Author Interview: Laney McMann

Normal people don't believe their nightmares stalk them. They don’t fall in love with boys who don’t exist, either. Seventeen-year-old Layla Labelle, though, is far from normal. Her delusions walk the earth. Her hallucinations hunt her, and her skin heats to a burn every time her anger flares. Or is that all in her head? Layla doesn't know what to believe any more because if none of that’s true, Max MacLarnon must be an illusion, and her heart must still be broken. No matter how much she wants to believe Max is real, doing so would mean everything else is, too. How, then, is that possible? The answers lie in an age-old legend the supernatural aren’t prepared to reveal, and with a curse that could tear Layla and Max apart forever - if it doesn’t kill them both first.

As part of the blog tour for Tied, I'd like to welcome author Laney McMann to my blog. 

A bit about Laney (as found on Goodreads): With a passion for the supernatural and all things magical, Laney developed a voracious appetite for reading fantasy at a young age. A vivid imagination helped set the stage for creating her own worlds and placed her onto the writing path. By the time she reached her teens, she'd accumulated notebooks full of poems, which led to short stories and finally novels. Young adult dark fantasy, paranormal romance, and mythology are among her favorite genres. A former classical dancer and chef, she grew up in sultry Florida where she still resides with her family. 

What was the inspiration behind Tied? 
I'm fascinated by mythology, and even more so by Irish myths because I'm of Irish descent, so the idea to write something in that direction has always been in the back of my head. The idea to recreate one of the lesser known mythologies just hit me one day, and the more I wrote, the more it took shape and flowed out.

How much research did you do for Tied?

A good amount of research went into the creation of the storyline, and as mythology can be a tangled web to weave through, it was a challenge at times. The story itself is a mixture of history, mythology, and my own fantastical spin on it all.

Tied contains a variety of paranormal creatures. If you could be any paranormal creature, what would you be and why?

Hm ... that's a good question. I'm not sure to be honest. Maybe one of the Fae.

In Tied, Layla finds out that people have been lying to her whole life to protect her. What’s a lie (big or small) that you believed in for a long time and how did you find out it was a lie?

Another good question I'm not sure about. I guess, when we're little, we all believe in different fantasy stories – I did anyway, and as we grow up we lose some of that magic. We start to doubt it and question it. That's probably why I write fantasy. I'd rather still believe.

Layla thinks that Max is an imaginary friend for quite a while. Did you have an imaginary friend growing up and if so, tell me a bit about him/her.

I didn't that I remember, although my mom may say different. ;) My imaginary worlds were entirely built on books. Even now, I can get completely consumed by good stories, and I hate it when they end.

A big thanks to Laney for taking the time to answer my questions!

Laney can be found on: [her website] [her blog] [Twitter] [Facebook] [Goodreads]

Tied can be bought from: [Amazon] [Barnes and Noble] [The Book Depository]