good job.
Sharon: What would your dolphin superpowers be!? Shoot acid out of
your blow hole? (okay, that sounds really wrong once I wrote it down)
Nina: That is a very disturbing and yet very cool idea. I was
going to go much more conventional and say that maybe I had sonar that could
penetrate objects, but let’s go for acid instead!
Sharon: Which Disney Princess would you like to be?
Nina: I’m a bit like Belle, a book reader. But the princess that
inspired me the most comes from an obscure animated series from Japan that aired
in Hawaii when I was six called Princess Knight. It had a huge effect on me,
but I have yet to meet a single other person who’s seen it. I’d love to be Princess
Sapphire in that show. She’s an expert with a sword, rides a horse as smart as
she is, and has an angel in training as an ally. She kicks butt, has a great
sense of humor, and breaks all the rules. Love her!
Here’s a link to the Wikipedia page in case anyone is interested:
Sharon: Sounds cool. Mulan is one of my favorite Disney heroines and
this seems very similar.
Katie: Now it's time for some rapid fire questions! Hold on tight
and answer with the first thing that pops up.
Nina: *holding tight*
Katie: Grilled cheese or Quesadilla?
Nina: Grilled cheese. Yum! Sharp cheddar, please.
Sharon: Newsweek or People Magazine?
Nina: Newsweek has jumped the shark with its silly controversial cover
stories lately, so People.
Sharon: Plus People covers the best and worst dressed at award
shows…and that is quality entertainment there.
Nina: The worst dressed are totally my favorite. Not that I can be
catty or anything *cough cough*
Katie: Coke or Pepsi?
Nina: Coke, Diet. With ice. I love that sweet, acrid taste that
can burn through rubber.
Sharon: *turns up music* sorry…can’t hear yoooooou!
Katie: Coke again for the win!!!! *dances a burn rubber dance to music*
Sharon: Porch or deck?
Nina: Lanai, actually. I’m a Honolulu girl.
Sharon: Pssst…Katie. That is a Hawaiian porch. I googled it…
Katie: Ah, thanks Sharon. Was just going to smile and nod like I
knew.
Katie: Stab in the back or stab in the heart?
Nina: I’m no backstabber. Right in the heart, face to face. Take
that! (And yes, I’d take a stab in the heart first. You die faster that way.
And betrayal’s the worst.)
Sharon: I think I am scared of you…
Sharon: Stephen King or Shakespeare?
Nina: Shakespeare. Greatest writer of all time, blah blah blah. I
think even Stephen King would choose Shakespeare, but oooh, Salem’s Lot was
fantastic.
Sharon: I know, right?! I loved that one. Read it when I was 11
scarred me for life!
Nina: His friend the vampire right outside the window….? Gah. I’m
scared now!
Katie: Christmas cookies or Halloween candy?
Nina: Cookies! My mom and I make these shortbread snowball things
every Christmas, then I inhale all of them while she smirks.
Sharon: Classic or modern?
Nina: Classic. Especially in movies and manners.
 |
| Photo by: Jeni Darling Photography |
Nina: Graveyard! I love graveyards and cemeteries. Send me to a
chapel made of bones, a catacomb of moldering bodies, or a dank Egyptian tomb
and I’m the happiest girl on Earth.
Sharon: Still scared…
Katie: Action hero or Romance hero?
Nina: Action hero. Adds excitement to the romance.
Sharon: Got a favorite?
Nina: I’m a fan of the most recent James Bond, Daniel Craig. Also
Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and of course Buffy herself.
Katie: Would you like to add anything before we wrap?
Nina: Thanks for having me. It was sheep-tastic!
***Giveaway***
Nina is giving away a signed copy of Otherkin to one lucky winner. US/Canada only. To enter please do the following in the comments below:
1. Your Email Address
2. What animal would you like to shapeshift in to?
3. Double entries for followers!
Contest ends November 12th at midnight. Good luck!
1. Your Email Address
2. What animal would you like to shapeshift in to?
3. Double entries for followers!
Contest ends November 12th at midnight. Good luck!
