April 16

Interview with Nancy A. Collins

Originally appeared at Monster Librarian.com

Nancy A. Collins is the author of several novels and numerous short stories. She is a recipient of the Horror Writers Association’s Bram Stoker Award and The British Fantasy Society’s Icarus Award. Her latest work is a young adult vampires series titled Vamps is reviewed here.

ML: You started your novel writing life with Sunglasses After Dark, the first Sonja Blue novel. How have you gone from rather adult horror novels to YA vampire princesses?

NC: It’s been a long road, but not a terribly surprising turn, at least for me. I have always had a good number of young/teen readers with the Sonja Blue series, and with my work in the comics industry. It wasn’t that huge a leap, personally, to start looking at the YA market. The biggest changes I’ve had to face are the differences in length (the average adult novel is 90 thousand words, while the average YA novel is half that) and some of the subject matter. Young Adult themes nowadays are far more ‘mature’ than when I was in junior high & high school. I do have a tendency to be dark, though, and I have to remember that the audience reading my books has yet to enroll in the School of Hard Knocks most adults attend after they graduate from college, so I have to remind myself to dial it back a few notches.

ML: You’ve been a rare, strong female voice in horror for a while. Do you think that being a woman has affected your career, either positively or negatively?

NC: I’ve never run into sexism in the publishing industry per se, whether from the editors or fellow writers. However, I become well aware that it exists whenever I deal with Hollywood, especially in regard to Sonja Blue. If she had been a male character named ‘Jason Blue’, there would be three movies out by now. But I think my being a woman does affect the characters a great deal. They tend to share a sense of responsibility (or a resentment thereof) to their family. But then again, I was raised in the South.

ML: The YA world has a lot of big dog vampire books, such as Twilight and The Vampire Diaries. How does VAMPS compare?

NC: I think VAMPS is for those readers who are looking for a storyline driven by something besides boyfriend/girlfriend drama. There is plenty of who-really-likes/loves-who or who’s-messing-around-behind-who’s-back going on in the VAMPS series, but that’s just a part of what’s going on. If you’re looking for a rehash of TWILIGHT, you’re probably not going to like VAMPS that much. However, if you like the Anne Rice vampires series or Harry Potter, you will probably enjoy VAMPS a great deal.

ML: Sonja Blue and Cally Monture are both half-blooded. What do you think the draw is to characters who aren’t of one world, or another, but are somewhere between?

NC: I feel that most women, on some level, view themselves as being caught between two worlds, whether it’s mother-wife, daughter-girlfriend, student-employee, or however you want to mix-and-match it. It’s also an excellent allegory for coming of age, whether you’re sixteen or fifty-two. In the Sonja Blue series the underlying theme is her constant inner struggle to remain human in the face of monstrosity. In the VAMPS series Cally is being tempted to forsake her human heritage in order to fit in with her new peer group. People are in too big a hurry to throw away their humanity, whether in exchange for ‘cool’ or ‘money’ or ‘fame’, if you ask me.

ML: In VAMPS, I have to admit I abhorred Lilith, the reigning social queen of Bathory Academy. But by the end you’d managed to soften her snottish personality and make her sympathetic. Does muddying the good guy/bad guy trope make for a better stray, in your opinion?

NC: When writing a character like Lilith you have to remember that no one ever thinks they’re a villain. Hitler, Bin Laden, and Jeffrey Dahmer all had a perfectly good reason (to them) for the evil they committed. With Lilith, I just took your basic self-absorbed, insecure, high- maintenance high school rich-biyatch and added the fact she’s a, you know, shape-shifting, blood-drinking MONSTER to the mix. Part of why Lilith is the psycho-sister that she is has to do with how she was raised–or not raised–by her parents, and the society she lives in, which is VERY Darwinian and favors the strong over the “weak”, and where ruthlessness is viewed as a virtue. It doesn’t make her any less evil, at the end of the day, but at least you can understand where she’s coming from.

ML: You’ve written novels, short stories, comics, nonfiction and novelizations, and edited anthologies. Do you have a favorite medium?

NC: They all have their different strong and weak suits. Comics are probably the easiest/most fun to write. I’m always excited to see how an artist interprets what I’ve described. I love writing short stories because you can experiment with style and format far better in short form. Novels allow you a great deal of freedom in regard to character development. Novelizations are definitely the least fun, because you’re working with other people’s characters, and while that can be fun if you’re a fan of a particular series or character, you have and have to abide by a fairly rigid ‘bible’ supplied by the producers, so there isn’t a lot of room to be creative and explore your own vision.

ML: Unlike a lot of authors these days you have very little web presence. Do you think this is a boon to your career or draws away from reaching potential readers?

NC: Actually, I have had a My Space page for several years now. It’s at
http://www.myspace.com/golgotham I’ve recently created a profile with Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/profile.php?id=1501539605&ref=profile

and Blogspot
http://arkansylvania.blogspot.com

Also, HarperTeen.com has an author page for me at
http://www.harperteen.com/authors/32665/Nancy_A_Collins/index.aspx

that features some Q&A and other fun stuff.

I used to have a LiveJournal blog for several years, but I closed it out when I changed my ISP. It was too much hassle to change all the jpegs I’d posted from my account over the years to Photobucket.

ML: What’s the draw to vampires?

NC: Since they look like us, and, in fact, used to BE us, they are a perfect allegory for the human condition. Depending on what you want to focus on, they can be a symbol of man’s darker drives (cruelty, ruthlessness, predatory behavior), or they can symbolize passion and romance (the love that lasts forever, the all-consuming passion that never ends). They also make excellent Byronic heroes, flawed heroes that battle with their inner demons in the name of love or beauty. They can also be painfully accurate portrayals of the perils of modern dating (the handsome charmer who seemed perfect at first, only to later reveal himself to be an inhuman monster).

ML: Do you think the vampire story will ever die?

NC: No. No more than the detective story, the love story or the ghost story will die. Indeed, the vampire story combines elements of all three. In the last 30+ I have seen several vampire-based books and movies become huge pop

culture successes: SALEM’S LOT, INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, FRIGHT NIGHT, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, BLADE, FRANCIS FORD COPPOLLA’S DRACULA, UNDERWORLD, and now TWILIGHT. And then there’s the upcoming sequel to TWILIGHT and the DARK SHADOWS movie starring Johnny Depp. So, no, I don’t think vampires are in any danger of disappearing any time soon.

ML: What do you have in store for Cally and Lilith and the true bloods of Bathory Academy? According to your blog on Amazon.com there’s a movie in the works?

NC: Actually, the producers are working on trying to turn it into a TV series. But I would be just as thrilled if they can turn it into a feature film. As for Cally, in AFTER DARK, the 3rd book in the series, her relationship with Peter is going to undergo a huge shake-up, due to circumstances beyond their control. The same goes for Lilith and Jules. Both sisters also suffer deep personal losses that change their lives forever, and are given a chance at living a dream come true. Of course, how they react to these nearly identical parallel situations is completely different from one another. Lucky Maledetto, the twins’ older brother, will be playing a larger role in the third book, as will Exo. We also discover a great deal more about how Old Blood society works, and just how dangerous the Shadow Hand can be. Oh, and there’s an all-vampire fashion show.

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January 5

Interview: Michael Louis Calvillo

1. So let’s get the big question out of the way. Your first novel, I Will Rise, received a Stoker Award nomination earlier this year. What did that feel like?

It was a tremendous honor. I am a huge fan of horror fiction and many of my favorite books have been Bram Stoker award winners or finalists. To be counted among them is simply mind blowing. It’s a distinction I wear with great pride. The award banquet was awesome. I met so many great writers.

2. When I read I Will Rise I was both distracted by the prose and blown away by the similar feel to Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. Is Palahniuk a role model for you?

When I started writing I WILL RISE I was definitely on a Palahniuk kick. I read three or four of his books back to back (CHOKE, SURVIVOR and INVISIBLE MONSTERS – oddly enough I still hadn’t read FIGHT CLUB, but if you read Palahniuk, his style is pretty consistent from book to book). At the same time, I was also really heavy into James Joyce’s short story collection DUBLINERS, and his crazy novel ULYSSES, and I was re-reading T.H. White’s take on Arthurian legend, THE ONCE and FUTURE KING.

Like all art, IWR draws its inspiration from an eclectic mix of sources. Along with White and Joyce and Palahniuk, I love filmmakers like Lynch and Cronenberg and Gordon and there are shades of their influences buried in the narrative as well. I think the book is a messy mash up of all these disparate styles fused with my one true literary love – horror.
Since it is written in the first person, it tends to get a little crazy with the stream of consciousness thing – gloriously self indulgent and proudly experimental. It worked for some and turned off others, but it was a fun experiment.

As to the question, Mr. Palahniuk is definitely a role model. He is one of my favorite writers and to draw such comparisons is a huge honor.

3. Are there any lessons you’ve taken away from the writing and publication of I Will Rise?

Tons. On the writing side, like with each new book, I learn what works and what doesn’t. I play with pacing and voice and grow from the practice of hammering away at a narrative each and every day. Writing is an incredible art form because you get better with age. Every new book I write shows me just how much I don’t know and what I have to go out there and learn. I WILL RISE was a lot of fun to write because I became this selfish, neurotic, foolish character and just went off. My other books are written in the third person and as an omniscient narrator you have a different role and a responsibility to all of the characters. Writing in the first person as an extremely unreliable narrator you can goof off a little.

Since IWR was my first publishing credit ever, I basically learned everything I know about the publishing industry in this past year. When I started submitting IWR I knew nothing about small press and the mass market and the horror writing community. I didn’t know any of the business intricacies. Now, I feel much more confident about my role within the industry as an artist and I am prepared to make those important career decisions. It was a tough thing to wrap my head around. I want to write. I don’t want to look over contracts and market and sell, but the reality of the situation is that in order to be successful you have to understand all of these things. Like with my writing, I get better and better at it with each passing day.

4. You teach high school English, does that give you hope for the future of fiction or take it away?

Hope. It’s all about hope. That’s why I am a teacher and that’s why I love my job. At the beginning of the year I take a survey and ask my kids (I teach ninth graders) who likes to read. I’ll get maybe two or three hands (out of 40) per class. Throughout the school year I try to talk up fiction (horror in particular) and get kids excited about reading and hope to win over a few converts. I usually snag a few.

On a wider scale, the world is moving so fast and a leisurely paced hobby like reading fiction for the pure joy of it seems to be falling out of favor. Why read when I can watch cable or play video games? I love watching cable and playing video games, so it’s hard to argue, but then somewhere along the line I also learned to love to read. Where did I get it? Who knows? My parents aren’t big readers; I just sort of gravitated toward it on my own. With all of these modern distractions, books are looking less and less interesting to kids with no desire to read. It’s a scary time.

5. Other than world domination, what plans do you have for the future?

Well, world domination is a pretty all-consuming goal. It lives little time for much else. Until I get there, I plan on teaching and writing and writing and teaching and enjoying the hell out of my rather charmed life.

6. In the punk/underground/social commentary feel of your work, would popular success be good or bad? Can you be popular without selling out?

Popular success is never a bad thing. It is my ultimate goal. The more people I reach the better. I’m not doing this so I can be the king of some exclusionary scene. Selling out is settling for mediocrity. I’m not here to grumble at the machine. I’m here to infect it and write edgy fiction that entertains and gives use something to think about. My punk / underground sensibilities come from my love of punk / underground sensibilities and the subversion inherent will probably always be a part of my fiction, but this isn’t to say I am not trying to have a little fun. This is what I like about Palahniuk – his books are uncompromising and perverse, yet he has a legion of fans that get it.

Look at some one like Larry David of HBO’s CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASUM, he’s made a fortune hating everyone and everything! I aspire to be the Larry David of popular horror fiction.

7. So I Will Rise has zombies, and As Fate Would Have It has cannibals. What’s next?

So much stuff…

I just completed two novellas with two great writers I’ve met through the HWA (Horror Writer’s Association). One called UGLY SPIRIT, written with Benjamin Kane Ethridge, about the seriously screwed up ghost of a serial killer and his haunted estate, the other called THE INFINITE, written with Michael McCarty, about an ancient blood witch, awkward dorks and bored teenage girls. They are both looking for homes.

I have a dark fantasy trilogy called THE BASILISK, about lizards, sun Gods, telepathic zombies and a serial killer tasked with killing 1000 virgins to save the world, doing the rounds. My agent is currently pushing it to the majors (fingers crossed).

I finished two new books in ’08 and have just started shopping them. LAMBS is about three teens, one haunted by murderous ghosts, one a pyromaniac, and one a Satanist, whose lives collide. DEATH & DESIRE in the AGE of WOMEN is about women going crazy and taking over the world and one married couple’s struggle to survive the violent onslaught. I’m going to start sending them out soon.

I just recently finished my half of a dark, urban fantasy called ORDER of DEATH. I’m writing it with Benjamin Kane Ethridge and it is looking to be pretty awesome. Violent, dark, high fantasy in the tradition of George RR Martin, but twisted in our own special way. I can’t wait to get it out there.

I have a short story collection entitled BLOOD & GRISTLE being considered by a publisher.

I just started a book tentatively titled BIRD DREAM. Should be done in March and then it is on to a new one.

Oh, and I write video game reviews for Fear Zone (fearzone.com). You can find new stuff and any of my old reviews archived on the website.

8. Is there any horror trope you won’t touch?

No. I’m willing to tackle anything and put my spin on it. It’s all about imagination and reconfiguring those tired old tropes into something new and vibrant. Vampires have been done to death and right off, I’d probably put my foot in my mouth and say, “I will never write a vampire book,” but then, I was recently approached by a writer who wants to collaborate on a vampire book (though its about a psychic vamp rather than your traditional bloodsucker) and I’m excited to dig in and give it a shot.

I’m good with any and all tropes, just not the boxes they tend to come in.

9. Why don’t you give us a bit of blatant promo for As Fate Would Have It?

Glad to.

So yes, AFWHI is about cannibals and heroin addicts. Those are the big, easy selling points. Cannibals – yuck! Heroin addicts – oooh edgy! Put them together and you got literary gold. Blah, blah, blah. What the book is really about is love and death.

I was lucky enough to make it to my late twenties without having to experience much in the way of death, but in the last few years I’ve lost a few people who I have been really close to and it hurt like hell. I entered my thirties more freaked about death than ever. While writing FATE, I purged a bit. I got a lot of things out and tried to come to terms with inconsolable loss. I wish I could say I emerged secure and happy and all of that. I still fear death and still think about it everyday. Truth is, the book is pretty damn grim. It’s darkly funny and reasonably entertaining, but there is a big streak of unrelenting black running up and down its spine and it might leave a bad taste in your mouth or raise a lump of discomfort in your throat. Alas, misery loves company (or so they say). I’m hoping readers can commiserate and fish a bit of catharsis out of it.

10. Who is the one person you’d get the warm squishies from if they read your book and sent you a (public or private) note about how much they loved it?

Stephen King (me and every other horror writer, right?). He is the reason I love to read and (though there are many writers I admire and call influences) he is probably the real reason I write. Back in seventh grade, I stumbled upon THE BACHMAN BOOKS in my junior high school library and nothing has ever been the same.

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October 13

Interview with Tracy Goodwin, author of Dance with Deception

*My review of Dance with Deception is here.

-Of all the periods of the past, why did the Victorian era call to you?

Both the Victorian and Regency eras are among my favorites. The reasons that I chose the Victorian era as the setting for Dance With Deception were quite simple, really … plot and research.

Dance With Deception is the first of a trilogy and, when choosing the time period, I had to keep all three novels in mind. I knew where I wanted to take the plot and what politics/inventions/modes of transportation/battles were necessary so I set the plot in early Victorian times.

-Gwen is obviously an intelligent woman, and split between defiance and duty. Did you model her after anyone in particular?

From the beginning, I always saw Gwen as an intelligent, compassionate woman whose opinions were cast aside for no other reason than the fact that she was born a woman. When writing about Gwen’s plight, I didn’t model her after anyone in particular but, rather, tried to put myself in her shoes. I imagined being in a situation where women had no rights and were beholden to their guardians. I tried to delve into Gwen’s emotions and wanted to portray not only her helplessness but her anger at being placed in such a position where she must chose between her heart’s desire and her duty to her father.

-What about Sebastian? Yum! Can you tell us a bit about the difficulties of making these two characters so passionate about each other?

The love and passion that Sebastian and Gwen felt for each other was truly easy to write – perhaps because I’m a romantic at heart? What I had to work extremely hard on was goal, motivation, conflict – what every Romance Author learns about when studying craft. I had two characters who truly loved each other and then had to make their actions, their journey believable.

-Dance with Deception is a very texture-oriented story. How did you manage to pack such sensory details into your book?

With a great deal of effort! I want readers to feel transported to the world I write about so the necessity of the characters and, therefore, the readers to experience the tale through all senses is something I concentrate on from that first draft straight through to the final draft.

-How much research did you have to do for Dance with Deception?

Every Historical Author does a great deal of research. My office book shelves are overflowing with research books on topics spanning everything from the Victorian era and British history to costumes, etiquette, and even the complete guide to horses and riding. I also have research books on Greek mythology, astronomy, a dictionary of plagues and pestilences, Latin quips, castles, and royal palaces. It never ceases to amaze me where inspiration originates or, for that matter, how much of it flourishes from research.

-Have you thought about tackling any other periods?

I have considered other time periods and currently have several stories outlined (in the Regency and Contemporary periods) but, for now, I continue to write about the Victorian era.

-What are some challenges you feel romance writers have that other genre writers might not?

Romance writers tackle the stigma that comes from writing Romance – the same stigma that comes from reading it, for that matter. Despite the fact that Romance fiction is a billion dollar a year industry (per Romantic Times Book Reviews magazine), there are still people who shun Romantic fiction. How many times has someone frowned when seeing that you’re reading a romance novel? The same holds true when some discovers that you’ve written one. But, regardless, the fact remains that people both write and read romance for the same reason – because we enjoy it. I hope that my love of the Romance genre is evident through every page of my novels.

-Do you think as a romance writer you have any advantages over writers of other genres?

I can’t speak of other genres, but I can say that the Romance community is the most wonderful and encouraging that I can imagine, thanks in part to organizations such as The Romance Writers of America. In what other genre can a debut Author receive Author quotes from New York Times Bestselling Authors Barbara Dawson Smith and Hannah Howell, and from Bestselling Author and RITA winner Gayle Wilson? I count myself blessed to be part of such a genre.

-I love hearing about the origins of stories. Where did Dance with Deception come from?

Dance With Deception began as a story in my imagination, one that I’d wanted to tell for some time. I honestly don’t know where or when it originated but perhaps it was born from every novel I’d ever read such as my favorite classics by the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen?

After imagining my characters and this story for so long, it was my husband who encouraged me to finally write Dance With Deception. Honestly, so much of Authoring a novel stems from love – love and encouragement from your loved ones, love of your story, your characters, the genre and the craft. Many of us don’t know if anyone will like the story we’re writing or if anyone will publish it but we write it anyway – because we love doing so. For anyone currently experiencing this, I want to add that dreams do come true … I’m proof of it. Dare to dream!
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-What do you have planned next?

I am currently completing my next two in the trilogy, Enticing Eve and The Skilled Seduction. My hope is that, like with Dance With Deception, people enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them.

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