Interview with Lyla Lee

Hi, everyone! I know, I know, we haven't posted in absolutely FOREVAH. But to make up for it, we're bringing you an interview with Lyla N. Lee, as part of the YA Misfits Halloween Bloghop! Woooot!!!

1. Tell us about your book, POINT BLANK.

POINT BLANK is about a seventeen-year-old girl named Norah, who goes to a high-tech military school that trains kids to hunt down shapeshifters with everything from virtual reality simulations to flying hover-boards. Norah wants to exterminate one shapeshifter in particular: a phoenix Shifter named Seth, who is responsible for starting the fire that killed her parents. On the flip side of things, Seth is also seventeen but already has to deal with the pressures of being the leader of his increasingly diminishing people as well as deal with the consequences of the fire that he accidentally started when he didn't have full control of his transforming abilities. Norah hunts down Seth, only to figure out that things are not at all what they seem and that she will have to side with him in a war that will jeopardize everything she knows.

2. Now...tell us about your villain. :)

The funny thing about PB is that, since it's made up of two different points of views, there's technically two villains for the majority of the book. In Norah's eyes, Seth is the villain since he's the leader of the Shifters that she's been brought up to exterminate. In Seth's eyes, Norah is the villain since she's the Tracker (that's what they call the students of the high school) that is after him and his friends. It's only until further into the book that they realize that there's a far greater and evil villain behind everything but I won't reveal who he is since that's one of the biggest spoilers in the book. :)

3.) What do you think is the most important thing to keep in mind when writing the antagonist?

I think the most important thing about developing and writing the antagonist is that the antagonist is just as "human" as the protagonist. By "human," I don't mean that the antagonist has to be mortal or anything like that. Rather, the antagonist has to be just as relatable and just as well fleshed out. He/she must have motives and reasons for doing the things he/she does that can be understandable to some extent. An antagonist that just does bad things for the heck of it and/or is completely unreasonable in his/her thinking is a cardboard cut-out Disney villain, not a well-developed and compelling antagonist.

4.) Who is your favorite villain of all time? Why?

Saint Dane from DJ MacHale's Pendragon series. I just love how throughout the entire series, he always believes that he's doing the right thing and is just as desperate to achieve his plans as the protagonist is. There are even some parts of the book where you can't help but see the reason behind his motives, despite how crazy the guy is. I talk a little more about him here. 

RAPID FIRE!!!

5. Sauron vs. Voldemort. Who wins? 

Sauron. Voldemort is badass and everything but Sauron was there at the beginning of the world. You can't really beat that.

6. King Leck vs. President Snow?

Leck, since he has a pretty cool ability as well as being totally heartless.

7. Marcus Eaton vs. Valentine Morgenstern?

Valentine Morgenstern. So much angst.

8. Favorite Halloween candy?
Anything chocolate :)

Yay! Thanks, Lyla! We'll be keeping our eyes out for Point Blank on bookshelves! :) Happy Halloween, everyone!