Interview/Giveaway with Devon Monk

Hello all! Today I bring you a short interview with Devon Monk!! Author of the Allie Beckstrom series and soon to come Age of Steam series which will be a steampunk series premiering in July 2011!

Devon's here today to answer a few questions about this and that that I thought of and there will be a giveaway at the end of the post so be sure to look for it.

Now, onto the interview!

JESSICA: What inspired you to be a writer?

DEVON: I’ve always been an avid reader and have loved escaping into the worlds and people writers bring to life. I wanted to give that same kind of escape for others, so I started writing. I love my job!

JESSICA: In your series magic is treated differently, what gave you the idea to make it come at a cost, even if it was used for good, unselfish reasons?

DEVON:  This aspect of the books is certainly one that I get a lot of comments about. For me, fiction, even fantasy fiction, should mirror reality in some way. So when I started thinking about magic and how it might really be used if we had it in the real world, I knew that there would have to be a trade-off.  But if the trade-off was something as easy as money, then only the rich would have magic. And while that’s an interesting idea, I wanted something we could all “pay” whether we are rich or poor, old or young. And once I decided the price for using magic was pain, there were suddenly a lot of moral questions about how and why magic should be used. That’s when I knew it was the right way to handle magic in for these books.

JESSICA: What would you give in exchange for using magic? Headaches? What memories would you be willing to lose? 

DEVON: Oh, I think I could handle a headache or two for magic! I’ve thought about memories I’d be willing to give up, and used to think I’d want to get rid of all my bad memories. But I’ve learned a lot from the bad times in my life, so I don’t want to lose those. The only kind of memories I wouldn’t mind getting rid of are maybe some of my most embarrassing foot-in-mouth moments. 

JESSICA: How did you come up with the character Stone? Did something inspire you for his purpose?

DEVON:  Stone was a surprise to me. When I wrote the scene of Allie and Zayvion going to the restaurant on their first real date, Stone suddenly came on the page and his part to play in the big picture of the series unfolded. I think Allie really needed a big bruiser buddy to look after her. Plus he’s a great mix of fun and deadly. :)

JESSICA: How many books do you have planned for the series?

DEVON: I’m contracted for six books, all of which are written. I’m hoping my publisher will pick up the last three in the series, bringing the total to nine books. I originally planned this as a nine book series.

JESSICA: What can you tell us about your next project?

DEVON: I’m starting a new series set in the steampunk alternate history of the American West. The first book, DEAD IRON is scheduled to be in stores July 2011 and has magic, curses, guns, love, and of course, gears and steam.

JESSICA: What do you like to do in your spare time?

DEVON: Read, knit weird stuff, bake, and right now I’m putting together a couple steampunk costumes.

JESSICA: What book are you currently reading?

DEVON: THE COLD KISS OF DEATH by Susanne McLeod and ON THE EDGE by Ilona Andrews.

JESSICA: Thanks for stopping by today, Devon.

DEVON: No problem!

Now onto the GIVEAWAY!

Devon has kindly offered up a SIGNED copy of Magic at the Gate to 1 lucky reader. And it's open to INTERNATIONAL readers!

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment here on the post saying who your favorite character from the series is and why. Or if you're new to the series, what intrigues you about the series to start it?

Be sure to leave your email address in your comment as well.

Guidelines:

Open to INTERNATIONAL readers, so anyone can enter!

Contest will end October 24, 2010 at 11:59 PM Central

Winner will be announced on Monday, October 25, 2010 here on the blog and I will contact you as well, from there you will have 48 hours to respond to claim your prize.

A word of note as well, when speaking with Devon last week, she had said she had not received her author copies of Magic at the Gate yet. She expects to get them in 1-2 weeks, from last week. Hopefully by the time the winner is announced she will have them or will have them very soon after.

There you have it! Start commenting!