Kelley Armstrong's Blog, page 42

Hi! I just want to start off by saying that I think you're an amazing writer and I love your books. I'm obsessed with the Darkest Powers trilogy and the Darkness Rising trilogy. My favorite character is Derek but for some reason I also really like Tori. Al

That’d be a spoiler :) Let’s just say that I wouldn’t want to put them together “off-screen” i.e. in Atoning they’re still circling each other and then in the next story I write they’ve been together for months. Which isn’t to say that I have another story planned right now, but I’m careful to keep my plot options open!

Hi! I just want to start off by saying that I think you're an amazing writer and I love your books. I'm obsessed with the Darkest Powers trilogy and the Darkness Rising trilogy. My favorite character is Derek but for some reason I also really like Tori. Al

That’d be a spoiler :) Let’s just say that I wouldn’t want to put them together “off-screen” i.e. in Atoning they’re still circling each other and then in the next story I write they’ve been together for months. Which isn’t to say that I have another story planned right now, but I’m careful to keep my plot options open!

Hi Ms. Armstrong! Love your Otherworld series and I had a couple of questions I was hoping you could answer if you can of course! 1. Is Jaime's necro glow brighter than Chloe's? 2. Can a witch who concieves with a sorcerer have a son? Thanks!

1) Chloe and Jaime would be about equal because, well, Jaime is 3x her age and very experienced. Which means Chloe is more powerful..she just needs more practice. To a ghost, though, I suspect Chloe would glow  brighter because her innate power is stronger.

2) It wouldn’t be impossible, but the a daughter is much, much more likely.

Hello! A small question about DK series: How do the characters look in your vision? I know that it's interesting when you don't know how a character looks and try to imagine him with the details offered in the book... but I would like to know. I have some

I have some doubts about the appearance of Derek too. LOL. Let’s just say that in the fan art I’ve seen, he’s usually much better looking than he is in my mind, which means I should just keep my own image to myself and let readers see him however they want :)

I was just advising an artist on the cover for Atoning, and we decided to do Chloe with Derek…except Derek is in wolf form because that means no one will be disappointed by “my” version of Derek! Even when an artist takes direction from me, though, it’s never 100% accurate. It just can’t be. The best I can hope for is “Sure, that could be Chloe/Derek/Maya/Daniel.” It’s impossible to transmit the image in my head to anyone. I just know when a picture is “close enough” or not.

Hello! A small question about DK series: How do the characters look in your vision? I know that it's interesting when you don't know how a character looks and try to imagine him with the details offered in the book... but I would like to know. I have some

I have some doubts about the appearance of Derek too. LOL. Let’s just say that in the fan art I’ve seen, he’s usually much better looking than he is in my mind, which means I should just keep my own image to myself and let readers see him however they want :)

I was just advising an artist on the cover for Atoning, and we decided to do Chloe with Derek…except Derek is in wolf form because that means no one will be disappointed by “my” version of Derek! Even when an artist takes direction from me, though, it’s never 100% accurate. It just can’t be. The best I can hope for is “Sure, that could be Chloe/Derek/Maya/Daniel.” It’s impossible to transmit the image in my head to anyone. I just know when a picture is “close enough” or not.

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Forsaken eBook Out Early!

The print version of Forsaken isn’t due out until late January, but the ebook came out this week, unexpectedly early. You’ll find all the links on my webpage here,

Here’s the synopsis:

Being Alpha of the North American Pack is like being a small-town sheriff — nobody wants the job, but someone’s gotta do it.

For the most part, Elena Michaels likes it just fine, even if it means dealing with arrogant foreign werewolves who are convinced that a woman isn’t up to the job.

That she could handle. What she never expected was a deadly threat to her eight-year-old twins. That her little girl could go missing in the night.

The enemy thought he was dealing with a hysterical mother.

Mother, yes. Hysterical, no.

Elena was Alpha for a reason. And nothing would stop her from getting her child back.

Forsaken is a novella from Subterranean Press and will include 4 colour interior illustrations by Xaviere Daumarie (my graphic artist for “Brazen” and much more). It will be released in two print formats: 1000 leather-bound signed & numbered hardcovers (with an additional two illustrations), plus unsigned cloth-bound hardcovers (also a limited run to be determined, but not less than 5000 copies) It will also be in eBook, but the eBook does not include the illustrations.

Please note that this is a 200 page novella, not a full-length novel

okay, so i was a little confused with the end of atoning... because as a reader, the way it was written made it sound like chloe and derek were waiting to have sex, yet..? and i really don't know how I feel about derek leaving to go to college, but im glad

Jumping ahead in the my question queue to address this one…

They are waiting to have sex :) The last chapter is a circle back to the first, where Chloe says that, after Derek runs, they’re no longer in a hurry for him to dress, and that while they aren’t having sex, there are many other things they can do. So when you get to that last scene, and they’re lying in the forest after his run and mostly undressed, that’s what you’re seeing. It’s not post-sex…it’s post “other forms of entertainment” ;) I wanted to address the issue of sex in a long term teen relationship and make it clear that, after 18 months of dating, they’re doing more than kissing, but I didn’t want it to be too explicit, knowing I have some younger readers for this trilogy.

It’s always possible I’ll return for more stories. I’m still waiting to get a sense of how this one did in terms of readership—were many readers actually still around to follow it or have they (understandably!) wandered away from this series by now.