BLOGTOUR: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa + Interview

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Mira Ink (24 April 2012)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 184845094X
• ISBN-13: 978-1848450943
• My Vampire Creator Told Me This: Sometime in your life, Allison Sekemoto, you will kill a human being. The question is not if it will happen, but when. Do you understand?
  
  I didn't then, not really. I DO NOW.
  
  In a future world, vampires reign.
  
  Humans are blood cattle.
  
  And one girl will search for the key to save humanity.
  
  Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a vampire city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten.
  
  Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them. The vampires who killed her mother and keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself is attacked - and given the ultimate choice.
  
  Die...or become one of the monsters. Faced with her own mortality, Allie becomes what she despises most. To survive, she must work with her vampire creator and learn the rules of being immortal. Including the most important: go long enough without human blood, and you will go mad.
  
  When Allison is separated from her creator, she flees into the unknown, the world outside her vampire city, beyond the wall. There she joins a ragged band of humans who don't know what she is, seeking a legend - a possible cure to the disease that killed off most of humankind and created the rabids, the mindless creatures who threaten humans and vampires alike.
• Cover: I am a big fan of this cover. Eerily beautiful and a brilliant visual match for our heroine, Allison.  Plus extra for the buttery soft cover!
• 4.5/5 stars!  I loved this book.  As you guys know I thought The Iron Fey series was ok but they were not my favourite books, but The Immortal Rules was amazing!  I know many readers that loved The Iron Fey but I haven't had much luck with faerie/fey type books, I just can't seem to find one that makes me fall in love with that aspect of the paranormal, but from the start the premise of this book drew me in- a dystopian with vampires!  Vampires are more my thing that fey...
• It was much darker than I expected, I mean to give you some idea the book opens with a public execution. The darkness made the read that little more intense, and seeing the lengths humans would go to survive was fascinating. 
• Another aspect I enjoyed was the vampire hierarchy,ranging from master vampires to rabids. 
• There is some romance but it's not in anyway the focus of the book.  I'm really interested to see how the romance develops because the end of the book made me go 'Oh my gosh NOOOO!'  So if you want something romance light you should enjoy this.
• I definitely recommend this book both for fans of paranormal and dystopian reads.  Julie Kagawa has seamlessly blended the two genres to create an action packed thrill ride that I couldn't put down and has left me eagerly wanting more!  I can't wait for the next book.
• Interview
• Erin: The Immortal Rules is a very different kind of Vampire story, what was your inspiration for it?
  
  
  Julie: Vampires have been popular since before Bram Stoker's Dracula, so creating something completely new and unseen was pretty much impossible.  When I did decide to write about vamps, I didn't want to go down the well-tread upon "girl meets vampire, falls in love" route.  Though there have been many stories lately about moral, good vampires, I wanted to bring them back to their original roots as scary, bloodthirsty killers.  I didn't want my humans to think they could befriend or have a romantic entanglement with a vampire.  These vampires were monsters; I wanted them to be feared.  
  
  
  Erin: There are so many vampire myths or stories out there, which is your favourite and why?
  
  
  Julie: Okay, I’m not sure if this counts, but my favorite is Joss Whedon’s Buffy-verse. I own all of the Buffy and Angel series, and even some of the comics. I love the quirky humor, but even more, I love the underlying themes. It’s all about redemption and sacrifice and perseverance in the face of the overwhelming odds, and how love and friendship can overcome those problems. When you combine that with humor, I think you get the key ingredients to a wonderful story.
  
  
  Erin: What was the hardest part of writing The Immortal Rules? The easiest?
  
  
  Julie: The most difficult scene to write was probably the stay at the Archer farm.  I knew something had to go down, something big, for the repercussions between Allie and another character to happen.  The easiest (and most exciting) parts were anytime Allie was fighting something, be it rabids, raiders, other vampires, ect.  I love a good fight scene, especially if there is a katana involved.
  
  
  
  
  Erin: Do you have a writing routine or any writing quirks?
  
  
  Julie: In general I try and get at least 1,000 words down per day. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes less, but that’s what I shoot for. If I’m doing something like NaNo (National Novel Writing Month), that jumps up to 1,667 words per day. And the business side of writing can make that number less sometimes… I love doing signings and marketing and interviews, but all of them take time away from the word count thing.
  
  
  Erin: Is there an author that you could see yourself collaborating with in the future?
  
  
  Julie: I honestly haven’t thought much about collaboration. I wouldn’t be opposed to the idea, but I also wonder how people do it. Not like, “Oh my god, I could never work with someone” but more the mechanics. Would there be different points of view and I’d write one and someone else would write the other? Or would we both sit at a keyboard and type out bits and pieces? That might drive me a little crazy… and I might drive the other person more than a little crazy.
• A huge thank you to Julie for answering my questions.