Author Interview: Rachel Hawkins & DEMONGLASS Giveaway!

I am so excited to welcome Rachel Hawkins to Extreme Reader Book Reviews!  Rachel is the author of the wildly popular HEX HALL series.  HEX HALL (the first book in the series) was one of my favorite books of 2010 and the sequel is even better!  DEMONGLASS hit shelves on March 1st from Disney Hyperion.  

1. Welcome Rachel!  First, let me say that DEMONGLASS is incredible.  I absolutely loved it!  It was a perfect follow up to HEX HALL.  Was writing your second book a different experience for you? Easier? Harder?

It was MUCH harder, haha! I didn't want to let anyone down, plus I had to be sure I was wrapping up some loose ends from HEX HALL, but also leaving SOME things unresolved for Book 3...whew!

2. My favorite character in your books is Sophie.  She is such a cool female protagonist.  She is brave, strong, and a little reckless (or maybe a lot reckless!).  I also truly envy her skill in the art of sarcasm and snarky comebacks!  Is her character inspired by anyone from your life? You, a former student? For me, she is who I wish I would have been at her age!!

Aw, thank you so much! I'm very fond of Soph! There's no direct inspiration for her (and she's certainly a LOT bolder than I ever was!) I like to say Sophie was a gift from the writing gods. She just showed up in my head, snarking like a pro.

3. As a former high school teacher, did you draw inspiration from any of your past students when creating your characters (not just Sophie)? If so, which ones?

I honestly didn't, although I DID steal some of their names!

4. Can you give us one little known fact about each of your main characters?

Sure! 1) Sophie hates mayonnaise with the fire of a thousand suns, 2)Jenna secretly dances around her dorm room to Girls Aloud, 3) Archer has a weakness for 80s soft rock, 4) Cal has four sisters.

5. If you could Sophie one piece of advice at the start of DEMONGLASS what would it be?

Brace yourself, girlfriend. Things are about to get ROUGH.

6. The ending of DEMONGLASS is a major cliffhanger!  How long must we suffer until book 3 hits the shelves?  Any hints about book 3?

Book 3 will be out in Spring 2012! In it you will see Sophie dealing with the fallout from DEMONGLASS, ending up in some truly terrifying places, and teaming up with some surprising allies.

7. Now... a few questions about you!  When you are not writing, what do you enjoy doing in your free time?

Free time? WHAT IS THIS YOU SPEAK OF? Seriously though, I love to read, obviously, and I love to go to the movies and watch TV. I also love to travel whenever I can, and I always enjoy hanging out with my husband and son. I am spectacularly boring, basically. ;-)

8. What is your favorite word? favorite book?  favorite joke?

It's a French word, but pamplemousse ("Grapefruit") is just about the most perfect word ever. My favorite book is Anne Rice's THE WITCHING HOUR, followed VERY closely by George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. As for jokes, my Dad was a sailor, so all my favorite jokes are NOT fit to be shared on the internet! ;-)

9. Describe a 'perfect day' in the life of Rachel Hawkins!

Oooh! That's a fun one! First I'd wake up WHENEVER I WANTED. Then I'd drink coffee and sit in the quiet for awhile. Then my husband and son would magically re-appear, and we'd go to the beach. I'd leave them to go have lunch with all my best girlfriends, and end the day with grilling out and a nice bottle of wine. Sigh. Makes me happy just to think about it!

10. Any funny/embarrassing fan moments yet?

No funny/embarrassing ones (well, I embarrass myself daily, so I've PROBABLY had an embarrassing fan encounter and not realized it), but lots of cool ones! I had one girl tell me Sophie inspired her to ask a guy out, and another who brought me a mixed CD of Hex Hall-y songs. People have made me jewelry...seriously, I have the best readers ever!

11. What 2011 book (other than DEMONGLASS:) are you anticipating the most?

I'm dying to read Caitlin Kittredge's THE IRON THORN (1950s alterna-history Steampunk! YESSSSS!), and Myra McEntire's HOURGLASS sounds FANTABULOUS (Time travel and romance and sexy science!) Also I'm really psyched for Victoria Schwab's THE NEAR WITCH since it's very fairy tale-esque and I LOVE those kind of books. And I'm practically salivating for Lev Grossman's sequel to THE MAGICIANS, which I HOPE will be out in 2011!

What are you reading now?

Patrick Rothfuss's THE WISE MAN'S FEAR.

Can you tell us what you are working on now?

I just turned in the 3rd HEX HALL book, and I also have a book called REBEL BELLE coming out in Summer 2012. It's about a debutante-turned-superhero, and I can't wait for it to be out! In addition to that, I have a HEX HALL spin-off coming out in 2013, and I'm currently tinkering with a few seeeeeekiriiiiiit projects.

If you could jump into any book and hang out for a day, what book and which characters would you hang with?

Oh, the Harry Potter books, DEFINITELY! Any of the earlier ones, before they have to start, like, facing death and stuff. Wait, that's ALL the books, isn't it?

And finally.... what is the one question you wish I would have asked but didn't? And the answer!

"Why Do I Insist On Wearing My Hair This Way?"

I don't know. I'm sorry. It's the humidity, I swear.

***

Thanks so much for stopping by Rachel!  You are absolutely hilarious!  OK people...If you haven't read these books then I suggest you head over to the bookstore (right now!) and pick them up.  You won't be disappointed!  I will be posting my review of DEMONGLASS within the next few days, but I can tell you that it will be receiving 5 stars!  

About The Book:

"Sophie Mercer thought she was a witch.
That was the whole reason she was sent to Hex Hall, a reform school for delinquent Prodigium (aka witches, shapeshifters, and fairies).  But that was before she discovered the family secret, and that her hot crush, Archer Cross, is an agent for The Eye, a group bent on wiping Prodigium off the face of the earth.  Turns out, Sophie’s a demon, one of only two in the world—the other being her father.  What’s worse, she has powers that threaten the lives of everyone she loves.  Which is precisely why Sophie decides she must go to London for the Removal, a dangerous procedure that will destroy her powers.
But once Sophie arrives she makes a shocking discovery.  Her new friends?  They’re demons too. Meaning someone is raising them in secret with creepy plans to use their powers, and probably not for good.  Meanwhile, The Eye is set on hunting Sophie down, and they’re using Archer to do it.   But it’s not like she has feelings for him anymore.  Does she?"

About The Author: 
Rachel Hawkins was born in Virginia and raised in Alabama, which means she uses funny words like “fixin’” and “y’all”.  After graduating from Auburn University, she succumbed to the lure of Summers Off and became a high school English teacher.  Four years of forcing students to memorize the first twelve lines of The Canterbury Tales finally broke her, and in 2007, she quit teaching to pursue writing full time.  When not writing, Rachel enjoys dyeing her hair various shades of red and spending time with her husband and son!

HEX HALL, Disney-Hyperion, March 2, 2010

DEMONGLASS, Disney-Hyperion, March 1, 2011

http://readingwritingrachel.blogspot.com

~Giveaway~ 
Do you want to get your hands on a SIGNED copy of DEMONGLASS ?  If so, then you're in luck! Up for grabs... 2 prize packs ~ each containing a signed copy of DEMONGLASS and a DEMONGLASS tote bag!  This contest is open to US/Canadian followers and will end at midnight (EST) on March 18th.  To enter just fill out the form below!

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