Interview with Victoria Kinnaird

We've been going on and on about the blog hop this week (because you can ENTER TO WIN SO MUCH COOL STUFF. So obviously you should GO THERE)

Today, Victoria Kinnaird has been kind enough to send along an interview. So read all about her, everything from her thoughts on reading and writing, to questions about her books. As always, our guest poster is in green!

Why do you think Teen Read Week is important? I think Teen Read Week is important because reading during your teenage years can really open up the world for you. Being a teenager can be a difficult time, and I think it's important for teens to know that they're not alone and that the world is a vast, crazy, beautiful place!

How do you think we could encourage youngsters to read more? I think the most important thing is not to talk down to young people. Books that batter you over the head with their moral lesson are boring and in my opinion, a little insulting. Books should teach you about yourself, not tell you who you should be. That's why, when I was writing, I wanted to make sure that my teenage characters were as realistic as possible.

When you were a teenager what books did you like to read and did you have an all-time favorite character? I read a lot when I was a teenager. I loved The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice, Lord of The Rings by J R R Tolkien, and obviously Harry Potter was a very big part of my childhood! I have to say though that my all time favourite character has to be Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye.

Were you writing as a teenager? If so, what were you writing and what inspired you? Did a person inspire you to write? I started writing seriously when I was 15. I ended up writing a series about a musician, because I was really inspired by the music I was listening to. I was really lucky, there were some truly iconic musicians around at that time – Gerard Way from My Chemical Romance, Davey Havok from AFI and so on – that are artists in every sense of the word. I was very inspired by that.

Do you think today’s teens are in a better position if they want to be a writer than you were all those years ago? I think the rise of independent publishers has meant that writers have more options than they had before, the world of publishing has really opened up. If I had pitched my book five years ago – about a bisexual, smoking, drinking, swearing teen anti-hero, I'm pretty sure I would have been laughed at!  But independent publishers are more willing to take these things on, so I think there are definitely more options for writers than there have been previously.

What advice would you give a youngster who enjoys writing? Stick with it. I started writing my debut novel five years ago, when I was 20. It only came out this year because I wasn't brave enough to see it through. So don't give up. The more you write, the better you'll get. Read everything you can put your hands on, and don't let anyone tell you that you can't write a certain way or about a particular subject. When you write, you create a world that's entirely your own – don't be afraid to rule it!

What is your latest book about?

The Red Sun Rises is my debut novel, and it's about a boy called Eren Anderson. He's been raised by his dad in this small town called All Hallows and he really doesn't fit in. His dad is part of a spell casting, nature worshipping secret society that believes vampires are real. Eren doesn't have the ability to cast, so although he knows about this other world, he's not a part of it. He's really struggling to come to terms with that when he's turned into a vampire and unlocks an internal power that is beyond anything or anyone in All Hallows. Throughout the book, he learns a lot about himself and what it means to have power.

Are you working on anything new at the moment? I am currently working on the sequel to The Red Sun Rises :) It will be called The Red Sun Rises: Fire and Ash.

What do you love about being an author? What I love most about being an author is just losing myself in the whole process. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I get frustrated, but usually I really love writing.

Thanks so much, Ms. Kinnaird!

Can't get enough of her?  Check out all her social media below, plus places to buy the book (or, you could just enter to win it.)

FB: www.facebook.com/victoriakinnairdofficial
Twitter: www.twitter.com/theredsunrises
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/18332519-the-red-sun-rises 
Amazon US: www.amazon.com/dp/B00EZZBUI2 
Amazon UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EZZBUI2


a Rafflecopter giveaway