Spotlight: The Outside (The Hallowed Ones #2) by Laura Bickle

   Book Description:  

After a plague of vampires is unleashed in the world, Katie is kicked out of her Amish community for her refusal to adhere to the new rules of survival. Now in exile, she enters an outside world of unspeakable violence with only her two “English” friends and a horse by her side. Together they seek answers and other survivors—but each sunset brings the threat of vampire attack, and each sunrise the threat of starvation.

And yet through this darkness come the shining ones: luminescent men and women with the power to deflect vampires and survive the night. But can these new people be trusted, and are they even people at all?

In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, it’s up to one Amish girl to save her family, her community, and the boy she loves . . . but what will she be asked to leave behind in return?

Goodreads Twitter  Website  

  

   




Laura Bickle

Interview:

1.      Tell us a little about yourself.

My background is in criminal justice and library science. When I’m not patrolling the stacks at the public library, I’m dreaming up stories about the monsters under the stairs (I also write contemporary fantasy novels under the name Alayna Williams). I live in the Midwest with my husband and six mostly-reformed feral cats. THE HALLOWED ONES was my first young adult novel.

2.      Describe The Outside in one sentence?

It’s up to one Amish girl to save her family, her community, and the boy she loves . . . but what will she be asked to leave behind in return?

3. What inspired you to write about Amish and Vampires?

I live not too far from a large Amish settlement, one that I visited often as a child. I used to see the Amish girls my age and wonder how their lives were different from mine. I admired how strong and self-sufficient they seemed. It later occurred to me that these traits, combined with their incredibly strong sense of community, could make the Amish uniquely equipped to survive certain types of disasters, such as the one that devastates the world in THE HALLOWED ONES and THE OUTSIDE.

4. Who is your favorite Character? Why?

Katie is my favorite. Katie was an interesting character to write because she's very strong in a quiet, enduring kind of way. She struggles to develop her own moral compass, independent of her parents and community. That requires a great deal of fortitude, just as much fortitude as dealing with the evil creatures in her world.

5. Sneak Peek! Can you share us a scene or a quote from the new book?

One of my favorite quotes is: “The hard part about the end of the world is surviving it, surviving when no angels scoop you up to fly you away to heaven. God doesn’t speak. But I kept asking.”