You guys know me by now. I like Twilight. It kinda changed my life. I'm excited about Midnight Sun. I thought I was over it and was just going to buy a copy of the new book for my collection. Then, Stephenie started posting snippets of it on her website and... no, I might not be over it, after all. Guess it's never really over, right, Katy Perry? :)
I also get nostalgic. As such, I've reverted back to the 'original' covers I had for this series back in 2012, with a few minor upgrades. Only for the month of August, though, so it's not a permanent change :)
And while we're at it, let's take a little walk down memory lane and see how my most successful series of books came into existence with a Q&A on the series opener, Vampire Revelation. No spoilers.
Q: What was the main inspiration behind the Poison Blood series?
A: Short answer: Ellie.
Long answer: I’d wanted to write a vampire romance for a while and I considered the idea of writing a series of short stories about vampires living on the London Underground. These characters wouldn’t necessarily be friends or hang out together, but have their own tale to tell. One of the characters I thought up was Ellie.
However, I didn’t start writing anything until I woke up one morning with Ellie talking me through her life. This was a few days after I listened to the band Linkin Park for the first time in years so I think it was their songs that triggered the instinct to write Ellie’s story.
Quickly, it became clear that Ellie’s story wasn’t as short and sweet as I’d initially planned. She had a lot more potential than I expected, which was great, though it meant I had to put my Vampires on the Underground collection on the backburner. It’s still on the backburner now. Oops, lol.
Q: Why did you publish a paranormal romance so soon after publishing a contemporary romance novel?
A: It’s usually the characters and how strongly they present themselves to me, how clearly I hear their voices in my head, that determine when and what I write. Even if I plan to write something, like a compilation of short stories about vampires making the underground transport system their home, unless I can see that world, hear the characters speak to me, the narrative doesn’t flow as well. I tend not to commit to a project unless I find myself immersed in the story. And when a character beckons to me, lets me into her mind and the world she lives in, keeps talking to me about her life, I try not to ignore her. That’s my process *shrugs*
But why follow-up a contemporary romance with a vampire book? Well, why not? If we enjoy reading an eclectic mix of books, I see no harm in exploring different genres when we write, provided we apply the same level of dedication, effort, and enthusiasm for each story. As authors, we should do that for every book we write.
As a young child, my favourite genre to read was paranormal/fantasy, and as a teen, I was a huge fan of TV shows such as Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Unfortunately, like so many others I knew, I stopped reading regularly when I was at college and Uni. Upon rediscovering my love for books, I found myself reading contemporary fiction, lit fic, crime, comedy/satire; the only fantasy novels I’d read in recent years were the Twilight and Harry Potter books. These I loved so much that I wanted to write for this genre, particularly about vampires. But I didn’t venture into this area until Ellie came to me.
Q: The vampires in Poison Blood are extremely similar to the Twilight vampires. Was this intentional?
A: Yes.
There are a range of vampire myths—from those that burn to ashes in sunlight and can be slain by driving a stake through their hearts, to immortals that sleep like the dead during the day and hunt by night—but my favourite is, of course, the one explored in the Twilight Saga. I knew that if I was going to write about vampires, I would conform to most of the rules set out in these books.
I wasn’t going to set my books in the Twilight world, though. So, I invented my own vampire government (The System), one which has modernised over the years and now operates like an institution the humans would be proud of. A few restrictions needed to be in place, though (such as vampires not being able to enter a house without invitation), so that these indestructible creatures didn’t go around slaughtering an entire council estate in one night. And of course, there had to those that would try to stop these demons from doing what they liked.
The other certainty for me was that the stories would be set in contemporary society, specifically London. Although it’s exciting creating a whole new world, one in the future or in another dimension altogether, what appeals to me more is the idea that the world we live in now could be full of magic and mystery, amazing creatures with supernatural abilities. Though, I enjoyed writing my new epic fantasy trilogy (Heir to the Throne), urban fantasy is my favourite type of fantasy to write.
Q: Did you plan to end Vampire Revelation on a cliff-hanger?
A: Absolutely. Every novel in a series needs almost all of the plot threads tied-up by the end of it, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with leaving the reader with a question right at the end, one which entices them to read the next book for the answer.
It’s also a good idea to have an unresolved issue that continues throughout a book series, or if it’s resolved in book 2 or 3, a new plot thread can be introduced to run into the next few installments.
Cliff-hangers like the one at the end of Vampire Revelation work well if many of the main themes explored in the novel come to a conclusion. Such as Ellie finally realising who she is, making sense of the life she had before she turned into a vampire, and discovering why she became the vampire she is. Basically, almost every question raised in the book was answered by the end of it.
Q: Why did you write Vampire Absolution—it’s pretty much book 1 from another character's POV?
A: Initially, I hadn't planned on writing this book, but I realised that I did want the readers to be aware of a lot of things that Ellie wasn’t aware of. As Revelation is written entirely from her POV (in the first person), the reader only knows what she knows, and I thought it would be good for them to see things from Christian’s perspective. It would also save long paragraphs where he’d have to tell her everything she needs to know (I always find those info dumps boring to read in novels where it’s from one character’s POV).
Thanks for reading :)
