Hollowed Blog Tour: Wigs & Wicked Interview Kelley York

 Welcome to Wickedly Bookish's spot on the Hollowed Blog Tour! We have today for all you Wicked Darlings an interview with the author, Kelley York and a giveaway! Wigs and I teamed up for this interview and had a ton of fun. Enjoy!

Wigs and Wicked Interview Kelley York

Wicked: Welcome Kelley! Wigs and I are excited to talk to you about your new book Hollowed! As you know, Wigs reviewed Hushed here on Wickedly Bookish a few months ago and we have been eagerly awaiting your next book ever since! Let's get our readers acquainted with you shall we?

Hi! About me: I'm a California author, and was born and raised here. I write a lot of dark stuff and always have to tell acquaintances and coworkers that, no, they probably shouldn't let their 12-year-old read my books. I play a lot of video games, and I'm married to a gorgeous and wonderful wife.

Wicked: With the release of your M/M YA thriller Hushed, you've really set yourself apart from conventional YA authors, providing more intense plot lines and thrillingly dark themes. Can readers expect more of the same from Hollowed? 

Thank you!! I hope so. It's scary to put out a second book and have readers holding it up to the standards of your first. Because they want it to be as good, or better. Hushed lines up more with my next Entangled book, Made of Stars, in the sense that they're both contemporary thrillers with a M/M pairing. Hollowed is paranormal, but does have an intense plot line with some mystery and thrill.

 

Wigs: You told me that this story is very personal to you, how long have these characters been in your head?

Ages! It all started with the protagonist of the second book, Noel. She's been in my head for about five years. Briar came a little later. I'm so attached to all the characters in this series, and it makes me equal parts nervous and excited to share all their stories.

Wigs: Who was your favorite character to write in Hollowed?

Hard to say, but probably Briar since she's the narrator and I really got into her head. She develops a lot in Hollowed, but she still has a lot of growing left to do. A close second might be Fred. I grew attached to him so he just might show up again down the line!

Wicked: You've gained loyal fans by writing exciting and unique stories that take risks and go where most YA books only dare skirt around.  How have you done this with something so commonly written as the vampire? 

A lot of stories out there—the paranormal romance variety, in particular—focus a lot around the vampires: being a vampire, dating a vampire, what have you. Hollowed wasn't so much about the existence of vampires as it is about Briar, her journey, having to abandon her family/job/home, wanting to avenge her best friend, finding out secrets about her sister and boyfriend, and so on. This isn't a plot that centers around a romance, or a "we can't possibly be together for supernatural reasons."

It's not a vampire book. It's a book that contains vampires. And witches. And sassy gay French shapeshifters. A little bit of everything. I certainly don't think that makes it one of a kind, but I do think it makes it stand apart from a lot of other paranormal YA stories.

Wigs: What would /you/ do if you got bitten and turned into a vampire?

Probably have myself committed because I'd be sure I was going nuts. Otherwise...if I were turning into the Hollowed variety of vampires...I think I could cope. The immortality thing has always looked pretty neat to me.

Wicked: The majority of YA fiction is directed toward straight teenage girls and usually stars an archetypical M/F relationship. I'm just going to come right out and say Wigs and I are big fans of your diversity in this area. 

Wigs: How do you go about determining what kind of romantic pairing you'd like to write about in each of your stories? Does it come naturally or do you think about what the story calls for?

I really, really hate in media—books, television, movies—how it's automatically assumed every character is straight until proven otherwise. I prefer to take the stance of "all my characters are open-minded until proven otherwise." This means, if I feel the chemistry happen between two characters who happen to be of the same sex, I run with it. I let the characters gravitate toward whoever they want.

Hollowed contains a primary M/F romance with Briar and Noah, but there is a developing M/M couple in the background, if you're paying attention.

I've seen comments online about how authors are trying to jump on the "gay bandwagon" because including a gay character in their story is somehow cool and edgy. That's not how it is for me. I'm a lesbian, so I feel comfortable and at-home writing gay couples—whether they're guys or girls.

Sorry...that was longwinded!

Wicked: The cover of Hollowed is absolutely gorgeous!

Wigs: You designed your book cover. Who's the model playing Briar?

Thank you!! I couldn't honestly tell you who the model is. Like most self-pub authors, I purchased a stock image to edit and turn into my cover. I do think she's gorgeous, though. I'm a sucker for redheads.

  

Wicked: I noticed the cover of Hollowed mentions it is "A Half-Light Novel." 

Wigs: Are there going to be more Half Light novels in the near future?

Absolutely! I can't say how many books, because it's hard to tell until I'm writing. The path it follows is a little weird. Book one follows Briar's story, but book two will deviate from her completely to begin someone else's story.

Down the line, their stories will merge into one. I'm still hesitant about doing it this way because inevitably, people will read book two with the expectation of more mention of the characters from book one.

However, I wanted things to happen in chronological order. Briar won't be doing anything exciting until the events of the next book kick a few things into motion. I'm hoping to release the next book around October or November, but that's really subject to change.

Thank you so much Kelley from both of us for stopping by to chat and including Wickedly Bookish on your tour! We would love to have you back for your next novel release!

Thanks so much for having me, and for the awesome questions! 

Hollowed

Kelley York

A Half-Light Novel

Genre: Dark Fantasy

All 18-year-old Briar Greyson wanted was to figure out this whole living-away-from-your-parents thing. Apartment, steady job, cool roommate? Check. Noah, her adorable (albeit elusive) boyfriend? Check. Everything in the life of Briar was pretty good.

Then she and her roommate are attacked on their way home one night. Briar wasn't supposed to survive.

Instead, according to the two guys who saved her, she's turning into the things that attacked her: a vampire. Totally crazy and Not Okay. Now Noah's secrets are coming to light, and he wants Briar dead. Then there are the vampires who attacked Briar to lure out her sister.

Her sister...who died years ago.

(Didn't she?)

The city's body count is rising, and Briar wants to help put a stop to it. But first, she has to figure out who the real enemy is: the vampires, the boy she loves, or the sister she thought she'd lost. 

About the Author

Kelley writes anything from dark to light, contemporary to paranormal. She was born and raised in central California where she still resides with her lovely wife, daughter, and an abundance of pets. (Although she does fantasize about moving across the globe to Ireland.) She adores all things furry, be them squeaky, barky or meow-y, is a lover of video games, and likes to pretend she's a decent photographer and artist. Her life goal is to find a real unicorn. Or to at least write about them.

Goodreads
Kelley's Website
Twitter

Giveaway Details

This Giveaway is run completely by Kelley and I was graciously provided the rafflecopter code to share with you all. I believe it is international. There are loads of blogs you can follow for entries, including mine at the bottom! If you are already a follower of my blog then that is an easy entry for you! If you are not yet a follower of Wickedly Bookish, of course you don't have to follow, but it would be much appreciated and get you an extra entry in this awesome giveaway! Now go ahead and fill out the rafflecopter! You know you want to.

a Rafflecopter giveaway