Interview with Jenn Bennett and Giveaway - May 2, 2012

Please welcome Jenn Bennett back to The Qwillery. Summoning the Night, Arcadia Bell 2, was published on April 24, 2012.


TQ: Welcome back to The Qwillery!

Jenn:  Thanks for having me, Sally! Err, that sounded dirty, but you know what I mean.

TQ:  Yes, I do! :)  What do you wish you'd known when your first novel, Kindling the Moon (Arcadia Bell 1), came out that you know now?

Jenn:  Hmm, tough question. I suppose I wish I'd known how incredibly difficult it is to be a Published Author. This isn't the creative girl who dreams up brave new worlds, nor is it the disciplined artist who hammers out manuscripts while managing a caffeine addiction. It's the person who's expected to manage social media. To smile and act professional. The person who has to understand the advantages and disadvantages of a particular contract clause. I think the New Author Me freaked out about all those things. The Sophomore Author Me has learned to ignore it. I figure I can either be someone who blogs twice a week about the publishing business . . . or I can be a good writer. Some authors can do both. Hats off to them. Maybe one day I'll learn to juggle all of it, but right now, I'm content with plugging along on my current manuscript and just enjoying the ride.

TQ:  What is the most challenging thing for you about writing?

Jenn:  Maintaining my confidence. When I'm happy and arrogant, I'm creative. When I'm doubting, say, why I chose to make the hero of my series 42 (after some eighteen-year-old blogger says old dudes are gross) then it all comes crashing down.

TQ:   Please tell us something about Summoning the Night (Arcadia Bell 2) that's not in the book description.

Jenn:  Here are three fake chapter titles for three random (and real) chapters: 1) Jupe Hearts Kar Yee 2) How Do You Solve a Problem Like Hajo? 3) Kitchen Sex.

TQ:  Which character has surprised you the most in the Arcadia Bell series so far?

Jenn:  Probably Jupe. I knew I adored him when I created him. And I knew I was going to buck the rules by pushing a teenage kid as an interesting, vital part of the series. But I didn't expect the outpouring of Jupe fan mail—from people who are happy to see a biracial hero, to others who've told me he's so much like their own kid or a cousin or brother, or those who've said they swoon over his dialogue and can't wait until he's a few years older. It has been a wonderful, wonderful surprise.

TQ:  Which character in the series is most like you?

Jenn:  I'm a Jupe-Lon hybrid. Half the time, I'm bubbly and SUPER EXCITED ABOUT EVERYTHING. The other half, I'm a closed-off observer. My parents have told me that as a child, I vacillated between craving the spotlight and wanting to be left alone in my room so that I could read.

TQ:  The Arcadia Bell series is Urban Fantasy. Are there any other genres (or subgenres) in which you'd like to write?

Jenn:  I just finished a historical paranormal romance. I'd like dip my toes in young adult and have considered doing a Jupe spinoff. I don't know. A year ago, I would've said that I'd never be able to write anything that didn't have some supernatural slash paranormal slash horror element to it. But if I'm honest, what I really enjoy the most isn't the world-building, but writing unique characters. So who knows. Maybe I'll write a quirky mystery. Or an epic historical romance. Or a collection of erotic stories about monkeys. Anything's fair game.

TQ:  What's next?

Jenn:  LEASHING THE TEMPEST, Arcadia 2.5, is a special digital short novella starring Cady, Lon, Jupe, and Kar Yee. It comes out this Christmas. BINDING THE SHADOWS, Arcadia 3, releases next year, followed by Arcadia 4.

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery.

Jenn:  It's been an absolute pleasure, thank you!


About Arcadia Bell

Summoning the Night

Arcadia Bell 2
Pocket Books, April 24, 2012
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 336 pages

MAGICAL TRICKS. DEMONIC TREATS.

After narrowly escaping her fate as a sacrificial scapegoat, Arcadia Bell is back to normal. Or at least as ordinary as life can be for a renegade magician and owner of a tiki bar that caters to Earthbound demons. She’s gearing up for the busiest day of the year—Halloween—when a vengeful kidnapper paralyzes the community. The influential head of the local Hellfire Club taps Cady to track down the fiendish bogeyman, and now that she’s dating red-hot Lon Butler, the Club’s wayward son, she can hardly say no.

Cady and Lon untangle a gruesome thirty-year trail of clues that points to danger for the club members’ children. But locating the person behind the terror will require some metaphysical help from Cady’s loyal bar patrons as well as her potent new Moonchild powers—and she’d better figure it out before the final victim disappears and her own darkest secret becomes her biggest enemy.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Kindling the Moon
Arcadia Bell 1
Pocket Books, June 28, 2011
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 384 pages

Meet Arcadia Bell: bartender, renegade magician, fugitive from the law. . . .

Being the spawn of two infamous occultists (and alleged murderers) isn't easy, but freewheeling magician Arcadia "Cady" Bell knows how to make the best of a crummy situation. After hiding out for seven years, she's carved an incognito niche for herself slinging drinks at the demon-friendly Tambuku Tiki Lounge.

But she receives an ultimatum when unexpected surveillance footage of her notorious parents surfaces: either prove their innocence or surrender herself. Unfortunately, the only witness to the crimes was an elusive Æthyric demon, and Cady has no idea how to find it. She teams up with Lon Butler, an enigmatic demonologist with a special talent for sexual spells and an arcane library of priceless stolen grimoires. Their research soon escalates into a storm of conflict involving missing police evidence, the decadent Hellfire Club, a ruthless bounty hunter, and a powerful occult society that operates way outside the law. If Cady can't clear her family name soon, she'll be forced to sacrifice her own life . . . and no amount of running will save her this time.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

About Jenn

Photo ©Bill Skeel

Jenn Bennett is an award-winning visual artist and author of the Arcadia Bell urban fantasy series from Pocket Books. Born in Germany, she’s lived and traveled extensively throughout Europe, the U.S., and the Far East. She believes rebellion is an under-appreciated art form, has conjured more demons than you’ve had hot lunches, and likes her fairy tales like she likes her coffee: dark. She currently lives near Atlanta with her film-geek husband and two very bad pugs.

Her literary influences include: Edgar Allan Poe, Anaïs Nin, Grimm Brothers, Philip Pullman, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mary Shelley, Diana Gabaldon, Roald Dahl, and Oscar Wilde.

Get weekly Facebook updates from Jenn by liking her fan page, or follow her on Twitter for daily dribbles about her current writing projects, the book industry, and miscellaneous obsessions, which include: all things foodie and cooking; early to mid-20th-century art and culture; mythology & fairy tales; games, board and video; music (from indie to Ella Fitzgerald to metal); movies (from foreign to horror to fantastical); hermetic and arcane studies; world travel; vintage flea market finds . . . and the occasional picture of her dogs behaving badly.

Website:  http://www.jennbennett.net/blog
Official Simon & Schuster author page


The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win his/her choice of Kindling the Moon or Summoning the Night from Jenn!  US/Canada ONLY.

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:

Last Urban Fantasy novel you've read or what is your favorite genre?

Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)   Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)   Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3)   Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. You MUST leave a way to contact you.

Who and When:  The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a US or Canadian mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Wednesday, May 9, 2012. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

*Giveaway rules are subject to change.*