HOLLA everyone! It’s Tori and I’m here with Sierra Dean to talk about her debut novel, Something Secret This Way Comes (which releases May 10, 2011), nail polish, shoes, smexy men, and life in general.

Welcome Sierra! So glad you could join me here at Smexy Books. Word on the street is Something Secret This Way Comes is a top notch Urban Fantasy. Will you tell us a little about it?

Well “top notch” is certainly a good level to be ranked at, so if folks on the street are calling it that, I’m pumped. Something Secret This Way Comes is, at its heart, the kind of novel I love to read. It’s about a conflicted heroine whose life is pretty messy. Secret is a half-vampire/half-werewolf, and needless to say that makes her unique. In Something Secret she is forced to come to terms with certain metaphysical aspects of her werewolf heritage, while simultaneously dealing with a huge vampire-related drama. Secret must rally to accept both parts of her life if she will be able to save herself in time.

I really like how your covers personify the strength and darkness of your main character, Secret McQueen. Do you have input on the cover design? Do they reflect what you set out to accomplish when developing Secret?

My cover (and hopefully the future covers in the series) was designed by the remarkable Kanaxa (http://www.kanaxa.com). Samhain Publishing is really good about giving authors input in their covers, so I definitely got to make requests, and I was obviously blown away by the results. The model is a knock-out, and she looks so bad-ass, she definitely looks how I picture Secret. The major difference I see physically is that Secret’s hair is much curlier in the book, but I’m not going to quibble over something so silly when my cover looks that amazing.

I have to ask…where did the name Secret McQueen comes from? It’s a catchy name that makes me smile every time I say it. :P

I’m so glad you like it! Secret’s name was a but of an evolutionary process. People who know me really well will assume it’s related to my obsession with Steve McQueen, but Secret’s name actually came before I saw my first McQueen movie. It’s a really unusual name, and a few of my proofreaders questioned whether or not it might be too weird for a large audience, but once I’d picked that name there was no changing my mind on it. The name came to me out of the blue and I loved the idea of a character named Secret. I had to create a reasoning behind it in the story, of course, because the question becomes “Who would name their kid Secret?” In Book Two you find out her middle name, too.

I really like the men you have gathered in Secret’s life. They are a wonderful blend of snark and humor. Desmond, *swoon* and of course Holden, Sig, and Lucas- the dark dangerous smexy men that they are. Some play protective and some play threatening. How does Secret keep up with them all?

Poor Secret. So many men, so little time. I liked that Desmond and Lucas are there to represent the werewolf aspect of her life, and Sig and Holden are there for the vampire half. The difficulty for me in Something Secret was making sure all the men in her life are equally represented. I didn’t want any cut and dry love triangles where it was obvious from the beginning who she should be with. I want readers to feel as conflicted as Secret is, so I had to make sure her boys all had depth and interest and were unique individuals. I’ve been writing the story for such a long time they all feel real to me, so I have reasons for wanting all of them to be with her. I need a shirt that says Team Desmond-Holden-Lucas-Sig.

I’d wear a Team Desmond-Holden-Lucas-Sig t-shirt for sure. So tell us, where did your ideas for Secret and her world come from?

I do a lot of sitting and doodling notes when I’m creating plots and working on worldbuilding for the Secretverse. I wanted to make sure there was a lot of realistic rules and set-up for both the vampire and werewolf worlds. It’s intense to build an entire urban fantasy world and figure out the details in a way that complies with the basic rules of most UF, but also creates new ones. It’s a lot of work but a lot of fun too. Everything inspires me.

I see you are working on a prequel Secret novella. Do you have this planned as a series? If so, do you have an idea of how far it you’d like it to go?

The prequel, The Secret Guide to Dating Monsters, is finished and scheduled for a July release. Book Two, A Bloody Good Secret, has been contracted and is scheduled for a September 2011 release. I’m currently working on a novella that takes place between books two and three. I have it planned as a series, absolutely. Right now I have rough outlines for 7 books, but the series could definitely go beyond that. As long as I’m having fun writing them, people still want to read them, and my editor keeps demanding more, I will keep exploring Secret’s world.

Do you have anything special planned for your released day?

I believe my friends are throwing me a launch party, because it is my first book. Hopefully it will involve champagne, but knowing my friends it’s more likely to involve shots of Jameson.

Let’s talk about you now. I see you are a reformed Historian. Ummm, what exactly is that? Is it a Canadian thing? (LOL- just kidding). But seriously…what is a reformed Historian?

Haha, I’m a bit of a university junky. I have a degree in English, and was in the midst of finishing an honours degree in History when my contract offer came up. I’ve been too busy with the writing process lately to focus on such a study-intensive degree, so I’ve put my studies on hold for the time being. I guess being a “reformed” historian means I’ve put real daily life ahead of learning about the past. I will say knowing a lot about history has helped me create rich back stories for my undead characters. When you eventually find out about Sig’s story, it’s all based in fact.

Have you always had stories to tell?

As long as I can remember I was always making up stories. Whether or not they were any good when I was 10 is another question. I started my first book when I was 12, it was a murder mystery. It was heavy on dialogue tags and low on continuity, but it was a start.

What drew you to the Fantasy genre? What other genres interest you?

My first true fantasy experience was reading Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman’s Dragonlace series in junior high. In high school I read Laurell K. Hamilton’s Obsidian Butterfly and that introduced me to paranormal romance. My other go-to genres are Historical Romance and general literary fiction. I’m also a big graphic novel reader, and love the Fables series by Bill Willingham.

What are your “must have” things to write?

Coffee, a kick-ass playlist on my iPod (currently Florence + the Machine; Band of Skulls and The National are my go-to artists), and a quiet place to stay focused.

Where do you picture yourself 5 years from now?

Hopefully writing full-time, and with the tagline “New York Times Bestselling Author” on my book covers. I have some outlines for non-Secret books as well, including a paranormal noir series and a YA series I want to develop. For as long as I can remember writing has been the only thing I’ve wanted to do “when I grew up” and now I might actually get to live that dream.

I see you are a OPI connoisseur. Me too. And a shoe hoarder. ME TOO!! OMG-we are soul mates. Have you ever been to this blog-Stupid Nail Polish Names? Cracks me up every time.

Oh man, I’ve never heard of that website before but I’m going to have to check it out! I am a shoe nut too, I own more pairs than any one person should. That aspect of me definitely leaked into Secret’s character.

What authors have a permanent spot on your bookshelf?

Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Sarah Addison Allen, Jane Austen and now Rachel Vincent.

What authors have influenced you?

Laurell K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake series definitely introduced me to a genre I’d never known before, so I have to give her credit for that. Charlaine Harris and Kelley Armstrong showed me how even a supernatural character has to be a little human sometimes and that the best urban fantasy tows the line between reality and the paranormal so closely they sometimes overlap.

What big thing do you want to do that you haven’t done yet?

I got to visit New York for the first time last year, so I got to cross that off the list. Going to Ireland and Sweden are big travel goals. I also want to meet Alexander Skarsgard and convince him to marry me.

I know quite a few peeps you would be fighting for that honor. LOL

Now for the quick responses:

Coke or coffee?

Coffee, absolutely.

Big breakfast or a donut on the run?

Coffee. Does coffee count?

Do you agree that Starbucks is THE evil empire that must be destroyed?

Nope, I’m a Starbucks junkie. I even wrote them into my series. Although that particular Starbucks on W 52nd actually exists.

Dead tree books or e books?

Both. I buy more ebooks now, but I still buy paper books too (I know, so naughty for an author who e-publishes)

Mac or Windows?

Mac.

Where can we find you on the web?

http://www.sierradean.com

@sierradean on Twitter

I’m also addicted to Goodreads.

Is there anything you’d like to say to our readers?

I hope everyone loves the book, and if anyone feels like dropping me a line I hope they’ll feel free! Also, gifts of nail polish and tea are greatly appreciated.

Well, we at Smexy Books loved having you here today. Thank you so much for the interview. I look forward to a seeing more of Secret, Desmond, Holden and the rest of the gang soon.

Cue the Jeopardy theme music. Sierra has graciously offered us an E-Book of her new book to giveaway to one lucky commenter. Open to everyone through May 11th.