Q&A with Lisa Kessler, author of Night Walker!

Earlier this month, Lisa Kessler released her debut paranormal romance novel Night Walker, the first in the new Night series from Entangled Publishing.  GT was fortunate enough to get our hands on an advance copy and thoroughly enjoyed reading and reviewing it.  Night Walker was awarded a rating of 4 Hearts and our Bronze Heart Award for excellence in PNR fiction.  (note: “hearts” and “awards” are our new rating system, to be launched in September with the new GT site – stay tuned for more info!).  Ms. Kessler has been busy promoting her new book this month with a full schedule of blog guest appearances and interviews, and was gracious enough to allow GT to pepper her with questions about Night Walker, her work as an author, and even a few nosy personal ones!  Here’s what she had to say…

GT: Congratulations on publishing your new Night Walker series! Can you share a little of your journey and what kept you going?

Thank you!  Getting my first book published was definitely the toughest goal I have ever achieved.

There were lots of rejections. Night Walker is a unique novel that mixes time periods and it’s pretty dark too, so while I got lots of full reads from publishing houses in New York, they weren’t sure what to do with it.

At one point I gave up on Night Walker and set it aside to write a new series. (The Moon Series) But while those were tied up in a contest, Entangled invited me to submit. All I had left was Night Walker, so I held my breath and sent it off.

I really believe it was all meant to be. Night Walker found the perfect home with Entangled and I’m really excited about the rest of the series…

GT: How did you celebrate your first big release day?

I didn’t have a copy of my book to hold in my hands yet, but my hubby took me out to dinner… 🙂

GT: Where did you get your inspiration for creating the Night series?

It all started with wanting to write a novel with immortals, but set it on the west coast. Since the Mission de Alcala is the oldest building in San Diego, it seemed like the perfect place to start.

While researching, I discovered the peaceful Kumeyaay tribes actually attacked the Mission in the 1700’s, burned it to the ground and beat the head priest so badly he could only be identified by the rings on his hand.

All we have are theories as to what could have provoked such a vicious attack from a peaceful group. I made up my own theory that a young native girl was murdered. Once I had that worked out, I knew she had to be reincarnated in order for me to tell the story in contemporary times.

GT: Calisto doesn’t see himself as a “vampire”. Will we see more of this dichotomy between the two and get a better understanding of what the difference between “night walker” and “vampire” is?

Yes in the novella, Night Thief, you’ll actually see a Night Walker go up against a vampire villain…  Also in Night Demon (Book #2) you’ll meet the original 4 Night Walker brothers so you’ll get even more background on what makes a Night Walker different from a vampire…

GT: Will Calisto and Kate be the central characters for the rest of the series or will upcoming books focus on other characters?

Calisto and Kate are in Night Demon (Book 2) but as supporting cast.  Night Demon is a chance for Lukas and Gretchen to step into the spotlight.  You got a glimpse of Lukas in Night Walker, and Gretchen is a new human character.

GT: How many books do you expect to publish in the series?

At this point there will be 3 books and a novella.

GT: You got an early start as a writer (6th grade!). What other jobs have you held between writing assignments since then?

Let’s see, I’ve given horseback riding lessons, girl scout leader, singer, and a sales person in our family window covering business…  Glamorous, right? LOL

GT: What is your typical schedule when writing a new book?

When I’m writing a new book I write 20 pages, then edit those, then write the next 20 pages, etc. By the end I usually have a pretty clean first draft.

GT: When you find yourself in a plot hole or with writers block, how do you work out of it?

I’ve never had writer’s block, and plot holes aren’t usually an issue.  However when I get to the middle of the book and the pacing starts to feel a little slow it’s usually time to “up the body count”.  Nothing like a dead character to bring up the tension! 🙂

GT: What do you think inspires a good story?

Good characters.  If I can relate to the characters and enjoy spending time with them, it makes all the difference.

GT: Being married to a fellow writer, do you find you’re able to feed off each other’s creativity or do you need definite “me” time?

I feel blessed for being married to another writer.  He’s always my first reader, and he really understands the process and respects me for it.  I haven’t always had that kind of support, so I recognize it for the gift it is! LOL

GT: You’ve been in quite a few musical theater productions (check out Lisa’s music here). Do you have any upcoming projects we can look forward to?

Sadly with my full writing schedule, I don’t have time for all the rehearsals for stage productions.  These days I’ve cut back to one church job and singing for weddings and memorials…

The Gauntlet (rapid-fire Q’s with top-o-the-brain A’s)

GT: All-time favorite movie?

Rocky & Camelot

GT: Top 5 most played songs on your ipod/music list?

I don’t have an iPod! LOL  I’m so old school…  Right now based on the books I’m editing and blogs I’m writing my playlist Top 5 is probably…

Come What May – Moulin Rouge

If I Can’t Love Her – Beauty and the Beast

Bad Things – Jace Everett

Broken – Seether

My Immortal – Evanescence

GT: What book are you reading right now?

Spell Bound – Kelley Armstrong and I’m LOVING it!  Great urban fantasy…

GT: Favorite non-romance book?

The Mists of Avalon – Marion Zimmer Bradley

GT: Favorite couple, hero, or heroine in a PNR/UF series (that is not your own)?

Zack and Aura in Jeri Smith-Ready’s Shade trilogy

GT: Team Bill or Team Eric? (because we know you’re a Truebie!)

I’m still Team Bill…  Even though they’re doing different things with the show I think it’s still obvious that Bill is sacrificing his own happiness to keep Sookie’s secret safe from the vampires…

GT: Star Trek, Star Wars, or Star Gate?

Star Wars

GT: Boxers or briefs?

Boxers

GT: Biggest pet peeve?

Mean People… Ugh!

GT: If I could live anywhere in the world, it would be…

San Diego…  What can I say I’m super spoiled by the weather here! LOL

To check Ms. Kessler’s other Blog Tour stops, see her schedule here.

Here are some online purchase links for Night Walker…

• Barnes&Noble
• Amazon
• BooksOnBoard

Hope you had as much fun reading this interview as we did chatting with Ms. Kessler and writing it!

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GT Preview: New GraveTells writers and Q&A with author Lisa Kessler

This week will be a ground-breaking week for GraveTells, so hang on to your hats, because we’re debuting two new GT team members and have a Q&A with Night Walker author Lisa Kessler!

New team members, you say?  Why does GT need a “team”?  I’ve been developing a new, dedicated site for GraveTells, with a community forum for PNR/UF fans.  It’s nearly finished and I hope to launch it in September!  With all that yummy new content, wouldn’t it be great if you had more than just me to listen to?  *grin*  You’re in for a definite treat with this week’s debut posts by Kenra Daniels and The Captain.  Both are Paranormal Romance authors with appealing style, modern and edgy.  Kenra brings compelling perspective and thought-provoking dissertation, while The Captain treats us to her provocative signature blend of wit and irreverence.  Here’s a sneak peek of this week’s treats!

From Kenra’s Shame On You!, scheduled for tomorrow’s feed…

Are you ashamed of what you read?

One day in a bookstore, I overheard a man berating his wife for browsing through the Paranormal Romances. She apologized and promised not to read such “filth”, and of course she knew vampires weren’t real. I started to wonder how many readers of Paranormal Romance novels faced the same sort of criticism from family and friends.

From The Captain’s Caught in the Smex Beam, scheduled for Wednesday’s feed…

I think it is fair to say that in PNR/UF novels, there are a few things that are expected and accepted:

1. The hero will be gorgeous and well hung.
2. The heroine will be attractive, smart, perhaps funny, but most of all likeable and relatable to the reader.
3. The story will have elements that drag us in, besides the two pretty people it centers on, and transport us to another reality.
4. The hero and heroine will be irrevocably caught in the Smex Beam.

“What exactly is a Smex Beam, Captain?” you ask.  Ha ha, fear not reader.  Your Captain is here to offer guidance and instruction.

Finally, to end the week in grand style, Night Walker author Lisa Kessler has graciously agreed to get up close and personal with GT, answering some of our burning questions about her new book and series.  Ms. Kessler’s interview is a GraveTells first and we’re proud to be able to post a Q&A with such a great new up-and-coming PNR author!  Here’s a sneak peek…

GT: Where did you get your inspiration for creating the Night series?

LK: It all started with wanting to write a novel with immortals, but set it on the west coast. Since the Mission de Alcala is the oldest building in San Diego, it seemed like the perfect place to start.  While researching, I discovered the peaceful Kumeyaay tribes actually attacked the Mission in the 1700’s, burned it to the ground and beat the head priest so badly he could only be identified by the rings on his hand.  All we have are theories as to what could have provoked such a vicious attack from a peaceful group. I made up my own theory that a young native girl was murdered. Once I had that worked out, I knew she had to be reincarnated in order for me to tell the story in contemporary times.

.

GT: When you find yourself in a plot hole or with writers block, how do you work out of it?

LK: I’ve never had writer’s block, and plot holes aren’t usually an issue.  However when I get to the middle of the book and the pacing starts to feel a little slow it’s usually time to “up the body count”.  Nothing like a dead character to bring up the tension! 🙂

A huge thanks to Kenra Daniels & The Captain for lending their time and pen to GT, and to Lisa Kessler for sharing her thoughts and time in the middle of her very busy post-release schedule!

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Q&A with Karen Chance: Cassie & Pritkin & demons, oh my!

Karen Chance, author of the infectiously fun fantasy Cassie Palmer series, posted a new Q&A about the books and characters on her “The Cassandra Palmer Series by Karen Chance” page on Facebook, and in it she answers some burning questions fans had about characters and events in the books.

*** Spoiler note: If you have not read the Cassie Palmer series but plan to, and want absolutely no knowledge of any goings-on before reading, skip down the the “It’s all in the shorts…” section of this post. ***

Fan Q&A with Karen Chance

What exactly is a warlock? 

 Charley Sheen. It can also be a term for a mage who specializes in demonology, can summon demons and can put some of them in thrall.

In Claimed by Shadow, Pritkin confronts Cassie and Casanova in Casanova’s monitoring room, Billy comes in and starts making wisecracks, and Casanova takes a swat at him. Cassie explains that Casanova is able to hear Billy due to “his demon senses.” Pritkin is also in the room, though, and he cannot hear Billy.

They’re both Incubi. I would put it down to Casanova being in a vampire host while Pritkin’s other half is human, but other vampires cannot hear Billy either. Does this have something to do with Casanova being an Incubi possessing a vampire (thus being a spirit, sort of) while Pritkin is a half-Incubi, half-human physically living in this world?

Firstly, Casanova isn’t in a vampire host.  The vampire who calls himself by that name does so because his incubus (or succubus, if you prefer, since he thinks of it as female) used to possess the real Casanova.  But the incubus isn’t Casanova and the guy who calls himself that isn’t either.  Basically, he’s being pretentious.

Secondly, Pritkin isn’t a demon.  He isn’t even possessed by a demon.  He’s a human-demon hybrid, and like all hybrids, he received some of each parent’s abilities while missing out on others.  Some of the incorporeal demon races can interact with non-demon spirits, but Pritkin didn’t inherit that particular talent.

As for Casanova, when his demon is in residence, so to speak, he gains a good deal from it, including extended senses that other vampires do not have.  It’s one of the reasons he made the deal in the first place.  Hope that helps.

What did Pritkin think Mircea thought he was? If this question is a little confusing, I’m talking about Cassie and Pritkin’s conversation in the restaurant. When Cassie tells him Mircea thinks he’s a warlock, Pritkin seems to feel that there was something Mircea wasn’t telling her. What did Pritkin think Mircea actually thought?

Pritkin and Cassie were having two very different conversations in that instance.  Cassie thought they were talking about the recent attacks on her life.  Pritkin thought they were having a discussion about the few times they had…gotten close.  So he wasn’t thinking about Mircea’s claim that he was a warlock, but rather the motivation behind it—namely a reasonable sounding excuse for keeping Pritkin away from Cassie.

In Touch the Dark, when Pritkin and Cassie first make eye contact in the Senate’s chamber, “something that looked almost like fear crossed” Pritkin’s eyes.  What was it he saw that shook him up?

You need to recall why Pritkin was actually there.  He said it was to claim Cassie on behalf of the Circle (since she was a human magic worker, the vampires had no real right to her).  But in reality, that wasn’t his mission at all.  Of course, the Circle would have been happy to have the vamps merely hand her over, but they didn’t really expect it. And Pritkin was hardly the man they would have sent for a diplomatic mission in any case.  He was there to investigate Cassie, and if she was determined to be a serious threat, to eliminate her.  In other words, he was there in his usual role as an assassin.

The Circle thought it was being clever.  It would kill two birds with one stone—get rid of a pythia who was outside its control and remove one of Jonas’s chief supporters at the same time.  Because the vamps would almost certainly kill Pritkin after he took out Cassie.  It never entered their minds that Pritkin might have a problem going through with the assignment.  He was, after all, a well-known demon hunter.  But killing dangerous rogue demons is a little different from killing A) a human being, B) a woman and C) someone who was about the same age his late wife had been when she died.

Of course, Pritkin hadn’t really thought about it, either.  He was focused on the logistics of the mission and the fact that he was going to have to deal with the Senate, which never made anybody’s day.  But then he came face-to-face with the reality of his situation.  Which was a young, unarmed human female with big blue eyes, tumbled blond curls and a happy face t-shirt.  Who was staring down Jack the Ripper despite having absolutely no way to defend herself.  She was tiny and delicate and courageous and vulnerable and obviously mental for not cowering in a corner and…

And he was appalled.

He was also afraid, because he’d never had a target like this.  And because, to protect the Circle, he might be called upon to kill another young woman, this time on purpose.  And because, for the first time in his career, he wasn’t sure he could do it.  So, since he was Pritkin, he proceeded to act like a dick to hide his fear and to steel himself against her.

Are demons that are incorporeal on Earth (like incubi) corporeal in their own realms in Hell?

First of all, it depends on which realm you mean, because in my universe, “Hell” is a human catch-all name for many, many different areas.  Are you familiar with Buddhist cosmology?  Because if so, the Cassie Palmer universe is structured something like that.  Basically, lots and lots of hells, each one different from the others.  And some of them can support corporeal life (because some demons are born with bodies), but others would be toxic for anything other than a spirit.

Second, it depends on which demon.  Some of the usually incorporeal types can save up enough power to form themselves a body (like Saleh).  Others are spirits wherever they are (like the incubi, except for Rosier, who’s special like that).  And still others are what is called two-natured and can take either form (like Sid).  See “A Family Affair” for an explanation of how it all works.

Pritkin got a pretty nasty wound from a Fey weapon while he was in Faerie. Will it leave a scar?

No.

In HTM, Mircea told Cassie that he borrowed the limo from a friend during their date in London? Who did he contact?

A member of the European Senate who lives there.  Her name—and you knew it was going to be a woman, didn’t you?—is Marsilia.

It’s all in the shorts…

If that wasn’t enough Cassie Palmer goodness, there are three  new “coming soon” shorts listed on Ms. Chance’s “Freebies” page on her site.  The cover art for all three is there, and we get to see two delectably smoldering cover images of everyone’s favorite dirty sexy war mage, John Pritkin, and one of the inimitable master vampire Mircea Basarab.  Check ’em out below and drool to your heart’s content (tip: click to open the full-size image in a new window for optimal ogling)…

Not yet a fan of the Cassie Palmer series by Karen Chance?

You’re missing out on some seriously hair-raising, skin-of-your-teeth, preposterously droll fast-paced action and a witty, charming, steamy, riot of a good time!  Want to learn more?  Check out Ms. Chance’s Cassie Palmer website and meet all your soon-to-be-favorite new characters.  Or you could just pick up Touch the Dark and get started RIGHT MEOW!  You should probably do yourself a favor and just go ahead and get all 5 books while you’re there, and save yourself an impatiently harrowing trip back out after you finish the first one in record time.  Seriously, good luck putting these down to do something so annoying as, oh, sleep or eat!

More links!

• Karen Chance’s Cassie Palmer website
• The Cassandra Palmer Series by Karen Chance Facebook page

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Here Comes the Viking! GQ interview with Alexander Skarsgård

“Out of the misty north there arrived in Hollywood a fair-haired stranger: Skarsgård the Younger, Alexander the Tall, son of Stellan the Comparatively Famous. With his totally convincing American accent and eyes deep as a glacial fjord, he won over fans of HBO’s True Blood. Now, with three major films opening soon, Alexander Skarsgård is poised to conquer the rest of us.”

Written by Brett Martin of GQ magazine, this interview with everyone’s favorite Viking is told as more of a narrative than a question-answer session.  On a whale-watching tour with Alex, during which they see no whales but “some great bird activity”, Martin quizzes Skarsgård about early life as the son of a famous Swedish actor, monkey business on the True Blood set, his upcoming film projects, and rumors of his involvement with Kate Bosworth.  In a quirky, sometimes self-deprecating, retelling of their uneventful jaunt at sea, Martin paints a picture of a man who, while on the fast track to Hollywood superstardom, is still surprisingly real and grounded.  Read on for snippets from the article, or go here to see it in its entirety! 

Every day they observe what is known as the Roll Out, in which Stellan and whichever children are around escort the clan’s 81-year-old matriarch, Gudrun, in her wheelchair to a hallowed old beer hall named Kvarnen that functions as fan headquarters for Hammarby, the local soccer team and one of Skarsgård’s obsessions. Gudrun will have one beer and two shots of Fernet-Branca. (“She’s over food,” Skarsgård says.) Later Stellan spends the rest of the afternoon cooking, his primary passion. The tribe gathers once again for dinner and wine.

Tongue-twister much? Hah!

Skarsgård is the first to poke fun at the notion of the Swedish military, which saw its last serious action around the time of the Northern War, 300 years ago, but it was an important challenge for him. “It was my way of going off into the unknown,” he says. “I didn’t want to just be somebody’s son.”

On playing Eric in True Blood…

In True Blood’s ever expanding ensemble of fairies, werewolves, shape-shifters, telepaths, werecats, telefairies, vamp-shifters, and God knows what else, his Eric has become a solid center—the only character to display that essential quality shared by great HBO antiheroes past (think Tony Soprano or Omar Little or Al Swearengen): genuine unpredictability. Skarsgård’s minutely calibrated deadpan somehow makes him the show’s funniest, most cerebral, and most ferally frightening personage. “He does this thing with his eyes,” says creator and show-runner Alan Ball. “It’s like they become slightly unfocused and all of a sudden they’re mirrors to this ancient, 1,000-year-old soul.” Indeed what Eric is, his relative humanity, may be the only moral mystery to be found amidst all the steamy, gothic froth.

Not that Skarsgård emerges suds-free. Those rooting for Eric in the increasingly explicit love-blood triangle he shares with Anna Paquin’s Sookie Stackhouse and Stephen Moyer’s Bill Compton are surely aware of the extra frisson provided by Paquin and Moyer’s real-life marriage. Does it also mean on-set awkwardness?

“It’s really clear to Steve and to everybody else what the deal is—which is that Anna is like a sister to me,” Skarsgård says. “Those love scenes take quite a bit of acting, actually. A lot of acting.”

On his role as Charlie Venner in the Straw Dogs remake…

…in which Venner rapes Amy, who is played in the remake by Kate Bosworth. Tabloid followers will be aware of the widely reported news that Skarsgård and Bosworth are romantically involved. (When asked about the relationship, he shuts down, smile disappearing, with a completeness and efficiency that could only come from growing up in the public eye. “My father always kept the family out of the press,” he says later, almost apologetic.)

It was, by all accounts, a brutal scene to film, taking place over two days.”In the beginning, Kate would be crying after every take and Alex would try to comfort her,” says Lurie. “By the end, everybody got really raw.”

When the film was in postproduction, Skarsgård brought his father for a visit to the editing room at Sony studios, and they watched the scene as it was being cut together. “They seemed more like best friends than father and son,” says Lurie. At the end, Stellan stood up and spoke those words every boy longs to hear. Says Lurie, “He proclaimed it ‘the best rape ever filmed.’ “

On acting, and the difference between the Swedish and Hollywood cultures…

“Hollywood can be like kids playing marbles on the schoolyard,” he says. “Everybody wants the shiny marble until one kid says he doesn’t. Then nobody will touch it. So it’s important that I make good decisions now. “

That doesn’t mean he has trouble ricocheting from the highbrow world of von Trier to the soapier True Blood; nor way beyond, to the green-screen-and-explosion bonanza that Battleship promises to be. (You were expecting Strindberg’s take on a board game?) “If you’re an actor in Sweden, you do drama, you do comedy, you do action, you do film and live theater. You do whatever there is,” Skarsgård says. “Vanity is death to an actor.” Ball describes him as “the least actorly actor I’ve ever met.”

Now for some eye candy!  Here are the photos published in GQ (and a couple that weren’t… in my copy at least!)

Oh, and as an extra juicy tidbit, fans of Fox’s hit show Glee will be excited to know that June’s issue of GQ also features a wedding fashion spread on Darren Criss, better known as mega-crooner Blaine Warbler. Click here to see him in GQ, or check out some of the photos below…

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Q&A with Deborah Harkness on ‘A Discovery of Witches’

A Discovery of Witches, by Deborah Harkness, is (in her own words) “a book about books, a love of reading, and what books can do”, and is still receiving all sorts of praise and accolades months after its debut.  After finishing the book, I wanted to know more about Ms. Harkness and her creative process.  I found a few interviews and wanted to share them with you all.  The first is from her own website and the second is from wordswithwriters.com.  Click on the links to see the full Q&A sessions…

From deborahharkness.com:

Q. Diana is an appealing heroine, determined, accomplished, and yet aware of her own weaknesses. In what ways, if any, does Diana reflect your own experience or personality?

There are some similarities—Diana is also a historian of science, also interested in the history of alchemy, and shares some of my passions (including television cooking programs, tea, and rowing). Really, all the characters have some element of me in them. I think that’s how authors create imaginary people who nevertheless feel real. The rest of Diana’s character comes from a combination of qualities I admire in others, wish fulfillment, and my completion of the following statement: “Wouldn’t it be great if a heroine in a book was…”

Q. How did you become interested in the intersection of alchemy, magic, and science? Historically, what do you see as the relationship between science and religion or mysticism?

In college, I had a wonderful professor who taught a class on these subjects. To kick off the class, he asked us, “How do you know what you think you know?” I’ve spent the last quarter century trying to answer that question. Because the world is a mysterious place and our relationship to it is not always clear, people have often turned to science, faith, and magic for answers. They help people find responses to the questions of Who am I and why am I here?

Q. You’ve written two well-received scholarly books. What inspired you to write a novel?

It’s pretty hard not to notice the popular preoccupation with witches, vampires, and things that go bump in the night. But we aren’t the first to be fascinated with these creatures. Today, we often imagine them into fantastic otherworlds, but the people I study believed that such magical beings were living alongside them in this world. So I started thinking, if there are vampires and witches, what do they do for a living—and what strange stories do humans tell to explain away the evidence of their presence? A Discovery of Witches began with the answers to those questions as I essentially reimagined our modern world through the eyes of medieval and Renaissance people.

Q. What prompted you to include both first-person and omniscient narration? What does each method of storytelling contribute to the book?

Early in the process of writing the book I realized that vampires must be secretive and protective creatures. For Matthew, this means he has both a strong instinct to hide from Diana’s questions and a need to protect her from threats. The only way to show that dynamic in Matthew (without making the reader very impatient with him) was to take Diana out of the picture temporarily and show him interacting with others who knew him in other ways. Since Diana is the first-person narrator, this caused some problems that omniscient narration solved. I think the combination of the two narratives works surprisingly well and gives the reader the immediacy of Diana’s experience along with some answers to their questions about Matthew.

Q. Elias Ashmole and Ashmole 782 are taken from real life. Who was Elias Ashmole? Why did you base your novel on this particular manuscript?

Elias Ashmole was a seventeenth-century English antiquarian and scholar. He gave major bequests to Oxford University, including the collection of books and objects that provided the foundation for the Ashmolean Museum (which is still in operation today). Ashmole’s books and manuscripts were first kept at the museum and then moved to the university’s Bodleian Library in the nineteenth century. The Ashmole manuscripts include numerous rare alchemical texts. One of the manuscripts, Ashmole 782, is currently missing. As a scholar, I’ve done a lot of research in the Ashmole alchemical manuscripts and always wondered what Ashmole 782 might contain.

Q. From the publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in the nineteenth century to the current Twilight series, vampires have always fascinated the reading public. What is the appeal of the occult novel? What kind of freedom from the ordinary does it provide, both for readers and writers?

Vampires are relative newcomers among the supernatural creatures who have fascinated readers. The word “vampire” wasn’t even used in English-speaking countries until the early eighteenth century. Before that, readers were far more interested in ghosts, devils, witches, daemons (and demons), and exotic hybrid creatures like dragons and the basilisk. The appeal of all these creatures—and vampires, too—is that they help to explain the inexplicable. Readers and writers are given the opportunity to suspend belief and wonder How do I know there aren’t witches? and even more important What if there are?

Q. Diana and Matthew’s story ends on a mysterious note. What do you see as the next step in their adventure?

Diana and Matthew have known each other only for forty days. That’s not much time to get to know someone and fall in love. Besides, falling in love is rather easy compared with staying in love and growing into a relationship. The next step of their adventure will begin just where their last step left off—and the adventure will involve all kinds of new discoveries about themselves, each other, and the creatures who share their world.

From wordswithwriters.com:

What are you working on at the moment?

While I’m on book tour, I’m working on a sequel to A Discovery of Witches. It will be a trilogy.

Where did the idea for A Discovery of Witches come from?

I was in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico during the rainy season, which I did not know in advance, and I was trapped inside my hotel because of the rain. It was the fall of 2008, and the world was very much obsessed with vampires. I started thinking to myself, “You know, if there really are vampires, what do they do for a living?” I didn’t believe they could all be private investigators. That’s what led me into the book, and I started building a world around the answering of that question.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

It’s really a book about accepting who you are and not living in a way that closes off options or that is safe. Living in way that takes risks—the power that is in daring to do what it is that you are uniquely meant to do.

How long was your playlist?

145 songs. Some of them are on my website. [On the page titled “The Characters”] There are links to YouTube playlists for songs on Diana’s iPod and songs on Matthew’s iPod. And, largehearted boy published a playlist for A Discovery of Witches.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

I know that a lot of advice says to read, but I would say to write. What I see as a teacher a lot is people preparing to write, people doing research to write, people finding the right chair to write in, people thinking of the right time of day to write. You really just have to actually write. It’s scary and it’s awful, there’s a blank screen or blank page, but you really just need to write.

Write about anything, write about everything, write blogs. At some point something will start clicking and snapping, and if you’re still trying to arrange your desk the way you want it, you’re going to waste it.

Is there a question that you wish people would ask you more often about your work?

I wish more people would ask, “Why did you choose to do blank?” People have an incredibly emotional response to fiction. You read it and think, “I don’t like this, I don’t like that, I don’t like him or her.” Usually, writers have a reason that they’ve decided to do something. If there’s something really bugging a reader about the book, it would be interesting to have a conversation about why I’d gone that way. Not because it may solve the problem for them, but they would know that it wasn’t a thoughtless decision. It would be fascinating to discuss the decision-making process for the book.

Can you talk about the different kinds of writing you do, and how you juggle those projects?

Well, I started my wine blog accidentally, like most things I do in life. When I got stuck on my nonfiction I would switch over and work on the wine blog. I was teaching, wine-blogging, and writing A Discovery of Witches at the same time. For me, I need escape hatches. I need to be able to move around and have little changes of scenery. I only had writer’s block working on A Discovery of Witches once and I think it’s because I was doing different things.

When you’re not writing, what do you like to do?

I love to cook. I am slowly working my way through Melissa Clark’s In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite. When you cook something, immediately it’s there. It’s wonderful; you don’t edit it, you just eat it.

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Michael Sheen chats about Aro in Breaking Dawn

After a premature announcement of his involvement in the upcoming film Dark Shadows, Michael Sheen took a few minutes to chat with Collider about his continuing role as Aro in Breaking Dawn: Parts 1 & 2 of the Twilight Saga.  Here’s what he had to say…

What can you say about what you’ll be doing in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn?

MICHAEL SHEEN: It’s the same part that I played before – Aro.

Was there anything you got to discover in playing him this time around, that you hadn’t learned the last time you played him?

SHEEN: He’s more of a presence in these films than he was in New Moon, so I got to explore the character a bit more and probably fleshed it out a bit more. I don’t think that there’s anything that I learned. I just was able to go into the insanity of the character a bit more. I got to show what’s under the surface a bit more this time, which was fun.

How was Bill Condon to work with, as a director?

SHEEN: Bill was wonderful. He was terrific. He’s a very, very friendly, warm person. He obviously has a very varied and interesting body of work, and brought that to bear. He made everyone feel very comfortable. It must be quite hard, coming onto a film where people have already been together for a long time. Each film is a different director and you think, “What’s this one going to be like?” But, everyone really warmed to him and thought he was terrific. I think he did a really good job. It was a huge organizational thing. We had something like 40 new characters being introduced in this film, and the big battle scene took about four or five weeks to film. It was a huge undertaking, and he handled it brilliantly.

When a new director comes on and you already know the characters from having done previous films, do you feel like you know the characters more than the director, or does each director really bring something new out of you?

SHEEN: Personally, I was only on New Moon for two weeks, so it’s not like I got used to it. But, for the other actors, there’s probably a wariness about, “Is this person going to come along and not really get what it is we’re doing, or are they going to try to change it too much?” For a director coming on board, I would imagine there’s the pressure of wanting to make your mark and be different to what other people have done, but at the same time, not wanting to go against the flow of the whole series. I would imagine it’s quite a difficult balance to strike, but everyone seemed very happy on it and seemed to enjoy working with Bill.

What are you going to be doing in Dark Shadows?

SHEEN: I’m not in Dark Shadows.

Was that just misinformation?

SHEEN: No, it was something that got talked about, but it’s not happening. It was a bit premature.

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Dead Reckoning: Interview with Charlaine Harris on Sookie Stackhouse and her 11th novel in the series

Another painfully long wait is nearly over for Sookie Stackhouse fans, as Dead Reckoning, the 11th novel in the Southern Vampire Chronicles series, launches next week.  Nearly one year to the day since the 10th novel, Dead in the Family, was released, this newest chapter in the story of Sookie and her increasingly wacky & scary life will focus on the fae remaining among us after the gates to Fairy were closed, the state of Louisiana’s new vampire management, and Sookie’s exploration of her heritage. 

You can’t get your next Eric fix until May 3 (next Tuesday, for the calendar-challenged! Click on the book cover above for a sneak peek!), but maybe this interview with Charlaine will tide you over…

tvnz.co.nz: Can you tell us a little bit about your latest novel in the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dead Reckoning?
 
Charlaine: Yes, a little. My books aren’t long enough to share a lot! Dead Reckoning deals with Sookie learning about her heritage, the struggles of the fae left in our world, and the vampires of Louisiana coping (or not) with the new regime. 
 
tvnz.co.nz: The books are getting noticeably darker in tone as they progress, especially after Sookie’s traumatic experiences in Dead and Gone. Were you influenced by the TV series to go a little darker or was it always planned? 
 
I don’t see the show as darker than the books. All the bad things that happen in the books happen on “True Blood,” though perhaps the TV show has even MORE stuff. I knew that as Sookie was drawn in more and more into vampire politics, the books would get darker.

tvnz.co.nz: What do you think of True Blood and Alan Ball’s interpretation of the world you created? 
 
I think Alan is a genius, and I’m always excited to see what he’s put up on the screen.
 
tvnz.co.nz: Clearly you’re on Team Eric in the books but has Stephen Moyer managed to sway you back towards Bill at all?
 
I dislike the idea of teams. The story I’m telling is Sookie’s, and since all the characters come from my head, it’s not like I could “favour” one of them more than the other.
 
tvnz.co.nz: How do you feel about working with such a long series – what do you love/hate about it?
 
There are certainly two sides. It’s wonderful to have such a large cast to work with, and to not have to reinvent the people every time. On the other hand, that’s a lot of back story to remember.
 
tvnz.co.nz: Which character has been your favourite to write for?  

Pam is always fun to write, but there again, there are always fun moments with any character.
 
tvnz.co.nz: How do you feel about the worldwide popularity of your books? Did you ever think you would win fans as far away as New Zealand?
 
No, it still seems incredible to me to think of people reading my books all across the world. I could never have foreseen this.
 
tvnz.co.nz: What did you think when you found out a New Zealand girl, Anna Paquin, was going to be playing Sookie?
 
I was very excited that an actor of her stature was interested in the role.
 
tvnz.co.nz: What’s your current reading obsession?

I have so many. I reread Barbara Pym often, which may seem odd. I’m also a huge fan of Lee Child, Jim Butcher, Naomi Novik, Sarah Monette. . . . a very long list.

Interview compliments of TVNZ.

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Taylor Lautner MTV interview: Abduction & Breaking Dawn clips!

The Twilight buzz has been primarily about Rob Pattinson lately, with his upcoming Water for Elephants film release, but it was all about Team Jacob at MTV last week, as the much-anticipated MTV First interview for Taylor’s new film Abduction was released.  Abduction is a Bourne-esque action flick featuring Taylor Lautner, who finds his photo on the Missing Persons label of a milk carton, and Lily Collins as his parner-in-crime-slash-love-interest, as they run the gamut of conspiracy, chaos, and government entanglements.  Taylor also talked to MTV about Breaking Dawn and the end of filming of the Twilight Saga.  Look for Abduction in theaters on September 23, 2011.  Check out the interview clips and some stills from Abduction below!

Trailer for Abduction

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to imbed the rest.  =(  Click the links under each description for a pop-out window with the clip, then come right back!  *wink*

On smooching with Lily & how this role differs from Jacob

On doing his own stunts and his workout regimin

Flashback to a 2008 Twilight interview & Taylor’s reaction

Flashback to Taylor’s fight for the Jacob role in New Moon

On shooting the last few days of Breaking Dawn

On working with Mackenzie Foy (as Renesmee)

On the possibility of doing other “Jacob” films

On getting tossed around the Cullen’s back yard by Bella

On maybe dating a fan and singing Britney on Glee

On Kristen’s cooking, what he first sees in a girl, & travel

Still want more Taylor?  See all the clips at MTV.com!  Here are a few stills from Abduction…

Stephen Moyer chats up True Blood for Bullett magazine

In an interview with Bullett magazine, appropriately titled “Return to the Soft Gore”, Stephen Moyer talks about being comfortable with Alex Skarsgard’s “bits”, his unexpected married life with Anna Paquin, the necessity of recycling, and his frequent fundraising efforts for various causes.  He also donned some glam over-the-top duds for his metro-goth rocker photo shoot. 

When asked about how married life with his co-star Anna Paquin (who plays Sookie Stackhouse in True Blood) is treating him, Stephen’s reply is sure to warm any Truebie’s bleeding heart…

“I’ve never been married before, and it wasn’t something that really entered my mind to do.  Then suddenly, in this relationship with Anna, I just couldn’t think of a good reason not to.  It just felt really right.  When you meet somebody you’re going to be spending the rest of your life with, it doesn’t seem right to call them your girlfriend forever, so I felt like I needed to be able to call her something else.  Now, I can shout “wife” quite happily.”

Stephen has a professionally cosmopolitan attitude, however, when it comes to sharing said wife on set and in racy photoshoots…

“She does get around a bit.  Alex {Skarsgård} and I have been very close since the beginning, and Joe {Manganiello} who’s playing Alcide now, we’re pretty close too.”

“Alex and I have gotten quite close to each other.  We have seen each other’s bits many times.  But I think the main thing is that Alex and Joe, when they have stuff to do with my missus, they feel like they’re free to do so.  There’s no point in me being territorial because, A: I don’t feel like that anyway because it’s work, and B: they need to feel like they can be true in their characters without me spying on them.  Even though of course I have a GPS loaded into Anna’s skin.  She doesn’t know where it is – I have actually buried it somewhere in her.”

On the somewhat unusual pairings we’ve seen in some of the TB episodes so far…

“I’ve had a couple scripts where I don’t get to suck any face, and it’s like ‘Oh, I don’t get to suck any face, I’m really bored!’  Which is why I’m praying that at some point me and Alex or Joe will have some kind of crazy threesome.  I mean, it’s got to happen, Season 27…” 

“Did you like me & Sam last year?”

Stephen does a surprising amount of fundraising for the charities, and personal convictions, he’s passionate about…

“One of the things I hadn’t really considered before the show became successful is one’s ability to help out causes that you’re interested in.  If we can get Alan to sign a script, if we can get some of the other cast to sign a script, we can auction it off and it can raise quite a lot of money.”

“Alex does it for various charities.  Alex and I were approached about this idea for Battle of the Fang – we raised $70,000 dollars.  People got completely absorbed in it and ultimately, it wasn’t about the victory – apart from the fact that I won – but it wasn’t about that.  We both raised a very similar amount, right up to the wire – I think I raised about $35,100 and he got $34,950.  We both chose causes that we cared about, and at the same time the gulf had exploded and the oil was washing to the shore in Louisiana.  Because it was Louisiana, I chose that as my charity because of the show, because we filmed down there.”

Maybe his dog Splash is worried about a possible global shortage of tennis balls, but Stephen’s concerns are a little more green…

“For me, it’s the huge stuff.  Something I drone on and on about which just bores people senseless is the plastic vortex in the Pacific.  The fact that we’ve just got oceans of sea life eating our discarded plastic really upsets me.”

“If I’m walking along behind somebody and they throw something {away}, I go back up to them and say ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I think you’ve dropped this.’  Unless they’re 75 feet tall, in which case I’ll just say f*ck it and put it in the bin for them.”

The interview’s accompanying photoshoot, shot by photographer Kurt Iswarienko, is a modern, metro throwback to 80’s rockband trends and has a goth punch to it.  It’s more unusual than anything we’ve seen previously from Stephen, and while it won’t make my list of “best photoshoots ever”, it just might rank among the most interesting.

To see the photos and read the full interview in Bullett, go here.