Interview with Lauren Kate

After reading Fallen, I immediately jotted down a list of unanswered questions that I'd quite like to have answered by Lauren, given half the chance. Thanks to Random House Publishing, Lauren has answered my questions (sort of) and so I thought I would post my little interview. I will warn you now: if you have NOT read Fallen, read the book first as there may be some spoilery in this blog post. Check out my review here

Here are the answers that Lauren provided:

First of all, I should say that if I had to make a list of the Top Nine Things About the Series NOT to Disclose to Readers Under Any Circumstances, the answers to these questions would make up eight of them.

Oh great. Now you want to know what the ninth thing would be? I can’t tell you!

Anyway, that’s me saying I’m sorry if these answers sound a bit roundabout or vague. Withholding the truth behind these narrative mysteries is the blessing and the curse of writing (and reading!) a series. I plan on making everything worth the wait, but in the meantime, I have to torment you just a little longer….

Todd and Trevor both died in fires. Who started the fires and why? Was it Cam?

These two fires were not instigated by the same character—but some of the same characters were present at both of them. Confused? Just wait. There will be more fires in each of the subsequent books. More fires. Less confusion.

What-happened-to-Trevor is one of the most common questions I get asked. I’d actually written the answer (a whole chapter) into the first draft of Fallen, but my editor and I decided it would be stronger (and more torturous for the reader) if this backstory were left mysterious until later. The scene is written though, and I think will be available online as a stand-alone excerpt later this summer.

If Luce cannot be reincarnated unless she is baptised, can’t she just be baptised as a security measure in case something happens?

Great question, but the safety that baptism has offered Luce in the past has less to do with the actual ritual of the baptism and more to do with the belief system she would have been indoctrinated with in her former lives as a child with religious upbringing. At this point in her life, a literal baptism couldn’t save her. She has to come to terms with what she believes about good and evil, Heaven and Hell, angels and demons before her soul is no longer “up for grabs.” That’s essentially what she’ll be up to in the coming books.

How/why did the angels fall?

The angels fell because they placed something before God. The mistake varies from angel to angel: pride, apathy, love, even lust. The origin of my story centers upon an angel who was cast out of heaven for loving a mortal woman. He chose her over God. You know God, he doesn’t like play second fiddle to anyone. So the angels were cast out. Some were flung down to hell and stayed there. Some (a few that I’ve gotten to know very well) are roaming the earth right now.

How did Daniel fall in love with Luce? When did they first meet?

I can’t even begin to answer this question! But don’t worry, Daniel will try to in the first chapter of Torment. It’s up to you to decide whether or not to believe him…

It is clear that Luce and Daniel’s relationship is part of something bigger – how and why?

What was only glimpsed in Fallen about Daniel and Luce’s long history of love will be vastly expanded on in Torment, and even more so in Passion (the prequel I’m about to start working on). Very soon, readers will be able to see what makes their love so pure and so special, how and it’s grown and changed over time, and why it’s so essential that their love endure.

Is Penn going to come back in another form to help?

I got this question from so many readers that my agent and I actually sat down and talked about it. Could she? What would it mean? What would it take to bring her back? In the end, I’m not sure it makes sense for where the series is going (I’m sorry! I love Penn, too!), but then again, I’d never say never….

Why does Cam want Luce?

Another tricky question. All I can say is that it has to do with something much bigger than a physical attraction.

Will Roland ever come back to the good side?

Roland is one of the most fun and most mysterious characters for me to write. He’s charming and loveable in a way that Cam and Molly and the others on his “side” can never be. As we saw in Fallen, Arriane has faith that he will come back, and Arriane has a way of getting what she wants. But it’s going to take a lot before Roland makes the choice himself.

And the most important question of all….Will all of these questions be answered in subsequent books?!

Hey, finally, something I can answer forthright! YES!

Thank you to Lauren Kate for attempting to answer my somewhat challenging questions without giving the whole game away! It just makes me that much more excited for Torment and Passion.