Kick Butt Characters Blog Hop, Featuring Kimberly Derting, author of The Pledge

2nd Annual Kick Butt Characters Hop

Hosted by Good Choice Reading 

& I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

March 23rd - 28th

This hop features the best Kick-Butt Characters in Young Adult Books.

My choice is Charlaina (Charlie) from the Pledge! I'm so excited to introduce Kimberly Derting, the fabulous author of the Pledge and the Body Finder series.

 

Goodreads Book Description: In the violent country of Ludania, the classes are strictly divided by the language they speak. The smallest transgression, like looking a member of a higher class in the eye while they are speaking their native tongue, results in immediate execution. Seventeen-year-old Charlaina has always been able to understand the languages of all classes, and she's spent her life trying to hide her secret. The only place she can really be free is the drug-fueled underground clubs where people go to shake off the oppressive rules of the world they live in. It's there that she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Max who speaks a language she's never heard before . . . and her secret is almost exposed.

Charlie is intensely attracted to Max, even though she can't be sure where his real loyalties lie. As the emergency drills give way to real crisis and the violence escalates, it becomes clear that Charlie is the key to something much bigger: her country's only chance for freedom from the terrible power of a deadly regime.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My Review: The Pledge Review  

Kimberly Derting is the author of the BODY FINDER series (HarperCollins) and THE PLEDGE trilogy (Simon & Schuster). She lives in the Seattle area, with her husband and three children, who often find the outrageous things they say either in the pages of her books or posted on Twitter or Facebook for the entire world to see.

You can visit her website at www.kimberlyderting.com.

 

Author Interview

1. Tell us a little about how you became inspired to create the world in The Pledge?

Unlike the idea for my other series, The Body Finder, which came to me all at once, the original idea for The Pledge came in pieces...more like a puzzle.  The first piece was just a simple question: “What would it be like if someone could understand all languages?” But I definitely wanted the story itself to be bigger than just that component.  I spent a lot of time—over a year—thinking about how Charlie’s ability would work, what kind of world she would live in, and developing the monarchies and her friends and family, before I’d ever written a single word. I talk more about how I got the idea here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcwK-Ja9wk4

2. Which character in another YA book would your main character Charlie most likely be best friends with?

I think Charlie and Peeta (from THE HUNGER GAMES) would be friends. Peeta is funny and loyal, and knows how to bake a cake ;)

3. Who was your favorite character to write and why? Did any character surprise you?

I’m not sure any of them really surprised me, but asking me which character I most enjoy writing is practically like asking me to choose which of my kids I like best. I’m totally gonna do it, though (the favorite character, not the favorite kid!), because I did have one. It was definitely Angelina. She’s adorable and smart and may have a few secrets of her own.

4. For our aspiring writers, can you talk a little about why you write in trilogy form rather than stand alones and what you've found to be pros/cons about both forms?

I think a lot of the challenges are the same whether you’re writing a series or a trilogy, namely trying to keep each story fresh. And then secondly, keeping them fresh without completely abandoning the format that your readers have already fallen in love with. I don’t want my books to be “formulaic,” but at the same time, I want readers to feel like they’re hanging out with an old friend when they’re reading the next book in the series.  It’s like walking a tightrope, trying to find that balance that will keep readers coming back for more.

The biggest difference is that with a series, each book wraps up its main storyline so that there’s a conclusion to the (in the case of The Body Finder series) mystery. With a trilogy there’s an overall arc that spans all three books, and the ultimate conclusion isn’t reached until that final novel. But honestly, I love writing in both formats!

5. Tell us a little about what your future books are about, including the sequel to The Pledge, Essence, which has just come out!

In THE ESSENCE, the second book in The Pledge trilogy, Charlie has taken the throne of her country, Ludania, and is now in charge of trying to set things right. Unfortunately, the old queen is still around—her Essence is fused inside of Charlie. And as Charlie secretly struggles to keep the voice of the evil queen at bay, she is also being challenged by those who would like to see her dead.

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