Interview Gena Showalter Levensbloed

Levensbloed is het spannende, romantische en tikkeltje humoristische vervolg op Eerste leven van New York Times Bestsellerauteur Gena Showalter. In het boek volgen we Tenley, die net een keuze heeft gemaakt tussen de twee rivaliserende rijken Myriad en Troika. De consequenties van die keuze had niemand voorzien... Wij hebben, speciaal voor het verschijnen van Levensbloed, Gena Showalter geïnterviewd. 

 

 

1. Hi Gena, thank you for taking time for your Dutch fans. Did you enjoy your stay in the Netherlands last April?

 GS:  I had the most amazing time!  Coming to the Netherlands was one of the highlights of my year.  And life!  The beauty took my breath away, I still crave the food – bitter balls, gimme!—and everyone I met welcomed me with open arms.  I’m ready to come back.

 

2. Your Dutch fans have been looking forward to Lifeblood for a while now. What can they expect? 

GS:  The story picks up right where Firstlife left off.  Ten has made her choice, and must now must face the consequences.  She will learn about her realm, past, present and future, and her position within it.  She will train as a Laborer and Conduit, and head out on her first mission… and of course, Myriad makes sure Killian is the one she’s up against.  You’ll get to meet the woman Archer loves.  The war continues to heat, and the most violent battles yet are waged. Is Killian friend or foe?  Who can Ten trust?  Who will live and who will die?  I think Lifeblood packs a stronger emotional punch than Firstlife, so have tissues on hand.

 

3. How is Lifeblood different from Firstlife in terms of characters, plotline etc.?

GS:  Well, I really missed a certain character (I won’t name names in case someone hasn’t read Firstlife).  In Firstlife, I had to describe a world people already knew—this present life/Earth.  In Lifeblood, I had to create a whole new world with a past all its own, different jobs, different ways of living.  Ten had to learn to fight as a spirit rather than a human.  She makes new friends—and new enemies.  New choices, new consequences.  The trails will make or break her relationship with Killian.

 

4. Was it difficult to write a sequel to Firstlife, or had you already figured out what would happen to Tenley and the other characters?

 GS:  I loved delving back into Ten’s life, playing with a good versus evil theme, and bringing life to the afterlife realms.  And I loved loved loved messing with Killian.  Is he a good guy or bad guy?    

 

5. Lifeblood was on The New York Times bestseller list instantly. How did that feel?

 GS:  Having a book make the New York Times bestseller list is always a dream come true!  I float on a cloud of happiness for at least a week.

  

6. Lifeblood has a rating of 4.1 stars on Goodreads, which is amazing! Have you read any of the reviews?

 GS:  To be honest, I haven’t read many. Not just because I know that what one person loves another person can hate and vise versa.  Because, if I only read good reviews, I could get the mistaken idea that everyone loves my work and there’s no room for improvement.  If I read only the bad, wow.  Talk about depressing!  Those can stick with you and hurt your writing process.  You can think I’m a talentless hack, why even bother?  Besides, a critique of a book after it’s published can be stressful.  A reader can point out something important that I missed or messed up, and though I wish I could fix it, there’s nothing I can do.  It’s too late.  So, for the most part, I try to avoid reviews.

 

7. We LOVE LOVE LOVE the cover art of Lifeblood (and Firstlife as well), how did you and your cover designers come up with this amazing idea?

 GS:  I can take no credit.  The US publisher had a meeting and came up with the hourglass idea.  They asked me for pictures about what each realm looked like, and I submitted those.  The next thing I knew, an artist had created the gorgeous finished artwork.  The Everlife covers are among my favorite covers of all time!

 

8. Last question: what can we expect from the last book (Everlife) in the trilogy, that is set to be released in early 2018?

 GS:  I’m actually working on Everlife right now.  It picks up right where Lifeblood left off, and the stakes are higher than ever before. The animals play a big role.  The final battle will be waged and lives will be lost.  The realms will be changed forever.   

 

Benieuwd geworden naar Levensbloed van Gena Showalter? Lees dan hier alvast GRATIS het eerste hoofdstuk.