Month of Guests 2013: Julie Kagawa

It's the final day of my Month of Guests!  I've had so much fun putting this event together and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have!  But we're going out with a bang, people!  With an interview with the lovely Julie Kagawa, author of the Iron Fey, Blood of Eden and Call of the Forgotten series!  Enjoy! :D

And Month of Guests will be back next year!!  Don't worry, I'm already scheming and planning to make it EVEN BETTER... ;)

Oh, and there are still two giveaways going on, so check them out: here and here! :D

When did you really realize that you want to be a book writer?

It was sometime in high school, I believe.  The plan wasn't always to become a writer; I was originally going to be a veterinarian.  But then I discovered that to do be a vet, you had to know a great deal of MATH and science and biology and MATH.  And since numbers and I hate each other, I decided that maybe I'd give this writer thing a try.

Describe the moment when you first got the idea of writing The Iron Fey in your mind.

The exact moment was actually in a bookstore.  I remember browsing through the YA section, and suddenly having an idea for a story about a girl who was a faery.  In the very beginning, Meghan started out as a full faery, but as the idea and the story progressed, she became the half-blood faery she is today.

How does it feel to have your books translated in multiple languages around the world?

Pretty surreal.  I have a special bookshelf in my office for the foreign editions of the books, and every time I see it I have to smile.  It’s awe-inspiring to know that your books are being read around the world in France or Germany or Japan.  And words cannot express my love for the Japanese covers.  Manga-style Ash!

You always mention your husband in the acknowledgments page. How does he help you in the writing process?

He is honestly my biggest help when I am working on a book.  I can always go to him with a problem when I'm stuck, and we'll talk it through until I get un-stuck.  Plus, he reads through the whole completed manuscript before it goes off to my editor and catches most of my grammar mistakes, though he has threatened to rip the semicolon key off my keyboard so I can't use it anymore.  I guess I like my semicolons.  :D

Tell us some funny moment with some fan.

I was at a friend's wedding, and began talking to a random stranger about YA books, which we both loved.  She started talking about this YA book about a girl who was half-faery and who went into Faeryland to rescue her brother, and I said "You mean The Iron King?"  She said: "Yes, have you read it?"  "No," I told her, "I wrote it."  Hilarity ensued immediately after.

What is the most fun moment you’ve had while writing a book?

I think the book I'm working on right now has been the most fun to write.  Sadly, I can't share the details yet, but I'm extraordinarily excited about the whole thing and can't wait to actually share the news sometime this month.

                

Some message for your fans?

I am just incredibly grateful for all the support and enthusiasm my fans have given me over the years.  I know I wouldn't be where I am today without my readers, and I hope I will always remember that.  So, thank you, everyone, for being awesome.

What’s next for Julie Kagawa?

Well, the next book of the Blood of Eden series, The Eternity Cure, just came out in May, and then the second book of the Call of the Forgotten series, Traitor Son, will be released sometime in the Fall.  Of course, I do have this secret new series I'm working on that’s going to be made into a movie by Universal Pictures, but I'm not allowed to share that until later.  Hopefully I'll get to tell everyone soon!  :) 

My Mental Rambling: And revealed it has been...  If you haven't heard, check out the news: here!! :D  It's so exciting!! :D

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Thank you so much, Julie!!!  I am sooo excited about your new series!!! :D :D

Hope you all enjoyed the interview! And don't forget to follow Julie's Site and Blog, follow her on Twitter and Facebook, and check out her books on Goodreads!  Oh, and here's her Blood of Eden official site and The Iron Fey official site!  :D

And if you missed any MonthOfGuests fun, check it ou on Twitter using #MonthOfGuests2013 or see a list of all the posts: here! :D

And if you have any ideas for next year, I'm always here for advice!! :D

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Julie Kagawa, the New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Fey and Blood of Eden series was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn’t getting chased out of it by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.

When not swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers. The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.

To pay the rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional dogtrainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full time.

Julie now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where the frequency of shark attacks are at an all time low. She lives with her husband, two obnoxious cats, one Australian Shepherd who is too smart for his own good, and the latest addition, a hyper-active Papillon.