1. What drew you to writing young adult fantasy? Has you always wanted to be a writer?

I’ve always been writing. Ever since I gave up dreams of being a professional ballerina at about 13, I’ve hoped to be an author. My protagonists have always just happened to be seventeen year old girls. The draw to that voice is partly inexplicable but it has something to with how much of the world is open and possible at that age.

2. What inspired the Fallen series?

When I started writing Fallen, all I really wanted to do was write a complicated love story that reached beyond the two protagonists. I was drawn to a line in Genesis that talks about angels falling in love with mortal women, and stewing on that line led me eventually to Luce’s character. As I was trying to figure out who she was, I discovered Daniel and that led me deeper into the world of angelology than I ever expected I’d go. Writing about a topic as rich and varied as angels given the series a sort of depth that I really value and the more I learn about angel lore, the more thrilled I am by its possibilities.

3.  How would you describe Luce Price?

Luce starts out the series as something of a blank slate. I think that every choice she makes in Torment, and later in Passion, helps to define and refine who she is, who she’s becoming, who she needs to be. For every good choice she makes, she’s bound to make a few mistakes. She’s only human. But she’s narrowing in on something important, and I think, always moving towards the light. I’m proud of Luce and am excited about where her character is heading.

4.  What can readers expect to see in Torment ?

Torment is a kind of growing pains book for Luce. In Fallen, she is blindsided by a lot of strange revelations; in Torment, she must come to grips with what they all mean and what her role is in the world. It’s an exciting time, but it’s also agonizing and difficult. She wants clarity on her relationship with Daniel but feels that is increasingly impossible. Luckily the choices she makes in Torment set her up very nicely to have a lot of romance and passion in her future…or should I say, in her past…

5.  Can you tell us anything about Passion , the third release of the Fallen series, coming out in Summer 2011?

Passion was such an exciting book to write. Luce grows more quickly than even I expected her to and I was already planning on her going through a lot. It’s a wild, chase backwards through time, which dips into over a dozen of Luce and Daniel’s past lives. For readers who are dying to know EVERYTHING about their past…this is your book!

6.   How many books will there be in the Fallen series? Do you already know how it will end or do you just focus on one book at a time?

Four books in total. The last book will be called Rapture. The scope of Rapture is still a little hazy to me but it’s beginning to become clearer.

7.  I’ve heard rumors of a Fallen movie, any truth to that?

Disney has optioned the rights and there’s a tentative release date of 2012. I can’t wait!

8.  Do you have any book signings/tours scheduled for 2011? Where can reader find you on the internet?

I keep my tour dates updated here: http://laurenkatebooks.net/events

9.  What are you currently working on? What do you have in the works over the next two years?

I’m still finishing the final draft of Passion. One thing at a time!

10.  What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever been given? If you can’t think of anything specific then what’s the best advice you’d offer an aspiring writer just starting out?

Finish your book. Even if you don’t think it’s ever going to become anything. Then, the next time, when you write your real book, you’ll know that you can finish.

Lauren Kate grew up in Dallas, went to school in Atlanta, and started writing in New York. She is the author of Fallen, Torment, the forthcoming Passion, and The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages. She lives in Laurel Canyon with her husband and hopes to work in a restaurant kitchen and learn how to surf. She is currently at work on the final book in the Fallen series, Rapture.