Author Interview: Chloe Neill on Hard Bitten

Welcome! We are on the Hard Bitten Tour with Chloe Neill and we are highly anticipating this awesome release!

About Chloe Neill:

Chloe Neill was born and raised in the South, but now makes her home in the Midwest, just close enough to Cadogan House to keep an eye on the vampires.

When not transcribin

g Merit's adventures, she bakes, watches entirely too much television, roots for her favorite college football team (Go Big Red!), plays with her dog, Baxter, and spends time with a pretty great—and very handsome—guy (who I'm relatively sure isn't a vampire).

Hard Bitten

Comes to Readers:

May 5th, 2011

Published by New American

368 pages

Some things that I love on author's sites are the playlists from writing and here was Chloe's for Hard Bitten:

Courage and Control, Brandon Boyd
The Crow & The Butterfly, Shinedown
Kiss with a Fist, Florence + The Machine
Letters from the Sky, Civil Twilight
Panic Switch, Silversun Pickups
Waiting for the End, Linkin Park
Radioactive, Kings of Leon
Airplanes, Made Famous by B.o.B. (feat. Haley Williams)
Thinking of You (Live), Katy Perry

(I know we live by music here in house so this set of tracks was Pandora'd in and we are rocking the wait.)

We asked Chloe some questions on her life and this series:

1. What was your inspiration for the Chicagoland Vampires series? Spending a lot of your life in the South did you get

many opportunities to visit Chicago?

My first visit to Chicago was in 1996, and it wasn't until I moved until the Midwest that I was able to visit more often. I
now try to visit at least twice a year, and I do a lot of reading and research about the city.

2. What is one of your favorite things about being an author?

It's very exciting when readers are moved by something I've written, or when I've given them a few hours away from
the day to day issues in their own lives.

3. Growing up what was a favorite author that you had? Did that create an inspiration in you to become an author
yourself, or did your passion for writing develop later for you?

I read a lot when I was younger, in pretty much every genre. I don't read as much now--at least fiction--because I'm
too aware of the mechanics of the story. I didn't start writing until about five years ago, when I decided I wanted to
try my hand at telling Merit's story. I used to *hate* writing and did it as rarely as possible. :)

4. Are there and characteristics that you feel that you share with Merit?

She's very sarcastic, as am I. We both love diet soda and chocolate. We both have our strengths and insecurities, and
we are profoundly moved when people believe in us more than we believe in ourselves.

5. Any hint of what we can expect in Hard Bitten for Merit?

Adventures! More Mayor Tate, more Ethan, more Jonah. Some laughs, some tears.

6. I noticed that you had a like in amazon for baking. Is there a favorite dish or recipe that you have?

Right now I am working on perfecting buttermilk biscuits, which my armcandy, Jeremy, really likes. So far, so good!

7. I also noticed that you listed the word "eponymous" as a favorite word, and I was wondering if you could explain
the word and then use it in a sentence for us. Is there one word you could use to describe Merit? How about Ethan?

"Eponymous" is when someone gives its name to something. Thus, Peter Cadogan was the eponymous Master of
Cadogan House. Merit = Brave. Ethan = Solid.

8. What are your thoughts on the cover changes as your series continues? I love the cover art, and the new model for
Merit is amazing.

Thanks! The artists who work with Penguin are fantastic. I am very pleased with how Merit has evolved. She looks so
fierce!

9. The last question that I have for you is what does it feel like for you as an author to walk into a bookstore and see
all of the Chicagoland series lined up on the shelves?

It's a pretty exciting feeling. Not something I ever would have expected, but something I'm really flattered by.

Thanks for having me today! - Chloe Neill

Thank you so much for coming on site here and talking with us!

While we are waiting for our own copies, here is a snippet coming from the publisher:

From the Publisher

Meet Merit, a "wonderfully compelling vampire heroine" (USA Todaybestselling author Julie Kenner).

Chicago is beset by supernatural tensions, and Merit-vampire protector of a safe haven called Cadogan house-is worried that the humans will be reaching for their pitchforks any minute. It doesn't help that yet another vampire rave is broken up by the mayor, and a new inhibition- reducing drug is circulating through the community.

It's up to Merit to put her house in order-literally. And if that takes getting a little blood on her hands, so be it.

And for Your Teaser-----> Here is the First Chapter from Chloe's site.

Not enough? Pre-order a copy today.