Chat Session with P.C. and Kristin Cast
August 10^th, 2009 - Arndale Waterstone's

Q: How many books will there be in the House of Night Series?
A: They have been given a contract for 12 books.

Q: Are the books available in any other languages?
A: Yes, they are available in 30 countries. (We will get a list for you soon)

Q: Is there a tentative release date for 'Burned'?
A: No date as of yet. P.C. - I have like one sentence written. (laughs)

Q: Can you reveal whose Point Of View 'Tempted' will be in?
A: This one will be from several different POV's. You will see things from Zoey's, Stevie Rae's, Aphrodite's, Heath, Stark and 1 Surprise perspective.

Q: Any Hints?
A: It may or may not be a new character.

Q: Do you intend on adding any other supernatural characters to the series? For example witches or vampyre hunters?
A: Maybe, its always a possibility.

Q: Has writing the series together made your relationship as Mother and Daughter stronger?
A: P.C. - No! (Laughs) We have always been close.

Q: During the writing process did you ever have disagreements about how characters should be portrayed?
A: P.C. Yeah, who Zoey should be with. Kristin was the one who said 'Mom, she's too young to decide'. P.C. also said that Stark was originally meant to be with Stevie Rae however that's not how the characters felt that it should be.

Q: Is ther a character in the series that you can relate to or picture yourself as?
A: Zoey was actually based on how Kristin was when she was that age. She has the addiction and love for Brown Pop and her favourite cereal is also Count Chocula. Kristin was also against 'cussing' too.

Q: Did you take part in designing the cover art for the books? If so how did you come up with the concept?
A: K - We got really lucky. P.C. - We talked about it, discussed them with the designer and they went from there. The US and the UK covers are different too. 

Q: Do you have any advice for young writers?
A: Yes, Do your work well enough and your characters will create themselves. Once you get to a point where the characters feel like real people that have minds of their own that's when you know you are on the right track.

Q: On the HouseOfNightSeries.com site, the 'Yearbook' section lists each characters favourite books, music, movies and TV shows: are these chosen at random or do they have a specific meaning to you?
A: The characters that are based on certain people each chose their own favourites and the others are such well developed characters that they practically write themselves, the choices were based on what the character wanted.

Q: I've read online that someone has purchased the rights to make the House of Night Series into movie, can you tell us more?
A: Yes, the rights have been purchased and the producers are currently working with a screen writer who is in the process of creating the script. P.C. - We are not associated with the film process. We cannot control casting at all, so if you think you would be perfect for a part, I wish you luck but that's the best I can do.

Q: If you had the chance to choose your own personal 'Ultimate Cast' for the House of Night movies who would you chose to play the leading roles?
A: P.C. - Vanessa Hudgens would probably make a good Zoey, she looks the part, but she is too...(we discussed it a bit) Disney. Tom Welling would make a good Erik Night

Q: Twilight has become such a huge success and its also showing success in movies. Are you worried about being in Twilight's shadows or called a copy cat?
A: P.C. - Twilight was written long after I had submitted the first few books to the publisher.

Q: What made you choose to spell 'Vampire' as 'Vampyre'?
A: P.C. - I just wanted to.

Q: How did you come up with the main storyline for the series?
A: P.C. - My agent came up to me suggesting I write a series about a vampire finishing school. I worked out the details and discussed the vampyre biology with my dad and started writing.

Q: If you could have any Goddess given gift, what would you choose and why?
A: P.C. - Earth Affinity for sure! I'd want to control the wind.
     K - I'd want to have the ability to stop time, I don't like getting up in the morning and I'd like to be able to sleep in longer.

Q: What is your personal favourite book from the House of Night Series?
A: P.C. Tempted
     K - Chosen

Q: Who is your favourite character?
A: P.C. - Aphrodite
     K - No favourite

Q: Have you ever wanted to work with another author at all?
A: No.

Q: Who would you want Zoey to be with?
A: Stark, but Kristin is the one who pointed out the fact that she is still too young to choose just one guy. There was a lot of laughter and joking about how its better to take your time finding 'The One'.

Q: How did you come up with all of the characters? 
A: P.C. A lot of them are based on people we know, Damien is based on one of my old students. I asked him what he wanted his name to be, he chose the name and the basic characteristics.