Dark Days Interview with Courtney Allison Moulton!

Hey! Have you heard about HarperTeen's Dark Days of Supernatural tour? In which five spectacular paranormal authors will be traveling the US and the blogosphere, promoting their books? I have been specially partnered with Courtney Allison Moulton, debut author of Angelfire, for this tour, and I am thrilled to present to you an exclusive interview, courtesy of HarperCollins Publishing!

AUTHOR Q&A

1. Why did you choose to write about angels?

Virtually every religion that has ever existed has had a concept of good versus evil. When I came up with the idea for Angelfire, I wanted to write about the ultimate battle between good and evil: Heaven against Hell. What fascinates me most about the creatures of Hell, the Fallen, is that they used to be on the side of good. They were angels once. In Angelfire, I wanted to explore what would make someone become evil, what would make an angel fall. It goes with the old saying, "evil begets evil." To become evil, we must perpetuate evil. It grows and consumes us until it's too thick to see through, and that’s what I wanted to write about.

2. Did you draw any inspiration from your own life for this story?

I think every writer takes pieces here and there from people we've come across and things we've experienced. I did draw upon some of my own high school and college experiences to create Ellie’s social life. Ellie’s family situation is more troubled than mine was, but she has some of the same boy problems that I had, minus the really hot Guardian part. Sadly, I have to admit that I’ve never battled a soul-stealing monster with a sword before. I made up all that.


3. If you could be any sort of supernatural being, what would you be?

I would be an angelic reaper. They aren’t evil like the demonic reapers and they each have their own unique abilities. Some can fly, create swords out of thin air, possess psychic abilities, and some can even change their entire bodies to look like someone else. They are all super strong and live really exciting lives. Not to mention, never aging would be pretty awesome. But they also have some very serious responsibilities, like fighting in a never-ending war against Hell, protecting powerful magical artifacts from falling into the wrong hands, and as cool as it sounds, I don’t think I’d want to fight monsters every night. Maybe I’m happy just being human.

4. Which city are you most excited to visit on your tour?

I've never been to Minneapolis, but I might be most excited about visiting Chicago since I'm from Michigan and this city is close to home. But then again, it'll be very nice to visit Miami during the winter, even if for a short time!

5. What gets you through a dark day?

When I'm having a difficult, stressful day, I take a moment to breathe and remember that it's just one day. Things will always get better. Reading an addictive book or watching a good movie helps to distract me from real-life stress, but my number one dark day remedy is riding my horse. I'll drop everything to drive out there to spend time with her and my riding friends, who are my best friends and always know how to cheer me up.

And just for fun...

Will's Top 10 List: The Top 10 things Ellie does that drive me crazy

1. Dresses me for themed parties.

2. Makes fun of my weakness for root beer floats.

3. Calls me the names of pop culture references I don't get.

4. Would rather watch teen comedies from the 1980's with Kate instead of patrolling for reapers.

5. Marshmallow. I don't understand this.

6. Asks a lot of questions.

7. Drags me to Cold Stone too frequently.

8. Sometimes doesn't quite believe she's the strong girl that I know she is.

9. Smiles at me.

10. Plays with the curls in the ends of her hair and I can't look away.

Thanks, Courtney! Check out the Dark Days of Supernatural tour stops below, and see if you're lucky enough to be living near any of these stops:

March 17 @ 7:00 PM
Barnes & Noble
2100 North Snelling Avenue
Roseville, MN
*w/ Claudia Gray (AFTERLIFE), Courtney Allison Moulton (ANGELFIRE) and Kimberly Derting (DESIRES OF THE DEAD)

March 18 @ 7:00 PM
Anderson’s
123 West Jefferson Avenue
Naperville, IL
* w/ Claudia Gray (AFTERLIFE), Courtney Allison Moulton (ANGELFIRE), Kimberly Derting (DESIRES OF THE DEAD) and Ellen Schreiber (ONCE IN A FULL MOON)

March 19 @ 7:00 PM
Books & Books
265 Aragon Avenue
Miami, FL
*w/ Claudia Gray (AFTERLIFE), Courtney Allison Moulton (ANGELFIRE) and Kimberly Derting (DESIRES OF THE DEAD)

Each author on the tour will be interviewed every Friday on a different blog; check the Facebook page for updates on the next interview. If you're interested, please check out the fan kit that HarperTeen has prepared for this tour, their Facebook page, the trailer.