Exclusive Colleen Houck Interview + ‘Tiger’s Voyage’ Giveaway!
It’s finally here! Tiger’s Voyage, book three in Colleen Houck’s Tiger Saga, was officially released today, and we are all incredibly excited here at Bookshelf Banter and Twilight Series Theories! We are celebrating Colleen’s latest book birthday with couple of amazing goodies.
First off, we have an exclusive new interview with Ms. Houck herself, who was kind enough to answer our questions on everything from the release date of Tiger’s Destiny to her favorite TV guilty pleasure. Check out all of her answers in our interview below!
And secondly, thanks to the lovely people at Sterling Publishing, we have a copy of Tiger’s Voyage to give away! Here’s how you enter:
In the comments section, please leave your answer to the following:
If you could go on a voyage anywhere in the world, where would you go, who would you bring with you, and what would you take along for the ride?
That’s it! Want more entries?
Follow and Tweet us your answer on Twitter (@TSTPodcast) or (@bookshelfbanter), comment on TST’s Facebook (or BB’s Facebook), or comment on the giveaway post on Bookshelf Banter. You’ll get an additional entry for each way you enter, up to six entries! Winner will be chosen at random.
Contest ends Monday night at 9 pm PST and is open to US residents only.
Oh, and here are our answers, just for fun 
Kallie~I would go to Italy, it’s always been a dream of mine to go to Venice! I would take my hubby and he could be my personal gondolier!
Kelly~I would go to India and I would take…wait for it…my Husband! *But I might be hoping we would run into Ren while there*
Stefanie~I would go to London with my bff Elsie, and I might try and bring a certain Mr. Robert Pattinson along—there weren’t any stipulations saying we had to actually know the person we’re bringing. *cheshire grin*
Krystal~I would go to London to meet up with some of my bookish friends (you know who you are), then head to Italy and France with my best friends. Maybe rent a villa and go wine tasting around the countryside. Oh, and then I’d run away with both Robert Pattinson and Henry Cavill, though the location doesn’t really matter so much ;D
Interview with Colleen Houck
Hi Colleen! Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions here at Bookshelf Banter.
What type of research did you do before/while writing the books? What is your main source?
For research I read a lot. I have several thick mythology books that I use as references and I also use the internet often to look up everything from tiger claws to what types of trees grow in India. I did all the basic research for my series before I wrote it, got the story planned out, and then I do more in depth research as I go along. An example might be incorporating the myth of the four houses and listing what I want in each house—birds, sirens, bats, and gourds, then I do gourd research when I get to that place in my writing.
What inspires you to write when you get blocked?
I don’t really get writer’s block, I get writer’s laziness. Most of the time my laziness is cured when I turn on my computer and open my document. I reread the last little part I just wrote and that spurs me on to keep writing. Google images are something I use often too. Pictures inspire me and I use them to describe creatures or scenes.
I love the covers of your books… What was your first reaction to seeing them?
It’s very exciting to see your covers take shape. The artist who works on them does a fantastic job and when I looked at his portfolio I realized that every book he’s done I’ve wanted to read because the covers are just so beautiful. I really lucked out to get such a wonderful artist.
You share a lot of bonus material with your fans (which I love). I’m curious, do you write that material specifically for the sake of sharing, or are they outtakes you’ve previously cut out during the writing process?
Almost all of the bonus materials I write are extras that I’ve written on the side. They were never created to be in the book. The recent Kishan bonus material was fan initiated. I asked what they wanted to know and they said that they wanted Kishan. I also write a daily quote from different characters perspectives just to keep the story fresh in my mind and keep fans happy and coming back for more. I am planning to write a Kelsey Christmas story for the upcoming YA Scavenger Hunt in December too. Writing the bonus material is fun and its freeing as it doesn’t have to go through the editing process. I can just write what I like.
Where are you at in the writing process? Have you finished Tiger’s Destiny? And is there anything you would like to share with us about the final two books in the series?
Tiger’s Destiny is finished and in the hands of my editor. It will be released July 3, 2012 and I’m very, very excited to see what the artist will do with the cover. This is my longest book and took a year and a half to write. We get to see much more of the villainous Lokesh. There will be a lot of tears and a lot of giggling and some shocking surprises. I tie up many of the loose ends in Tiger’s Destiny to get you ready for the conclusion in Tiger’s Dream where I hope to turn the reader upside down and unravel everything I carefully stitched together.
I can honestly say that since reading Tiger’s Voyage, my feelings toward Kishan have grown, even though I am still Team Ren! How do you think your fans will react to the love triangle in book three? Do you anticipate many conversions or shifting loyalties?
I think I will be making a lot of people nervous. My poor heroine has some hard decisions to make and I’m hoping to make it very hard for readers to pick a side. The truth is that I love both Ren and Kishan and I want them both to have happy endings. Getting there, however, is not going to be easy. I’m already starting to see some shifting loyalties from my fans and that’s as it should be. What Kelsey feels the reader should feel too.
Tiger’s Voyage reminded me of Eclipse because of the fact that there was a ton of romantic tension and I often wanted to strangle Kelsey (hehe). You mentioned in our last interview that Eclipse was your favorite book in the Twilight series. That being the case, was this your favorite book in the series to write? And did you love creating all the banter between the characters?
Tiger’s Voyage was my favorite book to write. The romantic drama really comes to a head in this book but more than that I love the sea creatures. I’ve always been fascinated with the ocean and I hope my love of it is reflected in the book. In some ways, it is like Eclipse because the heroine is put into a situation where she has to decide what she’s going to do about these two men, but Kelsey and Bella think very differently and Kelsey’s decisions are heavily influenced by her tragic past.
When the last word is written in the Tiger Saga series, how do you think you will react? Do you have any plans for when you’ve finished? (I think you deserve that trip to India!)
I will probably cry. It will be very hard to let go of these characters I’ve lived with for so long. A trip to India after all this is said and done sounds like a very good suggestion!
Just for fun:
Favorite TV/movie guilty pleasure?
The Vampire Diaries-Love the show!
Best book(s) you’ve read this summer?
Sophie Jordan’s Firelight and Vanish
If you had to go on one of your characters’ quests, which one would you go on, which magical instrument would you bring, and which brother would accompany you?
I’d bring Kishan and I’d go to Kishkindha because I think that one would be the easiest. I’d bring the kamandal which you will read about in Tiger’s Voyage.
A huge thanks to Colleen for taking the time to answer our questions. 
If I were to go on a voyage, I would go to France because I have always wanted to visit there and actually experience the culture. The one person I would bring along would have to be my sister. We would have a blast together on the way there and when we arrived. I would bring lots of books on the trip. I can’t go too long without reading!
If I could go anywhere I would go to Paris, France! I have longed to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, and to drive under the Arc de Triomphe!
And see and here the bells of Notre Dame! It would be so magical!
If I could bring anyone with me it would be my friend Felicity because we both share the love of France.
Some thing I would bring would be my camera, books (yours specifically)and a dictionary because I’m only doing middle school French!
If could go on a voyage anywhere, I would go to Machu Picchu, I would bring my mom, she deserves an adventure!
I would go to Australia and I would take my wonderful husband. I would bring lots of cute clothes, a few books and lots of suntan lotion.
I have always wanted to go Italy and surrounding areas. There is something there calling my name and someday I will find it! Of course I would take my husband with me. I would need to take so much with me to fully enjoy the trip, but the basics I would take are: A camera, really good/comfortable shoes, a notebook and pen (to put my thoughts in), and a good app for translation into any language we may run into!
I would love to go on a voyage in Egypt. The ancient Egyptian culture has always fascinated me. The person I would love to have with me would be Dr. Zahi Hawass, a great Egyptologist. He has infinite knowledge about the ancient world. We would tour the Great Pyramids and the Valley of the Kings and gain a better incite on how the Pharaohs lived. Clothes, money and just basics are all I would need but the main thing I would take would be a great quality camera because I would want to document everything. From taking photos of mummies and old treasures to recording what Dr. Hawass has to say.
Hello colleen just want to say that I love the tiger’s series they have brought me and my daughters closer cause we can read the books and talk about them. I can’t wait to get voyage.
If I could go anywhere in the world I would go to Ireland. I would bring my parents with me to explore and have family bonding. I would bring my running shoes to run in the open air on the back roads and of course a few books to read on the long driving trips to different places to see.
I’d like to cruise the Mediterranean stopping in Italy, Greece, and Israel. Side trip to see the pyramids, too.
Just looking for someplace warm.
I’d take my sister. Years ago my sis, her hubby and I were having a conversation and Joe said he would marry again if sis died because he liked someone to travel with. Sis said she’d just travel with me. Joe said, “Well, I guess I could travel with Cathy, too.” Funny, nobody asked me! LOL
And I’d have to have my Kindle, even though I can’t get Colleen’s books on it yet despite my asking the publisher link on the Amazon page!
If I were to go on a voyage, I would go to India with my sister Vivian!
I’d go and find a Ren for her and a Kishan for myself! ^__^
If I were to go on a voyage, I would deffinately go to India. It’s always been my dream
I would deffinately take my best friend Ella. We would have the time of our lives there! We would visit the Taj Mahal and Jaipur and the temples of Durgha. I would deffinately bring a camera and my watercolors; painting the amazing sites all across India. I would hope to finally meet my Kishan. 
Anywhere in the world? No brainer…Atlantis. I love anything to do with the ocean so I’m reallyanticipating Tiger’s Voyage. I would take my best friend Sarah and probably my camera. In a Ziploc bag of course!
Anywhere in the world? No brainer…Atlantis. I love anything to do with the ocean so I’m really anticipating Tiger’s Voyage. I would take my best friend Sarah and probably my camera. In a Ziploc bag of course!
If I could go anywhere in the world, I would love to go to China. I’ve always admired how Chinese calligraphy is done. Also, I love to eat Chinese fried rice and Chinese fortune cookies, so I would love to try different foods in China. I would also love to see the famous sights in China and learn about dragons for there are my favorite fantasy creatures, as well as tigers and the phoenix. It would be great to learn about Colleen’s inspiration for Tiger’s Voyage and visit the places she went to where she became inspired to write Tiger’s Voyage. I would bring my Mom with me since she hasn’t traveled anywhere in a long time. It would like a great mother-and-daughter trip. I would bring a camera to take lots of pictures and maybe use the pictures to create a book, as well as a journal to write all about my experiences in China, like trying Chinese cuisine, famous sights, learning new things, and everything fun me and my Mom had done in China.
I would take a voyage to Egypt with my husband Sean and my dog Abigale
I would love to go to either France or England with my best friend. Whichever one, we would have such a fun, crazy adventure! I would definitely bring my camera, and some books for the plane ride.
Thanks for the giveaway and the great interview!
If I could go anywhere in the world, I would want to backpack across Europe, specifically Austria. I know that’s not really original, but I went there for a few days and fell in love with the people, culture, atmosphere…EVERYTHING!! I would bring my mother because she deserves to see the world and she’s my best friend. I would bring some books along for the ride because regardless of the situation there is always some down time. I think that I would probably also bring my dog and pet chicken, They’re family too.
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