Book Divas

It is a full moon tonight and what great timing for an interview with Ivy Devlin, author of Low Red Moon, a story of Avery Hood who is reeling from the loss of her parents--and the fact that she can't remember what happened to them even though she was there. Enter Ben, a mysterious young man who Avery is drawn to much like she is drawn to the forest. Though Ivy wouldn't give us any spoilers to share with you, we definitely recommend this book to read to find out what happens in this thrilling story!

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1. An important element of Low Red Moon is the preservation of the forest and for the land not to be developed. Can you tell us why you decided to make this part of the story?

I got the idea for Low Red Moon from the fairytale Little Red Riding Hood and the woods play a big role in that story, so it seemed natural to keep it in Low Red Moon as well. Plus, I grew up in a rural area with lots of trees, and although I don't miss living in the middle of nowhere, I do miss how much people cared about their land. Not that they don't where I live now, but there's just not that kind of connection that I grew up around--in part, I think, because there actually are very few trees to see in my neighborhood(or grass, even, for that matter!)

2. Avery repeatedly has a blood red lock of hair that grows. What is the significance of this feature?
That's a total spoiler, so you'll have to read the book to find out why that lock of hair appears--and what it means...

3. There are several mentions that Avery's mom sent her out to get mushrooms--so that she would be out of the house when the tragic event occurred. Did her mom share any of the special intuition that Avery has, or was it inherited from her father?

Avery's mom just knew more about what was going on than Avery did about--well, about things I can't say because they're spoilers (you all are tricky! :-) -- and so she sent her out just in case there was a problem, although she didn't see what was really coming. So, no special intuition or anything, just a mom looking out for her daughter.

4. In Low Red Moon there is repeated elements of "DIY" between Avery's dad's modifications to their house to her grandmother's porch-building project to Avery's mission to find out what really happened to her parents. What is it about this is important to the story?

That's an amazing question--I never even saw that link until you mentioned it! I think it shows that not only do Avery's dad and her grandmother have more in common than Avery thought--they both like to build things--it also shows how the entire family has a connection to the forest, be it through Avery's dad and their ever-changing house, or Renee's decision to build a deck that looks out into the forest.

5. We have lots of aspiring writers in our online community. What advice can you give our members about writing paranormal meets normal fiction?

I think that aspiring writers probably already have the writing thing down--so my advice would be to make sure you're reading all kinds of stuff, and when it comes to writing, don't worry about what you think you should be writing. Write what you want to write!

6. What's to come from Avery and Ben?

It looks like there will be another book about them...