Blog Tour Interview: Hollowed by Kelley York

Title: Hollowed
Author: Kelley York
Publisher: Smashwords
Published: August 15th 2012
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All 18-year-old Briar Greyson wanted was to figure out this whole living-away-from-your-parents thing. Apartment, steady job, cool roommate? Check. Noah, her adorable (albeit elusive) boyfriend? Check. Everything in the life of Briar was pretty good.

Then she and her roommate are attacked on their way home one night. Briar wasn't supposed to survive.

Instead, according to the two guys who saved her, she's turning into the things that attacked her: a vampire. Totally crazy and Not Okay. Now Noah's secrets are coming to light, and he wants Briar dead. Then there are the vampires who attacked Briar to lure out her sister.

Her sister...who died years ago.

(Didn't she?)

The city's body count is rising, and Briar wants to help put a stop to it. But first, she has to figure out who the real enemy is: the vampires, the boy she loves, or the sister she thought she'd lost.

NR:  What was your favourite part of writing Hollowed?
Kelley: Knowing Hollowed was going to involve vampires, I jumped into writing it with zero expectations of it ever being published. Being able to focus on nothing but having fun with the characters was fantastic. I never stopped to worry about whether an agent/editor would like this or that. I just wrote the best I could, and enjoyed myself.

NR: Who was your favourite character to write about? Tell us a bit about him/her?
Kelley: I adore Briar. She's fun and sarcastic, but she has this damaged side she doesn't really know what to do with. Despite that, she's incredibly loyal and passionate about the things most important to her. You get to see her trying to come to terms with a lot of things. She still has a lot of growing to do. Daniel is also a lot of fun, though credit for his creation goes to my wife. She came up with him, and said he was Oliver's boyfriend...so of course he had to come into the story. He also serves well as Briar's friend and confidante. He's emotional support she doesn't quite get from Cole or Oliver—'cause, let's face it, they're both a little dense when dealing with girls.

NR: Have you always wanted to write about vampires, what made you want to write about them in Hollowed?
Kelley: It wasn't so much that I wanted to write about vampires in specific; Briar's story just so happened to involve them. In fact, vampires are only one of many supernatural creatures in the Half Light world. When you read the next book, through its protagonists Noël and Ridley, you'll see mostly ghosts and witches.

NR: Can we look forward to some steamy action in Hollowed like we experienced in Hushed? 
Kelley: Tricky question! I think the steam level in Hollowed is a little less than a certain scene in Hushed. BUT...the romance aspect plays a more significant role in Hollowed.

NR: Can you give us a little sneak peak of what we can expect in Hollowed?
Kelley: It's so hard to pick out a scene. I tried to choose something spoiler-free!

When Oliver kicks the edge of the bed to wake me up, the room is awash with sunlight. It makes my eyes hurt.

"Get up. It's almost five."

I could sleep forever. Feels like all I've been doing since this started is sleep. "Why?" Muffled, thanks to the pillow I pull over my head. "We can't go out yet anyway."

There's a long enough pause that I think—hope—Oliver is going to leave me alone. Obviously too much to wish for. He wrenches the pillow away. "Oh, right. Because the sun...the whole turning to ash thing."

I grunt in response but otherwise ignore him. Even though I've always been a night-owl, I don't feel like being reminded I can't go out during the day anymore.

In one swift movement, Oliver yanks the blankets off me. He's damned lucky I had the foresight to pack pajamas, ‘cause at home I would have been sleeping nearly naked. I suck in a breath, reflexively curling into a tight little ball. He catches one of my ankles, effortlessly dragging me off of the bed while I claw desperately at the sheets.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Something I should've done earlier."

Despite my thrashing, he handles me like I'm nothing. I'm picked up by my waist and carried for the double doors leading out to the balcony. It's not until he opens one of the doors that I realize he's going to throw me into the sunlight.

I shriek, hoping Cole will hear from the adjoining room, beating my fists against Oliver's chest to try to get free. He sets me down, spins me around before I can so much as blink, and shoves me outside and shuts the door. I wait for it—the burning sensation, the unbearable pain. Something, anything.

Nothing happens.

It's a little overcast but the sun is there, high in the sky, and all I'm suffering is a headache from the light. No bursting into flames. No crumbling to dust. I turn back to the door where Oliver grins at me through the glass.

Screw trying to get along. I'm going to kill him.

I want to give a BIG thanks to Kelley for stopping by my blog and letting me participate in this lovely blog tour!
I know I wont be the only one who can't wait to read Hollowed after that little sneak peak! Thanks for sharing that with us Kelley! Briar sounds like so much fun and so does Oliver!

More about Kelley

Kelley was born and raised in central California, where she

still resides with her lovely wife, daughter, and an abundance of pets. (Although she does fantasize about moving across the globe to Ireland.) She has a fascination with bells, adores all things furry - be them squeaky, barky or meow-y - is a lover of video games, manga and anime, and likes to pretend she's a decent photographer. Her life goal is to find a real unicorn. Or maybe a mermaid.

Within young adult, she enjoys writing and reading a variety of genres from contemporary with a unique twist, psychological thrillers, paranormal/urban fantasy and horror. She loves stories where character development takes center stage.

Kelley's website.