Giveaway and Q&A with Kendare Blake!

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Genre: Young Adult Horror

Release: August 30, 2011

Hardcover: 320 Pages

Publisher: Tor Teen

Buy the Book: Amazon

About ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD:

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 

So did his father before him, until he was gruesomely murdered by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father's mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.

When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn't expect anything outside of the ordinary: track, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he's never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, now stained red and dripping with blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home.

But she, for whatever reason, spares Cas's life.

About Kendare Blake - 

Kendare Blake lives and writes in Washington state, with cats and a husband who critique the work. Her first literary novel, Sleepwalk Society, recently won a 2011 Indie Excellence Award for crossover fiction. Her second novel, Anna Dressed in Blood, is YA horror, and will be released August 30, 2011, with a sequel to follow in 2012.

Follow Kendare: Website Facebook Twitter

Interview with Kendare Blake! 

How did you go about creating the "rules" for the ghosts in your book? 

This might sound terrible, but the best, most honest answer I can give for this is, by the seat of my pants. 

What other ghost stories, if any, guided you in the way you created the universe that Anna and the other ghosts operate in? 

Growing up watching horror films, and reading ghost stories, a lot of the “rules” of operation are just sort of absorbed. You hear a lot about cold spots and a feeling like someone is watching you. You hear things about ghosts talking in the white noise of the TV or radio, and that just sinks in like common knowledge. Of course, some of it seemed to grow out of the story itself, and some of it I made up to suit my own purposes. Because I’m nefarious like that. In the book I say that ghosts are drawn to water. I thought I made that up, but a ghost-hunting friend of mine said that it’s actually true, so I must’ve heard it somewhere. 

Do you believe that one specific religious tradition more closely relates to the world of Anna Dressed In Blood than any other? If so, which one? If not, is it an amalgam of any specific traditions? 

I don’t think so. Magically, it’s mostly Wiccan. Or eclectic pagan, I suppose you might call it. But as far as the afterlife itself, I don’t think it’s linked to a religion. I wish I had a better answer for this. Like I had based the world of Anna Dressed in Blood on the rules of Scooby Doo or something. Or the rules of Dragon Ball Z. But that would have been too hard to write. People would just keep dying, and being wished back to life by a dragon, and Anna would have to spend three or four episodes powering up the spirit bomb. Nobody here watched Dragon Ball Z, did they? I feel so alone. 

Contest: Who is about to take on Anna next?  

In the first week, we met the ghost hunters.  In the second week, we saw their replies.  This week, we find out who actually makes it to Anna's door!

Each day this week, a final clue will be given for each of the three ghost hunters who accepted Anna's challenge to come to Thunder Bay.  Follow the tour for the rest of this week to find out who among the five is the one who will enter Anna's house on the last day of the tour!  A list of all the tour dates, including the first week's dates where the ghost hunters were introduced, click here.

On the last day of the tour, a link will be provided where you can enter the ghost hunter's name for 15 entries into the contest to win a Anna Dressed In Blood skinned and loaded Kindle 3!  Open US/Canada.

For extra points in the meantime, you can gain +1 point a day by tweeting the following:
Who will make it to Thunder Bay?  Join the contest to best Anna and win an Anna Dressed In Blood Kindle!  Follow #ADIBtour @KendareBlake

  

Kendare Blake Tour Stops 

Monday, September 12th - Rachel, Parajunkee 

Tuesday, September 13th - Stacey, A Reader's Record 

Wednesday, September 14th - Alyssa, Teens Read and Write 

Thursday, September 15th - Heather, Buried In Books 

Friday, September 16th - Jenny, Supernatural Snark  

Monday, September 19th - Melissa, I Swim For Oceans 

Tuesday, September 20th - Tawni, The Book Worms 

Wednesday, September 21st - Alice, Alice Marvels 

Thursday, September 22nd - Julie, That's Swell 

Friday, September 23rd - Angela, The Reading Angel  

Monday, September 26th - Julia, Rex Robot Reviews

Tuesday, September 27th - Ashley, Smash Attack Reads! 

Wednesday, September 28th - Britta, I Like These Books 

Thursday, September 29th - We Fancy Books  

Friday, September 30th (Anna's 1 month birthday!) - Kristi, The Story Siren  

Tuesday, October 4th: Announcement of the big prize winner on Kendare's Site!