Interview With Diana Laurence
Author of BLOODCHAINED
By Wanda Maynard
Q: What do you think, or hope, readers will remember about BLOODCHAINED?
First of all, thanks so much to you, Wanda, and to Sime~Gen for talking with me about the book. As I will explain shortly, Bloodchained really is a unique work, created in a way no other novel ever has, as far as I know. I honestly feel its origins made a significant difference in the caliber of book it is, and I hope a lot of people will find it truly touches a chord for them.
As for the reaction I hope for from readers, I'm hoping it will be one of those books that creates an entire captivating world, a world that readers will crave to explore further. I think that's the ultimate dream of a fiction writer: to inspire the imaginations of readers to that extent. My goal during the writing of Bloodchained was to create compelling characters, settings that were vivid and touched the emotions, and plot elements that were both intriguing and moving. I hope the result is that readers will feel the world of the Roicans is almost real, and a place where they want to return again and again.
Q: Was writing BLOODCHAINED more of a challenge than any of your other books? If so, care to tell us why?
Indeed it was! There are a few reasons for that. First of all, in deciding to invent a new mythology — my blood-drinking race, the Roicans — had a lot of work to do. If an author writes about conventional vampires, the audience already is familiar with the myth, all the allergic-to-sunlight, stake-through-the-heart stuff. But this race is new in concept, they have a thousand year history to account for, and there was just so much to explain while not making the information didactic and dry. I think I managed to avoid that because I was so aware of the potential pitfall the entire time I wrote. I checked with my author-partners (more on that shortly) to make sure I wasn't being either boring or confusing, and that was very helpful.
Secondly, this is my first suspense novel, so the plotting was very tricky. When I was a little girl, I thought any story was good that had a big surprise ending. My grade school works were all like that. Well, I fell back into that old inclination with this book! I wanted to write a page-turner, full of mysteries and plot-twists and astonishing revelations. To make matters more difficult, I decided to accomplish a lot of the revelations via flashbacks. I realized about a third way through the writing that I needed to draw up a timeline for myself so I didn't completely botch the continuity! As it was, my editor caught a couple significant goof-ups I totally missed.
Thirdly, this book was hard to write because I really liked it. I realized halfway through it had the potential to be really good, and there were a lot of people hoping it would be, so that motivated me to work even harder on the writing and editing. I always edit a lot, but this time it was two or three times as intense.
This is the sixth novel I've written, and I'll admit, by the end I was wiped! LOL
Q: Care to say a few words about the primary characters?
The protagonist of the story is Grace Gilder, who owns and runs an inn and tavern on the Pilgrim Road to the Temple of Love of Audicacia. What that means is a lot of people stay there on their way to make petitions at the Temple concerning matters of the heart. She's a rather sweet and innocent young woman who nevertheless is a determined, smart, and ambitious innkeeper. She's devoted her life to the inn and to her younger brother Sebastian, seeing as they lost their parents at an early age, and has always felt the weight of that responsibility.
Sebastian is the more outgoing, funny, lighthearted of the pair. He adores his sister and also enjoys serving as barkeeper at the tavern. The Gilder siblings have a great relationship; it was fun writing about a male/female duo who are close but not romantically connected. It was a different, but still very powerful, kind of devotion.
The other main characters are a trio of pilgrims who arrive at the inn: Liam and his sister Nessa, and their friend Finn. All three are attractive, and each one mysterious in his or her own fashion. It also becomes clear before too long that there is some connection between them and the legendary race of blood-drinkers, the Roicans. Grace and Sebastian have always thought the Roicans were probably a silly superstition rather than anything real, but as the story unfolds, they certainly learn otherwise!
Q: Did you have a favorite character in the book?
Of course I identify greatly with Grace, but my favorite character is Finn. He's one of those fascinating, complex male characters who is captivating even while he acts forbidding. You just desperately want to understand him. He's got this sardonic, dry wit and this inexplicably attractive sarcasm going. I admit, I fell in love with him badly and still am, even though after all those edits I know all his lines by heart! LOL
It's nice though that there are eight characters in this book well enough developed to have their own individual appeal. For the past three years I've written mostly shorter works, so it was truly a luxury getting to develop that many characters.
Q: When you came up with the idea for the project "Soulful Sex Partners," what role did the "partners" have for the book?
Initially, when I had the idea to recruit a big bunch of people to take part in creating a book, I did it for two reasons. First, I figured many heads would be better than one and the resulting work would be that much more appealing to readers in general. Second, and perhaps even more importantly, I thought I would be a wonderful experience to have a group of readers and fans really take ownership in a particular book. I thought that would enrich the writing for me, and the reading for them. And I was correct on both of these counts, but I didn't anticipate just how fantastic an experience it would be!
So, to elaborate on how it all went down, I started with a group of about fifty, which eventually swelled to 63. I did group e-mails (via Yahoo Groups) and conducted polls, and my partners selected the genre, point of view, and sensuality level of the book. I created three possible plot synopses and they picked their favorite one. (In retrospect, it's weird to think I might never have written this book at all — and I love it so much, too!) I wrote up character sketches for the five main characters, and the partners named them.
At that point I actually started writing. I posted excerpts as I went along, and got more feedback from the partners that helped me with the writing process. Lastly, I asked for volunteers to read the entire first draft and provide comments and edits. I had six people do that before I did the final rewrite and passed the book on to my editor.
The thing that surprised me was how much better written the book ended up because of the participation of the partners. The advance readers were amazing, and their work resulted in countless significant improvements and a tremendously better book. It scares me to think how much it would lack without their contributions! And because I had 63 people who cared about what I was doing and had a vested interest in its success, I was just that much more motivated to write a great book.
Q: Do you think you will write another book like BLOODCHAINED?
I'm currently taking a poll on the brand new Bloodchained website http://www.bloodchained.com , (see the Fans' Tavern page) asking if people would like a sequel. It's my hope that they will, because I certainly left a lot more to be told about these characters and the world of the Roicans.
As for the process of writing the book, using a group of author partners, I am surprised to have learned that in fact it is a much more effective and fun way to write! I really hope to be able to do some sort of variation on it again. To be honest, I'm afraid now that I just don't write well enough all on my own! A scary revelation after freelancing for thirty years! LOL
Q: Care to tell us a little bit about the Roicans?
I decided to go with a new kind of blood-drinking race for a couple of reasons. First of all, it's hard to write romance, the happily-ever-after kind, when you are dealing with vampires as they are classically written. They are soulless, damned creatures after all. I needed a race with different origins and a different purpose. The Roicans are, in fact, the product of one ancient couple's perfect love for each other. Therefore each of them has the potential to be wonderfully good, and certainly their love relationships can be spectacular.
On the other hand, I didn't want to abandon all the fun, delicious things about predatory creatures who can enchant mortals to do their bidding. Roicans can indeed do that, and some of them are indeed as predatory as they come. So the rub is, who are the Roicans and which of them are bad? In fact, they are each quite complex, just like mortals in real life.
I also wanted to create my own race because then I wasn't bound by any vampire conventions. Roicans can walk about anytime, and killing them is a lot harder than killing vampires, that sort of thing. And as much as it was delicate finding a way to tell about them without being dull or confusing, it was also possible to make it really interesting to reveal their back story bit by bit. What is their back story? Well, to learn that, you have to--hey, you know the rest!
Q: Throughout the book, "Departure Eve" was mentioned, care to tell us a little bit about what it means?
Departure Eve and Day are special celebratory days in the country of Audica and particularly in the city of Audicacia, where the Temple of Love is located. Supposedly on Departure Day the powers of the Temple are at their heights and able to grant truly tough wishes for the lovelorn. Why the holiday is called “Departure” is something of a mystery, but readers of the book will indeed learn the answer. For Grace and Sebastian, whose inn is overrun with pilgrims for the holiday each year, it's a time of bustle and hard work. Until this particular year, when they end up with even greater problems on their hands...
Q: When was the earliest time you realized you wanted to be a writer?
When I was nine. That's when I started writing poetry and tiny short stories, and actually winning contests with them. After that there was never a time I didn't write for fun. I got my first big break when I was thirteen and got a short story published in 'Teen magazine. I never felt it was possible to make a good living writing, but I've freelanced forever. And writing has always been a big part of my “day jobs,” too, since I've been a legal secretary, a magazine editor, and worked in marketing and PR for most of my career.
Q: Do you have any special writing rituals?
When you write as compulsively as you breathe, not really! LOL. Pretty much never a day goes by (unless I'm away on vacation) that I don't write my journal, a bunch of correspondence, some fiction, some non-fiction, and some marketing stuff. My whole ritual consists of “boot up computer, launch email, launch Microsoft Word.” :-)
Q: During the process of writing, what surprises did you discover?
I think the biggest surprise in writing Bloodchained was how humbling the experience was. I've been writing so much for so long, I honestly thought I knew almost everything about how to write fiction. Working with the partners on this project taught me that for a book to be good--at least a book written by me, LOL — requires the input of more people, fresh points of view, other hearts and voices. I thought one author plus one editor was plenty, but guess again!
I was also surprised to see just how much other people got into the book. There are honestly quite a few people out there just as excited about this release as I am! And the time and energy they are willing to put into helping it succeed just amazes me. It's pretty much the most touching experience of my writing career.
Q: If you had it to do over again, would you have written BLOODCHAINED the same way, or would you have taken a different route entirely?
I absolutely would do it all again! The only way this book could possibly have happened is by the joint efforts of the partners, and I just really do love this book. I wouldn't even have chosen this particular plot to write, and now I can't imagine my world without Grace, Sebastian, Finn and the others! I really can't express in words my gratitude to the people who helped write Bloodchained.
Q: What single fact about you would most surprise readers?
Probably that Diana Laurence, renowned all over the Web as a romance author, is also Diane Lau, who became Web-famous for writing about hockey. From 1998 to 2002 I published a weekly e-zine of NHL humor called “Hockey Snacks” that had a cult following of several thousand fans. And since 1998 I have also created and maintained a bilingual tribute site to Guy Carbonneau, currently coach of the Montreal Canadiens, which is probably the largest website dedicated to any sports figure. I knew my college minor in French would come in handy for something.
There are a lot of other weird things about me, but it would take more time than you have to tell about them all! There are hints, though, for those interested, on my website at http://www.dianalaurence.com .
Q: Is there anything you would like to say to your fellow readers?
I guess I'd like to speak on behalf of myself and my 63 author partners, if you like fantasy, paranormal romance, vampire suspense, or any combination thereof, please visit http://www.bloodchained.com , to learn more about our book. You can find out more about the characters (and see their portraits), read an excerpt, find out other readers' and reviewers' opinions, and make an informed decision if you yourself would like to explore the world of the Roicans. The novel will be available early to mid-September, 2007, in paperback and e-book formats, from the publisher Living Beyond Reality Press and from online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Powells Books.
I really think this is a special book and I hope lots of other readers will, too! Thanks so much, Wanda, for letting me talk to Sime~Gen readers about Bloodchained.