#BIR2011: Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton

ANGELFIRE by Courtney Allison Moulton

First there are nightmares.
Every night Ellie is haunted by terrifying dreams of monstrous creatures that are hunting her, killing her.

Then come the memories.
When Ellie meets Will, she feels on the verge of remembering something just beyond her grasp. His attention is intense and romantic, and Ellie feels like her soul has known him for centuries. On her seventeenth birthday, on a dark street at midnight, Will awakens Ellie's power, and she knows that she can fight the creatures that stalk her in the grim darkness. Only Will holds the key to Ellie's memories, whole lifetimes of them, and when she looks at him, she can no longer pretend anything was just a dream.

Now she must hunt.
Ellie has power that no one can match, and her role is to hunt and kill the reapers that prey on human souls. But in order to survive the dangerous and ancient battle of the angels and the Fallen, she must also hunt for the secrets of her past lives and truths that may be too frightening to remember. (From Goodreads)

You can read my review here.



~INTERVIEW~


I'm very excited to have Courntey Allison Moulton here today as a feature for Best I've Read 2011. Her novel ANGELFIRE comes complete with a swoon-worthy boy, one of my top book boyfriends of the year, and lots of great swordfighting. Please take a few minutes to learn more about this amazing author!

If this were Twitter, how would you pitch Angelfire in 140 characters or less?

A badass heroine with angelfire swords fights the forces of Hell :)

The angel mythology you use in Angelfire is very interesting. How much of this is drawn from research and how much is your own creation?

I grew up with a Roman Catholic mother and Protestant father, so faith has always been a part of my life. I’ve always been fascinated by the darker side of Christian lore and its monsters and scary stories. While I’ve taken liberties with a decent amount of the world-building in Angelfire, I’ve been able to pick and choose beliefs that work in my book from a religion that has branched off so many times and retold stories in such different ways.

The fighting scenes in Angelfire were incredibly well-written. Where did you draw your inspiration for these scenes??

Thank you! I’m really proud of my action scenes and love writing them. As a very visual person, I see every single movement in my head and it translates well on paper. I’m very happy that readers appear to enjoy the action in my books because I feel it is pretty unique, especially in the young adult genre. I’m a huge stylistic action movie geek and I’m sure that shows in my writing. One of my favorites is Equilibrium, not only because it’s an incredible dystopian story, but also because the stunt team involved created its own fighting style called Gun Kata, a feat that I admire greatly. In my own books, I tried to create my own style of fighting drawing from mixed martial arts, the brutal method of Keysi, and a mixture of Eastern, Western, and Middle Eastern sword fighting techniques.

What would be your dream vacation?

I’m obsessed with history, so a tour of my favorite historical sites would be my dream vacation. Forget the most beautiful beaches in the world! I’m desperate to see every last inch of Egypt, Greece, Italy, visit Mayan and Aztec ruins, climb through the temple ruins at Angkor and Preah Khan...I want to see EVERYTHING. I know I’ll pee my pants the moment I enter the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

What is your favorite quote?

“How dare you and the rest of your barbarians set fire to my library? Play conqueror all you want, mighty Caesar! Rape, murder, pillage thousands, even millions of human beings! But neither you nor any other barbarian has the right to destroy one human thought!” – Cleopatra, 1963

Can you share anything about Wings of the Wicked?

I will say that writing Wings of the Wicked took an enormous toll on my soul. It’s darker, more brutal, and I feel like a became a real writer during its completion. Angelfire was written for fun during NaNoWriMo and I am immensely proud of its sequel.



~GIVEAWAY~
I am very excited to have one copy of ANGELFIRE to give away!

This contest is open to residents of the U.S. only. Must be 13 to enter. Please see my Contest Policy for more information.

This contest will close on Saturday, December 23 at 12:00 AM CST.

This contest is now closed.



Today the Best I've Read blog is featuring HEREAFTER by Tara Hudson! Please click here to learn more about this book and author!