Get to Know... Chloe Neill! (*and a giveaway...squee!)

I had the awesome opportunity to interview one of my favorite new authors as part of this year's Twice Bitten Blog Tour. Chloe Neill is the author of the Chicagoland Vampires series (so far including Some Girls Bite, Friday Night Bites, and the very soon to be released Twice Bitten) and the Young Adult Dark Elite series (so far including Firespell and in 2011 Hexbound).

1. Did you always feel that you wanted to be a writer? Was there a specific moment when you made the choice to pursue a career in writing?

I actually have a dayjob, so writing is actually my part-time (evening) job. I hadn't been much of a fiction reader for most of my life, but started writing in 2005 after I'd felt like I'd "run out" of things to read. (This was pre-Twilight and before the huge market increase in paranormal novels. I wrote one manuscript, then penned Some Girls Bite, the first book in my Chicagoland Vampires series.

2. Where do you write? Do you have to create a certain mood or atmosphere?

I'm still trying to figure that out! Because I work, I usually write in the evenings in bed with my laptop before I go to sleep. On the weekends I try to get outside - head for a coffeehouse or restaurant (with all-you-can-drink Diet Coke) for a change of pace.

3. I love the covers for the CV series. (I have to admit I even took Friday Night Bites with me to the hairdresser to get the same cut!!) Do you feel that they did a good job representing Merit? Do you think we will ever see one of the guys on the cover?

No, way! That's awesome! :) I think they did a very good job representing Merit, although I'll admit that I prefer Merit with bangs to Merit without (since she didn't actually change her hair in the books). In Some Girls Bite and Friday Night Bites they definitely represented her indie aesthetic; I think with Twice Bitten they've worked hard to represent her transition to a leather-clad vampire warrioress.

4. Would you ever try a different genre?

I really, really enjoy writing paranormal books because I love having the ability to make up the rules as I go along. That said, I've always loved Regency historicals - especially involving pirates - and I'd love to write one someday!

5. You write both YA and Adult books. Is one easier than the other?

YES - Young Adult is much harder, mostly because there are lots of restrictions that need to be accounted for. Lily, the heroine of my Dark Elite series, doesn't yet have a driver's license, she has to be in school all day, and there are curfews that limit when she can get out and about. Those kinds of restrictions don't generally apply to adult novels.

6. What was the last book you've read that you would highly recommend to other readers?

I'm currently reading World War Z by Max Brooks, which is an oral history of a zombie apocalypse. It's not a traditional style of fiction-writing, but I'm really enjoying it.

7. Okay, on to fun things!! Quick picks list: Favorite Vacation Destination? Favorite Childhood Book? Favorite Movie? Favorite Food? Favorite Clothing Item?

Vacation: Pensacola Beach, Florida

Childhood Book: The Little House on the Prairie books

Movie: The Royal Tenenbaums and Star Wars

Food: Diet Coke and bean burrito from Taco Bell

Clothing item: Jeans and my current Coach handbag

Chloe, thank you so, so much for taking the time to answer my questions and allowing me to be a part of the Twice Bitten Blog Tour!!

Chloe also very graciously offered a Twice Bitten swag pack giveaway to my blog readers! Included is a TB bookmark, a Firespell bookmark, a CV pen, and a really cute "I've been Twice Bitten" silicone wristband. To enter, just leave a comment on this interview post before Monday, June 28, 2010 and I'll randomly draw and notify a winner on Tuesday, June 29th!! Good luck.

If you haven't read any of Chloe Neill's books...GO NOW and get one! They are great, and would make some fast, fun, summer paranormal reads!