Odds and Ends of Hunted

Hi, everyone! Can you believe HUNTED comes out next Tuesday? I can't. I'm extremely excited, nervous, terrified, and excited. :-)

Today I'm going to talk about some random things pertaining to the book. I finished the first draft on June 25th 2010, or somewhere around then. It's almost unbelievable it's only been a little over a year since that first draft. As you may know, I don't write listening to music because I get a bit distracted, but I did have an editing playlist. I've had one blogger fall in love with the songs, so hopefully you'll like them too :-).

"November" by Chase Coy

"If the Moon Fell Down" by Chase Coy (ft. Colbie Caillat)

"Black Coffee" by Breanne Duren

"Static Waves" by Andrew Belle (ft. Katie Herzig)

"Unarmed" by Mariah McManus

"The Way You Pick Me Up" by Mariah McManus

"Sleep" (live version) by Imogen Heap

"Pitter Pat" by Erin McCarley

"Sort of" by Ingrid Michaelson

"My Love" by Sia (this one was on repeat towards the end, haha)

 And guess what? I have something in common with JANE AUSTEN!! On her 235th birthday, December 16th, 2010, I was offered my contract with Pendrell. Isn't that cool? Who out there is an Austen fan?

There was really only one major change to the story from the "final" draft to the finished product, and that's the ending. Originally, there was an epilogue told through the perspective of the hunter and it left the story wide open for a sequel. After much thought, I got rid of the epilogue and rewrote the ending, making it longer and less open. I really love the new ending, though, so that's good, haha. Maybe I'll post the epilogue someday.

Some of you may know that Hunted is told through two points of view: Lily's and Alex's. I didn't intend for it to be this way when I first started, mainly because I didn't want to draw comparisons/complaints about it being similar to Shiver. But then I wrote a chapter from Alex's POV as an exercise and realized his side had to be told. Since Lily's side was supposed to be the only one given, readers will see a lot of me in her, if that makes sense. I think it's easier to write when a character shares your traits because you can describe them better than something you don't have experience with.

Well, that's all, folks! :-) I hope you enjoyed reading this and I'll leave you with an excerpt recently seen on the YA Scavenger Hunt. Enjoy and happy weekend!

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           The sirens grew louder and caught the wolves’ attention. For an instant, I saw a flicker of panic in their eyes. One of them tore off into the woods, but the other remained on top of me. It snarled and clawed at my face and clothes before leaping toward the woods. Wincing, I turned my head and watched the wolf escape. But it was no longer a wolf.

            It was a man.                                             

           He raised his brows and flashed me a wicked, arrogant smile before turning to disappear into the woods.

            The police got there too late, too late to see the impossible truth I had learned. Unable to get words off my tongue to answer their questions, I led them into the house and upstairs to the bedroom.

            Blood was everywhere. On the walls, on the floor, on my hands. None of it was mine, though. Just Julia’s, the woman I loved more than anything and the woman I failed to protect. But never did I imagine I would have to protect her from such monsters as those that had burst through our front door that night.

            While the police took photographs and murmured amongst themselves, I escaped back downstairs and sat on the front steps. A crack of thunder echoed through the night as a summer storm began. Droplets of rain fell from the sky and I couldn’t distinguish the rain from my tears. But when a chorus of howls rang over the noise of the rain, my sadness turned to anger and determination.

            The next day, I bought a gun.