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Wynne Channing's book, What Kills Me, is now available for review in the Making Connections - YA Edition group on Goodreads!
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Title: What Kills Me
Author: Wynne Channing
Genre: YA Paranormal
Published: June 2012
An ancient prophecy warns of a girl destined to cause the extinction of the vampire race. So when 17-year-old Axelia falls into a sacred well filled with blood and emerges a vampire, the immortal empire believes she is this legendary destroyer. Hunted by soldiers and mercenaries, Axelia and her reluctant ally, the vampire bladesmith Lucas, must battle to survive. How will she convince the empire that she is just an innocent teenager-turned bloodsucker and not a creature of destruction? And if she cannot, can a vampire who is afraid of bugs summon the courage to fight a nation of immortals?
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
I can’t remember wanting to be anything else. I wanted to write before I could form words. When I was little, my grandfather had all of these construction plans around the house. And I drew stories all over them. (That book was not a hit with my grandfather.)
Tell us about Axelia.
Axelia, or Zee, is a regular 17-year-old girl. She’s led a pretty sheltered life and she’s desperate for some adventure. Unfortunately, she finds it in the worst way. (It doesn’t get any worse than dying.) I wanted to create a butt-kicking heroine; but heroes are not always born. So Zee is a normal person who is thrust into an extraordinary situation and forced to be brave. First, she runs (as we all would), then she fights.
Where did you get the idea for What Kills Me?
I was living in Taiwan for a few months and I had cockroaches for roommates. Needless to say, I couldn’t sleep, afraid they’d rent out my mouth for a party. So I would lie there at night, daydreaming and asking myself ridiculous questions: “What would happen if I suddenly disappeared?” “What if I fell into a hole? What if that hole was filled with blood?” That image, of a young woman climbing out of a well, soaked in blood, was what started it all.
Who designed the cover for What Kills Me and what was that process like for you as the author?
An amazing artist from Portugal, Liliana Sanches Davis, designed the gorgeous cover. The two-week process was intense. We must have sent each other more than 100 emails, working to get it just right. Liliana is fantastic and she wanted to get the tone of the book and the drama in the image. I love the tumultuous waves, the stormy sky, and the butterflies exploding from the girl’s chest. It’s perfect.
How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?
Readers have told me that the novel is realistic, which gratifies me. I know that sounds nuts because vampires aren’t real, right? But the small details in my book are borrowed from my life, and from news stories I’ve written or read. And it was important that the emotions that the characters experience be as real as possible.
What are three things you wouldn't want to do without?
Do body parts count? I really need my head! How about my journal, my dance shoes and a good novel.
What book are you reading now?
Eating Dirt by Charlotte Gill
Tell us about Axelia.
Axelia, or Zee, is a regular 17-year-old girl. She’s led a pretty sheltered life and she’s desperate for some adventure. Unfortunately, she finds it in the worst way. (It doesn’t get any worse than dying.) I wanted to create a butt-kicking heroine; but heroes are not always born. So Zee is a normal person who is thrust into an extraordinary situation and forced to be brave. First, she runs (as we all would), then she fights.
Where did you get the idea for What Kills Me?
I was living in Taiwan for a few months and I had cockroaches for roommates. Needless to say, I couldn’t sleep, afraid they’d rent out my mouth for a party. So I would lie there at night, daydreaming and asking myself ridiculous questions: “What would happen if I suddenly disappeared?” “What if I fell into a hole? What if that hole was filled with blood?” That image, of a young woman climbing out of a well, soaked in blood, was what started it all.
Who designed the cover for What Kills Me and what was that process like for you as the author?
An amazing artist from Portugal, Liliana Sanches Davis, designed the gorgeous cover. The two-week process was intense. We must have sent each other more than 100 emails, working to get it just right. Liliana is fantastic and she wanted to get the tone of the book and the drama in the image. I love the tumultuous waves, the stormy sky, and the butterflies exploding from the girl’s chest. It’s perfect.
How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?
Readers have told me that the novel is realistic, which gratifies me. I know that sounds nuts because vampires aren’t real, right? But the small details in my book are borrowed from my life, and from news stories I’ve written or read. And it was important that the emotions that the characters experience be as real as possible.
What are three things you wouldn't want to do without?
Do body parts count? I really need my head! How about my journal, my dance shoes and a good novel.
What book are you reading now?
Eating Dirt by Charlotte Gill
Wynne Channing is a national newspaper reporter and young adult novelist. Wynne loves telling stories and as a journalist, she has interviewed everyone from Daniel Radcliffe and Hugh Jackman to the president of the Maldives and Duchess Sarah Ferguson. The closest she has come to interviewing a vampire is sitting down with True Blood‘s Alexander Skarsgard (he didn’t bite). She briefly considered calling her debut novel “Well” so then everyone would say: “Well written by Wynne Channing.”
Connect with Wynne
I'm Sure the stories were great even if they were drawn on construction plans lol.
ReplyDeleteLol! Thank you.
DeleteLove the cover so much that I went to Amazon and purchased a copy for only .99! Liliana Sanches Davis did an amzaing job on it.
ReplyDeleteYay! I'll pass on the kind words :)
DeleteInteresting answers, Wynne! Love your history and how it has shaped your book.
ReplyDeleteWhat Kills Me was fantastic, and I can't wait to read more of your stories :)
Thank you. One love :)
Delete