Kendare Blake

Kendare Blake is a contemporary author of young adult novels. Her works include ''Anna Dressed in Blood'', ''Antigoddess'' and ''Three Dark Crowns''.

Early life

Originally from Seoul, South Korea, Kendare Blake was raised in Cambridge, Minnesota by adoptive parents.

She is an alumna of both Ithaca College (in New York) and Middlesex University in London. It was at the latter where she received her Master of Arts Degree in Creative Writing.

Career

Her books stretch over a variety of genres, including horror, fantasy and contemporary fiction. Several of her works have been listed on the New York Times' Best Seller's List.

Her ''Anna Dressed in Blood'' duology and ''Goddess Wars'' trilogy were originally published in English by Tor Teen, while the ''Three Dark Crowns'' series was published by Harper Teen.

In November 2019 Blake announced via an Instagram post that Harper Teen would also be publishing her next three books. This was confirmed by a small piece in Publishers Weekly online on November 11. A stand-alone horror novel titled ''All These Bodies'' was released in 2021.

In April 2021, ''Publishers Weekly'' announced Disney-Hyperion had obtained the rights to a new trilogy series by Blake, to be entitled ''In Every Generation''. This series will is set in the same universe as the TV show '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer.''

Primary Works

The Anna Duology

The Anna Duology is a two book series comprising the books ''Anna Dressed in Blood'' and ''Girl of Nightmares''. The books follow Cas Lowood, a teenage ghost hunter whose father was killed by ghosts. Cas and his mother travel the world searching for spirits needing to be sent to the afterlife, and his latest assignment is Anna Dressed in Blood, a ghost with a reputation for ripping apart young men who venture into her home. Despite his life-long commitment to destroying spirits like Anna, Cas feels compelled to learn more about the real girl behind the spirit, and while working to solve her murder develops feelings for the ghost. In the first book, Anna eventually sacrifices herself to save Cas' life, while the second book focuses on Cas' journey to get her back and allow her to find a peaceful afterlife.

The Goddess Wars Series

The Goddess Wars is a series comprising three main books and two novellas. The first book, ''Antigoddess'', focuses on the Greek goddess Athena and several other ancient immortals, all of whom are slowly dying in a variety of ways. A few of the old Gods have gone mad in their death throes and are hunting other former immortals in order to absorb some of their life force and prolong their existence. Looking for help, Athena and Hermes seek out a mortal girl named Cassandra who was once a powerful oracle, hoping to unlock her past memories that could help them. Book 2, ''Mortal Gods'', Athena and Cassandra have formed an alliance and hope to battle Ares and his army of other dying Gods, which includes Aphrodite who killed the love of Cassandra's life. The two also seek out Achilles who they believe may be the key to winning the war. They are beaten back, however, and in the final book, ''Ungodly'', Athena is stuck in the underworld while her allies try to find a way to heal the three Fates, who they discover are the source of the God's illnesses.

The two novellas in the series are both prequels with ''The Dogs of Athens'' focusing on Artemis as she searches for other immortals along with her pack of hungry dogs and ''When Gods and Vampires Roamed Miami'' focusing on a young man who mistakenly believes Athena to be a vampire and his attempts to get her to "turn" him.

Buffy: The Next Generation

The planned trilogy is a sequel series to the Joss Whedon television show Buffy: The Vampire Slayer. Book 1 in the series, ''In Every Generation,'' focuses on Frankie Rosenberg, daughter of Willow Rosenberg who is both a witch and a vampire slayer. Book 2, ''One Girl in All the World,'' introduces a new "big bad" known as "The Darkness."

Bibliography

The Anna Duology

# ''Anna Dressed In Blood'' (2011; Tor Teen) –
# ''Girl of Nightmares'' (2012; Tor Teen) –

Ominibus:

* ''The Anna Dressed in Blood Duology'' (2018) –

The Goddess War

# ''Antigoddess'' (2013; Tor) –
# ''Mortal Gods'' (2014; Tor) –
# ''Ungodly'' (2015; Tor) –

Prequel novellas:

* 0.1. ''The Dogs of Athens'' (Prequel novella) (2015; Tor) –
* 0.5. ''When Gods and Vampires Roamed Miami'' (Prequel novella) (2014; Tor) –

Ominibus:

* ''The Goddess War Trilogy'' (2018; Tor Teen) –

Three Dark Crowns Series

# ''Three Dark Crowns'' (2016; Quill Tree Books) –
# ''One Dark Throne'' (2017; Quill Tree Books) –
# ''Two Dark Reigns'' (2018; Quill Tree Books) –
# ''Five Dark Fates'' (2019; Quill Tree Books) –

Prequel novellas:

* 0.1. ''The Oracle Queen'' (Prequel novella) (2018; Quill Tree Books) – (e-book)
* 0.2. ''The Young Queens'' (Prequel novella) (2017; Quill Tree Books) – (e-book)

Collection:

* ''Queens of Fennbirn'' (Combining ''The Young Queens'' and ''The Oracle Queen'') (2018; HarperTeen) –

Ominibus:

* ''Three Dark Crowns Series'' (2020) –

In Every Generation Trilogy ( Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

# ''In Every Generation'' (2022; Disney-Hyperion) –
# ''One Girl In All the World'' (Winter 2023) –
# Untitled Book 3

Heromakers

# ''Champion of Fate'' (September 19, 2023)

Standalone novels

* ''Sleepwalk Society'' (2010; PRA Publishing) –
* ''All These Bodies'' (2021; Quill Tree Books) –

Short fiction

Contributions to anthologies

Contributions to magazines

Other media

In 2016, ''Twilight'' author Stephenie Meyer purchased the rights to turn ''Anna Dressed in Blood'' into a feature film through her production company Fickle Fish Films. In May of that same year, it was announced that Maddie Hasson and Cameron Monaghan had been cast in the roles of Anna and Cass Lowood, respectively. At that time, Trish Sie was named as the director, though later she was replaced by Amanda Row.

In February 2017, ''Variety'' announced the Fox corporation had plans to turn the ''Three Dark Crowns'' series into a feature film through the 21 Laps Entertainment production company, which has also produced the Netflix series '' Stranger Things'' and the film '' Arrival''. Shawn Levy and Dan Levine were announced as producers.

In April 2019 it was also announced that Blake's short story ''On the I-5,'' which was featured in the ''Slasher Girls & Monster Boys'' anthology had been optioned for adaptation by Warner Brothers. As with ''Three Dark Crowns,'' production is being handled by 21 Laps Entertainment and Shawn Levy and Dan Levine will also produce. The story has been called "a female-empowered subversion of the serial-killer genre."

Awards and honors

Anna Dressed In Blood

* Cybils Award Nominee (2011)
* '' Kirkus'' "Best Teen Books of the Year" (2011)
* Top 5 Novels of the Year - National Public Radio (2011)
* Missouri Gateway Readers Award Nominee (2014)
* Lincoln Award Nominee (2015)

Three Dark Crowns

* Missouri Gateway Reader's Award Nominee (2018)
* Lincoln Award Nominee (2019)

All These Bodies

* YALSA Teens Top Ten award winner. (2022)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Kendare
Writers from Seoul
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Ithaca College alumni
21st-century South Korean writers