Meet the Newbies (& Giveaway): Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas

Welcome to Meet the Newbies! Meet the Newbies is a blog event dedicated to introducing you to the “newbie” published debut authors. In this event, expect to learn more about the authors, their books, and silly fun facts!

Today, I'm featuring Kelly Zekas and Tarun Shanker, authors of These Vicious Masks!

Nickname: Kel

First Day of School: February 9, 2016

Homeroom: Swoon Reads

Grade: Historical Fantasy

Extracurricular Activities: Drama Club, Vampire Slaying, Entering the Realms

Favorite Class: Teleportation: It's Hard But It Will Happen Favorite 

Favorite Quote/Motto: "Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps." ­ Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare

Nickname: Tuna 

First Day of School: February 9, 2016

Homeroom: Swoon Reads

Grade: Historical Fantasy

Extracurricular Activities: Track, Film Club, Calvinball 

Favorite Class: Telekinesis Target Practice 

Favorite Quote/Motto: “I love talking about nothing... It is the only thing I know anything about.” ­ 

An Ideal Husband, Oscar Wilde

The Interview:

Alyssa: Hi, Kelly and Tarun! Thank you so much for joining me today on my blog! And happy debuting!
Kelly: Thanks Alyssa! We are super happy to be here.
Tarun: And to be debut authors!

Alyssa: My first question (and probably a popular one for you two) - how did you two come to be co-authors?
Kelly: It’s actually kinda funny. We were in a college freshman year writing class together and became friends. Then a couple years later Tarun asked me about writing a YA novel and I was more like a beta reader or consultant at first, but we sorta fell into writing it together!
Tarun: Yep. She started editing pages for me and it was a lot better because she’s the historical romance expert. So we just traded chapters back and forth until we both loved them, and worked from there. Now we’re stuck :)

Alyssa: What about Swoon Reads/Macmillan attracted you to publish your book with them?
Kelly: We actually queried traditionally for quite a while. But Tarun heard about them on a YA forum and I had actually picked up their first book, A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall and loved it. That kinda cemented it for us.
Tarun: We weren’t sure we had enough romance, or if they would want a trilogy, actually. But we liked the platform, the involvement of the community, all the editors’ advice on their blog and their beautiful book design. So we just figured we would give it a try. We were thrilled to be picked and everyone on the Swoon team has been better than we imagined!

Alyssa: How did These Vicious Masks become the title of the book? Are the titles of the next books of a similar pattern?
Kelly: Oh the number of titles we went through at various times. I don’t even remember the first, but we definitely considered EVOLVED, THESE FRAGILE MASKS, and finally we landed at THESE VICIOUS MASKS. We like how many different ways “masks” fits our story - a nod to superhero masks, masked balls and the way people hide who they really are.
Tarun: We don’t know about the future titles, though. That is still being decided, so they may stay in that same pattern or we might do this one other weird idea we had. But that will be decided with our publisher soon.

Alyssa: Can you share anything from book two? A teaser, a line, an unofficial synopsis, a tiny spoiler? ;D
Kelly: Oh I would love to! Can we, Tarun?
Tarun: Sure! Here's a line from Chapter 1 that hopefully gives you a hint of what's to come:

The man smiled and tipped his hat. “Compliments of the Society of Aberrations. We always look out for our own people.”

Alyssa: What?! WHERE IS THE REST? ;D Thanks for joining me! I can't wait to read your book's sequel (please write faster)! :)
Kelly: RIGHT???? Yes, we are spending ALL our time on the sequels, we promise!
Tarun: We are writing like we’re running out of time. (Kelly told me to write that, I don’t understand Hamilton references.)

The Authors:

Kelly Zekas is a writer/actor and New York University graduate living in New York City. Young Adult literature is her absolute favorite thing on earth other than cupcakes and she has spent many hours crying over fictional deaths. She also started reading Harlequin romances at a possibly too early age (12?), and adores a good historical romance.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter

Mild­mannered assistant by day, milder­mannered writer by night, Tarun Shanker is a New York University graduate currently living in Los Angeles. His idea of paradise is a place where kung­-fu movies are projected on clouds, David Bowie’s music fills the air, and chai tea flows freely from fountains.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Tumblr

The Book:

These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker and Kelly Zekas

Publisher: Swoon Reads

Publication Date: February 9, 2016

Summary (from Goodreads):

Jane Austen meets X-­Men in this gripping and adventure-­filled paranormal romance set in Victorian London.

England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent. But they’re not the only ones looking for Rose. The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true—and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

The Giveaway:

Giveaway #1:

Win a copy of These Vicious Masks! This giveaway is hosted by the authors, and it's USA only (sorry, non-USA peeps!).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Giveaway #2:

1 Pre­Order or Finished Copy of Any Debut Novel Featured on Meet the Newbies

International (as long as The Book Depository ships to your country)

a Rafflecopter giveaway