Long Live Dead Reckless (Long Live Dead Reckless, #1)
by Safari Spell
Publication date: July 19th, 2016
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Talor Gardin may be a princess, but her life is no fairy tale.
A year ago, her mother died and her father burned down their house. Now with a father in and out of a mental ward, she’s working a minimum wage job to finish her last semester of college. To make matters worse, she gets itchy every time a guy makes a move on her. The itch could be anything, really: a desire to escape her haunted hometown, a financial windfall, the name of some vampire… or all the above. Whatever the reason, she thinks the answers are written in the freckle constellations of her cute new coworker, Sage Talis.
Sage is the quiet, polite type with plenty of secrets – like fangs and a price on his head – and Talor can’t figure out what makes him so irresistible until she hears him sing. But when cryptic letters appear on her wrist, Talor is thrust into a world where fantastic creatures lurk just below the skin, strangers keep calling her a princess, and everything she’s been through is nothing compared to what’s coming.
~AUTHOR INTERVIEW with Safari Spell~
1) What
gave you the inspiration for the storyline?
Oddly
enough, my husband did! One day we were talking and he suggested I write a book
so he could be a vampire. I started joking about putting him in a vampire rock
band since he was in one during college and the idea stuck. It sounded too fun
not to try! I was so excited about the project that I wrote the first four
chapters overnight. Almost exactly five years later, I published Long Live Dead Reckless.
2) Are
there any hidden themes in the book that you hope readers will discover?
I
think some of the themes – like mental illness and grief – are obvious, while
others are more woven into the characters. Talor and Sage both face pain from
their past, and it severely affects their functionality in the present. They
have monstrous fears, but they don’t deal with them the same way. I liked
exploring how different people process healing.
3) Are
any of the characters based on real people you know?
Absolutely!
Because the story started out almost like fan-fiction of my own life, 90% of
the characters are based on someone I know. Talor is similar to me (I’m not as
feisty) and Sage is a super chill version of my husband. When I was creating the
supporting characters, I mostly just took interesting traits and speech patterns
from real people in my life for variety. I was a little nervous to do that at
first because I didn’t want anyone to be offended, but no one had a problem
with it. I even had a few readers ask to be made into a character!
4) Who
has influenced you most as a writer?
Oooo,
that’s tough. I guess it’d have to be John Keats, Delilah S. Dawson, and Diana
Gabaldon. I think their influences are the only obvious ones that show up in my
work. I’ve read so many talented authors that I’m sure there are more, but
those are the ones that stand out in my mind.
5) If
you could have any three literary characters over to your place for game night,
who would you invite, what would you play, what would you serve, and why?
From
my book, I really need Spencer Kaden to be there. He’s irreverent and fun, so
he’d make it easy and embarrassing for me to win Apples to Apples for the first
time with his vulgar wit. I’d invite Cath from Fangirl because she is the most adorable fake person ever and I’m
pretty sure I think she’s real in my mind anyway so it wouldn’t be weird if she
showed up and acted more socially awkward than me. And finally, I’d invite Luca
from Waterfall because he’s an swoony
Italian medieval knight and I’m pretty sure he’d love to try Panda Express for
the first time, which is what I’d serve because I legit can’t cook. Dessert
would be petit fours because they’re fancy Little Debbie snacks and I really
want one right now.
6) Do
you feel that you can ever have too many books?
Considering
I have about 10 books on my shelf waiting to be read and I still keep buying
more, I’d say no! My husband might have a very different opinion on that,
though.
Author Bio:Safari Spell is a native of Albany, Georgia. She has a BA in Journalism from Valdosta State University. She currently lives in North Georgia with her husband, hilarious daughter, and a backyard jungle harboring all the dinosaurs everyone thinks are extinct. Her dreams include chasing autumn around the globe, owning a wallaby, and riding a camel for at least nine seconds.
Thanks for hosting today, Jen! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the fun interview! I enjoyed the questions!
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