We want to welcome back the most oh so awesome lady that we know and love as Julie. But today we’re interviewing her as speculative romance author, Seleste deLaney.
Seleste is the author of Of Course I Try and The Ghost of Vampire Present from Decadent Publishing, and Badlands from Carina Press. Seleste deLaney also writes as Julia Particka and has written Pretty Souls, a YA Paranormal that is the 1st in a series.
Book Pushers: Seleste, welcome (officially as an author :D) to the blog!
Seleste: Thanks so much for having me back. I missed you guys!!!!
Book Pushers: You write speculative fiction which covers quite a range of sub-genres. Can you tell us what is your favourite sub-genre you like to write in?
Seleste: That’s a tough one to answer. I tend to bounce from one sub-genre to another whenever I switch projects. All of my work with Decadent so far is paranormal, Badlands is steampunk, I have a YA post-apocalyptic novel out with agents now, and I just won a contest with the one thing I said I could never write…contemporary. (*gulp* I guess that’s why one should never say never, huh?) I’m not sure it’s my “favorite”, but paranormal is where I’m most comfortable and what I tend to go back to a lot.
Book Pushers: The world building in Badlands was so interesting, especially in the border areas. Do you have any plans to revisit the world, maybe head back to see how Laurette is handling being Queen?
Seleste: I’m actually working on the second story in that world right now. Laurette will probably be in it, but this is Henri’s story. Considering her role in Badlands, I felt she was the character whose story needed to be told next since, other than Ever, hers was the world that went through the most upheaval in the first book.
Book Pushers: You also have written a YA book, Pretty Souls. Can you introduce this series, and what can we expect in the next book?
Seleste: The Paranormal Response Team series follows a group of supernatural teens who are discovering that being something other than wholly human doesn’t mean you have to lose your humanity. And that sometimes being human doesn’t mean you had any in the first place.
The series is planned as five novels from various narrators. (I will also do some freebie flash or short stories on my website.) The first book came from Elle’s perspective and dealt with her embracing her inner wolf while the girls track a soul-stealing demon spawn. Book two is Cass’s and she has to face her possible immortality when a rampaging vampire—and her long-lost mother—both show up in town.
Book Pushers: Do you have anymore plans to write in the YA genre? If so, would you ever consider going outside of the paranormal genre?
Seleste: Yes and yes! I’m very excited about the post-apocalyptic I’m shopping around now. I also have a couple other YA ideas brewing though both of those are paranormal and I’m not sure either of them is “big” enough concept-wise. We’ll see though.
Book Pushers: Are you planning on writing any additional books in the Blood Kissed Series?
Seleste: Most definitely. I’m mapping the larger series out as three novel-length stories. More vampires (including my favorite character I’ve ever written), a few werewolves, and a bunch of fairies. The first novel will explain what it means to be Blood Kissed and pulls in all of what happened in the short and the novella into a much larger mythology.
Book Pushers: Can you tell us who some of your author inspirations are?
Seleste: Kelley Armstrong for sure. Her career is the kind I aspire to. Plus, she is always so generous and kind to her fans. There are a ton of other authors I adore and whose work I study, but I always come back to Kelley. I like that she takes risks and is committed to the story she wants to tell rather than necessarily what others might want her to do.
Book Pushers: Romance covers such a wide range of genres. Would you ever consider writing in a genre that’s not Paranormal or Urban Fantasy?
Seleste: Sure. Badlands is a steampunk romance and Forever Summer (the story that won the 1 Place for Romance contest) is contemporary. I’m working on one now that is mostly contemporary with a bit of a mythological twist, and I have the beginnings of a dystopian as well. Plus there’s a sci-fi retelling of a classic that I’ve been dying to get to one of these days…
Book Pushers: If you could choose a cover artist and the focus for one of your books, who and what would you choose?
Seleste: I love the work of Christian McGrath and I think he could do something really fabulous for the YA post-apocalyptic. He does a lot of urban fantasy work, but I love the way all his work has a touch of darkness to it. I think that would play in well to the world I’ve created.
Book Pushers: Who is your all time favourite character that you have written in your adult and YA stories?
Seleste: Easiest question I’ve ever had to answer. There is a character in Kiss of Death that is hands-down my favorite. He’s a vampire by the name of Remy and he is flamboyant and wild and brilliant, and his true motivations are always a bit of a mystery. I love writing him.
Book Pushers: Is there any dream setting that you would love to write in?
Seleste: I will admit, I’m really nervous about the sci-fi, mainly because I’m afraid I won’t be able to do the images in my head justice. But, for the most part, I’m a dive in kind of girl. If I want to write a book in a specific setting, I just do it. I have this new story idea that will pull on the traveling I’ve done this past year, so it will be set almost entirely in Europe. I’m kind of geeked about that, but again, I need to find the time. Too many stories, not enough hours. Right now I need to focus on finishing up at least one of the series I have going LOL.
Book Pushers: With so many new authors and authors published by traditional and epublising going down the self publishing route, would you ever consider going down that road in future?
Seleste: There was a time I said never, but I’m not so sure anymore. I think for me I would already have to have a pretty good following before I’d risk it. I know there’s a lot that goes into self-publishing that I know nothing about. Plus, I’m not a pro at promo, so that aspect terrifies me (doing it all on my own).
Thanks again for having me!
Of Course I Try – nook | The Ghost of Vampire Present – nook | Badlands – nook | Pretty Souls – nook | Badlands – Kindle eBook
Have not read any of your books yet. They sound very interesting.
Thanks, Estella! There are excerpts on my website, as well as free reads to go with both series. 🙂
Oh, fun interview! I enjoyed Badlands, and have added Pretty Souls to my TBR. 🙂
Thanks, BJ! Glad you liked Badlands 🙂