Interview with Lauren Hammond/Giveaway!

Today we sit down with Lauren Hammond, author of...

A Whisper To A Scream (The Sociopath Dairies)
By Lauren Hammond
Synopsis borrowed from Goodreads:

Sometimes love....can be deadly.

Ellory Graham detested high school. She relished the fact that she was a rebel. A wild, carefree, type of girl. She basked in the glory of being the type of girl who stood up to authority. Unfortunately for her, her upfront, honest and bitchy nature always managed to land her in some kind of trouble.

Adam Jacobs was everything Ellory was not. Not only was he beautiful, but he was smart, artistic, and sweet. To almost every girl he seemed like the total package- that all around perfect guy. But in a town were nothing particularly interesting happens, and gossip seems like the only fun thing to do, sometimes those perfections become flaws. And it doesn’t take long for Ellory to find out, even Adam has secrets.

But Adam’s secrets, are the kind of secrets people die for....

You can check out our review HERE!

Sounds awesome right?! Well stick around and you just might get to win a copy;)

Were you inspired by Dexter when writing this?

 Actually no... When I first started writing A Whisper To A Scream, I’d only heard the name of the show mentioned in conversations. I’d never watched it and I didn’t really know what it was about. But now, I do... And I LOVE it!

What about American Psycho?

Another no... I’ve actually only seen the movie. I haven’t read the book yet. But believe me… I plan on it.

Do you feel you could really get into the frame of mind of a serial killer or is it all just fantasy?

I honestly feel like if I’m attached to the character I can totally get into that mind frame to bring them vividly to life in the book, but that’s pretty much where it ends for me… So I guess half is fantasy, half is me being in that mind frame. Books helped me a lot. I got this non-fiction book that has every notable serial killer in it starting with Jack the Ripper. I wanted to study their traits; I wanted to figure out what made them tick... Most importantly, I think I’ve always been fascinated with why people do what they do or why they are who they are.

Do you feel a killer could actually love?

At times I do, but then I always question myself. Maybe I hope they could.  Take Adam for example, he’s an excellent actor. He could tell you the earth was gonna blow up tomorrow and somehow he’d make you question yourself. Whenever I start writing a book that has a message like this one I ask myself what if? What if one person can have an effect on another like that? What if someone who has no empathy or remorse for their actions could love? I like to think it’s possible. But then again you never know.

At moments I thought that Adam was going to snap and want to kill Ellory.  Why didn't you do this?  It would have been for a great shocking moment.

All Adam wants is normalcy. Ellory makes him feel normal for the first time in his life. He actually thinks he might have a future that doesn’t involve rotting in a jail cell. He was definitely too attached to her to kill her. To be so conflicted and tortured by being abnormal and not really being able to show his true colors is something Adam struggles with. For him to eliminate his only sliver of normalcy, I just couldn’t envision it for Adam and Ellory in book one. But... who knows what books two and three will have in store for them?

Did you find yourself holding back the darkness because you thought the YA crowd would not accept this story?  Could you have made it darker?

A tiny bit. In the original version Ellory was actually ten times more brash. So brash that she was unlikeable, so I toned her down some. Also, in the original version, Adam had no POV. The story was completely told from Ellory’s POV. And I kept going back through it and every time I read it I felt like something was missing. I had to add his POV. I had to. What I wanted most was for people to understand that he’s not all bad. I mean, he is definitely more bad than good, but there is a shred of goodness in him that I wanted the readers to be able to see.

As far as this being darker. I think there all different types of readers. I think there are YA readers who enjoy really dark reads. I know I do. I can’t be the only one, right?

I could have made it darker... I actually have a short prequel that I’m going to put out as a free read right before Yelling Out Loud comes out. Adam’s last moment with Regina Taylor...Told from her POV.  Even though it’s short, I’d say it is much darker than A Whisper To A Scream.

Personally, I’m the type that likes to write really dark boundary-pushing books. Or books told from a characters POV that a person normally would not expect. In my novella He Loves Me...He Loves You Not, it is written entirely from the other woman’s POV. I think I do this because it is a challenge. I don’t like the norm, if that makes any sense, LOL.

There are times when I was confused in the story with Ellory's behavior.  She loves her mom then she doesn't dig her.  She just seemed to flip back and forth.  Is this what you were going for because maybe her hormones were going crazy, or is it possible that Ellory has an underlying mental disorder?

Oh Ellory definitely has major issues. Is it a mental disorder, who knows? Maybe. I think you’ll get to see a lot more that has to do with this in book two.

Where there any songs that inspired you, or that you listened to while writing this? I kept thinking N.I.N. The Perfect Drug when I thought of Adam & Ellory. Especially Adam with the “Without you…without you everything falls apart. Without you, it’s not as much fun to pick up the pieces.”

I am a music junkie. Music always inspires me. Most of the time when I’m writing, I like it quiet, but sometimes I put a playlist together of songs that remind me of my characters. Here are a few...

1.    Paramore – Monster – I’ll stop the whole world. I’ll stop the world from turning into a monster and eating us alive.

2.    Kings of Leon – Closer – Driven by the strangle of vein, showing no mercy I’d do it again. Open up your eyes, you keep on crying baby, I’ll bleed you dry.

3.    Rihanna & Eminem – Love The Way You Lie Pt2 – On the first page of our story the future seemed so bright. But this thing turned out so evil, I don’t know why I’m still surprised. Even angels have their wicked schemes, and you take that to new extremes. But you’ll always be my hero…Even though you lost your mind.

I loved how Adam & Ellory complimented each other with their own special brand of crazy. Adam unable to feel anything and desperately wanting to feel something. Ellory who feels too much and is desperately trying to not feel anything. Was this your original intent? Or did it just sort of happen after you started writing?

I did intend that... because I wanted them to be similar yet different at the same time.  Also underneath all of it, Ellory had witnessed her parents destroyed marriage and she has some bitterness towards love. Adam just wants to be able to feel emotion. So I think the way they interacted turned out great.

What do we have to look forward to in the next book?  Any teasers you can let us taste?

A whole lot of crazy and a whole lot of devious behavior... I do have a teaser. Here is your first glimpse at Yelling Out Loud, book two in The Sociopath Diaries.

“I’ve been locked up for the last sixty days. Imprisoned. Iron-clad in chains. Shackled to a wall to restrain myself from one thing; my own emotions.

The employees call this place an institution, I call it a nut-house. Straight jackets are an added accessory to your wardrobe and padded walls are the decorations in every room. I haven’t slept through the night since I arrived here two months ago.

I don’t think I’m crazy.

I think he made me go crazy. Adam made me go crazy.

I dream of him night after night. He’s a demon of destruction and despair, haunting me. Leaving me shriek wildly like a howling banshee, reminding me of what a sick and tortured fool I am for love. For his love.

Sometimes I swear hear him—his voice calls out to me and fills the bland white halls of the nut-house. Then reality hits. He’s not here. He has never been here and probably won’t ever come to see me. After that, the emptiness floods through me. Emptiness floods through me and drowns me when I face reality.

There’s an epic battle between love and emptiness ripping through my body. Opposing sides steel swords’ clash, cutting into me and the emptiness is smothering the love inside of me.  Soon I’ll be a robot, just like him. No love in me at all. He broke me. The one boy who I let in broke me. The one boy who I let see the real me bartered with my soul and ripped it to shreds.”

SQUEEEE!!!! I want more…I NEED more….NOW!!!! I don’t know if I am going to be able to hold on for the next book without going insane. She better make room for two in that padded hotel room with commentary straight jacket bathrobes.

Now that we teased you, and have gotten you all excited, it's only fair that we give you a chance to get your own copy of A Whisper To A Scream.That's right one lucky winner will get an eBook copy, and I'm telling you this book will change you. It's a must read! This contest is open Internationally so just fill out the Rafflecopter form below and...Good Luck!

A Whisper To A Scream by Lauren Hammond

A Whisper To A Scream
By Lauren Hammond
Published October 11th 2011 by S.B. Addison Books
Pick up your copy at Amazon or B&N for only 99 cents today!
Synopsis borrowed from Goodreads:

Sometimes love....can be deadly.

Ellory Graham detested high school. She relished the fact that she was a rebel. A wild, carefree, type of girl. She basked in the glory of being the type of girl who stood up to authority. Unfortunately for her, her upfront, honest and bitchy nature always managed to land her in some kind of trouble.

Adam Jacobs was everything Ellory was not. Not only was he beautiful, but he was smart, artistic, and sweet. To almost every girl he seemed like the total package- that all around perfect guy. But in a town were nothing particularly interesting happens, and gossip seems like the only fun thing to do, sometimes those perfections become flaws. And it doesn’t take long for Ellory to find out, even Adam has secrets.

But Adam’s secrets, are the kind of secrets people die for....

What Darkfallen & Greta has to say:

Greta: This is an interesting and unique read that I've never seen done in YA.

Darkfallen: For me this book was brilliant!

I mean ok, ok, ok there is a little room for improvement. Like maybe one good look through with a fresh pair of eyes could catch the typos and misplaced words that are sprinkled here and there throughout the book. But as you can tell from my 5 star rating I thought the book was still too good, even with the errors, to take a star away.
Greta: Ellory is your typical ya teenage angst girl. She's 17, a senior in high school, has a mouth like a sailor, doesn't like to get gussied up, and loves her friends.

Her life is about to get flipped upside down. Burton, Ohio hasn't had anything exciting happen to it in years. Maybe even decades. That is until Adam Jacobs moves to town. A beautiful boy with a winning smile, football skills, and a dark dark secret.

Adam is a monster. But not like the ones from fairytales. Adam is for real.

I found the plot at times to be a bit out there. Ellory's story is told in 1st person POV while Adam's is told in 3rd. I have to admit that this confused me when it was first introduced. I didn't mind it but I definitely wasn't expecting it. I've only see that done with Heather Gudenkauf novels.
Darkfallen:  Yes I totally agree with Greta and warn you that at first it might be a little confusing to read. It switches back form Ellory's POV which is first person present, to Adams POV which is third person present. And while the first couple of switches are slightly awkward, in the end I get it. I think it honestly needed that.

With Ells POV the way it is you feel a connection with her. With Adams POV you feel the disconnect. And I think that is important because what I take from the book is this...

Ells is a girl that is trying desperately to live numb. Always trying NOT to feel anything. While Adam is desperately trying to feel ANYTHING. He is completely devoid of emotion, and if he could muster the concept of hate...then he would hate it. Either way Adam knows he is a monster. It's not until meeting Ells that he thinks maybe he is starting to feel something. That maybe there is more than just the monster that he has known all his life.

While Adam is intrigued by this and trying to pull Ells closer to him. To see just how much he can feel. Can she make him feel love? Ells is pushing him away because she is scared of what she feels for him. The push and pull work great, and I couldn't get enough. The twist in the end is dark and perfect. I can't wait to get my hands on the in this series. I need to know where this all goes. A part of me thinks that maybe Ells is slightly bi-polar. I would love to see if that's the case. Like can an over emotional bi-polar girl balance out an devoid of emotion sociopath boy? And vise versa?

Greta: I kind of figured that the duo would fall head over heel for each other. And in fact they did but I feel that Ellory shouldn't have fallen so hard. I can understand why Adam would. It makes sense since he's the one fighting between bloodlust and normalcy. But I thought Ellory should realize that he was going a little over the top. In my opinion it would be the best move to make Ellory a fourteen year old. I think that if the author was to do that then her being so infatuated with Adam would make more sense. She'd be too young to realize their relationship is a bit too clingy (in a way).

Another reason I would make Ellory younger is the fact that she talks about her BFF as though she's the center of her life. Now, I know that I did that when I was 17 but I don't know if that is the norm. Again, if Ellory was just a smidge younger than this would maker perfect sense.

I told my husband about that and he told me that if the author was to do that then it would be socially unacceptable for her to get it on with Adam. Well, that doesn't happen in this book. There is some making out but nothing too graphic. It's all pretty tame. But what if there was something to happen? Ellory likes to party and is proclaimed as the wild child. If she's all that then I'm pretty sure that a fourteen year old having sex would not raise any eyebrows. We all knew those kinds of girls.

In closing:

Darkfallen: I will tell you this...this isn't for the faint at heart. Now please don't misunderstand me, it's not all American Psycho. It won't make you vomit...well at least it didn't me. But it is pushing the bill a little on YA and you need to keep an open mind while reading this book. For the squeamish it just might be a little too much for you. But I say this is hands down a series to look out for.

Greta: The ending is probably the best part. It does make me wonder what is in store for the next book. You are left with a delicious cliffhanger that will leave you wanting more and biting your nails until the next book is released.

This is kind of a dark book. American Psycho was darker and so was Misery, but this has the potential to give me that SCREAM FACTOR with the upcoming book. I'm really wanting that. With that being said, I wouldn't recommend this for the squeemish. It didn't shock me at all but that's kind of hard to do. I can imagine it disturbing others.

Darkfallen: Is it taboo, and maybe heading in the direction of the Banned Book List? Quite possibly...but does't that make it even better? *winks* lol

Greta & Darkfallen both agree Lauren Hammond is an authore to keep your eye on!

Darkfallen's rating...

Greta's rating...

Until next time...