Good morning! Please welcome guest author Michele Drier. Though I will be away for most of the day, please feel free to leave comments for Michele and I will post them as soon as I return. Thank you!
~Kate
What is one of your favorite things about writing
The fact that I wear my jammies all day…LOL. In truth, it is much more comfortable. I worked for years at jobs where I wore suits, skirts, pantyhose, heels every day. It was second nature putting on my lipstick in the rear view mirror while doing 70 on the freeway.
Now, my commute is to the kitchen for coffee and to my office…otherwise known as a spare bedroom
What do you like about writing series books?
I like to watch my characters grow and evolve as the series continues. When I sit down to start on the next book, it feels as though I’m coming home to family. I know who the people are and how they’ve worked together.
I recently saw Janet Evanovich speak and she said she’s so much part of Stephanie Plum’s life that she wakes up every morning wanting to get back to it to see what’s happening.
I feel much the same way about he Kandesky vampires…plus it doesn’t hurt that they’re uber wealthy and live in luxury in Europe!
What usually comes first for you, characters or plot?
I usually have the plot first. My daughter gave me the idea for the Kandesky Vampire Chronicles when she said, “Look at celebrities. They all only come out at night, they all wear huge dark glasses and ride around in limos with tinted windows. They could all be vampires and we’d never know!”
Voila, the plot of a vampire family owning the largest celebrity gossip empire in the world!
Once I had that, I had to find the characters who would give it depth.
Where do you find inspiration for your stories?
Oh, lord, from all over! My daughter and her husband gave my the vampires, my years in newspapers gave me the story line for my mystery series, the Amy Hobbes Newspaper Mysteries, a random comment I overheard about buying more memory gave me the plot for a stand-alone sci-fi I’m working on.
Some inspiration comes from the current news. In SNAP: Happily Ever After? one of the Huszars (bad vampire family) is trying to contract with Iran to store their nuclear grade waste in the ruins of Chernobyl. Since there’s already radiation there, and vampires aren’t affected by it, it seems like a win-win.
The current flap in California over building tunnels under the Delta to transport water to Southern California will be the plot for the next Amy Hobbes mystery.
What is the most difficult thing about writing?
This is a best of/worst of scenario. I find it hard to constantly be working alone. If I write a paragraph or a scene that I really like, I have no one to share it with—well, other than the cat, and he’s not the best listener. On the other hand, I write a couple of chapters and my critique groups point out that I’ve dumped so much backstory in, the story lies there like an unleavened dumpling.
It’s difficult when you’ve written pages of wonderful prose and your editor says you have a plot hole big enough to drive a truck through.
And after weeks of putting your butt in the chair and pounding out 60,000 to 80,000 words, a reader doesn’t like your work and leaves a one or two star review for all the world to see.
I’m learning to have a thick skin, but it’s hard when you want everybody to love you!
Would you tell us about your latest release?
My latest release is book six in The Kandesky Vampire Chronicles, SNAP: Happily Ever After?
In Kiev, Jean-Louis reminds Maxie that one of the Huzsars who kidnapped and raped her is still alive and heading for Ukraine. Will they find Leonid, who’s making Chernobyl his home, before he finds Maxie?
And will Maxie agree to marry Jean-Louis and let him turn her?
What are you working on now?
I’m working on book seven, SNAP: White Nights. This will be the love story of two earlier minor characters. Set against Moscow and St. Petersburg in the summer…the time of the white nights when the sun almost never sets…the Kandeskys find it difficult to work in the few hours of dark each day.
Would you tell us about yourself?
I was born in Santa Cruz and am fifth generation Californian. I’ve lived and worked all over the state, calling both Southern and Northern California home. During my career in journalism—as a reporter and editor at daily newspapers—I won awards for producing investigative series.
I write the Amy Hobbes Newspaper mysteries and the six-book Kandesky Vampire Chronicles paranormal romance series. The second mystery, Labeled for Death, was published in July 2013, and I’ve just published my eighth book, SNAP: Happily Ever After?
Where can we visit you online?
Visit my website: http://www.micheledrier.com or facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/AuthorMicheleDrier or Amazon author page, http://www.amazon.com/Michele-Drier/e/B005D2YC8G/
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Thanks so much for hosting me, Kate. Hope your holidays are happy!
Ah, the commute to the coffee pot! All I lack are the big fuzzy slippers. If I had such things, my four-egged children would think I brought them new play toys.
Wishing you much success with your newest, SNAP.
Hi Michele–no suits no pantyhose, no heels–you got it!! AND–no makeup!!!!! Also, I try to schedule my life around my writing but when I have to schedule my writing around my life, I am able to because I design my own schedule.
No makeup and fuzzy slippers! You two are women after my own heart. Here’s a cup of Christmas cheer to writing!
Thank you for being a guest, Michele!