Nina Berry-Interview and Giveaway with the Author

Today, we would like to introduce new author Nina Berry.

LINK TO WEBSITE: Nina Berry Website

TRC: Hi Nina and welcome to The Reading Café. It is a pleasure to meet the 
author behind the story.

Nina: Thanks for giving me the opportunity to connect with readers.

TRC: Please tell us something about yourself?

Nina: When I was four years old I wrote my first story titled “The Cat and Dad,” using all the words I could spell. From there I devoured every book I could, going so far as to major in English at the University of Chicago. My Dad was an English teacher who taught a course called “Novel and Film,” so I was raised to love film too, and I moved on to get a master’s degree in film and TV from Northwestern before moving to Hollywood to work in the movies somehow.

But it took me awhile to figure out what I really wanted to do and what I actually wanted to say. Meanwhile I had a great time working at interesting places like Playboy, That 70’s Show, and now Warner Horizon Television. I was lucky enough to travel all over the world and have my share of adventures. Turns out I wanted to connect with other people who are trying to figure themselves out. I just do it with stories.

TRC: What have been some of the difficulties you have faced as a writer?

Nina: I started writing very young. It was an escape for me, the way reading was. It wasn’t until I stopped using to run away and started sharing the things I found meaningful that my writing resonated.

Also, I excel at procrastination. I could give lessons. But I shouldn’t.

TRC: We first found you with the cover reveal for OTHERKIN.  It is a fabulous cover.  What part (if any) did you play in the selection and illustration of the cover?  Do you know who is the illustrator?

Nina: I wish I knew the artists involved in the cover! Isn’t it gorgeous? I’m even more in love with the cover for book 2, OTHERMOON. I can’t imagine how great book 3 will look.

I’m not an artist, so my input came down to me telling my editor what images sprang to mind. I sent her some stock photos of teen girl models with red hair, of tigers, of the moon, and the artists she gave it to made it work much better than I hoped. They did a photo shoot with the lovely model you see there, whom I think will appear on the cover of all three books.

TRC: OTHERKIN is the first novel in your Otherkin series?  Would you please tell us about the series premise and the first storyline?

Nina: OTHERKIN is about Desdemona Grey, a shy girl with a back brace, which makes her uneasy in her own skin, who finds out that she can shapeshift into a tiger. That event plunges her into a war between people like her, called otherkin, and a fanatical group called the Tribunal, which will go to any lengths to destroy them all.

Along the way she meets a mysterious boy named Caleb who knows more about her than she knows herself. They go on the run to a school for shifters, where they make allies and figure out how to turn the tables on the Tribunal.

So it’s a story about friendship, body image, bigotry, and love. But it’s also an adventure and a romance. Blindfolded kissing! Helicopter crashes!

TRC: Will Dez and Caleb be the featured characters throughout the series?

Nina: For the three books currently planned, yes. But I have all kinds of ideas where other characters are the protagonists. I feel like I could do a whole series on November the rat shifter alone.

TRC: OTHERMOON is the second novel in the Otherkin series (and another beautiful cover).  Would you please tell us about the premise for book 2?

Nina: I think of OTHERMOON as my series’s THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. The bad guys come back with a vengeance, and all the stakes get higher. More specifically, Dez learns a lot more about who she is and what she’s capable of. And the relationships get more complicated, particularly between Dez and Caleb, thanks to a person you’d never expect.

TRC: How many books do you plan for the series?

Nina: Three books are planned, but you never know…

TRC: Did you have any difficulties getting the book/series to publication?

Nina: The series sold pretty fast, but getting myself to that point took awhile! Before OTHERKIN, I wrote a completely different book and got a lot of very kind rejections, which, believe it or not, was encouraging.  If an agent bothers to send you a personal email with specific comments about your submission, even if they say ‘no,’ you’re doing something right.  So while all that rejection was happening, I sublimated the pain by writing OTHERKIN. With that manuscript I snagged my lovely agent, Tamar Rydzinski, and she sold it pretty quickly to my fabulous editor at KTeen.

TRC: Writer’s block is a very real dilemma for many writers.  How do you handle the phenomenon?

Nina: The only cure for writer’s block is… writing. Ironic, but true. Perfectionism is a killer. Don’t be afraid to write crap in your first draft. When the going gets really tough, maybe even try to write it badly, but get the words down. You can always go back and make it better. And finish it. Don’t stop and write something else if you can help it. Persistence pays off.

TRC: Many authors bounce ideas with other authors, or between family and friends.  With whom do you bounce ideas?

Nina: Early on, ideas are too vulnerable for me to consult a lot of people. So I start and end with my fabulous critique partner, Elisa Nader, who is an amazing writer and will be published very soon I have no doubt. With her I brainstorm from idea to final revision. I cannot emphasize enough how useful it is to have a critique partner who really gets your writing and isn’t afraid to tell you what isn’t working.

Then I send out an early draft to a couple of other writers I trust and get their thoughts. These notes really ferret out things that aren’t working and force me to be better. But I’ve learned I can’t please everyone, and it’s wrong to even try. It’s hard to balance that with being open to making your book better, but honing your judgment of people’s notes is part of being a writer.

TRC: Like your storyline, the world’s animal population is decreasing at an alarming rate.  Do you think you can make comparisons to the endangered species in the ‘real world’ and the shifters within the series?

Nina: What a great question. I think the declining numbers of amazing animals in the wild like the tiger and the Amur leopard is one of humanity’s great crimes against the Earth. So that’s a much more serious matter than anything in my fictional world. Because we have the power to destroy, we have the responsibility to stop that destruction.

If even a few people read my book and think about that, or maybe do a little something about it, I’ll be the happiest person on the planet. If you’re concerned about keeping big cats in the wild you can learn more and find ways to help at a great nonprofit organization called Panthera, at panthera.org.

TRC: OTHERKIN is a look at discrimination-one species hating another for what they are.  What does the Otherkin series say to those who would otherwise discriminate or stereotype against another?

Nina: I hope it tells people to look beneath the surface and not give in to fear of people who seem different.

The shifters in otherkin all have labels for each other, which are no better than the labels their enemies slap on them. But labels are shallow, and people are complex. Because Dez is an outsider to the world of the otherkin, she doesn’t know about those labels, so she sees past them. If we can step outside our own narrow ways of looking at people, we might see something beautiful and understand that we all have so much in common.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

Nina: I’m revising OTHERMOON, outlining book 3, rewriting a TV spec script, and brainstorming a whole new series. It’s a little crazy inside my head right now.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Nina: If readers are interested in learning more about tigers, I’d like to recommend a nonfiction book called THE TIGER by John Vaillant. It’s one of my all time favorites, a riveting read, and a true story about a wounded tiger in Russia hunting down the man who shot him. Along the way you can’t help learning a lot about tigers and how complex it is to try to keep them from going extinct. At one point Vaillant compares a pouncing tiger to a grand piano being dropped on you from the second story, only the piano doesn’t have four-inch claws, fangs, and whiskers designed to help it find your jugular. Great stuff!

LIGHTNING ROUND
Favorite Food – Is it weird that I love brussel sprouts? Roasted, with lots of olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Favorite Dessert – Bananas Foster (they set it on fire!)

Favorite TV Show – The Wire (old show), Game of Thrones (current show)

Favorite Movie – The Searchers (old movie), Up (newish movie)

Last Movie you saw – The Avengers. Joss Whedon is one of my heroes.

Dark or Milk Chocolate – Both, please.

Do you have any pets? – I have a sweet fluffy black cat named Lucy. But I’d love to have dogs, more cats, and a horse. I’ll need a slightly bigger apartment for that, though.

TRC: Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.  We are looking forward to all of your future novels in the Otherkin series.  The COVERS are fabulous.  Keep us in mind with the release of OTHERMOON.  We look forwarding to reviewing and catching up with the author.

Nina: Thanks. I look forward to that too!

Nina has graciously offered a signed paper copy of OTHERKIN to one lucky member at The Reading Cafe.

1. You must be a member at The Reading Cafe. If you are not a member, pleaser register using the sign-in at the top of the page, or by using one of our social log-ins.

2. If you use one of the social log-ins, please post your email address with your comment, as twitter etc does not allow for email addresses.

3. Please answer ONE of the LIGHTNING ROUND questions.

4. Giveaway open to continental US and Canada only.

5. Contest runs August 2 to 5, 2012