~ RACHEL VINCENT ~
Hi Rachel and welcome to Under the Covers! I’ve been a fan of your work for years and I’m thrilled to have recently met you at the RT 2013 book signing. As any fan of your work, I have a ton of questions but I’ll try to keep this brief and without much fangirl squeeing. 🙂
Lets start with what’s fresh… you recently released OATH BOUND, the third and final book in the Unbound Trilogy. I have to admit I’m a huge fan of that series and I was devastated to hear that you were stopping at only 3 books. There are still so many possibilities! Why did you decide to make it a trilogy instead of an ongoing series and would you maybe consider expanding this world with a spinoff?
Thank you! I’m so glad to hear you’re enjoying them. I have several reasons for ending Unbound as a trilogy, and the first is that after spending six and seven books in the Shifters and Soul Screamers worlds, I wanted to do something shorter. A sort of limited engagement.
Beyond that, the Unbound world is very complicated, and writing from multiple 1st person view points, from different characters in each book is very taxing. The books take longer to write than any of my others, and they require heavier edits. And because of the complicated world-building, they’re very difficult to “explain,” to both readers and book buyers. I love the characters and the world, but I’m happy now to be writing in worlds that are easier for the target audience to “get,” if that makes sense.
If you lived in the Unbound world, what would be your skill and why does that appeal to you?
I think I’d like to be a Reader—someone who can scent out lies. I’ve always been fascinated by the lies people tell and their motivation for lying, and I think that’d be fascinating!
Which one of your heroines is most like you?
Um…I’m not sure that any of them are much like me. They tend to be braver than I am, but most of them have a bit of my tendency to be outspoken. I don’t like being stifled, and I tend to say whatever I’m thinking. You see a lot of that in Faythe, Sabine, and Kori, three of my favorites to write, incidentally.
Going back in time a bit, when I first picked up STRAY I had a hard time warming up to Faythe. But when I finished that last page of ALPHA all I could think of was “What a ride! I’m going to miss everyone!”. Faythe is one of those heroines that undergoes a major change and growth throughout the series. What was the best experience you had in writing about Faythe?
My favorite part of writing Faythe was watching her grow up. It took a while for her to understand that maturing doesn’t have to mean losing the parts of yourself you like the most. And I’m really proud of her for making that choice at the end. I hate it when love triangles only get resolved through the death (or bowing out) of one of the parties. That feels like a copout to me, and I don’t write copouts.
I know what some of the hardest parts to read were for me in that series, but do you have a particular scene that was the hardest for you to write?
The parts where Faythe feels helpless are the hardest, most uncomfortable moments for me. The times when she can’t help herself, or those she loves. Seeing Abby abused. Seeing Marc caged. Having her face sliced up. Losing control scares Faythe, and it scares me.
What are some of your upcoming projects that we have to look forward to?
I have several irons in the fire, but the only one I’m at liberty to talk about right now is Anathema, the new YA project coming out from Delacorte in (early) 2015. It’s an ensemble cast, but a different kind of world than I’ve ever written about before. It has intense, but easy-to-follow world building, and the most twists and turns I’ve ever packed into a book.
Thanks so much for sharing with us and our readers!
Thanks for having me!
The Tower Syndicate will fall…
The secret daughter of the head of an infamous Skilled crime family, Sera Brandt has hidden her past, her potential and especially her powers. But when a tragedy strikes her other family, Sera needs justice. And the only way to get it is to reveal her heritage–including a rare Skill–and take the reins of the Tower Syndicate from her cunning and malicious aunt.
If he can figure out how…
Kristopher Daniels might have the answer. He’s fought the syndicate to protect his sisters, but he’d never realized just how close to the new heir he needed to get….
And if they can survive
Neither is used to trusting. But there’s something between them that can’t be ignored. And so Sera is on the run with a man she can’t figure out, a target on her back and the new knowledge of just how powerful she really is….
About the Author
A resident of San Antonio, Rachel Vincent has a BA in English and an overactive imagination, and consistently finds the latter to be more practical. She shares her workspace with two black cats (Kaci and Nyx) and her # 1 fan. Rachel is older than she looks-seriously-and younger than she feels, but remains convinced that for every day she spends writing, one more day will be added to her lifespan.
