Interview and Giveaway: Nancy Holder -- The Evil Within

Today, I have the amazing Nancy Holder here to answer some questions about herself, and her newest release, The Evil Within (Possessions #2). 

Quick! Describe The Evil Within in 7 words or less!

ANSWER: ghosts, possessions, revenge, murder, love, chaos, heartwarming

Okay, so what's The Evil Within about (in however many words it takes!)

Lindsay Cavanaugh thought she was done with Marlwood Academy, where the mean girls, possessed by ghosts, tried to kill her.   But she has to go back.  Will Troy be her ally?  Will someone else die?  Will Lindsay accidentally make it happen?

What was the most difficult part of writing this book? The easiest?

The most difficult part was putting myself in the fear zone so I could “write scary.”  Nearly every morning, I would watch a scary movie to get myself in the mood.  I have to watch them early because I can’t handle being that scared in the dark.  Last night I had to go upstairs (in the dark) to get the Thai food my daughter left in her room (she wasn’t home) and I just couldn’t walk into her room without a light on.  For just a second, I imagined that terrifying girl in RINGU (Sadako) standing just inside my daughter’s room, staggering toward me.  I told myself she’s not real, it’s just a movie, etc., but I was petrified.  Maybe okay, maybe not Sadako but what if someone from THE GRUDGE was in there?

So I went back around the corner and turned on the bathroom light, went back to the doorway to bedroom, where I could now seen in faintly.  The Thai food was on her desk.  knew I could walk across the room, grab the container and leave, but…it was still too dark.  It was a shorter journey to her wall light, so I hopped through the dark, flicked it on, grabbed the food…and got the heck out of there.  I left the light on.  I believe in being green but there is a limit. 

So that’s the hardest part.

The easiest part is watching the scary movies.  Isn’t that sad?  Writing is hard work.  But writing the Possessions series is easier than a lot of other things I work on, because I love the characters so much.  I don’t just love the “good guys;” I love the bad guys, too.  Anger is a secondary emotion, and it springs from feeling wronged.  From having your boundaries crossed.  From being hurt.  So I feel for Mandy, Belle, and company, because they have been deeply hurt. 

This is NOT to say that in real life, one should put up with the meanness of mean girls.  One should not excuse their bad behavior by pitying them.  “Well, she’s hurt, so I’ll let her walk all over me.”  NO!  There’s a saying, “We train people how to treat us.”

But even in the darkest place, there is hope.  Mean girls can become nice women.  I have a friend who confessed to me that she was very, very mean when she was a teenager.  In fact, her confessions inspired me to create Mandy.  Some of the things she did make Mandy sound like a teddy bear.  She became extremely ill and had to stay home from school for nearly a year.  People from school came to visit her, even people she didn’t know well and people she had wronged.  And she realized that people are nice.  Not only were they nice, but they were nice to her.  She thought long and hard about what she had done.  And she changed.

Even in the darkest place, there is hope.

Anything extra that you can share about The Evil Within (like a teaser, *hint, hint*)?

One of my favorite things to write about in horror is:  What if you aren’t who you think you are?  Welcome to Lindsay’s world!

Okay, you find out you’ve been possessed by a ghost. What’s your first reaction?

Dude, I am calling the Ghostbusters in a heartbeat.  LOL.  I would not be able to get to “fascinated.”  I would be way too freaked out!

What are you working on now? 

I just finished the edits for POSSESSIONS 3: THE SCREAMING SEASON. My editor just showed me the first draft of the cover art and it is AMAZING!!!!!!

And in September, my coauthor Debbie Viguie and I have a new young adults dark fantasy series coming out called CRUSADE.  It’s like our WICKED series, only not.  It’s about vampire hunters who are headquartered in Spain.  Not all of them are human.

Would you like to add anything else?

I want to thank you for inviting me onto your blog!   And to anyone who is confused, hurting, angry:  The light you need to find is inside you.  It really is.  You are the light of the world.  Let it shine!

Thanks so much for the wonderful interview, Nancy! 

CONTEST: Nancy was kind enough to host a contest to win a copy of Possessions and a copy of The Evil Within. 

- International

- Ends July 5th, 2010 

- For EXTRA points, comment on my reviews of POSSESSIONS and THE EVIL WITHIN (will open in new windows)

- fill out the form HERE to enter (form will open in a new window)!