Euterpe YA Event: Character Interview with Iris Kohl

Hey hey guys! Today we are hanging out with Iris Kohl, the main character of Shadow Eyes by Dusty Crabtree!

Let's get this thing on a roll!

Q: What is your biggest fear?

A: Wow, no playing around, huh?  Let’s just hit her with the big one right off the bat and see how she handles it.  That’s cool.  (clears throat)  Um, well, as you probably know, I have a lot of anxiety and fear every day.  Nothing really compares to seeing dark, creepy shadows all over the people around you.  They’re evil and give me the creeps.  It gets even worse when they come after the people you care about.  That is true fear.

Q: That must be really scary.  How do you cope with seeing these shadows?

A: I mostly just try to avoid them as much as possible.  Sometimes I let my bangs fall in my eyes to shield me from seeing them.  Other times I just do my best to ignore them or pretend they’re not there.  It doesn’t work, but I try.

Q: How did you start seeing the shadows?  Was there a certain time or event it all started?

A: (laughs warily) You would go there.  I am not exactly allowed to tell you because if I did, Dusty would chew me up and spit me out for giving away one the biggest mysteries in the book.  You’re not supposed to discover that until the end.  Besides that, though, I’m really uncomfortable talking about it.  All you need to know is it started on my 14^th birthday, and I’ve never been the same ever since that tragic day.

Q: I hear there are a few certain guys that have fought for your attention.  How do you feel about Josh?

A: Oh, Josh.  That boy is so adorable.  He’s kind of shy in some ways but then bold in others.  He really does care about me, but…well, I’d better not say anything else.

Q: So…how about Patrick?  What’s different about him?

A: Well, honestly as far as looks, there’s no comparison.  I have never met anyone hotter in my life!  He’s also just so stinking smooth and suave, it’s not even fair.  I don’t know how any girl could resist him.  However, there is that mysteriousness about him that’s partly intriguing and partly unnerving. 

Q: At the start of the book, you have two close friends – Nicole and Lexi and don’t really venture out much to try to make new friends.  Why is that?

A: I just find that it’s so hard to let my guard down enough to make friends and maintain those friendships while still keeping my secret of seeing shadows.  It’s hard enough to hang out with the friends I have and act halfway normal.  They’ve gotten used to my unexplainable mood shifts but someone new would probably think I was a freak the way I act sometimes.  I would probably just be a recluse so I wouldn’t have to worry about it if I thought I could handle being alone all the time with just my thoughts.

Q: Despite your reservations in making new friends, it didn’t take you long to become close friends with Kyra.  What was it about her that broke down your walls?

A: Really it was a few things.  The most obvious was her aura.  Her whole body just glowed randomly from time to time.  I’d never seen anything like it.  Even without that I would’ve been drawn to her though.  She has such a cheerful, friendly personality and a graceful confidence that inspires and uplifts everyone around her.

Q: Wow!  She sounds like an amazing friend to have.  Is she what helped inspire you to work through and get over your past?

A: Definitely, though she didn’t do it alone.   Gregory had a big part in it too.  However, you don’t exactly meet or find out about him until near the end of the book, so I’d better not say anything else about him.  (winks and nods at Dusty)  But seriously, I don’t know what I would have done without those two.  I guess I’d still be in the middle of all my troubles with no light at the end of the tunnel.  Haha!  That was a pun in case you missed it.  What?  Not funny?  Okay, maybe you have to have read the book to get it.  Well, in that case, you go ahead and get on that while I go hang out with _____, ______, and ______ to practice ______.  Don’t worry.  Once you reach the end of the book you’ll get the pun and be able to fill in those blanks!  Have fun!

Thanks to Iris for joining us and keep reading to find out more about Iris' novel debut and the woman who penned it!

Iris Kohl lives in a world populated by murky shadows that surround, harass, and entice unsuspecting individuals toward evil. But she is the only one who can see them. She’s had this ability to see the shadows, as well as brilliantly glowing light figures, ever since an obscure, tragic incident on her fourteenth birthday three years earlier.

Although she’s learned to cope, the view of her world begins to shift upon the arrival of three mysterious characters. First, a handsome new teacher whose presence scares away shadows; second, a new friend with an awe-inspiring aura; and third, a mysterious and alluring new student whom Iris has a hard time resisting despite already having a boyfriend.

As the shadows invade and terrorize her own life and family, she must ultimately revisit the most horrific event of her life in order to learn her true identity and become the hero she was meant to be.

Dusty Crabtree has been a high school English teacher at Yukon High School in Oklahoma since 2006, a challenge she thoroughly enjoys. She is also a youth sponsor at Cherokee Hills Christian Church in Oklahoma City and feels very blessed with the amazing opportunities she has to develop meaningful relationships with teens on a daily basis.  Her passion for teens has poured into her writing as well.  She is the author of the young adult urban fantasy, Shadow Eyes, through Musa Publishing, which she wrote in order to give teens an intriguing and provocative book series that promotes moral messages.  She lives with her husband, Clayton, in Yukon, Oklahoma, where they often serve their community as foster parents.

Check out Dusty’s blog at http://dustycrabtree.wordpress.com/

Find her on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/dusty.crabtree.1

Follow her on twitter at https://twitter.com/dustycrabtree

Buy Shadow Eyes at http://musapublishing.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=176

(also available at all major online bookstores)

View the book trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7UP9A0Fm78