Bookfever: Interview with Suzanne Sullivan + Giveaway! (INT)

*squeeeeee*

I can barely contain my excitement for this interview I did with Suzanne Sullivan, author of Christabel. Find my 5 star review of the book here. To say I loved this book is an understatement. It's one of my all-time favorites now and all I can say is everyone has gotta read it. So don't forget to enter the giveaway below because one lucky person can win the book! :D

1. What inspired you to write your first book?

So many things. I've written for magazines and had poems and short stories published but a few years ago I took a seminar in British Literature that was required for my Master's degree. (I'm a former English teacher). The first time I read Samuel Taylor Coleridge's original poem Christabel and his bio, I knew I had to write this. I had a YA Book review blog and loved YA fiction so much and this story was so unique, it just demanded to be written. Coleridge died before he was able to finish the poem and the way it ends...it made me so sad to think of a main character being left hanging (figuratively) that way. I keep waiting for his ghost to show up and demand I stop butchering his work! ;)

2. How would you describe your novel Christabel in 1 or 2 sentences?

The only way for a normal sixteen-year-old girl to defeat a centuries old demon is to unlock the secret the women in her family died protecting.

3. What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

Oh gosh. I think it would be a tie between Sam and Christabel's first meeting in the woods and the first time readers see Geraldine. I love writing scenes with tension and those are probably the two most intense.

4. Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what music?

Sometimes I do, unless I'm writing a creepy scene then I sit alone in the dark and quiet in the middle of the night and let all the little noises freak me out. For this book I played The Pistol Annies' Run Daddy Run on repeat. ;) For the book I'm writing now, a New Adult Sci-Fi Romantic Thriller called Above the Underground, I'm listening to a lot of rock and heavy metal like Red, Killswitch Engage, Fireflight, and whatever else my brother suggests. This isn't my usual but my character is in a band so music plays a big part in the story.

5. Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

This is a tough one because I read so many different genres. For YA it's Jennifer Echols hands down. She's a local author and her books are like cupcakes laced with cocaine. Sweet and addictive. (I don't actually know about cocaine but you get the idea). I've just started reading romance novels and I'm a new fan of Rachel Gibson, Laura Kaye, and Cherrie Lynn. And of course, my English teacher heart will always belong to the classics. ;)

6. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

I love you. I love you so much. I feel like I should pay you to read my books instead of the other way around. And those of you who post reviews or drop me an e-mail to say you loved what I've written, you have no idea what that means to me. Thank you. A million times.

7. If you could jump in any book and live in that world. Which book would it be?

These are so hard. I wish I could've known you when I was writing quiz questions for ninth graders! Today I'd probably say Veronica Roth's Divergent world because it's so intense and revolution is just around the corner. I love the idea of changing the world, making history. If you ask me tomorrow it might be some sappy Nicholas Sparks love story. ;)

8. If you could have any superpower at all, what would it be?

Just one? I'd have to say the ability to heal. I've lost a lot of loved ones to car accidents, cancer, and heart disease. Some on long suffering roads, and there's not much I wouldn't give to be able to able to relieve their pain if I could.

9. What 3 books would you recommend people to read?

1. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo will change your life.

2. At least one novel by a Bronte sister. Forbidden affairs, struggle, revenge, crazy women in the attic--what's not to love?
3. Something shameful that they buy only on eReader so no one will see what they've got. A guilty pleasure book is a must! Whether you're all grown up and it's the most recent Pretty Little Liars novel, or Fifty Shades, or whatever, everyone should have that one book that they can't get enough of.

10. Tell us a random thing about yourself.

I collect books about random road trips. If a road trip appears, with convenient store snacks, bootlegged music, and a cute boy, I have to have it. Regardless of genre. ;)

Thanks for having me Stephanie! And thanks again for the review, I will treasure it always!
For more on what I'm working on, you can visit www.suziesullivanwrites.tumblr.com/mybooks.

~About the author:

Suzanne Sullivan lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband and daughter. Formerly a high school English teacher, she can now be found conducting baking experiments by day and writing stories in the dark by night.

Christabel is Book One in the Soul Seekers trilogy she has written.

~About the book:

Sixteen-year-old Christabel Baron has always been close with the single father that raised her, until he decides she needs a live-in math tutor. As if being a teenager with a babysitter isn’t bad enough, Christabel’s new houseguest is beautiful but terrifying Geraldine Giroux, a redhead with a dark past who possesses an eerie ability to control Christabel’s father.

Soon Geraldine snakes her way into every aspect of Christabel’s world in an attempt to destroy it. If Christabel can’t get everyone else to see Geraldine for the soul-sucking succubus that she is, her life might be over--literally.