Sandy Williams - Interview

Hi!

Here's a surprise we've been planning to give you for some time. We've been waiting for the right moment though, and we think this is it!

I was very lucky no, make that LUCKY to have the chance to talk to Sandy Williams, the author of The Shadow Reader. She was very kind and accepted to do an interview for Bibliophile Mystery although she's a busy person.

You all know how much we loved her book and how excited we are about the second installment, The Shattered Dark which will be out in November, AND how much we wish to have the possibility to read McKenzie's story in Romanian, so I think you'll get our joy to provide this interview for our readers.

BM: Hello Sandy! Tell us a little bit about yourself and how did you become a writer.

Sandy: Hi! Like many authors, I've been making up stories in my head all my life. I started writing off and on in elementary school (when I was around six years old). Back then, I was writing about cats. The subject changed to horses a few years later (I raised a couple and went to horse shoes with them) and then, after reading L J Smith's Vampire Diaries, I wrote about vampires. That was way back in the 90s, though, and I started reading and writing mostly science fiction and traditional fantasy until sometime around 2002. That's when I picked up a Kim Harrison book and fell in love with the genre. At about the same time, I became determined to finish writing a book. My first completed book was a young adult sci-fi book, my second was an urban fantasy of vampires, and The Shadow Reader was my third completed book - and I absolutely loved it. Everything about it felt right when I sent it out to agents. It felt like it was "the one," and it was!

 BM: What was your favorite chapter of Shadow Reader to write and why?

Sandy: Ooh, this one is tough. I think my favorite might be Chapter One. Maybe. It's either Chapter One or Chapter Sixteen. Chapter One was so fun to write. It hardly changed at all from my first draft to the final version. It just flowed so perfectly when I wrote it. But Chapter Sixteen, especially the end. The kiss. *hugs Chapter Sixteen*

NOTE: The ending of Chapter Sixteen is the part I chose to translate in Romanian, to raise your interest about The Shadow Reader. 

BM: This edarratae /chaos lusters thing impressed us a lot. Can you explain it to our readers?

Sandy:  The chaos lusters are fun, aren't they? The idea for them came from watching my husband play the video game, Fable. I don't remember the details in the game, but if a character was really good, he had bright blue veins on his face. If the character was really evil, the veins were red. At least, that's how it was in my memory, and I thought it was really cool. Add to that the fact that I'm a big fan of stories were the hero and heroine aren't supposed to be together, and I started to get the idea for the chaos lusters. I wanted a really good reason for my characters not to be able to be together, though, so in the book, lightning is created when a fae and human touch. It's kind of a visual warning to stay away from each other. Problem is, the lightning is addictively delicious.

BM: What was the hardest thing to cut from your manuscript?

Sandy: I somehow managed to get away with not cutting out any major scenes. I had several scenes that I had to change around some, but there really wasn't anything I had to throw out. But I did have a major word count problem! I kept having to cut words and sentences here and there so that I didn't end up with a 130,000+ word book. I stressed so much over getting that word count down, and somehow, I managed to keep it at 105k. It wasn't easy! I think it worked to my benefit, though, because it made me write an extremely tight book.

BM: If you could have lunch with one of your characters who would it be and why?

Sandy: Kyol. I just want to give him a hug. Plus, I'm a sucker for the quiet, serious guys.

BM: What does Aren think about you?

Sandy: He'd probably think I'm extremely boring! All I do is stare at my computer all day or clean up spit up (I have 7 month old twin boys. They certainly make it tough to get much work done!).

BM: If your book were made into a movie, who do you picture playing the main characters part?

Sandy: I can see Nina Dobrev from The Vampire Diaries playing McKenzie. She fits the image in my head almost perfectly. Honestly, the model on The Shadow Reader's cover is a pretty perfect fit, too. I have no idea who I'd want to play Aren and Kyol. I have a tougher time with picturing the guys. No actor I know of completely fits. Some have the looks down, but then, they don't have the right personalities, so they just don't quite work for me. I'd be interested in hearing who you and your readers think should play them, though!

BM: We know there’s still a lot of time until The Shattered Dark is released but can you give us some details about it?

Sandy: The back cover summary should be finalized soon, so be sure to look for that in the coming weeks. But here's a quick summary: (Warning: spoilers for The Shadow Reader follow!) The Shattered Dark picks up two weeks after the ending of The Shadow Reader. The war didn't end with King Atroth's death. His supporters are rallying. They're trying to retake the palace, and McKenzie is caught in the middle of the Realm's war again. She's determined to keep Lena in power, and since the rebels have so few humans helping them, her Sight and her shadow-reading skills are more important than ever. She knows what it will cost if they lose the throne, so she puts her human life on hold so that the fae she loves and her new friends will have a better chance to survive. But she never imagined that her only human friend, Paige, would be pulled into the war. Paige has no clue the fae exist, but the remnants of the king's fae have abducted her, and McKenzie will do anything to get her back.  

BM: What book are you reading now and how do you choose the books you want to read?

Sandy:  I just started reading BLACK HAWK by Joanna Bourne. I love historical romance, and I especially love Ms. Bourne's books. She's such a great writer!

BM: That sounds interesting! We'll have to read it too. Do you hear from your readers much? What kinds of things do they say?

Sandy: I don't know what counts as "much", but I typically get an email from one or two readers a week, which is totally awesome! I love hearing from them! They usually tell me how much they love Guy #1 or how much they love Guy #2. And the readers who love Guy #1 typically ask if there's any chance he and McKenzie might possibly get together in the next book.

BM: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

Sandy: I'd just like to thank everybody who has taken a chance on my book. I'm a complete newbie at this publishing business, and there are so many other talented authors in this genre that people could be reading. I feel truly lucky that so many of you have picked up The Shadow Reader, read it, loved it, and recommended it to all your friends. Thank you! 

  

These were great questions!
Thanks so much!

Sandy