Interview: Kate Karyus Quinn

It's been an amazing month and we are in the homestretch!  Today we have our last author interview before our Author Fright Fest and this author is the queen of creepy!  I have loved Kate Karyus Quinn ever since I read Another Little Piece and I am so excited to have her on the blog today!  

1. Welcome Kate! So excited to have you join us today!! I really enjoyed Another Little Piece and (Don't You) Forget About Me. They both had an amazing creepy factor that totally grabbed me. Have you always been drawn to write creepish books?
Thank you so much for having me! So here's the funny thing about me... I don't really like creepy books. Or scary books. Or scary anything really. And I never really intended to write books that were scary or creepy. It's just sorta how they came out.

2. Your newest book Down With the Shine sounds amazing. Where did you come up with this idea?
Aw, thank you! So DOWN WITH THE SHINE is about a girl whose Uncles make moonshine. She takes some to a high school party and passes it out while doing her Uncles' toast that asks drinkers to "make a wish". The next day she finds out that her uncles use the moonshine to grant real actual wishes, and she just granted a whole bunch of drunken ones. Wackiness ensues. :)

So this idea actually started out as an adult urban fantasy novel about a woman whose uncles made moonshine. Not magical moonshine, just the regular kind. That book ultimately didn't work and was retired to the book graveyard folder on my computer. But there were so many parts of that book that I loved - including the main character. So I revived her and a few more characters, recast the rest of the details, and voila! Out come DOWN WITH THE SHINE.

3. Out of all the book events you have attended which one has been your favorite and why?
Last year I attended the Las Vegas Book Festival and that was so much fun (it was also my first time in Vegas!). A few months ago I did a YA Book Fest in Pickerington, Ohio that was also really amazing and so much fun. Really any event that allows me to connect with readers - especially young adult ones - is something to get excited about.

4. Now for a few fun Halloween questions! What book would you want to keep you company during a zombie apocalypse?
Oooh. Hmm... Well I think a zombie apocalypse would be super stressful and during stressful times I also go to my comfort reads, which are romance novels. So I would definitely want a fat stack of romance to escape into while the zombies are banging on the doors.

5. Which authors would you chose to go with you to a seance and why?
Oh definitely Mindy McGinnis (author of NOT A DROP TO DRINK, IN A HANDFUL OF DUST, and A MADNESS SO DISCREET) and Demitria Lunetta (author of IN THE AFTER and IN THE END)! Mostly because we always have fun together. But also because Mindy is super tough and would make sure that no scary spirits did anything bad to me.

I second Mindy McGinnis!  I just finished her novel A Madness so Discreet and I think this would definitely know how to handle a seance!  I also find it extremely interesting that you don't like creepy, but write it so brilliantly!  Love it!

Thanks Kate so much I really appreciate you taking the time to join in our Halloween month!

Thank you and Happy Halloween!!

Find the Author

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Down with the Shine by Kate Karyus Quinn

Publisher: HarperTeen

Release Date: April 26th, 2016

Purchase: Amazon 

There's a reason they say "be careful what you wish for." Just ask the girl who wished to be thinner and ended up smaller than Thumbelina, or the boy who asked for "balls of steel" and got them-literally. And never wish for your party to go on forever. Not unless you want your guests to be struck down by debilitating pain if they try to leave.


These are things Lennie only learns when it's too late-after she brings some of her uncles' moonshine to a party and toasts to dozens of wishes, including a big wish of her own: to bring back her best friend, Dylan, who was abducted and murdered six months ago.

Lennie didn't mean to cause so much chaos. She always thought her uncles' moonshine toast was just a tradition. And when they talked about carrying on their "important family legacy," she thought they meant good old-fashioned bootlegging.

As it turns out, they meant granting wishes. And Lennie has just granted more in one night than her uncles would grant in a year.

Now she has to find a way to undo the damage. But once granted, a wish can't be unmade...