Saturday, October 18, 2014

Something Wicked Strikes: Interview with Nikki Kelly (Author of Lailah) and AWESOME GIVEAWAY!!!!!

Banner 1

Fall is creeping up on us and that means it is time for the return ofSomething Wicked!

All during the month of October, you can expect guest posts, interviews, reviews and giveaways for all types of paranormal reads. Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings, Maja@The Nocturnal Library, Candace@Candace's Book Blog and Ali@My Guilty Obsession will be hosting again this year.

This event promises to be bigger and better than last year!

If you are new to Something Wicked, you are in for a treat. You can expect to find terrific paranormal reads almost every day of the month along with a giveaway!



I am beyond excited to be a part of Something Wicked Strikes this year!!! I am hosting the incredible, awesome, phenomenal...(Yes she is one of my favorite authors).........

NIKKI KELLY

Nikki Kelly





I have read and absolutely fell in love with her new vampire series, Lailah. So of course I was beyond honored to have the chance to host her on my blog as part of Something Wicked Strikes. Nikki is not only a phenomenal author but she is a truly incredibly person. She interacts with her fans on a daily basis which also makes her a fan favorite because she goes out of her way to show her appreciation. It means so much to fans and bloggers when they see an author respond! ....Did I mention that Nikki is awesome???? .......










What inspired you to write Lailah?





As all the best stories start… ‘I had a dream…’ That is certainly true for how I came to meet Lailah. 


I had a dream about a girl assisting what appeared to be an injured vampire in a derelict shell of a building. The vampire himself was fairly easy to distinguish, but all I could see of the girl was her long blond hair cascading down her back. Then, like something from a horror movie, the girl’s neck twisted, and all I saw were these huge bright blue eyes. But as she blinked, they flipped into a sinister and downright frightening red. Then I woke up. 

 photo waking up_zpszwhsxlji.gif


I never dreamed of the girl again, but she plagued my thoughts, and so I decided to find out what her story was, by telling it. Lailah was my spark and the inspiration I needed to conceive and write The Styclar Saga. 



 photo ponyspark_zps7npnj33j.gif



Lailah is written in the first person, and we go on a journey of self-discovery with her. Although Lailah is the pivotal point, I wanted to show that there is always something bigger going on outside of ourselves, and so then came the world-building; that is to say, establishing the bigger picture, and finding out what Lailah’s place and purposes were within it. 



 photo special_zpsotr9xhsr.gif


Lailah is a YA PNR, but rather than creating new beings, I took existing creatures from mythology and spun them into something else. The same can be said for the worlds from which the beings emerged (the First and the Third Dimension), which are a spin on the concept of Heaven and Hell. 

One of the themes I wanted to explore within the story was pre-conceived notions, about people and the world. Light and dark, right and wrong, the heroes and the villains…

Vampires and angels worked well for exploring this, as they are traditionally known in mythology as being dark and light creatures. But the supernaturals in The Styclar Saga, for the most part, defy their very nature through their choices and can’t be placed perfectly within their boxes, just the same as us mere mortals.

 photo lightanddark_zpsbbf8ff2b.jpg


I also wanted to bring something new, fresh and original to the table. In order to spin these known beings into something different, I had to first create and explore the worlds from which they emerged. 

In order to create an original history for them, I asked myself a lot of ‘what?’, ‘how?’, ‘when?’ and ‘where?’ and borrowed a little here and there from my own belief system too. 

 photo what_zpssydrrefn.gif


And of course, with all the characters the question I asked the most was ‘who?’. Who they once were, who they are now, who they might be by the end of their journeys.

 photo timepony_zpspcvr8ejh.gif


I knew early on what Lailah was, but it was only when I began to write her that I discovered who she is, and I’m looking forward to writing Book3 and finding out who she will ultimately become. 

Lailah was the spark that grew fast into a flame, and now she and her story consumes my daily life!

 photo shuffling_zpsa9gpn90h.gif











22 comments:

  1. I'm looking forward to A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray! Thanks for the giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I actually looked forward to Lailah most...and I'm not just saying that xD But another book I really looked forward to was Blood of Olympus...now I just have to save up money to buy them ^.^

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nikki Kelly's take on the supernatural will blow you away! For paranormal lovers, Lailah is a must read! Can't wait for books 2 and 3!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks so much for the giveaway!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks for the great giveaway (:

    ReplyDelete
  6. this book looks and sounds awesome! Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Can't wait to read this book!
    Thanks for the wonderful interview and great giveaway :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you so much for a great giveaway! I love interviews like this!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you for the giveaway! The book sounds awesome. The interview was awesome too ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. LOVE how you incorporated My Little Pony into this post!! And Nikki you are so darn sweet on twitter and so nice to your fans. I can't wait to read this book. It is on my TBR and I know it is going to be SO good!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for the awesome giveaway! :D

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you! I think it's interesting how the book began on Wattpad.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you thank you thank you. You really can never say thanks enough :) I love that your book spawned from a dream! The few times I've thought about trying to write, I've always wanted to go off of my dreams. They're crazier than anything my mind would come up with awake! <3 to all the My Little Pony gifs :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awww you're too sweet!! Yes, I agree with you, I think when you dream your mind is freer, the key is trying to remember what you dreamt and making some sort of sense of it, and ideally not 'boxing' it into what we know and within our conformed minds!! lol If you want to write you should!! Go for it! My dreams came true, and if mine can come true, so can yours!! xxxx

      Delete
    2. Some day :) When my attention span is longer than 15 minutes or so. I have some ideas from dreams as a kid that stuck with me. Would probably write something YA :) I love the idea of something coming from my brain entertaining others, making people smile and laugh for at least a moment in their day. From your bio, I think you get that :) And it seems so cathartic! Congrats to you on getting your first book out there to people :)

      Delete
  14. Thank you for this amazing giveaway! I've heard so many people raving about Lailah! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you for a great interview and giveaway, super excited for the book, heard great things about it. :)

    ReplyDelete