I love good books, like...

Remember the book I teased you about last week? The one that I loved? Well... here it is!

Dragons exist. They’re ferocious. And they’re smart: Before they were killed off by slayer-knights, they rendered a select group of eggs dormant, so their offspring would survive. Only a handful of people know about this, let alone believe it – these “Slayers” are descended from the original knights, and are now a diverse group of teens that includes Tori, a smart but spoiled senator’s daughter who didn’t sign up to save the world.

The dragon eggs have fallen into the wrong hands. The Slayers must work together to stop the eggs from hatching. They will fight; they will fall in love. But will they survive?

And the author graciously agreed to do an interview with me! C.J. Hill happens to be a friend of mine (and in a not so well guarded secret, is actually a pen name of a well known YA author). Do you know how she really is?


1. How did you come up with the idea for SLAYERS (for those who don't know yet)?

The idea for Slayers came from the various things. One of those things is my own clumsiness. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and find I have new scratches or bruises. I have no idea of where I got them. My husband is understandably perplexed by this phenomenon. He has often asked me, "Were you with your body all yesterday?" I got tired of trying to make excuses for my own clumsiness, so I told him that while he sleeps I live a double life and secretly fights dragons. And then, because I'm a writer, I began to wonder what it would be like to fight dragons. Who would fight dragons and why?

Another thing that contributed to the plot of Slayers, is cicadas. Some cicadas have a 17 year life cycle. They live dormant underneath the ground for most of those years, and only come out once every 17 years. This way, predators can't depend on them as a food source. I lived in Maryland during one of those years and thoughts the rise of the cicadas from the underworld was especially creepy. I wondered what other creatures might be lurking unknown in the ground, just waiting for the right time to emerge. I grew up on Godzilla movies so dinosaurs were high on that worry list.

Slayers doesn't have any dinosaurs, but dragons are even worse. Dragons not only breathe fire, they fly. My dragons also emit electromagnetic pulses which fry electronic components. Let's just say these aren't Eargon's dragons.

She's not kidding! No friendly dragons to be found here, but I loved the world she created. Isn't it crazy where our ideas for books can come from?

2. Who was your favorite character to write in the book, and why?

There were lots of fun characters to write about in Slayers. I loved Bess's sense of humor, and I loved Dirk's internal conflicts, but Tori was the funnest character to write. She is so out of place with the rest of the slayers that it makes for some funny scenes.

I was curious what your answer would be because there are so many great characters in this book.

3. When does the sequel come out?

Not soon enough for the fans that keep e-mailing me asking me when the next book is due. Let's just say I'm still working on the manuscript. I will say though, that we'll see a lot more of Ryker and Willow in the next story.

I can't wait! What do I need to do to bribe an advanced copy from you?? (I'm actually not kidding about that part...)

4. What's your favorite dessert?

I'm not picky when it comes to dessert. I love them all. Of course, I love desserts with chocolate the most. Suddenly I'm thinking of Almond Joys. Mmmm. My happy place.

Those are SHH's favorite, too!

5. How did you get to be so funny?

I think my inner child never grew up. I don't take a lot of things seriously. Sometimes in life you've got to either laugh or cry. I think it's better to laugh.

That's so true, and great advice, too.

Thanks so much for the interview! It was fun to find out some new things about SLAYERS and you!

If you haven't picked this book up yet, hurry and get a copy. You won't be disappointed!

P.S. Sarah Allen never claimed her prize (bummer)... but that means a new person is my lucky winner. This time the Random Number Generator picked:

Linda: Book Ninja!!

Congratulations! Please comment or email me your email address so I can get your ecopy of BECOME gifted to you! (sarablarson21 [at] gmail [dot] com)