Blog Tour for Dreamless by Josephine Angelini; Author Interview

Dreamless (Starcrossed #2)
by Josephine Angelini
Release Date: July 5th, 2012
Publishers: Macmilliam
See Donna's Review: Here
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Buy : Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

Can true love be forgotten?As the only Scion who can descend into the Underworld, Helen Hamilton has been given a nearly impossible task. By night she wanders through Hades, trying to stop the endless cycle of revenge that has cursed her family. By day she struggles to overcome the fatigue that is rapidly eroding her sanity. Without Lucas by her side, Helen is not sure she has the strength to go on.Just as Helen is pushed to her breaking point, a mysterious new Scion comes to her rescue. Funny and brave, Orion shields her from the dangers of the Underworld. But time is running out—a ruthless foe plots against them, and the Furies’ cry for blood is growing louder.As the ancient Greek world collides with the mortal one, Helen’s sheltered life on Nantucket descends into chaos. But the hardest task of all will be forgetting Lucas Delos. Josephine Angelini’s compelling saga becomes ever more intricate and spellbinding as an unforgettable love triangle emerges and the eternal cycle of revenge intensifies. Eagerly awaited, this sequel to the internationally bestselling STARCROSSED delivers a gritty, action-packed love story that exceeds expectation.

1) How did you come up with the idea for Starcrossed?

My bookshelf.  I saw a copy of the Iliad sitting next to a copy of Romeo and Juliet and I wondered why no one had ever tried to do a modern-day retelling of the Trojan War, but from the perspective of the two young lovers who started the dang thing.  It was a Eureka moment.

2) Why Greek Mythology?

I’ve always loved Greek mythology.  I grew up reading an odd mix of fantasy, science fiction, the classics, and totally trashy romance novels.  Greek mythology is sort of a mix of all of those things, in a way.  There’s magic, monsters, some fantastic storytelling and of course, lots and lots of steamy love stories.  What’s not to love about that?  Another reason was because I studied Classical Theater at NYU, so the ancient plays like Oedipus Rex, Medea, and The Oresteia, were very familiar to me.  I basically just decided to write what I know and love.

3) Which of your books was hardest to write?

The last book, Goddess, was the hardest to write.  Not because I didn’t know how to end it, but because I didn’t have any time.  There were a few months where I was writing Goddess, editing Dreamless, and still traveling and giving tons of interviews to promote Starcrossed.  I am not complaining at all—I feel very blessed to be a working writer, but there were times when getting published it made it harder to sit down and actually write anything. 

4) A love triangle is introduced in Dreamless, was that a big decision for you?

It wasn’t a big decision at all because the love triangle is essential to my plot.  What I mean by that is that the love triangle in my story isn’t just to create a rival for Lucas or to raise the stakes for Helen, but because I needed three people to get involved in order to accomplish a major plot point that leads up to the climax of my trilogy.  For those of you who haven’t read Dreamless yet, you’ll understand what I mean when you get to the end.  

5) Why did you decide to give each character their own powers?

The Olympians all had different powers, and my characters are their descendents so they all have different traits and powers.  I tried to stay true to how the Greeks described their gods.  The one place I deviate from this is with Hector.  He is a descendent of Apollo, the sun god, but he also has a little water nymph in him.  You’ll all see why I did this when you read Goddess.  (And it wasn’t just to make the point that nymphs get around!)

6) Who is your favourite character to write about?

Hector!  There’s something so freeing about writing from the perspective of a big guy who says exactly what he thinks and isn’t afraid of anything.  I guess I like to live vicariously through him. 

7) What is your favourite quote from Dreamless?

Helen asks Claire if she game to try something and Claire replies, “I’m so game I should change my name to Yahtzee.”  That’s one always makes me giggle.

Thank you for joining us Josephine.