Quick! Describe Slice of Cherry in 7 words or less!
Dexter-ish sisters in the Twilight Zone (It's hard to describe my books without comparing them to The Twilight Zone. :D)
What makes your characters unique from other YA characters?
I don't write about "typical teens". I don't even know what that means. My teens are always weird, but proud to be weird. There's none of that, "Oh why can't I be like everyone else?" kind of crap. But no matter how strange my kids are, they want what everyone wants: to be loved and accepted for who they are.
What inspired you to write Slice of Cherry?
I wanted to write about a family, about the love/hate relationship between sisters in particular, and about the pain of growing up and letting go of childish things in general. But to keep the book from reading like an Afterschool Special, I made the sisters serial killers. Forcing people to root for the bad guys is how I get my kicks.
Do you have any small teasers you can share from Slice of Cherry?
There are two sisters--Kit and Fancy. Fancy is the youngest and keeps a dream diary. This is an excerpt from it:
I died. I don’t know what of. I was in a crate in the Pikachu costume I wore for Halloween when I was seven. Kit was dragging me from house to house trying to get somebody to take me in and bury me, but nobody would.
Being a serial killer, Fancy tends to have very dark dreams.
What do you absolutely need in order to write a novel (example: caffeine, music, et cetera)?
I'm very analog still, so I need notebooks and pens--I always write my ideas on paper first. I also need music, but it needs to be unobtrusive, like classical or trip-hop. Philip Glass, Schumann, Massive Attack, and Tricky are my go-to artists when I'm trying to create.
What kind of story are you working on right now (or planning to)?
I'm working on book three now, which I'm going to finish during NaNoWriMo this year. Like my other books, it takes place in Portero and is about a girl born without a heart who has to steal them from living people in order to survive. There are hot, creepy twins, mechanical creations, a big spooky house--I'm very excited to get cracking on this one. :)
Ooh, that one sounds intriguing! Thanks so much for dropping by to answer some questions, Dia!
Want to learn more about Dia and her books? Visit her website! Her debut novel Bleeding Violet is now in paperback, and her newest novel Slice of Cherry is available for pre-order (releases January 4th! I can't wait!)
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Onto the giveaway! Since I loved Bleeding Violet (I adored this book - so wild and unique), and I know Slice of Cherry is probably going to rock, I've decided to have a giveaway!
Giveaway Details:
- US ONLY (sorry, but shipping is out of the country is something I can't afford right now).
- TWO winners: One for a paperback copy of Bleeding Violet. One for a hardcover copy of Slice of Cherry
- ENDS January 2nd, 2011 at Midnight
To enter, fill out the form HERE
(will open in a new window).
