Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Synopsis:
My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods…or monsters. I still can’t decide which of these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.
Then there’s Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me.
Which could spell death for us all.
Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally—as the bait.
Can you briefly describe CRAVE and its characters?
Crave is a lot of fun! I like to think it has something for everyone—romance, angst, adventure, angst, humor, angst, sarcasm, angst, and a bunch of paranormal creatures all thrown together in a boarding school in Alaska. Oh, and did I mention it’s got a little ebit of angst?
Grace is an every girl kind of heroine. A bunch of bad stuff has happened to her--which is how she lands at this boarding school in Alaska-- but she manages to keep a sense of humor as she works through it all. She’s also pretty kickass, if I do say so myself.
Jaxon is … complicated. His issues have issues, but he has a really good heart. One reviewer called him a giant marshmallow of a vampire and I have to admit, I love that description sooooo much.
Flint is a charmer through and through. He’s fun, sexy, loaded with charisma and he knows how to show a girl a good time. Of course, there’s a lot buried under the surface with him, but you’ve got to dig a little to get there.
Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?
This is a hard one for me, because honestly, I love Grace, Jaxon, Flint and Macy all for very different reasons. But if I have to choose one, I’m going to go with Grace (even though Jaxon is a super close second). But there’s a lot of me in this book, and a lot of me in Grace specifically, so I’m going to pick her. But if you ask me tomorrow, I’ll probably say Jaxon because he makes me swoon …
How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?
Honestly, I’ve always loved vampires. Dracula, The Lost Boys, The Black Dagger Brotherhood, The Carpathians, The Farm, Boys that Bite, Twilight, Morganville … I’m here for them all! I never thought I’d write a vampire series, though, because I didn’t want to write one unless I had an original take on vampires. But when Jaxon’s world came to me (much of which will be revealed in books two and three of the series), I knew I wanted to write it. Once I had him and Grace and Flint fleshed out, the story just kind of poured out of me :)
If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be?
Gods and Monsters by Lana del Rey. It was running through my head a lot as I wrote Crave.
If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?
Ooooh! I am actually really horrible at dream casting, but I’ll give it a shot, just for you J
Grace: Joey King
Jaxon: Douglas Booth
Flint: Shameik Moore
Macy: Chloe Grace Moretz
Lia: Kiko Mizuhara
What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?
Umm, blood. Obviously ;) But if you’re not an actual vampire, I suggest you grab a cold Dr. Pepper (it’s Grace’s favorite) and curl up in a super comfy arm chair because it’s a really looong book.
Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish CRAVE?
If they’re looking for vampires, I’m going to go a little old school and recommend a couple of my faves. Emily McKay has an amazing vampire trilogy called The Farm that I absolutely love. And Rachel Caine’s Morganville Vampires is my favorite vampire series ever.
If they’re looking for something different, Sherry Thomas’s The Magnolia Sword (a retelling of the Mulan story) is out now and absolutely amazing. And We Walked the Sky by Lisa Fielder is a beautiful book.
What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a book?
The American short storyist, Dorothy Parker, says writing is the art of applying the ass to the seat. And I have to say, she’s right. For me, the hardest part of writing is making myself sit down at the computer when I know I have to write a difficult scene. Not difficult like I can’t write it, but difficult emotionally, like I know I’m going to have to open up a vein and bleed all over the page (metaphorically speaking, of course). Some scenes mean touching on my own pain so the characters’ emotions feel real and resonate with the reader. Some days that’s okay and other days that’s really, really hard.
What’s next for you?
More Crave, actually. I’m currently working on Crush, the second book in the Crave series, and I’m so excited to be back in Grace and Jaxon’s world.
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Tracy Wolff wrote her first short story—something with a rainbow and a prince—in second grade, around the same time she forayed into the wonderful world of girls lit with her first Judy Blume novel. By ten she’d read everything in the young adult and classics sections of her local bookstore, so in desperation her mom started her on romance novels. And from the first page of the first book, Tracy knew she’d found her life-long love. A one-time English professor with over fifty novels to her name, she now devotes most of her time to writing romance and dreaming up heroes. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her family.
