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Interview: Sherrilyn Kenyon, Bad Moon Rising
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Recently, I had the great pleasure of asking Sherrilyn Kenyon about her newest release (August 4) in her Dark Hunter series, BAD MOON RISING:
Sally: “Your Dark Hunter series keeps going and going with each book better than the last. In the beginning, did you plan for the series to have so many books or did it take on a life of its own?”
Sherriyln: “I always knew that there would be a lot of books in the series. When SMP (St. Martin’s Press) first bought them, I submitted a list of synopses to my editor for 45 books at that time and I have yet to write more than 5 from that original list. So it's some of both. I always and only write what I'm most passionate about.”
Sally: “Wow, 45 books! That is wonderful news to all of us fans! So, what can you tell readers about your newest book, Bad Moon Rising, without giving away too many surprises? Will any secrets be revealed?”
Sherrilyn: “Yes there are secrets to be revealed such as what really happened to Fang when everyone thought he was in a coma and why when he emerged he was so close to Aimee. Also you get to see their first meeting in this book, which was never shown previously. The readers will also meet the characters I launched in the Blood Lite anthology and see the Hellchasers for the first time up close and personal.”
Sally: “I can’t wait to find out about Fang! As a reader, I really enjoy the depth you bring to your characters. Is Bad Moon Rising marking part 2 of the series? How many books do you foresee being in part 2?”
Sherrilyn: “I have no idea, just as I didn't know how many would be in part 1. I listen to my muse and I go wherever she takes me. And while BMR is part of the second arc, it really began with Dream Warrior.
Sally: “Your fans are some of the most loyal in the genre, what do readers tell you that they enjoy the most about your Dark Hunter series?”
Sherrilyn: “That the characters seem real. That they're like people you'd meet on the street. Most of all, they like the fact that the books are funny and heart wrenching. That there's a lot of action and excitement. We also have a large male readership and they say that what they like best is the fight scenes and the snarky comebacks. But the thing I love most about my fans is the diversity of them. I have children who bring me drawings to older men and women. There are entire families who are dedicated to the books and it cuts across all races and socioeconomic backgrounds. Over forty percent of my readership is male and they are just as enthusiastic as the women. I love my fans.”
Sally: “I started out reading your Kinley MacGregor books. What sparked the transition from historical novels to Sherrilyn Kenyon paranormal novels?”
Sherrilyn: “I was first published as a paranormal author back in the early 1990's. I was one of the founders of that original wave of paranormal (my book Daemon's Angel launched the Leisure Touched by an Angel series) and am the leader of the new wave of paranormal that started at the beginning of this century.
“I'd actually been writing historicals and trying to sell them while I was selling the paranormals, but no one would touch them as the historical market at that time was lean. Then when the first paranormal market crashed and we, the original authors, were cut loose from our houses, I pursued the historicals more vigorously. Even though my paranormals had been bestsellers, the publishers were convinced there wasn't a market for them. I kept writing paranormals while working on the historicals (it took me 4 years to sell the historicals after I'd sold the last of the paranormals I'd published).
“The paranormal market was so dead at the time I sold the Dark-Hunters that I wasn't even allowed to use the word vampire in my book or on the back blurb because my editor was convinced no one would buy it (no author at the time was selling anything paranormal with any kind of success). It was why the first covers were made to look like historicals. My editor's exact words when I asked why the covers didn't look more contemporary or more paranormal were "maybe this way they'll try it and we might get some readers."“So there was really no transition from historical to paranormal, I merely kept writing what I'd always written and repioneered my original genre.”
Sally: “Now that's a unique marketing concept that apparently was a good approach. Writing graphic novels is very different from writing a novel. Did you find it a challenge to adapt your writing to the graphic novel style sheet or was it easy?
Sherrilyn: “Again, I was writing comics back in the 1980's and the Dark-Hunters were submitted to Dark Horse, Marvel and DC back then. So no, it wasn't a hard transition. I started out as a child writing comics and graphic novels.”
Sally: “That’s fascinating. Dark Hunters certainly was destined to be published. You know, most writers have more book ideas than they have time to write. If you were given the gift of time standing still long enough for you to write a few of those other ideas, what would you write?”
Sherrilyn: “I'd be writing the same exact thing I write now. I'd just have more time to do it.” :)
Sally: “And all of your readers would enjoy it, too. I’d like to thank Sherrilyn for spending time with us today. Visit Sherrilyn at her website, St. Martin’s Press or Amazon.
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