Michelle Rowen, author of Dark Kiss

I absolutely love your original take on angels/demons in DARK KISS. Did you do any research or take any inspiration from existing myths when coming up with your world of angels, demons and grays?

Thank you so much! For some reason, this is not the first time I’ve written angel and demon characters. Angels and demons can be great metaphors for good and evil — but that’s way too simple for me, really, so I like to explore what happens when an angel might be a little bit bad, and a demon might be a little bit good. That’s much more interesting to me. I don’t approach the subject matter from a religious angle, but there is the underlying theme of “we are as good or bad as our choices make us.” For grays, I needed to create a character that consumed souls, and ended up with something that’s a little bit vampire, a little bit succubi/incubi, who are driven by his or her hungers to the point that they might lose touch with their humanity and willingly embrace the dark side. Good times!!

Who was your favorite character to write?

I loved writing all of them, especially Samantha and Bishop. However, the character who was the most fun to write, I must admit, was Kraven. And he’s even more fun in book two.

I would love to see a DARK KISS movie. If you had to play casting director, which actors/actresses would you choose for Samantha, Carly, Bishop, Kraven, and Natalie?

Usually I search out pictures of actors to represent my characters, but for this book I didn’t do that so much. Not sure why. I guess, if pressed, LOL, I could do a quick dream cast – I think Douglas Booth would make a good Bishop. For Carly, I can see Candice Accola (Caroline from Vampire Diaries) for sure (only about twenty pounds heavier). I did have Alex Pettyfer in mind for Kraven when I was writing the book. Natalie Portman would make a great Natalie (although that wasn’t why I chose the name), and Samantha…hmm. I’m open to suggestions on her. Since I write in her POV I never really “look” at her, you know? Someone brunette, short, and skinny. Maybe a young Winona Ryder type? (and I hate saying “young Winona Ryder” since WR is my age…shhh…).

Now that is a good looking cast (provided we can find a young Winona Ryder doppelganger).

What has been the single most influential work (book/tv/movie, etc.) in your writing life?

Without a doubt, the biggest influence on my writing would be Buffy, which I can’t believe has been off the air for nine years. That mix of snark and drama, mixed with romance, fantasy, and horror really appealed to me – and still does. It is one of the few shows that can make me laugh and cry – sometimes in the same episode.

Could you recommend any YA books that you’ve enjoyed that fans of DARK KISS would also enjoy reading?

I pretty much always recommend the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead because I’m a total fangirl. I can’t wait for the second book in the spinoff series, The Golden Lily, to come out next month. I’m also a huge fan of other Harlequin Teen authors Julie Kagawa and Rachel Vincent.

Could you give us a hint about what we can expect in the next Nightwatchers novel?

For sure! Something readers find out very early in WICKED KISS is that Samantha, my heroine who now has this driving need to kiss people and steal their souls, learns that her hunger can be temporarily satisfied with a kiss from somebody who might be lacking a soul. I won’t say how she learns this, or with whom she learns it, but it definitely causes as many problems as it solves. Also, past relationships hinted between certain characters are explored much more fully in book two as Sam tries to unravel that mystery. Lastly, the team gets a surprise new member – one who shakes things up big-time.

In addition to eagerly awaiting your next Nightwatchers book, I cannot wait to get my hot little hands on your other upcoming novels, FALLING KINGDOMS and COUNTDOWN! Can you tell us more about them? (Also, do you have several clones of yourself writing fulltime? )

Thanks! First of all, if you know of a mad scientist who has perfected cloning, please give me their number. That would be reallllly helpful.

COUNTDOWN is a YA rewrite of a book I wrote a few years ago under another name — I’m working on it right now, actually – and I think it fits the YA genre soooo perfectly. It’s about a girl who is forced to play a death match game, partnered with a boy with an extremely shady and dangerous past. It’s thrilling, romantic, and a whole lotta fun. Then again, I do like being really mean to my characters, so my idea of fun probably isn’t theirs. It’ll be out some time in 2013, I don’t know the official release date yet.

FALLING KINGDOMS is a book I’m writing under the pen name Morgan Rhodes, a YA epic high fantasy with princesses, sorceresses, evil kings, and dangerous quests. It’s out in December, but I know ARCs are already circulating. I’m really mean to the characters in this book as well. It’s my thing.

Thanks so much for stopping by Michelle!

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