LaChouett Interviews Catherine Doyle, author of the YA Blood for Blood series

Hello everyone,

I have recently started reading this series, which came highly recommended from a lot of readers in the blogging community. I also have the pleasure to welcome Cat Doyle to Chouett.com here to tell us more about her books and a little bit about herself.

Enjoy!

1) How would you describe your trilogy for those of us who have not read you before?

The Blood for Blood trilogy follows seventeen-year-old Sophie Gracewell as she becomes embroiled with a deadly mafia family in Chicago. When she discovers secrets about her own family that make it impossible to climb back out of the criminal underworld, she must instead learn to survive it. As she grapples with her new identity, Sophie discovers that instant chemistry isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, dangerous boys are often just that – dangerous – and sometimes the person who annoys you the most, might be the person who cares about you the deepest.

It’s often described Romeo and Juliet meets the Godfather for the YA audience.

2) Was Blood for Blood always meant to be a trilogy? Or did the journey you started took you through some unexpected turns?

While it was always intended to be a trilogy, the plot did take some unexpected twists and turns (and deaths) along the way.

3) Do you remember when “Vendetta” first got launched and how was that moment for you?

It was a real moment of pride and excitement (and nerves, of course).

4) How did you feel turning the last page on the trilogy with “Mafiosa”?

It felt bittersweet. On the one hand, I’m sad to leave these characters behind after they’ve lived in my head for the past four years, but on the other hand, I feel they got the endings that were right for them and right for the story, and I’m excited to move on to writing something completely new now.

5) Which character was the most fun to write?

Probably Felice. I love a good, theatrical villain. Also, there is nothing so cathartic as writing a Millie Rant.

6) Family ties is the focus of your trilogy? Why did you choose family and relationships as a concept to explore?

I think they’re fascinating – the idea that you can love someone and be connected to them by blood, but still question their morals and their actions. I really wanted to play with the idea of loyalty. How far would you go for your family? How far would they go for you? And in the end, is love more important than family, and when one threatens the other, which do you choose?

7) Tell us “10 things” we don’t know about Cat Doyle

Oh, god. I don’t think I’m interesting enough to have ten things but I’ll scrape the barrel for you.

I’m obsessed with movies. My favourites are Goodfellas and the Princess Bride. Whenever I’m feeling low on creativity, I always go see a film, and my inspiration returns.

I used to live in Jamaica and then Manchester, before coming back to settle in Galway, Ireland. I don’t really remember it but I feel like that’s a ‘thing’.

I’m afraid of butterflies.

I used to have a rabbit called Steve Irwin II. He lived with us for seven blissful years and was everyone’s favourite member of the family until I had to put him down. That was a bleak, bleak day.

Seeing the Northern Lights is top of my bucket list.

I play the piano.

I am deeply distrustful of cats.

My favourite song is Africa by Toto.

When I was 16, I was one of the leads in my school play. I tripped, hit my head and blacked out on stage, and woke ten seconds later to the sound of 400 people roaring with laughter. I had to do the last scene with a mild concussion, and to this day, whenever I get nervous about something, I remember that day, and think, ‘Well, it could never go as badly as my school play did, and if I survived that I can survive this.’