Delightful Debutantes #10 : Kristi Cook & Haven!

 Today, I'd like you to welcome Kristi Cook to the blog. She's hear to talk all about her debut novel, Haven.  I just finished reading Haven recently, and I had a lot of fun with it! My review will be up next week! Read on to find out more about Kristi and her Delightful Debut!

Can you describe Haven for my readers in just one sentence?

My 9-yr. old daughter looked at this question and suggested, “A chilling destiny she can’t escape; a devastating love she can’t resist.”  Uh, yeah—the tagline from the cover, LOL!  Hmmm, let me see if I can do better than that (probably not!).  How about, “Girl with psychic powers finally discovers a place where she fits in and finds a guy she likes a lot, but is bummed to learn that it’s her destiny to kill him.” 

Being a soon to be published author must be very exciting! Can you tell me how your life has changed since the book sold, and also how you celebrated when you heard you were going to be published?  

Mostly I’ve just gotten very, very busy—and sadly obsessed with how the book will be received.  As to celebrating, seems like so long ago that it sold, I can barely remember, LOL!  I’m pretty sure we all went out to dinner. 

Haven is set in a boarding school, which is a setting I love and it’s one that is very popular in Young Adult fiction at the moment.  What do you think it is about boarding schools that is so appealing to readers?

Well, mostly it’s a way to put our characters into a world where there’s very little adult intrusion.  Relationships between characters can be stronger, because they spend more time together—living together, eating together.  Boarding school was the ideal setting for HAVEN, because I really wanted my characters—who all have psychic gifts that they “hide” from the rest of the world—to be tucked away somewhere safe and secure, free to be themselves.  I’m not sure I could have accomplished that any other way. 

Aidan Gray is described as ‘perhaps the smartest, hottest guy at Winterhaven’. He sounds like he has great potential in the book crush department. Describe Aidan to me.

Ahhh, Aidan….well, he’s very mysterious.  He has secrets.  BIG secrets.  There’s way more to him than meets the eye.  He’s also really, really smart—he works in the chemistry lab for fun.  And he’s fiercely determined.  A little bit tortured.  Willing to give his life for the girl he loves.  Oh, and did I mention that he’s really cute, too?!

And while we’re talking about hot guys in books, can you share some of your book crushes?

Oh, I love this question!  My life-long book crush?! Rhett Butler from GONE WITH THE WIND.  I think I’ve been in love with Rhett since I was eleven.  He’s the ultimate bad-boy hero—all tough and arrogant and reckless, yet utterly and completely devoted to Scarlett—to the point that it ultimately crushes him. 

My biggest recent book crush is Etienne St. Clair from Stephanie Perksins’ ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS.  He’s just…perfect.  I also had a thing for Milo in Courtney Summers’ FALL FOR ANYTHING.

If you could recommend just one other upcoming 2011 debut to my readers, what book would you recommend?

Just one?!  Oh, man…that’s hard, because I’ve read ARCs of several upcoming releases that were fabulous!  But if I have to just go with one, I think it would be Veronica Roth’s DIVERGENT. A fascinating, well-developed dystopian setting; tons of action and excitement; an interesting, likable heroine; a swoon-worthy love interest; a touching romance….seriously, it’s got it all.  If I had to put my money on the next “big thing,” I’d go with DIVERGENT.  It definitely lived up to the hype!

Thanks to Kristi for a great interview! Be sure to check out Haven when it releases on February 22nd, or if you're signed up to the Simon & Schuster Galley Grab programme, it's available on there until publication date!

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Next up on Delightful Debutantes Kim Harrington talks about her novel, CLARITY.