Author Interview: Keary Taylor (Eden)

Today stopping by the blog is the amazing Keary Taylor, author of Fall of Angels series, Ever Burning and Eden! I had the opportunity of asking her some questions about Eden and here is what she had to say!

Do the names of your characters have any special meaning?

I don’t know that they really have special meaning; it’s more just that a certain name felt right for a character. West was originally name Tyler and it sooo was not working! I couldn’t get into his character and eventually I realized that he just had the wrong name! As soon as I figured out his name was West, he sorted himself out.

What traits does Eve have in common with you? Different?

We both can be really stubborn and tend to think we’re right. We get confused by emotion and aren’t always sure what we’re feeling. Different? Well Eve kicks some major @$$ and I’m kind of a wimp, lol! Sometimes I wish I was as tough as her!

What was the hardest part of Eden to write?

There is a scene where a certain character dies and I was really surprised at how emotional I got over killing them! I had debated killing them off earlier in the book but decided to hold off and when I finally did it I just felt so terrible!

What was your favorite scene to write?

That’s got to be the scene when Eve finally decides who it is that she really loves. The whole book had been building up to it and the scene is also very violent and action packed. My heart was pounding as I typed the words out!

Is there a reason why you named the place Eden?

Well the Garden of Eden was supposed to be this really peaceful, perfect place, and even though my Eden wasn’t that way, it was a refuge for those still left in this Fallen world. It just seemed fitting.

What was the hardest part of creating the world of Eden?

Creating the world actually wasn’t that difficult to me. I always had this clear picture of exactly what had become of the world. I suppose the most difficult thing involved though would be keeping the timeline straight. There’s a lot of events that have happened in 6+ years prior to where Eden starts and so it was sometimes hard to keep track of when things happened, who they happened to, how old people where when it happened, etc.

What was your first thought after you finished Eden?

HOLY CRAP! IT’S FINALLY DONE! Haha! It’s always a great feeling to finish a book. My heart starts beating really fast and I just feel plain awesome!

Where you can find Keary:

Website

Blog
Goodreads
Twitter

Eden by Keary Taylor

Title: Eden
Author: Keary Taylor
Published: June 2011
Pages: 408
Rating: 5/5
Synopsis: Eve knew the stories of the Fall, of a time before she wandered into the colony of Eden, unable to recall anything but her name. She's seen the aftermath of the technology that infused human DNA with cybernetic matter, able to grow new organs and limbs, how it evolved out of control. The machine took over and the soul vanished. A world quickly losing its humanity isn't just a story to her though. At eighteen, this world is Eve's reality.

In their Fallen world, love feels like a selfish luxury, but not understanding what it is makes it difficult to choose between West, who makes her feel alive but keeps too many secrets, and Avian, who has always been there for her, but is seven years her senior.

The technology wants to spread and it won't stop until there is no new flesh to assimilate. With only two percent of the human population left, mankind is on the brink of extinction. While fighting to keep Eden alive, Eve will discover that being human is about what you will do for those you love, not what your insides may be made of. And even if it gets you killed, love is always what separates them from the Fallen.
 
Review: I had read a book by Keary before I had read this one and I knew that I would enjoy it but I never thought I would love as much as I did!
 
The whole story is about how the little bit of people who have survived up to this point are trying to keep themselves alive. Eve lives in a community that they call Eden. She's basically the one that people see as the one responsible for bringing everyone safely back when they go on raids. As the story progresses you learn the world they live in and how Eve tries to deal with everything that she learns about herself.
 
Eve has had to grown up in a world that is different from the world it used to be. For Eve it doesn't matter how the world used to be because she can't seem to remember anything about herself before arriving at Eden. After finding out some things about herself Eve has to deal with the emotions that she's feeling, especially since she had never felt these things before. She did talk a lot about her feelings or both West and Avian but I think that was part of finding what she wanted. A really good thing about her? She sure can fight the Fallen.
 
I think West and Avian were both important for Eve to truly find herself and not feel to bound to Eden. West came to Eden and had to earn the trust of them while Avian has always been there and seems to be a leader. All along you seem to notice that there's more to West than one thinks but after finding out some of his story you realize that there's a reason why he keeps things secret even if I don't agree with it. Avian seems to be the one that's always there and helps Eve whenever she needs it and is willing to die for her. I'm not going to say who Eve ended up with but I was happy with the choice. =)
 
Keary Taylor has written one excellent book that I absolutely loved! I couldn't stop reading even when I knew that it was time to sleep. I enjoyed reading the many adventures that Eve had and also the things she did for the people of Eden. This is definitely a very good book!
 
I received this book from the author for an honest opinion.

In My Mailbox (46)

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren! This week I went to Alyson Noel's signing at Orange so I got a book signed by her!

Bought:

Everlasting by Alyson Noel

I got it signed!

For Review:

Eden by Keary Taylor

Ever since Keary started talking about her new book I've been wanting to read it. Now I'm happy that I get to read it!

Other:

Swag of Head Games and Stealing Bases

Swag of Everlasting

I got this at the signing.

Thanks to Keary Taylor and Keri Mikulski!

Branded by Keary Taylor

Title: Branded
Series: Fall of Angels
Author: Keary Taylor
Published: March 2010
Pages: 374
Rating: 4/5
Summary: Jessica’s had the nightmares for as long as she can remember. Nightmares of being judged for people who have died, of being branded by the angels. Her friends and family think she’s a crazy because of it all. Yet she carries the mark of the condemned, seared into the back of her neck, and hides it and herself away from the world.
But when two men she can’t ignore enter her life everything changes, including the nightmares. The two of them couldn’t be more different. She will do anything to be with one of them. Even tell him the truth about angels, why she never sleeps, and the scar on the back of her neck. But one of the two has set events into motion what will puller her toward her own judgment and turn her into the object of her greatest fear.
 
Review: Right now we're seeing more books that have to do with angels. But honestly, I think that no other author portrays angels as Keary Taylor does in Branded.

The story starts off with Jessica who has had nightmares about angels that aren't just nightmares. She has to stand trial for those who have died. Through all this she meets Alex and changes her life for the better. Then her life gets even crazier than it used to be and she must figure out what is happening if she wants to save those who she loves and herself.

The life of Jessica has never been easy. Her nightmares have allowed her to need less sleep than the normal person. All of these things have made Jessica want to live far away from any place that has a lot of people. By the ending her character had change after all the she went through.

I thought that the thing about the angels and how they played a big role in the life of Jessica was really interesting. Some of the angels were good and others were bad. Then the trials change including the leader of the condemned.

This was a very interesting book. I have to say that the ending kind of took me by surprise. I know there are many books out there about angels but this is a book that others should read simply because of how the angels are played out!

I reviewed this book as part of a blog tour.

Guest Post: Keary Taylor (Branded)

Today I have the awesome Keary Taylor, author of Branded, stopping by!

What was the process of transforming the idea of terrifying angels into Branded?

Before I dive into explaining my take on the whole angel mythology, I’ll give you a little background on where the idea first formed. I was watching “The Phantom of the Opera” one night with my husband. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen the new version but I LOVE the music in it. For some reason this time as I watched it, the term “angel of music” really stuck with me. I’d first asked for the soundtrack for Christmas when I was 12, but for some reason I’d never given this term much thought. If you don’t know, Christine Daae’s (the main character) father used to tell her about the “angel of music” before he died so this was what she started calling the Phantom. But the Phantom wasn’t what you’d normally think of as an angel. He had this wretched face, he haunted the opera house, he took what he wanted. He gave no thought to doing all these terrible things. He was a terrifying man and yet Christine still called him an “angel”.

And then there is another line in one of Christine’s songs. “He’s there, the Phantom of the opera, inside my mind.” And here’s where I got the idea for a woman who had nightmares of terrifying angels. From here I branched away. It seemed only natural that the angels should be beautiful. But they were SO beautiful it was terrifying.

Ideas sometimes just form on their own and evolve as you start to write. Normally it would seem natural for the council of angels Jessica stands trial before to be all good angels but why shouldn’t the bad ones get representation too? And maybe not all of them were actually just? As they say, misery loves company.

The main evolution of my terrifying angels just came from my idea of looking at an accepted view and turning it to look different. Becoming a writer has made me look at everything I read in a completely new way. There’s nothing more satisfying than coming up with something no one else had thought of before!

Want to know more about Branded? Check out the Goodreads page.

Here is the cover of the second book in the Fall of Angels series, Forsaken. It will be published in January 2011 so make sure to check it out! Here you can find out more about Keary Taylor:

Her blog.

Her website.