The Coldest Girl in Coldtown: A Chat With Holly Black + Awesome Giveaway

We will just start by saying this: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is an AWESOME book, a throwback to old-style vampires that are both creepy and extremely alluring. Ana will be reviewing it on Monday next week but for now, we are delighted to be a stop on Holly Black’s Blog Tour with a Q&A about Jameson, one of the characters in the book, plus a super cool giveaway.

Please give it up for Holly Black, folks.

The Book Smugglers: When the quarantine started in the Springfield Coldtown, Jameson, like many others, got trapped inside even though he was not infected – a situation that is both is unfair and complex. Jameson got caught in this web and now he knows how Coldtown works–he knows places and he knows people. How essential is Jameson in your world?

Holly Black: I am not sure that Jameson is essential so much as I think that the book would have been poorer without him.

Jameson is living a life he never would have chosen for himself and, currently, he has no possible way out. He’s seen family, friends and neighbors die as a result of being trapped inside the quarantined area and he doesn’t have a lot of illusions about his own long-term survival. But despite all that, he’s also one of bravest and most moral people in the book.

I think Jameson is a really useful character for a couple of reasons. For one, I think we did need to see that even in a world like this, good people still exist. For another, his knowledge of the city gives Tana a greater sense of how the non-vampire parts of Coldtown work and how to navigate them. And I think he gives the readers a much more vivid sense of Coldtown as a prison, one where the vampires aren’t something to be sought out, but something to be avoided if at all possible. Plus, I think he gives us a sense of a possible future for Tana, one where she has new friends as well as new enemies.

The Book Smugglers: We never know exactly what life was like for Jameson before Coldtown or what his future will entail. Will we ever find out the backstory for Jameson?

Holly Black: THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN was written as a stand-alone, but it’s a world I really love, with characters I really love, so I wouldn’t mind going back some day. If I did, it would be great to get to tell more of Jameson’s story.

The Book Smugglers: The question that is on everybody’s minds these days is: Vampires – are they diseased or are they demonic? Do they deserve mercy or do they deserve death? What would Jameson’s take be on this discussion?

Holly Black: Because of Jameson’s personal history, he believes that being made a vampire is something that takes people outside of humanity in such a profound way that the person can no longer be trusted. He’s not interested in hunting down vampires for sport, but he also isn’t interested in giving a vampire the benefit of the doubt if a human is in danger. Mostly Jameson isn’t all that interested in the debate, because he thinks it has no practical application. He’s seen too many people too fascinated by vampires to believe that will stop any time soon. And, like everyone else in Coldtown, he’s seen people he cares about become vampires and found how incredibly difficult it is to stop caring about them.

The Book Smugglers: Why a flamethrower as his weapon of choice?

Holly Black: Kills vampires really well and at a distance, so with a low risk to the person using it. Kills multiple vampires at one time and you can sweep the flame in a circle, which is especially useful if you’re trying to defend a group.

The two big problems with a flamethrower are that you need to be able to repair it (possibly by getting new parts) and you need to have a supply of fuel. Jameson has lived in Coldtown long enough to be able to manage both.

You can listen to Jameson’s audio clip HERE and check Holly Black’s Tour stops HERE.

Giveaway details:

We are giving away 3 (THREE) copies of the hardcover of The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and 1 (ONE) copy of the audiobook CD. The giveaway is open to the US only and will run until Saturday September 14 12:01PM EST. To enter, please fill the form below. GOOD LUCK.

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