Thursday, October 30, 2014

YA Horror/Thriller Spooktacular Day 22 - The Rules + Giveaway


The day before the last day of October I have for you two New York Times bestselling authors!  They're both veteran horror authors and this isn't the first time they've worked together.  Who are they?  Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie!


Peace, Love, Teen Fiction:  Basics first, can each of you sum up The Rules in only 10 words?

Debbie Viguie:  Edge of your seat scare fest that leaves you guessing.
Nancy Holder:    If you scream, the killer will know where you are.

PLTF:  The title of the book, The Rules, obviously corresponds to a large aspect of the plot.  What are your rules?

DV:  Mine personally: Never turn your back on danger. Know when to fight and when to run. Warn your friends when they can’t see the danger but you can.
NH:            - If someone scares you, don’t be polite. Move the                       hell away.
   - If you can’t get away, scream “Fire!” like crazy and kick their ass!
   - Never piss off Debbie Viguié.
           
PLTF:   Did you do any kind of research to get the killings or the killer to seem real?  And if so what were some of the things you searched for?

DV:  We’ve both racked up a pretty high body count in the books we write together and the ones we write apart. At different points in the past I’ve done research for other books, but not for this one specifically.
NH:    OMG, how many times did I watch the most perfect YA teen thriller ever? The narrative pace of Scream is in my marrow. I love you, Kevin Williamson. I also did a ton of research on Northern California and canneries. Debbie and I are both from the Bay Area so that helped a lot!

PLTF:   How did you decide who needed to die to keep the story going?  Were there any characters you ended up wishing you didn’t have to kill off?
DV:  In every great scary story of this type you need to kill off characters, particularly ones whose deaths will traumatize the protagonist, the reader, or both. There were some characters I felt bad for when we killed them off, but none that I’d go back and save if I had the chance.
NH:    DIE, SUCKAS! I feel bad every time I kill a character…but it has never stopped me.

PLTF:  What’s next?

DV:  Tons of things! Later next summer I have the first book in my Robin Hood Demon’s Bane trilogy coming out. I’m co-writing that series with James R. Tuck. I am in the middle of writing a teen thriller called Never Have I Ever. I’m putting the finishing touches on five books for three of my other continuing series. NH:   and I are also working on another project together, but we can’t say anything about that just yet!
NH:    I’m working on novels based on the TV show Beauty and the Beast. The first one, titled Vendetta, will be out in November. Also in November is a new anthology of pastiches and homages to Sherlock Holmes, called In the Company of Sherlock Holmes. I have a Lovecraft story narrated by my soulmate, Edgar Allan Poe, in Out of Tune and a reprint in Halloween Tales,  a charity anthology out from the Los Angeles chapter of the Horror Writers Association (my home chapter. SHOUTOUT.) Also a bunch of short fiction coming out from IDW. I’m also an editor and comic book writer for Moonstone Books, and we have some truly exciting projects coming in 2015.

Lightning round
1.     On a scale of 1 to 10 how scary is your book?

DV:  9
NH:    11, baby!

2.     If you were a character in your own book would you survive?

DV:  Totally!
NH:    Dude, I’d be the killer.

3.     Favorite scary movie?

DV:  Scream
NH:    Scream! A couple of years ago on Halloween I was driving up my street and a person in a Scream costume was standing in my driveway, in full Ghostface pose, and wouldn’t move. IT WAS AWESOME.

4.     Favorite Halloween candy?

DV:  Candy Corn!
NH:    Heath bars!

5.     What were you last year for Halloween or what do you plan on being this year?

DV:  Last year Tonto. This year Anna from Frozen.
NH:    once a zombie, always a zombie.

This or that

1.     Saw or I Know What You Did Next Summer?

DV:  I Know What You Did
NH:    I KNOW

2.     Serial killer or paranormal entity?

DV:  paranormal entity
NH:    Serial killer who is best friends with a paranormal entity

3.     Reliable or unreliable narrator(s)?

DV:  reliable
NH:    UNreliable!

4.     Scavenger hunts or mazes?

DV:  scavenger hunts
NH:    Mazes!

5.     Tricks or treats?

DV:  Treats!
NH:    Cash or expensive jewelry!


Narrated by alternating unreliable narrators, this dark thriller will have readers on the edge of their seats. No one is safe and everyone is a suspect. It's Saw meets I Know What You Did Last Summer.


Junior Robin Brisset has no idea what she's in for when she accepts an invitation to one of Callabrese High's most exclusive parties. And when the trademark scavenger hunt begins, Robin must go against every rule she's lived by to survive.












OUT JUNE 23, 2014

Find The Rules on




Debbie Viguié is the New York Times Bestselling author of over a dozen novels including the Wicked series and the new Crusade series co-authored with Nancy Holder.  Much of Debbie’s writing has a dark edge to it, including her retold fairy tales, her latest being Violet Eyes, a retelling of The Princess and the Pea.  In addition to her epic dark fantasy work Debbie also writes thrillers including The Psalm 23 Mysteries and the upcoming Kiss trilogy.  When Debbie isn’t busy writing she enjoys spending time with her husband, Scott, visiting theme parks.  They live in Florida with their cat, Schrödinger.

Find Debbie on









Nancy Holder is a multiple award-winning, New York Times bestselling author (the Wicked Series). Her two new dark young adult dark fantasy series are Crusade and Wolf Springs Chronicles. She has won five Bram Stoker Awards from the Horror Writers Association, as well as a Scribe Award for Best Novel (Saving Grace: Tough Love.) Nancy has sold over eighty novels one hundred short stories, many of them based on such shows as Highlander, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and others. She lives in San Diego with her daughter, Belle, two corgis, and three cats.


Find Nancy on




The lovely people at Delecort (Nancy and Debbie's publisher for The Rules) have given me an ARC of the book to give away to one person on the blog!  Since the publisher is in the US this contest will be open to US and Canada only and will run for two weeks, all you have to do is enter the giveaway via the rafflecopter below!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

5 comments:

  1. A scavenger hunt horror looks awesome

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  2. Mary DeBorde
    I have previously read some of Nancy's works and I think she is absolutely a master of her craft!! Sounds like Nancy & Debbie have created an awesome, scary creepy can't-wait-to-read thriller (going on my TBR) <3 :D

    And no, I haven't seen either of those movies (yet) (maybe) (am such a wussie) lol

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  3. I loved Debbie Viguie and Nancy Holder's other collaborations. And the scavenger hunt sounds terrifying.

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    Replies
    1. I hadn't realized the giveaway was US/CA only when I entered, sorry! Please ignore my entries.

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