Author Interview: Cynthia Hand

1. Who is your favorite angel from TV or movies?
Tough question! I'm pretty picky about angel stuff. I loved Highway to Heaven as a child, with Michael Landon, although now I don't remember very much of the series. One angel in film that I really liked was Seth from City of Angels. I loved his mix of wisdom and wide-eyed innocence, his yearning to be part of the human world but his separation from it.

(for the record mine is Castiel from Supernatural. He is made of AWESOME.)

2. Why do authors give us two nice guys to root for? And do you have a favorite between Tucker and Christian?
Hmm, why do authors give us two nice guys to root for? I think one reason why I created Christian and Tucker to both essentially be good, decent people, was because I wanted Clara to have to make a real choice. It would have been easier, I think, if when she came to her big decision, one guy was kind of a jerk and one wasn't. But I also like my characters to have flaws. Sometimes as writers I think we like to write about dream versions of people. We can make the main character a version of ourselves minus the flaws, and we can make the love interests into extremes of our perfect guy. Clara is flawed, but I think that gives her room to grow as a person throughout the series. Both Christian and Tucker are also flawed--Christian is used to getting what he wants and used to things being easy for him, and Tucker can be a real stubborn red-necked hick at times who can't let go of his pride. But I love both of them dearly, and no, I can honestly say I don't have a favorite.

3. One of the things I am hoping happens, soon, is for Clara's mom to come clean about whatever it is she is hiding. When can readers expect that to happen? Will the revelations be shocking? Yes, in Book 2 we will learn a lot about Maggie and what she's been hiding, not just from Clara, but from the world (how's that for mysterious?). And yes, I think it will surprise people, and hopefully assuage those readers who were starting to get really freaking irritated with Maggie, as Clara was, for all her secrecy.

4. Please tell me that Jeffrey is going to be alright. I liked him a lot!!
I like Jeffrey a lot too! He has a tough road ahead of him, certainly, and I can't promise about how "all right" he's going to be, but I think ultimately he's a good kid and he'll get a chance to prove that.

5. One of the features I do on my blog I call Quick Draw where I ask little questions for my readers to comment on. Please answer any of these that you'd like:
*What is your favorite snack to munch on while you read? dried apricots
*What is your perfect reading environment (the one that might not always be possible, but the one that you'd like to be able to read in all the time if you could). a comfy chair with a nice view, mountains or trees or beach
*snow or sun? snow, no question
*polka dots or stripes? stripes
*coffee or tea? tea
*80's or 90's? 90s. The 80s were embarrassing.
*swimming: open water or pool? Pool, for swimming. I like lakes too but rarely get to swim in them. Most of my favorite lakes are glacier-fed.
*computers: laptop or desktop? desktop
*bookmarks, dog eared or face down? (cringes to admit: facedown. I know this is bad for the book. . .)

6. When will we get to read the next installment of Clara's story? January 2012, if all goes according to plan. . .

Thanks so much Cynthia! Check out her blog for more information about Unearthly and go get yourself a copy today! You won't be sorry you did!