Today I have an interview with author Michelle Rowen. She recently released her first YA title, Demon Princess: Reign or Shine (Amazon/Indiebound) about a girl that discovers her father is the demon king of the Shadowlands, and he needs her to take over the throne!

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Where did the premise for Demon Princess: Reign or Shine come from?

I thought it would be fun to write about a teen girl who finds out her father is basically the embodiment of evil (aka: a demon) and how the complications of this would wreak havoc on her fitting in at a new school. I was also inspired by the Disney Princesses and I figured a demon princess would be pretty much the exact opposite of them. I also have this theme in my writing where I take the monsters and make them the good guys, so this book definitely fits in well with my previous releases!

Do you have any “must haves” with you while you’re writing?

Nothing physical like good luck charms or anything. Just my lucky 13” MacBook and a ready supply of Diet Coke. ;) What I do need is absolute silence. Some writers can work in Starbucks with lots of noise around them, but not me. I get cranky when I’m interrupted. I’ve also recently realized that a 24/7 connection to the internet is too much of a distraction so I have a program that turns off my web access for a set period of time so I can’t procrastinate. Well, not much, anyway. ;)

Describe your writing in three words.

Fun, romantic, and exciting!

What the easiest aspect about writing for the YA genre vs. paranormal romance, the hardest?

The easiest aspect is that I’m still a teen at heart, so ideas for the genre come to me very easily. The hardest aspect is that while I’m a teen at heart, I’m...well, not a teen in reality, so making sure that my portrayal of my characters is accurate and rings true is an issue. I have a teenage betareader who reads over my work now to make sure I don’t go too far off base by making my characters start wearing legwarmers, have feathered hair, or listen to Duran Duran. Because that would be bad.

What's next for you?

Other than the sequel to DP:RoS, Reign Check, which comes out next June 2010, I’m also launching a new paranormal romance series about demons (demons rock!) starting with The Demon in Me in May. I’m going to have a YA short story in the First Kiss, Last Rites anthology next year as well. And I’ve just finished writing the first book, Nightshade, in my vampire urban fantasy duology I’m writing with the pen name Rachel Connor. So I’m keeping very busy!

Thanks for having me on the Story Siren. I love this site!

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Thanks so much Michelle for stopping by!

You can win your own beautiful SIGNED copy of Demon Princess: Reign or Shine!

• leave a comment for an entry
• open internationally!
• deadline is October 23, 2009! midnight eastern time

Good Luck!

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