Character Interview + Giveaway: Lucas from Starcrossed

Today I'm thrilled to welcome Lucas Delos to the blog, he's the leading male protagonist in Josephine Angelini's fantastic young adult novel STARCROSSED. If you haven't had a chance to read this one yet, please add it to your list immediately, it's one of my favorite books of the year thus far (you can read my review HERE). Lucas kindly agreed to answer a few questions for me so I hope you all enjoy the interview! Be sure and check the bottom of the post for the details regarding some very special giveaways.

We have some idea of what Helen was feeling when she saw you for the first time, but I think we’d all like to know your reaction. What were the first thoughts running through your head when you caught sight of her?

At first I was thinking, “Oh. It really does happen at first sight. That sucks.” Then I felt how strong she was and all I could think about was not dying.

Is there any one particular gift of Helen’s you harbor just a touch of jealousy for?

I’m not jealous of anything Helen can do, but there is quality she has that makes me jealous. She’s too sweet—especially to guys that she has no idea are in love with her. I guess this is more my problem than hers, but sometimes I wish she wasn’t so nice.

Since you have the ability to fly at superhuman speeds, world traveling is extremely easy for you. Do you have a favorite place to visit, or somewhere you would love to share with Helen?

Hundreds. But I don’t think traveling together would be such a good idea.

What is your favorite part of being a member of such a large and close-knit family? Least favorite part?

My favorite part of being from such a large family is that I know there’s always someone to watch my back. The thing I hate the most about being from such a large family is that there is always someone standing right behind me…watching everything I do.

Any funny stories you can share about when you, Hector, and Jason were growing up and figuring out how to use your abilities?

There was that time when we were about ten, I think. I was flying—all cocky, teasing Jason, and he accidentally pinned me to a really high ceiling with a javelin. Took forever to get a ladder tall enough to un-harpoon me. It's sort of an inside joke between us guys because of my mom. She got so worked up she practically started speaking in tongues. Hilarious.

Knowing everything you know now about how events with Helen and your family play out, would you still move to Nantucket?

If we came to Nantucket or didn’t–it doesn’t matter. I’d have met Helen eventually. Fate isn’t one of those things that you can dodge or I’d have done it.

What is the hardest part of having to pretend to be human while attending regular high school?

Playing sports with regular humans—so boring. Being late and not flying to class. Overhearing people talking about you way down the hall and not being able to say anything about it. There are lots of things that make it difficult to stay hidden, but they’ve got to be done.

Is there any one Greek myth that you’ve always been partial to?

I don’t like any of them. None of them have a happy ending—at least not for all the characters. Even when a hero wins, he or she looses something important along the way, or gets turned into a tree or a flower or a cow. Fun to read, not so fun to live. Trust me.

If you had the opportunity to ask the Fates just one question, what would you most want to know?

What the hell is it with the cycles? Are you three hugely unoriginal, or are you looking for something that hasn’t come to pass yet?

The history books (and mythology books) will most likely record the lives of you and your family as they have those before you; what one aspect of your relationship with Helen do you most want known, or most want to ensure is accurate?

That we tried to do what was best for everyone—no matter how it turns out.

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions Lucas! As part of the promotional tour for STARCROSSED, each participating blog has a snippet from a letter written from Lucas to Helen during a rather emotional time in their relationship. My snippet is below:

STARCROSSED TOUR GRAND PRIZE

In order to enter to win a Kindle3 WiFi covered in a GelaSkin of STARCROSSED's cover art, including a copy of STARCROSSED and a personal letter from Josie to the winner, you must collect the pink highlighted words from Lucas's love letter to Helen that are provided each day at the individual tour stops.

The daily words can be joined together in sequential order to create the winning secret message. Once you've constructed the winning secret message, you will need to enter that message on STARCROSSED's tour home page.

Full rules for the contest, as well as the list of participating blogs, can be found at the STARCROSSED tour home page (follow above link) and the winner of the Kindle giveaway will be announced on Josie's homepage on Tuesday, June 7th.

No purchase, affiliation, status as follower to a certain blog or any other association is required to enter.

GIVEAWAY

In addition to following the above rules to be entered to win the Kindle3 WiFi, I also have a very cool giveaway for one lucky commenter on today's post. Up for grabs is a Kindle3 STARCROSSED-themed GelaSkin (pictured above). This GelaSkin is exclusively for a Kindle3 and cannot be used for any other e-reader or any other Kindle make or model. To be entered, please just leave a comment with your name and a valid email address so I can contact you if you win. This giveaway is open to US residents only and will run through midnight EST on June 5th. The winner of the GelaSkin from this site will be emailed and then announced on Josie's blog along with the grand prize Kindle3 winner on Tuesday, June 7th. Good luck everyone!

Please note: Leaving a comment on this post DOES NOT enter you in the Kindle3 WiFi giveaway, only the GelaSkin giveaway. To enter the Kindle3 giveaway, be sure and follow the instructions at the end of the interview.