Breathless Reads Tour : Interview with the Authors

Hello everyone! On Saturday I went to the Breathless Reads Tour in Collegeville PA. While there I got to do the most incredible thing, interview the authors. Now I've done some really amazing things since starting my blog, reviews, ARCS, BEA, and giveaways are a few but this was different. Actually seeing these talented authors and being able to sit down with them in person to do an interview was something I hadn't thought I would be doing anytime soon. 

First a little bit about the authors at the tour. 

Andrea Cremer, the authors of the Nightshade series that the final book has just been published. 

Beth Revis, the author of the Across the Universe series, the second book A Million Suns was just released. 

Marie Lu, the author of Legend the first in her series that came out over the summer. 

Jessica Spotswood, the author of the Born Wicked Series, which the first one was just, released this month.

All of these ladies are incredibly talented and it shows in their novels, which really do leave you breathless (just as the tour name suggests). When I first sat down with the four authors, I have to admit I was extremely nervous (I was freaking out on the hour and a half ride to the bookstore). I had never interviewed someone in person before, just through email, and I was starting with four at one time! However, once we started talking, I realized how nice and funny they all were and I instantly relaxed and it became much easier. 

First I had asked them to describe their novels in 5 words, which they all had fun quirky answers for. Beth Revis described her series as a "murder mystery in space", Andrea Cremer's trilogy as "forbidden love and false history", Marie Lu's Legend as "teenage criminal v. detective", and finally Jessica Spotswood's Born Wicked as  "witches, sisters, and kissing." Each description describes their books perfectly and would make anyone want to pick them up. 

Next I had asked the four about how they were enjoying the group tour. These particular kinds of tours seem to be getting more popular and luckily the authors seem to love doing them together just as much as the readers love seeing them all at one time. As they talked about the tour there were laughs all around the table and you can tell how close these authors have become in the past week. Marie Lu says touring as a group "helps with the nerves" and they all seemed to agree. They also agreed they enjoyed each other’s company. Beth said "nothing will bind you like a book tour" which seemed to be very true. 

When asked for advice for aspiring authors they all had great recommendations for anyone who dreams of becoming an author. “Write what you want…don’t think you have to write a certain way,” stated Andrea. Beth says to “write a book you feel passionate about.” Marie tells us “don’t be afraid to write something bad,” and Jessica says, “find critique partners…someone who will give you honest feedback.” Since they are all talented and published authors this is advice aspiring authors will want to remember.

Seeing as I didn’t have much time left with the four, I decided to ask some fun questions to close out the interview. First, I asked each author her favorite novels. Andrea’s was Watership Down by Richard Adams; Beth enjoys the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, Marie’s favorite was Mattimeo and says “it got me into reading fantasy”, and Jessica’s was the classic Gone With the Wind. 

Lastly, given that in about a month the highly anticipated movie, The Hunger Games, will be released I thought it would be fun to end the interview finding out if these authors were Team Peeta or Team Gale. Almost all around the table agreed with Team Peeta except Andrea who is on Team Finnick. This seemed to be a topic they were all passionate about, and have discussed before.

After this wonderful experience, I would recommend everyone to go see these authors. There are still a few stops left on the Breathless Reads Tour, and if they are coming to a city near you, this is something you do not want to miss. But, if you can’t see these authors, make sure you read their books. Their fun personalities shine through in their talented writing. Nightshade, Across the Universe, Born Wicked and Legend are all novels that are worth reading. 





A short clip from The Breathless Reads Tour

--Danielle

--Now I have to thank my friend Brittany for coming with me to PA! She was a life saver and incredibly awesome, she even took notes during the interview catching things that I didn't get. So a HUGE thanks to her :)