Interview + Giveaway: P.T. Michelle of Brightest Kind of Darkness

Hey guys! Today I am welcoming P.T. Michelle, author of Brightest Kind of Darkness — the first in her new Paranormal Young Adult series. She’ll be answering some questions about her fantastic book and herself.

Afterwards, she’ll be giving away an eBook copy of Brightest Kind of Darkness. So stick around and be sure to enter to win after the interview!

P.T. Michelle is the young adult pseudonym of Patrice Michelle, author of fifteen romance novels and novellas. When P.T. isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading or taking pictures of landscapes, sunsets and anything beautiful or odd in nature.

P.T. loves to hear from readers. If you want to share your thoughts on her books, click on the contact link above and send her an email.

She’s currently hard at work on the next book in the series.

Welcome Patrice! Thank you so much for stopping by. What was your biggest source of inspiration before and while writing Brightest Kind of Darkness?

Hi Sarah, I wanted to say thank you for having me here at I’m Loving Books blog!

Before I wrote BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS my biggest source of inspiration was reading tons of YA books. While reading these amazing, layered stories, I remember thinking, Where were books like these when I was a teen? LOL!

While I was writing Brightest Kind of Darkness, my kids were my biggest source of inspiration. I would read them a chapter that I’d written and when I was done, they’d say, “And? What happens next?” To which I’d reply, “I can’t tell you. I haven’t written it yet.” They’d get frustrated and respond, “Well, hurry up and write the next chapter. We want to know what happens!” And every day after, they’d ask, “Is the next chapter ready yet?”

I totally wonder where these awesome books were when I was a teen too! I think I would’ve read a lot more as a teen if the options were so amazing like they are now. lol

I have to say I love the title of the book. It’s one of those kind of titles that’s a little bit mysterious when you first see it, but after reading it, I can definitely understand what it means now. My question is, did the title for the book come to you while writing or did you have it in mind from the very beginning?

Thanks! I love it too. When I first wrote BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS, it had a different title. Then I decided to change the title for exactly the reason you mentioned, its layered mysteriousness. One of my kids brainstormed with me to come up with various forms of the words LIGHT and DARK, which was definitely the theme I wanted the title to convey. Once I wrote down several variations, I started rearranging the words and that’s when the title came to me.

If you had the opportunity to see into the future, would you take it? Why or why not?

Actually, I wouldn’t want to know my future. Living in the “here and now” is full of its own adventures without adding the complicated layer of “hasn’t happened yet, but it will” knowledge to the mix.

I totally agree. I definitely wouldn’t want to miss out on the discovery of what’s going to happen.

Do you believe in fate, or do you think that we all have the final say in what our future holds?

I believe we all have a path, but that our path is filled with many twists and turns and even a fork or two, so it’s still ultimately up to us which “veer off” we take.

If you didn’t have a choice and could see into the future like Nara can, would you try to change certain things or would try to step back and let things happen as they appear in your visions (including terrible things like the death of a loved one)?

I think I would’ve been like Nara. I’d let the little things slide, but if someone I loved was threatened, I would do everything in my power to save them. I couldn’t stand by and just let something bad happen. Not if I had the knowledge to stop or prevent it.

It’s clear to me after reading Brightest Kind of Darkness that there’s so much more story to tell, and I’m very happy that there will be more! Did you plot things out ahead of time to span more than one book or did the story kind of take you there on its own?

I plotted Brightest Kind of Darkness out as I wrote it, but the world I created in this book turned out to be much larger and more complex than I initially thought…so more planning/plotting will ensue for the rest of the books.

Ethan’s story is pretty interesting to me but still pretty mysterious at the end of Brightest Kind of Darkness. Will we learn more about the whys of his situation in the next book? (Please say yes. lol)

Absolutely. With each new story, more and more layers about Ethan AND Nara will be revealed.

What are you reading right now and what book(s) have you had your eye on lately but haven’t gotten to read yet?

Currently I’m reading my own work while working on the next book, but I’m looking forward to reading Anna Dressed in Blood, Shatter Me and my critique partner J.A. Templeton’s next story The Haunted!

Thanks so much for stopping by, it was a pleasure to have you and to read your wonderful book!

Thanks so much for the interview, Sarah!

Nara Collins is an average sixteen-year-old, with one exception: every night she dreams the events of the following day. Due to an incident in her past, Nara avoids using her special gift to change fate…until she dreams a future she can’t ignore.

After Nara prevents a bombing at Blue Ridge High, her ability to see the future starts to fade, while people at school are suddenly being injured at an unusually high rate.

Grappling with her diminishing powers and the need to prevent another disaster, Nara meets Ethan Harris, a mysterious loner who seems to understand her better than anyone. Ethan and Nara forge an irresistible connection, but as their relationship heats up, so do her questions about his dark past.

Giveaway

Okay, now it’s time for some winning! Here’s what you could get:

ONE lucky winner (International) will get an eBook copy of Brightest Kind of Darkness! Enter using the Rafflecopter form below.

If you’re on the main page, follow the “more” link below to enter!

Giveaway Rules

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One winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter.
Open Internationally.
Open between December 5th-December 9th. Form closes at 12:01am on December 10th.
Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter. Just click “I Did This” after you’ve done each step.
The winner will be notified by email.

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