Eagerly anticipating Son of No One, the Daily Dragon sat down with Dragon Con regular and New York Times Bestselling Author Sherrilyn Kenyon to talk about characters, quirks, and teasers.

Daily Dragon (DD): Son of No One, which will be released Tuesday, really crosses several of your worlds, was this always the plan?

Sherrilyn Kenyon (SK): It’s weird if you look back, I’ve been doing it for a while now, especially with the Hell Hounds, with the Hell Chasers, and in the Chronicles of Nick (CON) you’ve got Zavid, so we’ve actually been crossing a little bit for a long time. Hell Hounds are in Lords of Avalon and in CON which is still a part of Dark-Hunter.

DD: The teaser for your next book is, “In 2015… The dragons will rise.” Can you tell us more about what and who we might see?

SK: The next book is going to be Maxis and Seraphina. We have the female dragons who are rising up, and the next two books are really going to be more about dragon integration and what they want to accomplish.

DD: The Were-Hunter series began with dragons. Were you excited to revisit them?

SK: Oh, absolutely. Any time I can go back and revisit any character I love it.

DD: You’ve said that you promised your sons that you’d write a book that they could read. Now that the CON series is into the fifth published book, what do your boys think of the books?

SK: They are evil. I love my children, I really do. My oldest son came home from school, and his whole thing was “mom, if I read another book from the summer reading program, I’m going to lactate. You’ve got to write me a book so I don’t lactate.” I wrote the book, and now they’re “mom, it’s creepy. You’re my mom, I don’t want to read it.” “Don’t you want to know what I’m doing to you?” Because they are all characters in the books.

DD: Your characters always have a great voice, and the dialogue between them can be both hilarious and heart-wrenching, sometimes at the same time. What advice would you give authors struggling to give their characters a voice?

SK: Listen to the people around you. Everybody’s unique. The best resource in the world is the people around you. You have people who are like “I am Mr. Tough Guy.” Indiana Jones is a perfect example. The way they introduce him, this man is fearless. No, he’s not. He cries like a girl when he sees a snake. Make them real. The quirky things that we all have that are really out of character. That really is the key.

DD: How do you overcome the voices in your head? Not the good character ones, but the personal doubts and demons.

SK: Oh, I hate them. I have a couple of friends whose sole job, when I’m writing a book, is to tell me that I don’t suck. I swear. [They say,] “How far are you?” “Halfway.” “You don’t suck. Your career is not over. Keep writing. Keep writing.” “Are you sure? ‘Cause I think I suck. I think I’ll never write again.”

So, it’s hokey, but believe. You’re going to have them.

DD: I’ve read in a previous interview that, while you relate to all of your characters, you don’t identify with any one particular. Has this changed?

SK: Not really. It’s hard to say that I’m not in every character because there is a part of me in every character. These are very different people. Yes, I relate to them, but none of them are really me.