Please welcome Susan Dennard to the blog today! She's here to give us a few insights into two of the main characters from her upcoming zombie steampunk YA novel, SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY. If you haven't heard about her novel, be sure to add it to your Goodreads to-be-read after reading this character interview with Eleanor and Daniel, and then enter the giveaway below to win my lovingly read ARC of SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY - a spine-tingling debut that I absolutely fell in love with. Susan is a sweetheart and I've really enjoyed squee'ing over her characters and watching them fight zombies and necromancers, and fight their attraction to each other! Both Eleanor Fitt and Daniel Sheridan are such incredibly strong, feisty characters that I simply HAD to interview them.
I’m a 28-year-old reader, writer, lover of animals, and eater of cookies. I used to be a marine biologist, but now I write novels. And not novels about fish either, but novels about kick-butt heroines and swoon-worthy rogues (I really like swoon-worthy rogues).
Connect with Susan online: Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Eleanor, you live in terrifying times. What do you think of the Dead roaming Philadelphia?
Well, I can't say that I gave it much thought until that corpse shambled into the train depot. Afterall, it's not as if the Dead have never risen before--why else would we have casket bells in our coffins? Or iron bars around our cemeteries? But now that I've seen enough rotting bodies and skeletons to fill the entire Centennial Exhibition, I think it's something the city ought to be a bit more careful with.
Honestly, why hire the Spirit-Hunters to "save you" if you won't actually give them any money or help? The mayor really oughtn't have acted so surprised when the Dead overran the city--he could have been better prepared, you know.
Eleanor and Daniel, what did you each think of the other when you first met? How have your opinions changed now?
Eleanor: He ought to invest in gloves--and a tie. All that exposed flesh around his forearms and neck is appaling. Not to mention his incredibly crude behavior. Blazes, what a ruffian.
While I still think a pair of gloves won't hurt...he isn't as rough as I once thought. There is a softer--even kind--side to him. Of course, it's nigh impossible to get that side to show itself.
Daniel: "I'm Eleanor Fitt of the Philadelphia Fitts"--was she jokin'? Saying it like she's the Queen of Sheba? Why, there's nothin' I hate more than a gal concerned with money and society. It didn't help either that she ruined my experiment.
'Course...she ain't as concerned with all that as I once thought. It's not just any girl who'll put on trousers and blow up a dynamite factory. And it's not just any girl who'd risk her neck for mine...
If there was one thing you both could change about your life, what would it be?
Eleanor: I...I'm not sure I can answer that. I'd wish for so many things--for my father's death and downfall to never have happened, for more money in the bank, for a society that didn't care who I was or what I wore. I suppose, if I were forced to choose one thing, I'd wish that my older brother, Elijah, had never gone abroad all those years ago. If he had only stayed home, then maybe none of this would have ever happened.
Daniel: That's easy. There's a black spot on my conscious--black as ancient, crusted blood--and I'd do anything to make that disappear.
What are the three words you would use to describe one another?
Eleanor: He's a scalawag, for one. An incredibly dashing scalawag. An incredibly dashing and infuriating scalawag.
Daniel: She's a snooty empress...but she's got a lot of grit. I can't deny that. I guess I'd call her a stupidly brave, overly curious empress. Wait--this won't get back to her, will it? I can just imagine her eyes flashin' if she heard what I'd said.
Eleanor, what are your hopes for your future? (Once this problem with the Dead is over…)
I don't know. I honestly can't say I've thought far ahead. I always thought Elijah would be here to help me plan my life--to help keep our mother in line. I know Mama would like nothing more than to marry me off to some eligible bachelor, but I can't say I see myself as anyone's biddable wife.
Who knows? Perhaps I'll travel the world next--I'd like that very much, I think.
Why do you think that the two of you infuriate one another so much?
Eleanor: He always assumes he knows best, but does he? Most certainly not. It doesn't help that he's constantly scowling. A few smiles never hurt anyone, you know.
Thank you very much for Eleanor and Daniel (*sighs* I love those two) and to Susan for spending some time with me today!
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