Having fans mob you, ask you to sign shoes or body parts, and show you their tattoos, is not a life author Lauren Kate expected when she started out as a novelist.
Nonetheless, it has been a frequent occurrence since her first book was published two years ago.
The 30-year-old author of the Fallen series was at Queen's High School in Dunedin yesterday to talk to pupils about the inspiration for her novels and sign autographs as part of the school's Library Week.
Her books, Fallen and Torment, have been bestsellers and are popular with teenage girls, who are eagerly awaiting her forthcoming book Passion, the third in the series.
Kate told pupils the books were initially inspired by a line from the book of Genesis, where a group of angels were cast out of heaven for consorting with mortal women.
The books are a continuing love story which follows the lives of angel Daniel and Luce, who appears every 17 years, falls in love with him and then dies.
Kate said she never dreamt her books would become so popular.
"It's funny the things you are asked to sign - body parts, shoes. People even have Fallen tattoos.
"That blows my mind."
While she enjoys the attention from her fans, she is grateful for the inspiration they provided her to continue writing the series.
"I'm always amazed by the questions girls ask about love and life. They get me to think about characters' emotions and the plot in a different way.
"So it's inspiring when I go back home and start writing again." Kate is in New Zealand to promote her new book Passion, and will return to the United States next week.
She is working on the fourth book in the series, Rapture, and negotiating a deal to turn Fallen into a film.
