10 Middle Schoolers Skype with Author Bekka Black

You can't say that the is behind the times. 

You can download eBooks for free from their  and just the other freezing night, ten middle schoolers gathered in a library conference room and Skyped with author Bekka Black (Rebecca Cantrell) about her book .

Black was in her home in Hawaii, enjoying the 85-degree temperatures, and she spoke happily to the students for an hour, answering all of their questions happily, even asking some of her own.

What did the kids want to know? Someone asked which of her own books was her favorite and she anwered, "Whatever I'm writing just now. I just finished the screenplay for iDrakula, so that's my favorite right now."

What is iDrakula, you ask? Black has taken the story of Dracula and modernized it. No longer is it set in 1897 England, but in 2010 New York. Instead of the story being told the "normal" way, it is told through emails, texts, web browser screens and PDF files, to appeal to teenagers, which is does, judging by her fans.

Someone asked Black what her favorite author(s) are and she quickly listed a handful: Bram Stoker, Hemingway, Faulkner, all the Harry Potter books, Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit. 

She said when she read the last Harry Potter book, she cried so much her son said, "Mommy, it's just a book." She added, "All of J.K. Rowling's books are so well written. The first Harry Potter book is all well written as the last. She's great."

Black said that she also loved Interview with the Vampire and the Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice.

A student asked Black if she was the first author to write a book in this format, and she said she thinks she is, but added,"In Japan they publish cellphone novels, written in text message format.  Their text messages are longer than ours and they send 100 in a row, and that's the novel. Most of them are written by teenage girls and they are very very popular in Japan."

Why did she write about Dracula, someone wanted to know. 

"I love Dracula. It's such a cool story. He was the first famous vampire. And he was evil. I wanted to bring back the scary, dangerous vampire. Stephenie Meyer books--the vampires are good and romantic. I wanted to put the scary back. No disrespect to Stephenie. Her books are cool too."

She added, "The original Dracula used the high tech of his day. I wanted to modernize it."

This year she will be publishing iFrankenstein, which is feels is "funnier" than iDrakula. "I was still learning when I wrote iDrakula. And I think iFrankenstein is a great story for teenagers, especially if they feel misunderstood."

Black is also the author of historical fiction (under her given name, Rebecca Cantrell): A Trace of Smoke and A Night of Long Knives, both starring Hannah Vogel, who is a reporter living in 1930s Berlin. The third book in the series is due out in July and iFrankenstein will probably come out around Halloween.

Can't wait!