Monday, October 24, 2011

Crossroads: Lucienne Diver and Jackie Morse Kessler


Is Book 3 going to be the last book in Vamped series? 
Nope! I’m pleased to say that Flux Books has also picked up the fourth in the series, Fangtabulous, which I’m writing now. It’ll be set in Salem, Massachusetts, the most haunted town in America.

Did you always plan on this being a series? 
I didn’t even know that Vamped would be a novel. When it first came to me I didn’t even really have a story in mind. Just the idea of vamping out a teen fashionista whose own personal hell would involve the eternal lack of a reflection, giving her no way to check her hair and make up. I loved the idea of the initial freak out, having to dig her own way out of the grave, totally ruining her manicure and discovering that her parents had buried her in the one dress in her closet she literally wouldn’t be caught dead in. At most, I had in mind a vignette. But when my writers group wanted more, I had to give it a lot more thought and my heroine more dimension. My Gina, she’s tough. When life gives her lemons, she uses them to combat freckles. Unfortunately, she gets a lot more than she bargained for in the first book when she decides her first order of business is to turn her own stylist and start an undead entourage.

Favorite thing you love about the world you’ve created? 
I love that the way I’ve set things up. I can take my characters to a new location with each book and explore the personalities of the places as well as the people.

Any upcoming projects you can tell us about? 
Once I finish the fourth book in the Vamped series (books 1 and 2, Vamped and Revamped are out, and book 3, Fangtastic, will be released in January 2012), I’m onto the sequel to my adult urban fantasy Bad Blood, which came out in digital in June and will be out in print in May 2012. Bad Bood and the sequel, Crazy in the Blood, feature a Los Angeles P.I. Tori Karacis, who has the ability to literally stop men in their tracks due to some gorgon blood way back in the family line. She’s dealing in murder and mayhem from Greek gods in modern day who’ve decided they want to stage a comeback. Ready or not, here they come….



Do you relate to any of your characters? 
I relate to ALL of them! That sounds weird, maybe, but there’s a part of me in all the characters I create, from the heroes to the jerks to the villains to everyone in between.

What is your favorite thing about writing? 
There’s nothing quite like creating a story word by word. Everything from the visualization to the actual crafting of sentences is just intense. Okay, sometimes that intensity is another word for insanity, but hey, that’s part of the process. :P I especially love dialogue – when the right character says the right thing at the right time, I just want to cheer. Sometimes, I even do. Loudly. The neighbors don’t like it.

Favorite Halloween movie? 
If you’re talking the series Halloween, the first one. Utterly terrifying, in a cheesy, over-the-top way. I also love The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Why should readers pick up your book? 
Because I would love them forever. Also, Death rocks. And sings.

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