Books HOME LOCAL L.A. Now Politics Crime Education O.C. Westside Neighborhoods Environment Obituaries Findlocal U.S. Politics Now Top of the Ticket Science & Environment Obituaries Religion WORLD Afghanistan & Pakistan Africa Asia Europe Iran Iraq Latin America Mexico Under Siege Middle East Business Money & Co. Technology Personal Finance Small Business Company Town Jobs Real Estate Cars SPORTS Lakers Clippers Dodgers Angels NFL Ducks/Kings USC UCLA College Football Preps Scores/Stats ENTERTAINMENT Movies Television Music Celebrity Arts & Culture Company Town Calendar The Envelope Findlocal Health Booster Shots Fitness & Nutrition Medicine Behavior Healthcare Reform Hospitals Living Home Food Image Books Parenting Findlocal Magazine Reader Photos Summer Guide Travel California Hawaii Mexico Las Vegas Europe Asia Australia Travel & Deal Blog Opinion Editorials Op-Ed Letters Opinion L.A. Deals Save: Deals Go: Travel Eat: Food Wear: Apparel Live: Everyday Needs Play: Electronics Drive More Mobile Site Subscribe / Manage Account Print Ads Place an Ad LAT Store Jobs Cars Real Estate Rentals More Classifieds 
Weekly Ad#inTheNews {min-height:20px;} Advanced Search Advanced Search X include all of these words: include any of these words: include this exact phrase: exclude: Select a date range this week past 30 days past 3 months past year Create a custom date range From: To: Jacket CopyBooks, authors and all things bookish« Previous |Jacket Copy Home| Next»Q&A with Kelley Armstrong, bestselling fantasy writer July 27, 2011 | 3:00pm
When Kelley Armstrong published her first volume of fantasy fiction in 2001, one reviewer wrote: "The plot is that of a thriller, and it's a little shaky: there are too many villains and they are cartoonishly sinister." Nonetheless, Viking and Plume sold more than 100,000 copies of "Bitten," whose protagonist is a female werewolf with superhuman strength and a very active sex life. The book turned out to be the first of what is to be a 13-volume "Women of the Otherworld" series. Books five through 11 of the series made various bestseller lists (as did each of Armstrong's "Darkest Powers" YA trilogy) and the 12th entry, "Spell Bound," publishes this week. Her books (there are 19 in total) have sold more than 1 million copies.
The name "Kelley Armstrong" doesn't trip off the tongue like, say, Anne Rice or Stephenie Meyer, who propelled vampires into the pop-culture pantheon. Armstrong does write about vampires -- and necromancers and witches and demons -- but her heart seems to belong to the lycanthrope.
Her werewolves are a fairly sophisticated lot, working as journalists, anthropologists and artists. They drink scotch, drive hot cars and many of them seem to live in fabulous homes in New York state. Occasionally they venture into Canada -- a territory Armstrong knows well. She was born in Ontario and currently lives there with her family (which includes three children, ages 19, 11 and 10). Alice Short talked to Armstrong by phone.
Jacket Copy: How do you make time to write? Do you have to rise at 4 a.m. and hope for three hours of quiet?
Kelley Armstrong: When I sold the first book, my daughter was 7 and I pregnant with my second [child]. I had to make do with very little time. Now it's much easier because they're all in school full time ... [although] I'm still up at 6 or 6:30 and getting in an hour of writing before they get up. ... Now I have a corner office in the basement, so unless it's important, they are not going to bother me in there.
JC: Many of your novels number 400-plus pages. How long do they take to write?
KA: I've developed a process over the years. I write a very fast first draft, 10,000 words a week. For an adult novel, I'll be done in three months. The actual editing process takes longer than the writing. That first draft I'd never want anybody to see.
JC: Talk about your fans. Surely, most of them are women?
KA: For the adult books, the target age range for women is 18 to 35. ... I also get male readers, thankfully. Sometimes I get younger readers ... too young for the adult [books].
JC: Has a fan ever inspired you in terms of plot or characters?
KA: I definitely listen to what they say. And they have a LOT to say. It might not always follow the path I want to go.
Some fans do not like who I've paired Jeremy [the Alpha wolf] up with, and they will give me detailed descriptions of whom he should be paired with. ... I'm pretty sure it's someone just like them.
JC: Your work is classified as fantasy fiction. What would you say to readers who don't relate to its rise in popularity, who don't understand the attraction of werewolves or vampires?
KA: When I started this, I was coming at it from a horror background. Then I read Anne Rice and got the idea of doing it from the point of view of the monster. What would it be like to be able to change into a wolf ... to experience life as a wolf? It's just so much fun. It can be a thriller, but you can throw in so many genres. The only one I haven't thrown in is the western, and I swear I'm going to write a werewolf western.
It is fantasy from a woman's point of view. Of course there is a romance. But that's not all of it. We put in action, [and] women are treated equally. You don't tone down the male characters, but you are making women their equal.
JC: The sex in your books is pretty graphic. Have you been banned from any libraries?KA: Not yet. When I was first writing them, the sex was more graphic compared to what was out there, but not now. As [I've gone] on, I get more complaints that I don't have enough in there. Because I [write] YA, I will go into middle schools and I will see "Bitten" in there and I will see where kids have dog-eared the pages. It's me usually saying, "I'm not sure that belongs in there."
JC: Your children are fairly young, but someday they'll want to read your adult fiction. What will you say to them when they want to read it?
KA: My witch books ("Dime Store Magic," "Industrial Magic," "Waking the Witch," "Spell Bound") have a younger protagonist and less sex, and my daughter started to read [them] at 15. I told her she couldn't read the werewolf books until she was 16. She skipped over the sex scenes. No kid wants to read what their parents have to write about sex.
JC: What do you like to read when you're not writing?
KA: I don't read much of what I write because I worry about unintentionally borrowing something. I love thrillers. I love history to romance to YA to nonfiction. I'm reading "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" and "The Gangs of Chicago," which is nonfiction.
JC: You have achieved commercial success; how do you feel about literary success?
KA: Way back when "Bitten" [was published], it was reviewed in the New York Times. ... I think it was fairly mediocre, but it was a big deal to be reviewed in the New York Times. Reviews are great. I can read negative reviews and say, “You know that point they made ... they were dead on.”
JC: Do you have a favorite book from your works?
KA: My favorite is the one that I just finished. The honeymoon is still on.
-- Alice Short
Photo: Kelley Armstrong. Credit: Curtis Lantinga
Twitter: @latimesbooksFacebook: latimesbooksMore in: authors, bestsellers, fantasy, Interview.entry {border-bottom:0px; padding-bottom:0px;}#sponsored1 {margin-bottom:15px;}
PreviousNext 
More from Jacket CopyComments () | Archives (0) var countNum = 0;if (countNum == 0) {jQuery("#archiveShow").css({'display' : 'none', 'visibility' : 'hidden'});jQuery("#commentsDivider").css({'display' : 'none', 'visibility' : 'hidden'});};jQuery('#fbShow').click(function () {jQuery('#commentsArchive').css({'display' : 'none', 'visibility' : 'hidden'});jQuery('#fbComments').css({'display' : 'block', 'visibility' : 'visible'}); });jQuery('#archiveShow').click(function () {jQuery('#fbComments').css({'display' : 'none', 'visibility' : 'hidden'});jQuery('#commentsArchive').css({'display' : 'block', 'visibility' : 'visible'}); });/*jQuery('#fbShow').css('color' , 'white');jQuery('#archiveShow').css('color' , '#666666');*/
L.A. Times on Facebook
AdvertisementIn Case You Missed It...The LatestMost ViewedMost Emailed Explore Bestsellers Lists
Browse: Dates Titles Authors Search: Find a title Find an author
Recent NewsSunday books: Oscar Hijuelos, donning the veil and more | July 31, 2011, 2:01 pm »Rosa Parks wrote a rape essay. Is it truth or fiction? | July 29, 2011, 5:18 pm »Bob Mould comes of age at live show in L.A. | July 29, 2011, 10:36 am »Rainn Wilson's 10 favorite science fiction books | July 29, 2011, 7:41 am »Calls for long-form nonfiction | July 28, 2011, 3:21 pm »
Categoriesacademiaadvertisingamazonanimalsappsarchitectureartaudioaudiobooksauthorsbeabenjamin buttonbestsellersbiographybook clubsbook festivalsbook reviewsbook trailersbooksbookstoresbusinesscaliforniacarolyn kelloggcelebritycharitychildren's literatureclassical literaturecomicscoverscraftscrimecriticismcurrent affairsdavid ulindeborah netburndenis johnsondenverdesigndoing gooddonationsdrmdrugsearthquakesebookseconomicseducationenergyenvironmentereadersessayseventsfantasyfashionfictionfilmfood and drinkgamesgardeninggooglegraphic novelhealthhistorical nonfictionhistoryholidayhorrorhow tohumorindiainternationalinterviewjon thurberkindlela eventsla times bestsellersla times book prizela times festival of booksla times reviewlanguagelawlibraryliesl bradnerliteraturelos angelesmagazinesmargaret wapplermediamemoirmiddle eastmoney walksmusicmysterynew reviewnextnick owcharnobody movenonfictionnovelnovellaoff the shelfonlineparentingphilosophyphoto booksplayspoetrypoliticspomo monthpop cultureprizespublishingradioreadingreading liferearviewrelationshipsreligionrock your books offromanceschool readingsciencescience fictionself-helpsexshelvesshoppingshort storysportssummer readingsusan carpentersusan salter reynoldssxswitechnologytelevisionthe reading lifetheaterthrillertranslationtravelurbanismvideovideo gamesweb extraweb/techweblogswordswritingya
ArchivesJuly 2011June 2011May 2011April 2011March 2011February 2011January 2011December 2010November 2010October 2010September 2010August 2010July 2010June 2010May 2010April 2010March 2010February 2010January 2010December 2009November 2009October 2009September 2009August 2009July 2009June 2009May 2009April 2009March 2009February 2009January 2009December 2008November 2008October 2008September 2008August 2008July 2008June 2008May 2008April 2008March 2008February 2008January 2008December 2007November 2007October 2007September 2007August 2007July 2007June 2007May 2007
Stay connected:
About the ReportersCarolyn Kellogg
Orli Low
Nick Owchar
David L. Ulin
More from The Times24 FramesAfterwordAll The RageAwards TrackerBabylon & BeyondBig PictureBooster ShotsCompany TownCulture MonsterDaily DishDodgers BlogFabulous ForumFrameworkGreenspaceHero ComplexHomicide ReportJacket CopyL.A. at HomeL.A. NowL.A. Times on TumblrL.A. UnleashedLa PlazaLakersMinistry of GossipMoney & Co.Opinion L.A.PolitiCalPolitics NowPop & HissReaders' RepresentativeShow TrackerTechnologyTop of the TicketTravel News & DealsVarsity Times Insider
Corrections Horoscopes Media Kit About Us Contact Us Site Map
Coastline Pilot | Daily Pilot |Huntington Beach Independent | Valley Sun | Burbank Leader | News Press |KTLA |Hoy | LA, Los Angeles Times Magazine | ZAP2itBaltimore Sun |Chicago Tribune |Daily Press |Hartford Courant |LA Times |Orlando Sentinel |Sun Sentinel |The Morning Call
Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Los Angeles Times, 202 West 1st Street, Los Angeles, California, 90012 | Copyright 2011
A Tribune Web siteView the original article here
This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.
No comments:
Post a Comment