1. When
did you first begin to write?
I first began to write at eight,
when I was in second grade just journaling. I had this voracious need to start
writing stories, and I can't even tell you why. I guess it was just in my
blood. I have a relative who is published, so perhaps I got it from him. My
brother also used to write stories, but his passions began to move elsewhere.
But I didn't start seriously
writing until I turned fourteen, which is when I seriously began considering
publication and researching how to go about doing it, like finding agents,
publishers, writing query letters, and all that jazz. Of course, my first book
was a wreck, which is the sequel to When Stars Die, The Stars Are Infinite.
Obviously, TSAI is much better than it was, as I've matured as both a person
and writer.
2. Why
do you write?
I write because I have to. I love
it, but I really just have to write. It's in my blood, it's probably the only
art I'm truly good at (well, I am getting better at ballet), and life would
feel pretty dull if I didn't write. I think all people should take up some
artful endeavor because, let's be honest, the world as it is, all full of
consumerism and crap, takes the life out of just about everything, but art adds
life back into this world, which is why I think it's so important that the arts
are funded. For example, schools don't need to cut art programs. They need to
cut spending for sports teams. But that's just my opinion.
3. What
was the inspiration behind your book?
I get asked this a lot, so I'll
just sum it up and say there was no one inspiration behind this book. I will,
however, talk about why my book is unique compared to other paranormal romance
books with witches, vampires, whatever.
First off, the romance is not your
typical romance. You'll have to read the book to find out why. At first, it
seems the romance is, but as you near the end, it isn't what you expect at all.
Many readers, in fact, were surprised by the ending, so I hope it surprises you
too--in a good way.
Second, my witches are not your
typical witches with spells and potions and familiars and all that. No. My
witches are a blight upon the world--or so the religious text, The Vulgate,
says they are. Fire does not exist as magic for them. It exists as a mark that
they are witches, and once a witch's fire is discovered, the only outcome is
death. But fire is special, don't get me wrong, and you'll have to read When
Stars Die to figure out why. Fire is also very, very special in the third book,
but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Third, this paranormal romance is
much darker than many paranormal romances others have read. In fact, I'd argue
it's probably the darkest PR book you may ever read.
4. Where
do you write?
I write primarily in my bed with my
electric blanket, but I'll also write in geography class because if I had to
pay attention to that lecture, I would stab my eyeballs out. Seriously, the
class is that boring, so I have no other choice but to write. In short, geography
is a GREAT incentive to write, or to do anything else but pay attention to that
class.
5. Who
is your writing inspiration?
I would say John Green and Libba
Bray.
6. What
inspires you while you’re writing?
My own imagination inspires
me--and, of course, external life circumstances. Books can inspire me too, as
well as video games. I was in a psyche ward twice, so, trust me, that is going
to inspire A LOT of YA contemporary books to come, as well as a Victorian drama
I'd like to write, a story about a boy who gets raped by a girl (because this
is inconceivable in our society), among a plethora of other things.
7. Where
do you see yourself in five years with your writing?
I would love for it to be full
time, but I'm one of those authors who has to start out small. I'm not an
instant success like Stephenie Meyer or John Green, and I'm okay with that. I
aspire to be like them, though, and I know that with hard work and dedication
and building up my fan base along with my publisher's help, I'll get there. I
dream big, and I-will-get-there.
8. If
you could cowrite with anyone, who would it be?
John
Green, hands down, or my publisher, Raymond Vogel. John Green and I could work
on a contemporary literary book, and my publisher and I could work on fantasy
or something, and he can write ALL the action scenes since those are my least
favorite scenes to write.
Bio: Amber Skye
Forbes is a dancing writer who prefers pointe shoes over street shoes, leotards
over skirts, and ballet buns over hairstyles. She loves striped tights and bows
and will edit your face with a Sharpie if she doesn’t like your attitude. She
lives in Augusta, Georgia where she writes dark fiction that will one day put
her in a psychiatric ward…again. But she doesn’t care because her cat is a
super hero who will break her out.
Blurb: Amelia
Gareth's brother is a witch and the only way to save her family from the
taint in his blood is to become a professed nun at Cathedral Reims in the
snowy city of Malva. However, in order to become professed, she must
endure trials that all nuns must face.
Surviving these trials is not easy, especially
for Amelia, who is being stalked by shadowy beings only she can see. They're
searching for people they can physically touch, because only those they can
touch can see them. Amelia soon learns why she is being stalked when she
accidentally harms her best friend with fire during the third trial. Fire is a
witch's signature. The shadows are after witches.
Now Amelia must decide what to do: should she
continue on her path to profession knowing there is no redemption, or should
she give up on her dream and turn away from Cathedral Reims in order to
stop the shadows who plan to destroy everything she loves?
Excerpt: The sound is a dagger
scraping crosshatches on a frosted windowpane, its echoes loud in this
insensible room I’ve been locked in for the past few days. I want to remedy my
fears over the sound, but I’m more terrified of the impending trials that will
determine my readiness to be professed in the Order of Cathedral Reims. The
trials are the reason I have been locked in here.
Colette sits beside
me, lost in knitting a scarf she has been working on for a week—the amount of
time we’ve been trapped in here with minimal food, water, and sanity. Her
ability to shut out the world with a click of the needles is something I have
always envied. For her, the world is nonexistent.
But not for me.
The sound strips my
nerves raw, so I tighten my shawl and rise from the creaking mattress. My
boot-clad feet meet the floor, and in spite of my stockings, cold still shoots
through the soles, hibernating in my bones. Pulling in a deep breath of biting
air, I tiptoe over to the door and press my eye to the keyhole that overlooks a
bright hallway. The air freezes in my chest. I knew I heard those blasted
shadows, the eerie, almost impossible sounds they make whenever their black
cloaks trail along the cobbled floors of Cathedral Reims. Sometimes I wonder if
they’re witches, people born of the Seven Deadly Sins and considered worse than
murderers in the eyes of the law. Then I remember my little brother is nothing
like them. They are mere shadows. Mere shadows.
Two of them stand
outside the room. I recognize them. The tall one is Asch, and the little one is
Sash. I don’t know where I heard their names. Here, in my dreams, in
nightmares, or somewhere else.
I wish they would go
away. I wish, I wish, I wish. I close my eyes. Open them. They are still there.
Why must they be here? Theosodore, our Mother Superior’s lackey, could gather
us any moment for the first trial, a trial that will test everything we are
made of, and here are Asch and Sash teasing my nerves with their cold, white
fingers. But I don’t know what it is about them. They haven’t done anything in
the two months since I’ve started seeing them, but their presence makes sharp
fear burrow into my muscles and knot them. I believe I’m the only one who can
see them. This frightens me. Perhaps waiting for these trials has made me
mad.
