Author Interview - C.J. Hill - Slayers

INTERVIEW

C.J. HILL

SLAYERS

I had so much fun reading about dragons in Slayers, that I set up an interview with author, C.J. Hill. Did you realize that C.J. is really Janette Rallison, author of the series, My Fair Godmother? Cool, huh? Let’s see what we can learn about dragons!

I love dragons too! Was there a fairy tale or a story from when you were a child that jump started your love for dragons?

I loved fairy tales as a child. When adults asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always said a princess. I was totally ticked off when I found out that wasn’t a viable career option. I was more into poofy dresses, unicorns, and tiaras than dragons, but it’s a package deal that comes with that fantasy world.


You have such a great way of capturing the spirit of teens. What’s your secret?

I have three kids that are teens, so I’m in the thick of the teenage world. Drama and more drama. I have plenty of inspiration, and I have been known to steal dialogue off my daughter’s cell phone. Really, some of this stuff I couldn’t make up.

What can we learn from Tori, the rich and spoiled dragon slayer? 

There’s a saying: Life is what happens when you have other plans. This is true to some extent in everybody’s life, but especially true for Tori. Sometimes you don’t have a say about what happens to you. Sometimes you have to step up, make sacrifices, and do hard things. Tori has to make a big decision as to whether or not to protect society, but in smaller ways we all have to make that same decision multiple times: Do we do the selfish thing, or the thing that is better for society? This is as true for littering and recycling as it is for defending your country against outside forces.

I think the cover of Slayers is AMAZING! Is this how you pictured the dragon eggs?

Actually, no. My first thought upon seeing the picture was: Why is there a dragon rocket ship on my book? But I really like the picture now. I think it looks even better on the actual book because the gold lettering is shiny.

Do you have any other projects in the works that you would like to share about?

Anyone who likes this book, should check out my Janette Rallison books, because they're all good reads too. I also have a time travel dystopia that will be out next September called Erasing Time. It was a super fun book to write. I got to play with slang, invent future fashions, and come up with cool character names. The hero is guy named Echo. My husband can’t talk about the book without making some echo pun, but he’s a great character. (Echo, I mean, not my husband. Although my husband is frequently a great character too.)

Thank you for a great interview C.J. You are great!