SWOON Six-Month Anniversary Event & Contest!

SWOON Six-Month Anniversary Event!
An Intimate Interview with Sin & Dice
by Nina Malkin

SWOON—a novel of possession, betrayal, revenge, obsession and pure, impossible love—celebrates its sixth-month anniversary this month. Protagonists Sinclair Youngblood Powers (aka Sin) and Candice Regan Dice Moskow (aka Dice), and author Nina Malkin, hail BOOK BUTTERFLY for hosting this Q&A, as well as all SWOONIES for their continued interest, enthusiasm and general passion for our story. SWOON has proven to be a success thanks to readers and bloggers who found it, loved it, and shouted from the (metaphorical) rooftops that it must be read. We hope you’ll continue to spread the word on SWOON...but right now, ask away…

Aurora: Sin, Dice, if you could choose only three words to describe your feelings for each other, what would they be?

Dice: Whoa, just three? Sin, you want to go first?

Sin: No, no, ladies first, always.

Dice: Gee, thanks. All right. My feelings for Sin are intense…absolute….eternal...

Sin: Damn, woman! You took the best ones!

Dice: Oh, shut up—there are plenty of other adjectives.

Sin: Very well. I’d describe my feelings for Dice as boundless…primal… true…

Kate: I have a question for Dice. What is your biggest regret in regard to your relationship with Sin?

Dice: Well, some terrible things went down in the town of Swoon, CT, that Sin was responsible for—I regret I couldn’t prevent them. But as to our relationship, I have no regrets. None. I fell for Sin because I believed in his humanity from the get. Trouble was, it took him a minute to believe in it.

Sophia: Sin, do you have any regrets about what you did to the people of Swoon?

Sin: Indeed. I do now. But at the time—and I say this not as excuse, only as explanation—I was a monster, slavering, soulless, intent only on revenge.

Dani: If you could, would you go back and change anything?

Sin: The “correct” answer, the one that would heighten my approval rating, is “yes, of course.” Only I cannot honestly utter it. People were hurt because of me; people died. But that was their destiny. I’ve come to accept that much is beyond my will, that certain events are fated.

Carrie: I have a question for Sin. If you were given the choice to either go back in time and live out a normal life with Hannah in the past, or continue having a future with Dice in the present, who would you choose to spend your life with and why?

Sin: An easy one, dear lady: I would spend my future with Dice. Because she is the woman I now love, and together we have been through so much, but also because if I learned one thing from my latter day experience in Swoon it is that the past is past.

Brittany: Sin, if you, Dice and Hannah were in the same time, who would you be more attracted to?

Sin: Interesting prospect, Brittany! Let us assume we were all at a party. Hannah—that coppery hair, that silvery laugh—likely would have caught my attention first. She was, not solely by 18th century standards, an accomplished flirt, a lady who hadn’t much in terms of wealth or status but knew full well she could beguile any man. Perhaps we might have chatted, danced a reel. Yet were Dice in the same room, I couldn’t have fully focused on Hannah. Quietly, forcefully, Dice would have called to me, and surely I would have heeded that call.

Fantastic Book Reviews: This question is for both Sin and Dice: What do you like most about each other and what annoys you the most?

Dice: Ha! Sin? Annoying? Just that he’s got an ego the size of Jupiter. As to what I like best, I’d have to answer in threes. When Sin was a ghost, I fell for his charm and wit, his mischievous nature, although it came out through my cousin in some scary ways. In golem mode, his conviction was so strong—twisted as it was, I had to admire that. And as a boy? My boy? The way he loves love. To Sin, love rules. At his core, that’s what he’s always been about.

Sin: Another facile one. Her nobility. Dice…what’s the expression? Dice does not play. She does not tweak things to her own advantage. She is honest, forthright. I know that however I may come to her, whatever I may do, she will treat me squarely and consider what’s best for all, even if that means putting herself last. Of course, I suppose that’s what’s most vexing about her, too. When you love someone who’s truly inherently honorable...let’s just say Dice sets the bar rather high.

Cassie: Sin, when you were in control of Pen’s body, were you able to communicate with her? It seemed like there were times when she was “herself.”

Sin: I was conscious of Pen every moment I possessed her, but she wasn’t aware of me, at least as far as I could tell. Much of my time inside her—when she was, as you say, herself—I was busily absorbing 21st century society, learning the ropes as it were. And I was also…well, plotting…

Jess: Sin, what did you love the most about being in the present time period (besides Dice, of course)? Were there things you really hated?

Sin: The endless array of choice is incredible. A dozen different flavors of Gatorade! A dozen Gatorade alternatives! We did not have electrolyte replacement in the 1700s. Aside from that, technology, which I deem a blessing and a curse. It makes for such convenience, yes, but at what cost? Often, Dice and I will get questions to our romance counseling service about whether or not to “text” someone, and frankly it rankles me. Why text when you can talk, when you can touch? Put down the damnable gadget and look into your true love’s eyes!

Kim: What was the full significance of the spanking in the corn maze? Sin, were you trying to show Dice the control you had over her heart?

Sin: Ah, the infamous spanking scene! Yes, Kim, you’re partially correct. I did put Dice across my knee to demonstrate authority—although it was a front, of course; I had no dominion over her, and she had it all over me…she simply didn’t know that yet. I sought to bend her to my will, so that she might not discover her power.

Dice: Only that’s not all. See, Sin’s “crime” was forcing people to confront aspects of their natures that they hid from the world and from themselves. With the spanking, he was simply showing me that I had that in me—me, who was so tough, so street, secretly longed to be humbled. Sin gave me a bliss I’d never willingly admit to wanting. That’s why, afterwards, I was so furious—and so euphoric.

Anonymous: Dice, how is Pen doing in the aftermath of everything that happened while Sin was around?

Dice: I appreciate your asking. Some people think SWOON is the story of Sin and me, but it’s Pen’s story, too. As for how she is, she’s Pen! You know, Rubber Girl, she could bounce back from anything unscathed. Right now she’s at UConn, she thinks she may become a kindergarten teacher—which of course she’d be great at. Oh, and she cut her hair—she’s got a full-on pixie, and it looks great.

Faith: I have a question for Dice: Do you think Ruby really wanted you to drink that concoction you guys were brewing up with all the dangerous items that would’ve killed you?

Dice: Oh…Ruby. Ruby, Ruby, Ruby. I think Ruby was lonely, and she really missed me—she was trying to seduce me in a way; she just wanted me with her. I loved Ruby, love her still, but she was that particular kind of damaged person who could never cop to her shit, take responsibility. It was always other people to blame: guys, her mother, me.

Anonymous: Dice, what was it like to fall in love at last sight instead of first? What was it like to have Sin walk out on you? And Sin, why did you leave Dice? Will you ever come back to her?

Dice: Ladies first, I assume?

Sin: Indubitably.

Dice: Okay…umm, it’s complicated. Much as I loved Sin when we were technically together, I loved him more the second I realized it could no longer be that way. My love became too big for my body, too big for my brain and my heart. The way I feel now—the way Sin and I are now—it’s like a bruise that won’t heal. A love bruise, in a special place. Every time I touch it, it hurts. And that’s a good thing…

Sin: You see, Dice and I are not apart; we’re just not together in the literal sense. Our bond is akin to that between a soul in life and a soul in death—very deep, very intricate, more acute, perhaps, than a traditional face-to-face relationship. It’s true that I ache for Dice in the flesh; I ache for her tangibly, her breath, her kiss—I do. But this is what we have now. I do not question it. I cherish it.

Trista: Sin, where did you go? Are you coming back?

Sin: Ah, Trista, let me see if I can—

Dice: Sin, wait. Trista, look, we get this question a lot. But like you, I’m a big reader. And I’ve found some books tie up nice and neat at the end, and that’s fine. SWOON isn’t that kind of book,. The finale is ambiguous so that the “what happened?” becomes yours to decide. The story stays with you, and belongs to you; you become part of the process, and can make up endless endings. “The End” is not the end…

Nia: So is there going to be sequel to SWOON?

Sin: Another oft-posed question. The simple answer is no—at the moment there is no plan for an ink-and-paper sequel. Dice and I cannot fathom why; the novel is successful—multiple printings, some fifty thousand copies in circulation, various international sales—and our website and love advice column consistently get hits. Yet the publisher hasn’t commissioned the sequel readers crave. Still, SWOON the sequel, indeed SWOON the series, does exist, as it pertains to what Dice just said about our story existing, persisting, insisting in the minds of readers. So we call upon you to make it up, pass it on, turn it into something sweeping and viral. Since I assure you, for us, Dice and I and you, the saga most certainly continues.

Thank you to Sin and Dice for stopping by to answer these questions!

**CONTEST**

Nina Malkin has graciously agreed to give away one signed, personalized copy of

SWOON

to a lucky winner!

TO ENTER:

Leave a comment about the interview or the book

BONUS ENTRIES:

+1 Did you ask Sin & Dice an interview question in my previous post? Let me know in your comment.

+1 Promote this post on any social network of your choice (twitter, facebook, myspace, etc) You get one bonus entry for everyplace you link/post to.

Contest Ends 12/17 and is open to all US and Canadian residents only. Thank you!
**NOTE: THIS CONTEST HAS CLOSED**