Interview and Giveaway with Ilona Andrews!

Today for UTC After Dark, we have one of our favorite authors were today with us! Ilona Andrews is at UTC! Everyone scream! Creating alternate worlds that take us by storm, Ilona Andrews rocks our socks off with both their Kate Daniels series and The Edge series. For more information on these books, check our their website here. Now let's get to the good stuff!

We are extremely excited to have you here with us today at Under The Covers! 
 Thanks, we are happy to be here.

We are eagerly anticipating your next Kate Daniel's book which is going to be about Andrea, can you give us any hints? Do Rafe and Andrea make up?
We are maybe half way into it and so far they have not. I don't know if I am allowed to give that away. I am pulling for Roman.

We are also big fans of your Edge series, what gave you the idea for the world of the Edge, the Weird and the Broken?
I think we both wanted there to be more to the world than there is. When you are little you believe in magic, than you grow up and you don't. But what if there was another world, parallel to ours, and another that was completely different? Where would you live, in the mundane broken with all the modern conveniences, or in a realm ruled by magic? I think Ilona and I would live in the Edge, we would want to have it both ways. In my mind, the Edge is another frontier, filled with pioneering folk and those who reject the norms and laws of society, it is lawless and wild, but also a place to be free, we find that appealing.

While writing an ongoing series, do you find yourself planning ahead? Do you find yourself changing ideas as you go along?
We usually have a plan and a plot for every book before we start and yes we also frequently change it as we go along. Sometimes, we turn a book in to our
editor and then beg her to let us re-write it. We are trying to do that less often.

How would you say Kate Daniels has grown over the course of the series so far?
Kate was very much a loner, she actively avoided responsibility and relationships. Over the course of the books she changed and started forming friendships, for instance Andrea, and is now not only a surrogate parent to Julie, she is mated to Curran and responsible for the well being of every shapershifter in Atlanta. She has also, unwittingly cultivated an inner circle of loyal misfits, Derek, Barabbas, Ascanio, Naeemah, Jezabel. At one point in the next book, Curran will make a remark about this that will catch her completely off guard, she does not plan it, it just happens.

When you started writing, did you ever expect the success that has come with your books?
Never, if you had told us three or four years ago that would be making a living from writing we would have laughed. It is amazing to me that we get to stay home and hangout pretty much every day. We sit next to each other and make up stories, and people pay us for it. That is crazy.

How easy is it to write with your significant other? 
 Totally easy. We have been married for 16 years. I think of us as kids when we met and we have grown up together and now have kids of our own. Working together is like being married, you play off of each other's strengths and hopefully we are better together. Also, important are compromise & understanding. I don't know how non couples can co-write something, I don't think we could do it.

You have a novella released in the Angels of Darkness anthology. Can you tell us a bit about it?
 Well, we wanted to do something dark and less funny. Our editor knew we had the story, and asked if we would consider finishing it and submitting it for the anthology. Since we are huge fans of Nalini and Meljean, we were flattered. I don't know how to describe the story without it sounding kinda creepy. A nice lady and her daughter are attacked by freaks, then rescued by other monsters, they save her in exchange for letting one of the Alphas, Lucas, feed on her. Somehow that does not sound romantic. I think we knew that people were going to love or hate it, but we still would not change it, we are stubborn like that.

Are you planning on continuing this as a series?
Glad you liked the story, we have got a mixed reaction from it. Yeah, we would like to re-boot the series and maybe self publish it, or maybe with a different house. We honestly had to compromise a bit with our editor to get it accepted. It would have been even darker and grittier otherwise.

Curran is currently my favorite hero! Why do you think readers find the Beast Lord so desirable?
He is very masculine, he is strong but not cruel, violent but also intelligent, he lives by a code. He will not for instance harm a child or force himself on a woman. He demands absolute loyalty from his followers but would die protecting them. He can be arrogant and vain, but also funny sometimes. However, his best quality or trait is that he loves Kate unconditionally, he knows who she is and what she can do, but does not care. We all deserve that I think.

Fun questions! When Jeaniene Frost stopped by for a chat last month, she told us that Kate Daniels and her heroine, Catherine Crawfield would make good friends. If given the day to do as they please, what do you think they would do together?
First, I must disclose the fact that Jeaniene is Ilona's BFF. They talk on the phone for all the time and hang out together at Cons. Cat and Kate would most likely kill something and then go have a drink at the bar. That is what J and Ilona would do, well the bar part anyway. J just told me on the phone that Bones and Curran would have "great sexual chemistry."

If you could cast Kate and Curran for TV or Film, who would be your ideal person to play them?
For me Eva Green of Casino Royale, would be a great Kate, for Curran I like Daniel Craig but Ilona is more for Chris Hemsworth who was Thor. He would be great I have to admit.

Ilona Andrews is graciously giving away TWO SIGNED copies of Fate's Edge to one International reader and one US reader.

Audrey Callahan left behind her life in the Edge, and she's determined to stay on the straight and narrow. But when her brother gets into hot water, the former thief takes on one last heist and finds herself matching wits with a jack of all trades...

Kaldar Mar-a gambler, lawyer, thief, and spy-expects his latest assignment tracking down a stolen item to be a piece of cake, until Audrey shows up. But when the item falls into the hands of a lethal criminal, Kaldar realizes that in order to finish the job, he's going to need Audrey's help...

CHECK OUT THE WAR OF THE BEASTS: BARRONS VS CURRAN

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