FAQ With Veronica: The Random Edition

Veronica Roth answers some of the fans burning questions in this FAQ, including info about Four, and the books. Check it out below:
 
What's Four's last name?
I have an official response to this question, and it is: you'll find out if you read Insurgent. Although I feel like I should add to that that it's not some huge shocking reveal. It's just that Four is so careful about using his name. He only does it when he has to. So I want you guys to feel the significance of it just like Tris does, even though it's not a shock.

What color is Four's hair?
The first time someone mentioned that I never said what color Four's hair is in Divergent, I refused to believe it. But then I double-checked, and realized that I didn't, actually. So, for the official record, his hair is dark brown.

Divergent Book: New UK Cover!

From Veronica: " HarperCollins UK designed a new Divergent cover! So, yes: Divergent is a book that is accurately represented by a bold fiery symbol and a skyline and a gathering storm. But it is also about a girl who is somewhat isolated, in character if not literally, who marks herself with the figurative representation of one of her worst fears (the birds). This design emphasizes something different about the story, which I loved seeing.

Other things I like: you can't see the girl's face, so you still get to imagine her, yet she looks sort of scrappy like Tris is. And the birds! Of course I love the birds. And the color is eye-catching.

So, UKers: I hope you like it!"

EW: Insurgent Book Cover Revealed!

Its here!! The cover for Divergent book 2, Insurgent! We love it! Click the cover image to see it full size. EW had the exclusive, and Veronica Roth answers a few questions about the trilogy.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What can you tell readers about Insurgent? 
I can’t say much because there’s very little I can reveal without spoiling everything. But I will say that the factions there were not featured in Divergent will have a more prominent role in Insurgent, and that readers will learn more about Tobias’ history. But essentially, the book is about consequences. The repercussions of what Tris did, and what Jeanine did at the end of the first book, in particular.

Where does Insurgent pick up after Divergent? Has any time passed?
Insurgent picks up pretty much right where Divergent leaves off. Very little time has passed.

Anything else you want to add about the trilogy?
The third book will be called Detergent, and the tagline will be One Choice Can Disinfect You. Okay, that’s a lie.

Insurgent is out May 2012. Read the rest of the interview HERE

Lord Voldemort Recommends Divergent!

If you are on twitter, there a good chance you're aware of the popular He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his millions of followers. Recommendations from the dry-humoured snarky dark lord are rare, so this was exciting to see.

Need a book to fill your Harry Potter void? Read Divergent by @veronicaroth. This isn't an ad, it's a badass book: lv7thinks.com
— The Dark Lord (@Lord_Voldemort7) August 26, 2011

Veronica Roth on Divergent Movie's Screenwriter + Movie Process Info

From Veronica: "Last week I had the great fortune of traveling to California, where the weather was far nicer than in Chicago, which had turned into an oven in my absence. While I was there I did many things, some of which were meeting the people currently involved in the process of turning Divergent into a movie."

One of those people was the screenwriter Evan Daugherty! So what did she make of him?

"As his posture suggests, Evan is a chill dude. He also likes Divergent. Now, that may seem obvious to you (why would he want to write the screenplay if he didn't like Divergent?) but that's not necessarily obvious-- people do things for plenty of reasons, not all of them genuine affection. This very much reassured me.

Interview: Veronica Roth Talks About Divergent Film Adaptation

Veronica Roth interview at Comic Con. She talks about the factions, how the book could be portrayed on film, casting, what scene she wants to see in the movie, and her favourite characters.

Interview Video Part 1
Interview Video Part 2

Divergent Press Conference from Comic Con

Divergent Press Conference at Comic Con with author Veronica Roth.

YouTube

Veronica Roth: Divergent Was Originally from Four's POV

Veronica reveals some Divergent secrets while on the Dark Days of Supernatural book tour!

"One of my DIVERGENT secrets (which is . . . not so secret anymore, really) is that when I first wrote it, it was from a male point of view. Actually, it was from the point of view of Four, Tris’s instructor in the current version.

I wrote about thirty pages from his perspective, five years ago, during my freshman year of college. The faction system was essentially the same, but with four factions instead of five—Candor didn’t exist yet—and with a less clear system binding them together. I got stuck at the thirty-page mark and filed the story away with the rest of my unfinished snippets.

The Joseph Beth Rookwood Kids Team: Q&A With Veronica Roth

In the world of Divergent people are divided up into five societies (factions) that each holds a different core value. It must have been hard to choose only five. Were there any factions that were considered but didn’t make the cut?

No, actually! In fact, I originally came up with only four—Abnegation, Dauntless, Erudite, and Amity—but the faction system is supposed to encompass a wide range of virtues, and I felt that one—honesty—was missing. Candor was my somewhat late addition.

Divergent takes place in a future Chicago. How did you decide to place your novel in a real setting vs. an entirely created world?  Have there been pluses or minuses to having to stick within the geography of the city?

I originally didn’t plan for Divergent to take place in an actual city, but after the rough draft I discovered that I, as a writer, found it more compelling when it was grounded in a real place. That real place became Chicago when I realized that I had already described it, in the complex system of above-ground trains that always seem to be running, and the immense building that would become the Sears Tower in my manuscript. I haven’t found many minuses to sticking to a city’s geography. Sometimes I have to do research, but even that helps me to get to know the city that I have lived so close to all my life, which is a definite plus. I also give myself the freedom to step away from reality when I need to, because the book is set so far in the future that the city has changed a lot from modern Chicago, and that allows me some creative liberties. 

Read the rest of the interview at Source

'Divergent' Feature Film Announced!

Here is the confirmation that 'Divergent' the movie is in the works! 

From Deadline: As we predicted, Summit Entertainment has closed a screen rights deal for Veronica Roth’s young adult novel Divergent, which will be published by the HarperCollins imprint Katherine Tegen Books. It takes place in a futuristic dystopia where society is divided into factions as kids are categorized based on human traits. A teenage girl and guy rebel against the labels, which is a very dangerous thing to do. The buying community has compared it to The Hunger Games in tone and violent content. Red Wagon’s Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher will produce.