Today Anastasia Hopcus has been kind enough to stop by and answer some of her readers questions.
A BIG WELCOME Anastasia!!
What is your favorite part about being a published author?
I like many things about it, but one of the most fun things is meeting book bloggers and readers. I got to know many online, and then I was able to hang out and talk with some of them at the BEA. After both my autographings here in Austin, I had coffee with several bloggers, and we talked for hours. It was awesome.
How do you come up with your character's names?
I really enjoy that process. I go through lists of names online and try to find the ones that best fit my characters. I can spend hours doing that. I have a fondness for unusual names, but I also like to make sure the names are accurate for the time and place and type of person. For instance, given that Phe was from LA and her mother had been a sort of New Age person, I felt that an unusual name would not be out of line for her, but Adriana, coming from her background, would have a more traditional, elegant name. I tried to make sure that the names on the tombstones were appropriate for when and where they lived. And, of course, Phe's name has special meaning in terms of the book.
Are your characters based on people you know?
That's something that readers are frequently curious about. Little details about the various characters---things like what interests they have or a certain eye color, for instance---are taken from people I know. But none of my characters are really based on anyone. One of my favorite things is making up people and giving them a backstory.
Have you, or do you like to, visit the places you write about?
Oh, yes. I loved going to Massachusetts, which I had never visited before. It's beautiful; I absolutely fell in love with the Berkshires. I went all over the state, taking pictures. Phe's memories from LA didn't require a visit, as I had lived there for two or three years. I put Phe's home in Los Feliz, an area where I lived when I was in LA.
Is Shadow Hills part of a series? If so, what can you tell us about it?
I hope Shadow Hills will become a series. I'd love to explore the town and its residents more. I want to see Phe's and Zach's relationship progress and weather some problems. I'd like to delve a little more into the past and reveal exactly why Phe was drawn to Devenish Prep and the town of Shadow Hills. I definitely have a few more secrets up my sleeve. :)
Have you read Shadow Hills yet?
His love captivated her... his secrets might kill her.
Since her sister’s mysterious death, Persephone “Phe” Archer has been plagued by a series of disturbing dreams. Determined to find out what happened to her sister, Phe enrolls at Devenish Prep in Shadow Hills, Massachusetts—the subject of her sister’s final diary entry.
After stepping on campus, Phe immediately realizes that there’s something different about this place—an unexplained epidemic that decimated the town in the 1700s, an ancient and creepy cemetery, and gorgeous boy Zach—and somehow she’s connected to it all.
But the more questions she asks and the deeper she digs, the more entangled Phe becomes in the haunting past of Shadow Hills. Finding what links her to this town…might cost her her life.
THANK YOU ANASTASIA!
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OOoooo I must read this. Fab post.
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