I received a note from HVD at CW yesterday saying she'd read T "with great amusement and some stomach turning," and asking me for a quote that she could read when presenting the book to the sister company Walker UK and Walker Australia--something about writing gothic fantasy and T in particular. This is what I sent:
To me, being a teenager seemed a lot like being a monster. A shapeshifter with my changing body. A vampire tasting the forbidden. Sometimes wanting to run with a pack--and sometimes wanting to run from it. Overwhelmed by a hormonal rage. Fearful of what might happen next.
Adolescence and gothic fantasy... They're both explorations of our fears and desires, of the horror and heaven of opening oneself to new, redefining possibilities. They're both about deciding when to walk a line and when to cross it--sometimes with life altering, even fatal consequences.
T is a genre bender that draws its inspiration from the old-school gothic masters but with a contemporary and southwestern twist. It'll be a draw for that emerging YA/adult crossover audience, mystery and suspense lovers, romantics, and those who like their blood served with a splash a wit. It's the book that speaks most to my own adolescent AKA the monster within.
