Interview: Kresley Cole and Robert Petkoff about 'Dark Skye'
Kresley Cole, author of Dark Skye, and Robert Petkoff, narrator of the Immortals After Dark audiobooks, join us to talk about all things Dark Skye. (Keep reading for an audio excerpt from Dark Skye and an awesome giveaway from publisher Simon & Schuster.)
Jessie: IAD is one of my favorite series, and I can't wait to read Dark Skye. How was writing it? Were there any interesting or funny things that happened during the writing process?
Kresley: Thank you! Writing Dark Skye was a unique challenge since Lanthe & Thronos were first introduced in Kiss of a Demon King, eight installments ago! For 5½ years, readers have been telling me that this book was one of their most anticipated of the whole series, so I definitely felt the pressure!
As the installments in the Immortals After Dark series span simultaneous timelines, making sure the details remained accurate was a hair-raising/losing exercise. My Excel spreadsheets from 2005 were tested to the max, but in the end I was amazed by how close the finished book came to what I'd originally envisioned for this series.
Jessie: Lanthe and Thronos have such a complicated history and present relationship (if you could call it that). Can you tell us more about them individually and together?
Kresley: As children, they were best friends for a few blissful months until Lanthe's family was attacked by Thronos'. In retaliation, Lanthe used her persuasion to make him jump out of a tower window and not to use his wings on the way down. He almost died and was scarred and injured for life.
Thronos spent the next 500 years searching for her, bent on revenge. When he finally captures her after all that time, both of them feel animosity toward the other, but they're also shocked by how much of their childhood love remained.
Jessie: What other characters will we get to see? Any Nix action time? (I still can't wait for her book!)
Kresley: We get to catch up with Sabine and Rydstrom, Cade and Holly (plus their twins!), and the sorceresses Morgana, Portia and Ember. We learn more about Nereus (the sea god from No Rest for the Wicked), and we finally find out the fate of Furie!
As for the Everknowing One, aka Nucking Futs Nïx, she plays an integral role in Dark Skye, and there's an entire chapter dedicated to her petition for goddesshood.
The soothsayer will get her story one day, but she still has work to do for this Accession. Plus, her book will be near the very end of the series, so hopefully it won't come out for quite some time. ;)
Jessie: How did you choose the paranormal genre after writing the hot Scottish brothers? Have you noticed any new trends in the paranormal genre?
Kresley: I've been a huge fan of all things paranormal my whole life. For me, it was always a question of when, not if, I was going to write a paranormal series. I dipped my toe in the genre by incorporating a mystical curse into the MacCarrick Brothers Trilogy.
As for trends, these days I'm seeing so much variety within the genre. Vampires used to rule, but now all creatures of the night get page time. (Though I still love my vamps. Kristoff the Gravewalker, I'm looking at you!)
Jessie: What's the best compliment you've gotten about your work? What's the toughest criticism you've had?
Kresley: The best compliment was my induction into the RWA Hall of Fame, when the IAD series earned a third RITA in paranormal romance.
My toughest criticism usually comes from myself. As my editor can attest to, I'm never done tweaking a book until the production department has to rip it from my hands!
In Dark Skye, I rewrote every one of the Pandemonia scenes over and over before I was happy with them — hundreds of pages are now sitting in a folder called CUTTINGS, never to be read. Ouch! But now that I'm hearing feedback from readers and reviewers, all that additional work was so worth it!
Jessie: Now for some rapid-fire questions …
Salty or sweet? Sweet.
Favorite writing snack? Strong coffee and Snickers.
If you were any candy, which one would you be? Jolly Rancher. Oh, to be a merry cattlewoman.
Current book you're reading? I just finished Three Weeks with Lady X by Eloisa James. I adored it! Happy tears at the end.
Book you're most looking forward to in 2014? Sublime by Christina Lauren in October. I can't wait for others to read it and gush with me.
Favorite childhood book? Where the Wild Things Are.
Favorite book boyfriend? Torin from Gena Showalter's The Darkest Touch. Sigh.
Favorite villain? Spike.
Last movie you saw in theaters? Gravity. (I'm not saying that's the last time I left the house, but I'm not *not* saying that, either.)
Cowboy or Highlander? Both!
If you were any paranormal creature which one would you be? Valkyrie.
Epic one-liner from Dark Skye? "Melanthe ... let's begin with a kiss."
Now we turn our attention to Robert Petkoff, audiobook narrator of the IAD series, but first, check out an audio excerpt from Dark Skye:
(If you can't play the excerpt here, you can listen to it at YouTube).
The interview …
Jessie: Welcome to HEA, Robert! It's so awesome to have you here!
Robert: It's my pleasure!
Jessie: Since you've been narrating all the books, are there any characters you've become particularly attached to or that you are looking forward to narrating in future books?
Robert: I like Regan the Radiant. I like how funny and tough she is. Any of the Lykae are fun because I love doing the Scottish accent. I also love Nix. I think she's such a terrific, interesting and, again, very amusing character. I really want to see what becomes of her and if she ever settles down with one man or keeps on living the single life. I enjoy how she's pulling all the strings and manipulating all of these characters' lives, but in a (mostly) good way. I say mostly because there is often a good deal of pain that these immortals have to go through to get their relationships on track. Reminds me of dating before I was married ...
Jessie: You've said before that you love how many different dialects Kresley has in her scenes together. How do you prepare or remember each character's own accent and "feel"?
Robert: I narrate from an iPad and use a terrific app called iAnnotate. It allows me to highlight each character in her or his own color. That way in scenes with a lot of dialogue and especially in scenes with a lot of characters I can keep track of who is speaking and switch back and forth rapidly. It is surprisingly easy for me to remember the accent and type of voice each character has in a given book. Occasionally, with a very minor character, I will take a moment to consult with Karen Pearlman, my producer. "Did we give the nymphs a slight Irish sound or a light British accent?" She's very good at keeping track. Across different books when a character from another story reappears, Karen helps keep me on the right track with which voice I used.
Certain characters which appear as a supporting player in one book may return as the star of another and sometimes their voices have to change from the previous story. For instance, in A Hunger Like No Other, I gave Bowen a raspy, slightly higher-toned voice to distinguish him from Lachlan MacRieve's deeper, gravelly voice. But when Bowen shows up in his own story, I needed to make his voice deeper and, well, sexier. Kresley rarely describes her leading men as having light, airy voices. : ) No one wants to hear: "'I need you,' Bowen said in a high, nasally voice."
Jessie: What is a basic day when recording the book?
Robert: We will start around 10 a.m. in the studio. (Actually, more like 10:20 once we stop chatting about the story.) The engineer will ask me to read a bit for recording levels. I might read the same first few lines in a normal tone of voice and then again as if I were doing a scene with a lot of yelling or passion. I'll then read for about an hour and a half before taking a short break. This will go on for an average of seven hours with a lunch break somewhere in there. It can take anywhere from three to five days to record a book, depending on its length. I'm constantly sipping water or tea to keep my vocal chords lubricated. Vocal strain is the last thing I want, especially if I'm narrating for six or seven hours and then performing onstage at night in a play or musical. It's a great challenge to tell the story with passion yet keep myself vocally relaxed.
Jessie: Any funny or interesting stories happen to you while recording the IAD series?
Robert: I remember starting with a male engineer when recording my first Kresley Cole book, A Hunger Like No Other, and in the middle of the week he had to go do another job. His replacement was a rather attractive woman, and she started right when we were beginning a rather (ahem) "passionate" scene. When we finished recording that scene, I was blushing a bit. She looked at me and said, "I think I need a cigarette now!"
Jessie: Were you anticipating all the fan love? (We love you for bringing our favorite characters' voices to life. :-D) Do you have a favorite fan letter, question or comment?
Robert: I never even thought about it, and then Karen sent me an e-mail with some comments she had found, and I was very pleased that people were enjoying the stories and my interpretation of them. Kresley has some very passionate fans, and I'm glad I haven't disappointed them. My wife once sent me an e-mail with the header "We are going to have to get you a bodyguard" that included a comment she had found online. The woman had written something like, "If this narrator keeps doing Kresley's books, I'm going to need new underwear." It made me laugh and then made me think, "Well, I guess I'm doing something right!"
Jessie: Thanks so much for stopping by. I can't wait to hear Dark Skye!
Robert: It's epic! I think you will really enjoy Lanthe and Thronos' trip through hell ...
Find out more about Kresley and her books at kresleycole.com. Find out more about Robert at robertpetkoff.com.
GIVEAWAY: Stop over at www.NSFWaudio.com for a shot at winning an iPad Mini pre-loaded with all of Kresley's audiobooks.
Jessie Potts, also known as Book Taster, adores books in all forms. She also does reviews for RT Book Reviews magazine and works in the submissions department at Dreamspinner Press. You can follow her on Twitter (@BookTaster).