Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’ve been writing a long time – 19 years, though my early works were cringe-worthy and are locked far away where no one will ever touch them. To date, I’ve published nine works; eight fiction novels and one poetry compilation. Two of those novels are now unavailable because we (my husband/co-writer and I) decided to revamp the series.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My latest book series is “Shades of the Sea and Flame” (the first book in the series is free – “Blood Pearl” – but all five are available for purchase). It was inspired by some very trip reams I had and my incessant constant need to write about vampires. not the shiny kind, but the old vampire that I remember from the days of reading Anne Rice and Jeanne Kalogridis. In my mind, vampires are these lording monsters that are beautiful, dark, and painfully sexy.
I wrote “Shades of the Sea and Flame” when I found out I was pregnant and realised I had to make a change in my life in order to make a change for my baby’s future.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I tend to write without much of a plan. I must have rewritten “Shades of the Sea and Flame” five or six times before I was convinced of it. And by rewriting, I mean that I had it completely done and edited and then scrapped the entire project and started over. I do write in the naps my little girl takes, so I write in bursts of twenty to thirty minutes at a time and try to write five thousand words a day.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
That’s a very long list. I would have to say that, primarily, Anne Rice is my inspiration, but I have other equally strong feelings for vampire authors like Jeanne Kalogridis and Poppy Z. Brite. I also loved the works of Alma Katsu (author of “The Taker”), and I sometimes enjoy reading Laurell K. Hamilton. My all-time favourite author has to be J.K. Rowling, in terms of her impeccable storytelling.
What are you working on now?
My new work is another set of five stories that revolves around a more modernistic setting, again, vampires, because I am weak for vampires. The new series is untitled at the moment, but it is a discourse on the difference between what the world sees as evil and the real meaning of evil.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
This is the first time I am doing any real book promotion, so, thus far, it would have to be Awesome Gang.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write. Don’t get distracted, don’t think you aren’t good enough, don’t sit on your work for years and years waiting to be sure of it. It will never be perfect, you’ll always find fault with it. Write, and publish.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Writing is for the writer, but editing is for the reader.
What are you reading now?
“Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis” by Anne Rice.
What’s next for you as a writer?
My whole life I’ve had big dreams. I want to be the type of writer that can one day walk into a movie premier of my latest book release and have a slew of things to say while secretly feeling completely mystified that my books would ever have taken me that far, so… I guess, my next step as a writer is to quietly take over the world, one letter at a time. Muhahaha.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Hmm… “Covenant with the Vampire” by Jeanne Kalogridis, “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Brontë, and “Scribble Boy” by Philip Ridley.
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