Q&A with Alma Katsu discussion

You have questions. I will try to answer them. I only ask NO SPOILERS. If you've read The Taker, you know there is a really big twist toward the end. Please please please let's not spoil the surprise for anyone.

Jonathan, Lanny, Adair--love or hate? kiss or throttle? or both?

Is there a possibility of having 2 discussion posts one that is spoiler free and one that is spoiler full?

- My first real question is where will the second book of the series start? Will it contain the same characters or will new ones be introduced? Will it contain the story of one of the other immortals that were introduced in the first book? How many books total will there be?

- Did you start out thinking this would be the first book in a series or that it would be a stand-alone book?

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Jonathan - I dislike him but don't hate him. He does however need a good throttling. I didn't like the way he treated Lanny.

Lanny - I don't know what to think about her. She's a survivor and I don't blame her (trying to keep it spoiler free here) for what she did to Jonathan. I think many people would do the same given the unexpected events. Plus, Johnathan seemed to have the easiest time of all of them. I'd call him extremely spoiled.

Adair - Definitely not love. I don't know if there's much to like about him. He is an interesting character, however. Throttling is not a strong enough punishment for him. It would be fun for him to meet his match and perhaps reform the man, but I'm not sure that would be possible.

BTW, loved the twist/surprise at the end.

Very hard to keep this spoiler free. Hopefully I was vague enough not to give anything away :)

I've created a new thread for discussions with spoilers--thank you for the suggestions. Though I agree, it's going to be hard to know how to disentangle potentially spoilery things from some discussions. We'll just have to see how it goes.

The second book, The Reckoning, picks up where this book leaves off, if you can imagine that. It's mostly the same characters coming back--even some you might not imagine! There's one more book in this series, and at the end of it you'll understand everything: where Adair's powers come from, what the heck is going on.

I wrote this book as a stand alone. It took me 10 yrs to write & too many rewrites to count. But at the end, I wanted to write about them some more. You really do get lonely for them after you've been 'living' with them for so long. Luckily, the publishers wanted more of them too, and both the US publisher, S&S, and the World publisher, Random House, bought the next two books.

I've had the idea for a spin-off book, related but without the same characters, that's almost finished, and I'm hoping if the publishers can stand another book, that this one will see the light of day some time, too.

Jonathan: I didn't like him at the beginning but grew to like towards the end of the book. I think he matures and finds some way to move on. He is selfish, shallow and arrogant when you first meet him. Just what you would expect from a stereotypical spoiled rich boy. He needed a good throttling in his early years.

Lanny: Liked her at the beginning. She was innocent and naive. But as the story unfolds, I didn't like her. She became delusional, selfish and greedy. She needed a good throttling half way through the book. She doesn't mature much for me, emotionally.

Adair: Throttle? Too mild. What a jerk. Hate him or dislike him greatly. Yet I find him the most complex, most interesting of the characters. Am dying to know his story, past, present, and future.

When will the second book be released?

When you wrote the characters for the Taker did you have anyone in mind when you created them? Any actors which you modeled them a little after? In other words, are there any actors/actresses which you feel would project the look you had in mind for Johnathan, Lanny, and Adair? People always love to come up with their own images, but I always like to get the author's take on it.

Lisarenee wrote: "When you wrote the characters for the Taker did you have anyone in mind when you created them? Any actors which you modeled them a little after? In other words, are there any actors/actresses which..."

I had a few actors in mind when I started the book, but that was over ten years ago and those actors wouldn't be suitable now. For instance, one literary agent had Johnny Depp in mind for Jonathan!

On top of that, I don't watch many movies any more and am hopelessly out of date with the current crop of hot actors. Who would you recommend? (I've found a few new actors to follow this way!)

I'm on the road right now doing bookstore events. Last night in Colorado, I got to meet with a book club. One thing they mentioned that I found really interesting had to do with when Lanny confronted Sophia about her pregnancy. They didn't feel that what Lanny did was all that 'evil'. While the episode haunted Lanny & made her think that she was capable of hurting others, the book club felt that she was only being a good friend to Jonathan. How did you feel about Lanny's behavior? Did you feel it was evidence that she could be selfish, or was she being too hard on herself?

I didn't think she did anything wrong. She had no idea Sophia would act that way. Considering the time period that everything happened in, I think she gave Sophia sound advice. She did lie about Jonathan's feelings, which probably contributed to the outcome, but Sophie had other options. What Sophie did was by no means the outcome Lanny wanted. It just wasn't what Sophia wanted to hear. Could be there were other issues going on that Lanny and Jonathan didn't know about. Plus, I kind of wonder about Jonathan. We seen him through Lanny's eyes and she paints a pretty picture. The expression seeing things through rose colored glasses comes to mind. What if he's not what she thinks? The way he treated Lanny makes me wonder. What if he manipulated her into doing what she did? What if he knew the fragile state Sophie was in? Doing my best not to include spoilers.

I find Lanny very selfish but I don't think she said anything wrong to Sophia. She told her the harsh truth, which would apply even today, and Sophia wasn't prepared to hear it. Or believe it. Lani was hard on herself because of the timing. And her inexperience in life led to that guilt. Though why she still felt guilty towards the end of the book is beyond me. She should have known by then there was nothing she could have done. Jonathan should be the one feeling guilty for not being able to take care of his own problems.

Alma,
I'm terrible at picking people for roles and yes it took me this long to come up with Tom Welling. lol He's probably too old for the part now, but he's someone I could see as Johnathan. I haven't watched much TV in the last couple of years.


The other person would be Rob Lowe when he was younger.

Good choices! Isn't there a young actor who looks like a young Rob Lowe? I'm thinking of Ian Somerhalder... but some people may disagree about the Rob Lowe likeness. I think it's the eyes.

I can't remember what Jonathan looks like (blond or brunette) but a pretty boy actor, who can carry off Jonathan's ego, is Alex P (can't remember his last name). He starred in the movie "Beastly" and "I am Number Four".

GREAT pick! He'd have to dye his hair black, though


Mira wrote: "I can't remember what Jonathan looks like (blond or brunette) but a pretty boy actor, who can carry off Jonathan's ego, is Alex P (can't remember his last name). He starred in the movie "Beastly" a..."

Alma, I had to look up Ian Somerhalder and I agree with you. He does remind me of a young Rob Lowe and would make a great Johnathan.

Mira,
I just can't picture Pettyfer with dark hair. I think blond suits him.

Both are good looking enough for Jonathan. I just think Pettyfer is "prettier". As long as no one from Twilight is cast.

I had pictured Brandon Routh as Jonathan when reading. But Ian Somerhalder would be great.

I had to go look up Brandon Routh. First I thought 'Superman, too clean cut!' But some of his other pictures--not bad. Might have to pluck those eyebrows a bit.

Okay, who wants to start a letter writing campaign?

Ashlene wrote: "I had pictured Brandon Routh as Jonathan when reading. But Ian Somerhalder would be great."

I could see him. Good choice Ashlene.

Adair-Chace Crawford or Douglas Booth because of their boyish looks. Alex Pettyfer would play a good Adair.


Lanny- Amanda Seyfried

Ashlene, you know of some good looking men! You know, I could see Chace Crawford as Jonathan. Of course, I don't think I've seen him act.

One thing about Adair--it's going to need a really good actor to pull it off the role, I think.

Amanda Seyfried for Lanny: totally.

Ashlene wrote: "Adair-Chace Crawford or Douglas Booth because of their boyish looks. Alex Pettyfer would play a good Adair.


Lanny- Amanda Seyfried"

Chance Crawford - good choice:


Douglas Booth - maybe:


Amanda Seyfried - I do like her as an actress:

Alma wrote: "Ashlene, you know of some good looking men! You know, I could see Chace Crawford as Jonathan. Of course, I don't think I've seen him act.

One thing about Adair--it's going to need a really good ac..."

Alex Pettyfer is to blond for Adair, isn't he? Adair is a gypsy and they are usually dark. Not always but usually. And I picture someone older, more mature looking. I actually like Ian Sommerholder (sp) for Adair looks wise because I don't think I've ever seen him act. What is he in? Anyone watch the tv show "Once upon a time"? How about Robert Carlyle (Mr. Gold, Rumpelstilskin) for the alchemist? He does creepy so well. I agree with Amanda Seyfried for Lanny. I like her as an actress too.

Since we are talking about who would play what role, is there going to be a movie? Did I miss something?

If there was a movie to come out who would you like to play Lanny, Jonathan and Adair?


Lisarenee wrote: "When you wrote the characters for the Taker did you have anyone in mind when you created them? Any actors which you modeled them a little after? In other words, are there any actors/actresses which..."

Alma wrote: "I had a few actors in mind when I started the book, but that was over ten years ago and those actors wouldn't be suitable now. For instance, one literary agent had Johnny Depp in mind for Jonathan!

On top of that, I don't watch many movies any more and am hopelessly out of date with the current crop of hot actors. Who would you recommend? (I've found a few new actors to follow this way!)"

Actors can dye their hair or pluck their eye brows. lol

Ian S. would be great for Adair. I just name a few Actors earlier that just popped in my head.

No, Mira, I didn't mean to get your hopes up. This is only for fun :-)

Mira wrote: "Since we are talking about who would play what role, is there going to be a movie? Did I miss something?"

Alma wrote: "No, Mira, I didn't mean to get your hopes up. This is only for fun :-)

Mira wrote: "Since we are talking about who would play what role, is there going to be a movie? Did I miss something?""

Darn! It's ok :). This is what we do at book club. Our very last question is, who would you cast in the movie version? That brings on another hour of discussion hehehe. So who do we write to to put this idea out there?

I would write a letter! I would love to see this book as a movie!