Author Julie Kenner was kind enough to respond to an exclusive interview for SciFiChick.com. Kenner’s latest series, the Blood Lily Chronicles, begins with Tainted, recently released, followed closely by Torn and Turned. Keep reading for more about the author and her latest series.
Can you tell us a bit about the new Blood Lily Chronicles?
Sure! The series centers around about a woman who goes out to murder the man who raped her sister, but is killed in the process. She’s given the chance to come back to earth in the body of another woman to earn her redemption as a demon assassin. But things aren’t always as clear-cut as they seem, and as Lily tries to navigate life in a murdered girl’s body, she has to figure out who her allies and her enemies really are.
Unlike most series which produce new novels each year, Tainted, Torn, and Turned are coming out in quick succession each month. How did that work out?
More and more publishers seem to be doing that lately. As a reader, I think it’s awesome (except, of course, after book 3 you have to start waiting again, and I’m impatient!). The idea is to build excitement and let readers have a chance to really get a feel for the series. I was happy to learn that Ace intended to publish the books that way!
Where do you get your ideas for your characters?
I like to tease and say Wal-Mart, but the more honest answer is that I really don’t know. With Lily, I thought I knew her in the proposal, but after a few false starts, I realized I didn’t know her at all, and the character who ended upon the page is much different from my original incarnation. In contrast, Kate (demon hunting soccer mom) hasn’t changed at all from the way I first envisioned her. As for where they came from, Kate in a lot of ways came from me and my new-mom status. Lily comes from a darker place, and I can’t point exactly to where because I don’t really know. I started with the idea of an assassin, and spun off from there. Characters, to me, are very organic.
Lily is a demon hunter, and so is Kate Connor (from the Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series). But the Blood Lily Chronicles is much darker than your previous series. What made you decide to go this route?