Author Interview: Jeyn Roberts

With it’s new, vibrant, red jacket Dark Inside is all dressed up and ready to celebrate it’s UK paperback release!
Moments after several huge earthquakes shake every continent on Earth, something strange starts happening to people. Michael can only watch in horror as an incidence of road rage so extreme it ends in two deaths unfolds before his eyes; Clementine finds herself being hunted through the small town she has lived in all her life, by people she has known since childhood; and Mason is attacked with a baseball bat by a random stranger. An inner rage has been released and some people cannot fight it. For those who can, life becomes an ongoing battle to survive – at any cost
Please give a warm welcome to author Jeyn Roberts who has very kindly taken the time to answer my questions about this chilling apocalyptic series.
Post Apocalypse books are so popular at the moment, but most concentrate on life afterwards. What made you decide to write about an apocalypse actually happening?
I think it goes back to the books I loved as a teenager. I remember reading The Stand and loving the first part a lot more than the second. I never liked books that start in the middle. I’ve always been more interested in how the destruction begins. The nice thing about doing a trilogy is that I get to do the beginning, middle and end.
I found ‘Dark Inside’ really chilling, in fact it’s the only book other than those written by Dean Koontz that has actually scared me. Did you set out to make the book quite so scary?
I love hearing stuff like this. I’m so glad I scared you. Haha I can’t say that I really thought that much about it to be honest. All I can say is that I really enjoy scary. I love horror. So I guess it’s natural that I’d end up writing about it.
I’m not normally a fan of books written from a multiple point of view but I found its use really effective in the book. What made you decide to write ‘Dark Inside’ in this way? 
When I started writing, I realized quickly that there was going to be more than one story. The problem with a single POV is that you only get one side. With Dark Inside, I felt it would be more powerful to see the way different people would react. I can’t imagine that everyone would behave the same way during such a crisis. I’m not even sure how I’d cope.
Dark Inside began to look at how everyone has a dark side, and the darker side of human nature overall. Is this something that will be explored in future books of the series?
Absolutely. There’s a lot more of that in Rage Within. Now that all the characters are together, I’ve been able to get more into character development. I’ve really tried to focus on different types of dark human nature. There’s Mason’s deep fear that he’s dangerous to his friends and then there’s Aries’ discovery that making mistakes can really lead you down a dark path. Personally I think we all have a dark side. Some of us are just better equipped to deal with it than others.
Do you think ‘Dark Inside’ fits with any kind of genre? 
That’s a tough one. I’ve always thought it fits simply into horror. I’ve heard post-apocalyptic horror and that works too. It also does fall under the dystopian category—depending on which definition you use.
What was your inspiration for the book?
Dark Inside came out of a series of dreams I used to have when I was a teenager. I still have them every now and then. I would dream that I was living in this isolated world where there is a great underlying evil. Often I would be trapped in dilapidated buildings with a group of survivors. Some of the scenes in Dark Inside are actual real dreams.
Why did you decide to write books for teens? 
I like writing for teens. I love how passionate they are about the things they love and hate! I find teens way more interesting than most adult characters. Funny enough, I started out writing adult literary but that never kept my attention long enough. With YA, I feel like I have a lot more freedom.
Do you have a favourite character in ‘Dark Inside’? 
I’d say that Mason is my favourite character but he’s also the one that drives me crazy. He’s so emo! But at the same time, he’s always the one character I seem to understand the most. Not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

Jeyn Roberts

Dark Inside is available to buy in paperback from today. The second instalment in the Dark Inside Trilogy,Rage Within is due for release at the end of August. Both are published by Macmillan Children’s Books.
Post by Alison