Today, Olivia is talking with author Samantha Combs about THE DEADLIES!
When Calliope Flood catches the unwanted attention of the prettiest and most privileged girls at her new school, she learns they are possessed of more than just good ole’ Southern charm; they are also possessed by the demons of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Whether she likes it or not, the Ravens want the pretty new girl to become one of their members. Their club is so secret, only a select few know their truth. As a budding journalist, Callie is more interested in investigating them than joining them. When people begin to disappear, she soon discovers the Ravens aren’t just interested in her for her looks; slowly, she learns she’s a legacy. Calliope enlists her eccentric Aunt, her new friends, and a quietly disarming Southern boy to form their own group, The Virtues, to free the girls, and the town, from the demons that have taken over their lives.
Olivia with YA-Mag: Samantha, welcome to the Young Adult Magazine! We’re here today talking about THE DEADLIES…
YA: So let’s talk about how you met Calliope Flood! When did you meet? And what makes Calliope the perfect protagonist for this story as opposed to one of the other gals?
Samantha Combs: Thanks for having me, Olivia! Callie introduced herself to me on a long drive from my mum’s home in San Diego to my own in Los Angeles. With each mile, she became more and more vocal. She had a story to tell and had chosen me to tell it. When I arrived home, I immediately began putting the story down. As I wrote, I realized Callie is more street smart than my other female protags. She is headstrong, for sure, and uncertain of her place in what is a strange new world for her, the deep southern roots of Kentucky. Callie is the perfect protagonist because her mother taught her to question everything. It is what gives her conviction, and strengthens her belief in herself.
YA: What sets Callie’s story apart from other supernatural YA novels, like the SHADOW FALLS SERIES by C. C. Hunter or Sherrilyn Kenyon’s CHRONICLES OF NICK?
SC: What sets Callie’s story apart is the biblical theme. Paranormal stories with supernatural beings rarely touch on the metaphysical and religious. In The Deadlies, Callie faces that head-on, as the demons dominating and commanding a group of girls with a rich Southern history all their own are derivative of the Bible’s Seven Deadly Sins: Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth, Wrath, and Pride. Callie discovers she is the only one that can neutralize the threat and free the girls, but she can’t do it alone. She will need the loyalty and bravery of her new friends, an unlikely group who will battle the demons of the seven deadly sins with the strength of their biblical opposites: Charity, Diligence, Patience, Humility, Chastity, Temperance and Kindness.
YA: What non-book influences helped spark Calliope’s story? Any specific songs or shows?
SC: There were two influences, actually. On the way home, listening to music to combat the tedium, one of my favorite songs came on the radio, Cowboy Junkie’s “Sweet Jane”, and I was struck by the haunting quality of the lyrics. Really listening to them for the first time was when Callie first began to speak to me. Through the song, I felt Callie’s pain at losing her mother and transplanting to a place she knew nothing about. It’s the magic of art. Even though the song has nothing to do with the south, the time I spent as a teenager in Louisville, Kentucky became the foundation for Callie’s story.
YA: What is the story on the title, THE DEADLIES?
SC: At Callie’s new school there is a group of girls that form a tight clique, and they are the best and the brightest. If you ever went to high school, you know the girls I’m talking about. In the book, they form a loose girl’s club called the Ravens, but as they are inhabited by the deadly sin demons, the name The Deadlies became a better fit. And stuck from inception all the way through the editing and publishing process.
YA: What’s up next for you? Any planned sequels for Callie and co.?
SC: With The Deadlies, I have no immediate plans for a sequel, but only Callie can decide if she has more to say, so you never know! J Her and Cayden’s story might need to go on. What’s happening recently is my tenth novel has just released. Wingspan, available in ebook format as well as print, is the story of Chessa Dawning, a young girl about to set on the adventure of her life. As an infamous geneticist’s daughter, she is the experiment he never counted on and her swiftly growing wings are an accessory she never planned to have. Not every scientific breakthrough is a gift.
YA: If you could cast the Dream Film of THE DEADLIES, who would you cast in the lead roles?
SC: Cayden Welliver would be played by Alexander Ludwig and Callie Flood by Abigail Breslin.
YA: Do you have any pet projects you’re working on? What can you tease our audience with about them?
SC: Actually, I have one that’s taken hold of me recently. Set in the rock and roll world, SPARK will tell the story of Everlee Tanner, sister to five-seconds-away-from-being-famous Jace Tanner, lead singer of his band, Graffiti. Ever has always been the glue that held her family’s life together and that always gave her purpose. With their mother dying of cancer and Jace being seduced by the sometimes scary and always unpredictable life in the fast lane, Ever finds herself with no one to take care of, and nothing to worry about.
Until she meets Travis Dean, the hunky new bass player for her brother’s band. They hate each other at first, but things soon change–in her family, their life and her world. Should she follow her heart with a wild boy she just met, or her head and continue to pursue her journalism career? In rock and roll just like in life, there are no guarantees. And nothing ever happens unless there’s a spark.
YA: Last one! If you could spend one day with Calliope and her friends, what would you do together? What words of wisdom would you want to share with Callie while you visited?
SC: I think I would enjoy horseback riding with Callie and Cayden at his grandmother’s farm. What I would tell Callie, what she will learn by herself in the book, is that she is far stronger than she gives herself credit for. I would tell her to trust her instincts and always listen to what her heart is telling her. It could be the one thing that saves her life.
YA: Thank you very much, Samantha! And once more from all of us at YA Mag, congratulations on THE DEADLIES!
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Readers, be sure to check out Samantha at her website SamanthaCombsWrites.blogspot.com. Or follow her on Twitter @SamanthaCombs1.
THE DEADLIES, published by Sweet Craving Publishing, is available at all your favorite online retailers!
Olivia Hennis is a transplanted New England girl dropped by a tornado into the magical Land of Jersey. For more info, follow her on Twitter.