Author Interview with Alma Katsu, author of The Reckoning (The Taker #2)

The Reckoning (The Taker #2) 
by Alma Katsu
Release Date: 31st January 2013

Publishers: Century

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

A love triangle spanning 200 years...Alma Katsu takes readers on a breathtaking journey through the landscape of the heart."New York Times" bestselling author Scott Westerfeld ("Leviathan") praises Alma Katsu's "The Taker" as, "a centuries-spanning epic that will keep you turning pages all night. This marvelous debut is a thinking person's guilty pleasure." And Keith Donohue ("The Stolen Child") says, ""The Taker" is a frighteningly compelling story about those most human monsters--desire and obsession. It will curl your hair and keep you up late at night."

Now Alma Katsu delivers the highly anticipated follow-up to her haunting novel about an immortal woman learning firsthand that the heart wants what the heart wants...no matter how high the stakes. Fans of "The Taker" can finally indulge in their next juicy fix with the second book of the trilogy, "The Reckoning." In this gripping, pulse-pounding supernatural sequel, discover what happens to Lanny, Luke, Adair--and Jonathan. "The Reckoning" picks up where "The Taker" leaves off, following Lanny on her path to redemption--and creating a whole new level of suspense

When did you first start writing?

The first short story I remember writing was in the fifth grade. It was a mystery with a Sherlock Holmes-y detective, and my teacher encouraged me to write more, so you can definitely blame her.

Do you have a favourite place to write?

Either the bed in the guest room—plenty of room for my two whippets to keep me company and it catches the full afternoon sun—or the couch in my study. The couch is like a giant pillow, very comfy.

What’s the best part about writing a story?

For me it’s the first draft, letting my imagination run unfettered. The characters are people you’ve just discovered and the story is an amazing adventure waiting to be experienced. It’s like when you fall in love and you never want to be apart from your beloved: when I’m not working on the story I’m counting the minutes until I can get back to it. Some writers prefer the revision stage but for me, it’s the act of creation.

 Can you tell us a little bit about what you’re working on now?

I’m wrapping up the rewrite of a new book, a departure from The Taker books, but still a fantasy: it’s about someone who discovers way to live forever but he has to take a life every time he extends his. So it’s a continuation of some of my favorite themes: morality, justice, atonement, redemption. Once that’s done I must plunge back into the revision of the last book in the Taker trilogy, The Descent.  

Questions relating to The Takers Series

What was your inspiration for writing The Taker series?

It’s a bit of a reaction to taking a simple view of love. To me, love is a very complicated thing. It makes life worth living yet when it goes wrong, it brings us to our knees. It can bring out the best in a person—a mother’s love, willingness to sacrifice your happiness for someone else. But it can also bring out the worst in us, such as when we want someone so badly that we'd do anything for him or her. Crimes are committed in the name of love. And yet it's the one desire from which we can never truly divorce ourselves--the desire to be loved (understood, accepted) will run through our veins until the day we die. Some people try to repress the desire to be loved and pretend it doesn't matter to them, but it never truly goes away. I find I’m not too interested in simple love stories: there’s usually a reason why we fall in love with the people we choose.

Can you tell us how you chose Lanore & Luke's names?

The character’s nickname—Lanny—came first. In my mind, I pictured Jonathan calling this girl Lanny. That’s his name for her—and naming is a form of owning (just as we name the things we own, like our pets). Then I had to figure out what name could be the basis for that nickname. For the doctor, Luke Findley, his last name came first. It came off the spine of a novel—Pilgrim, by Timothy Findley, which is about a character who claims to be an angel—and the given name ‘Lucas’ just seemed to fit with ‘Findley’.

Who would play your dream cast if your book was optioned for a film?

This is a really hard question for me because I don’t get to the movies too often. Readers have suggested Mat Bomer for Jonathan and Amanda Seyfriend for Lanny. I think Scarlett Johansson would be great for Lanny, perhaps Jonathan Rhys Meyers for Adair? Jonathan is so hard to cast—after all, he’s supposed to be the most beautiful man who ever lived so it’ll be hard to come to agreement on that one!

Do you have a favourite character?

It has to be Adair, the antagonist. It is so interesting to be inside his head. Not always pleasant, but interesting. 

What’s your favourite quote from The Reckoning?

“A woman’s love is an amazing and humbling thing.” This comes out of Jonathan’s mouth, which just goes to show you that anyone is capable of change.

Blog Tour Schedule:
Monday 4th   Feb: Book Angel Booktopia: http://www.bookangelbooktopia.com/
Tuesday 5th Feb: Book Passion for Life http://bookpassionforlife.blogspot.co.uk/
Wednesday 6th Feb: Serendipity Reviews: http://www.serendipityreviews.co.uk/
Thursday 7th Feb: A Dream of Books: http://adreamofbooks.blogspot.co.uk/
Friday 8th Feb: One More Page: http://www.onemorepage.co.uk/

About Author: I'm the author of THE TAKER and THE RECKONING (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster), the first two novels in a trilogy about desire, obsession and the dark things we sometimes do for love. The Taker, which has been widely compared to the ealy work of Anne Rice, was selected by ALA/Booklist as one of the top ten debut novels of 2011 and translation rights have been sold in 14 languages. The third book in The Taker Trilogy, THE DESCENT, is coming May 2013.

For more information on Alma, please visit her website; http://www.almakatsu.com