Dishing it up with Heather Brewer!

Folks, I’ve got Heather Brewer, author of The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod on my blog today. Her latest book, Twelfth Grade Kills came out on September 21, 2010 and let me tell you, this book kicked some serious butt! If you haven’t had the pleasure of reading her young adult series, I suggest you head to the nearest book store and get on it.


JET: First of all, let me say I really enjoy your Vlad series and I’ve confiscated my son’s copy of Twelfth Grade Kills and burned through it in one day. It was supposed to be my reward for finishing my edits, but I made the mistake of taking a break and picking the book up – that’s all she wrote – at least for the rest of that night. 

Now that I've gushed about the book, let me ask you about your Book Expo America surprise.  Can you explain how it felt to walk into the Expo center and see Vlad’s brand painted on the stairs?

Heather: I literally gasped aloud! Probably the first time I've ever done that in my life. It's one thing when you're sitting at home, hidden away from the world, telling yourself stories. It's quite another when the world starts to enjoy those stories with you.

JET: What made you choose Young Adult as a genre?

Heather: Really, it chose me. The first two books that I had ever written (both awful, unpublished and hopefully rotting somewhere) were for adults. Both were learning lessons--the primary lesson being that a writer should write from the heart. It turns out that my heart is actually a teenager and thirsts for blood.

JET: What’s been your most challenging hurdle on the road to publication?

Heather: Learning to have the patience of a saint. Everything in publishing involves waiting. Waiting for literary agents, waiting for editors, waiting for cover art, waiting for reviews. It's an endless cycle. And unfortunately, I've never been a very patient person. But I'm learning!

JET: What was your favorite moment in the journey?

Heather: I have new favorite moments every day. But two stand out to me: 1. the first time I spoke to my now agent, Michael Bourret, and he totally understood what I was trying to do with Vlad, and 2. Meeting a Minion named Jaymes at San Diego Comic Con. He cried and thanked me for getting him through school. Whenever I start feeling self-doubt, I think of Jaymes and how much my books meant to him. Then I sit my butt in that chair and get to work.

JET: Which authors had the most influence over you growing up?

Heather: The greats: Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allen Poe. I've always loved the darker stuff, and happily blame my twisted little imagination on these three.

JET: When did you know you wanted to take the plunge into the writing world?

Heather: I've written bad poetry, short stories and the like since I was about five. But when I turned twelve, I read Stephen King's "Carrie", and it changed my world forever. I closed the book after that reading and said aloud for the first time, "That's what I want to be. I want to be a writer." But it took me many years to actually take the plunge. I was in college when I wrote my first manuscript, and a stay at home mom for several years before giving it a serious go. Luckily, for me, the third time was the charm.

JET: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in the name of book research? Most interesting fact you uncovered?

Heather: I called up a blood bank and asked them how long it takes stored blood to expire. Probably should have explained that I was a writer first.

JET: Of all the novels and stories you’ve written - which one is your favorite? Why?

Heather: That's like asking me to choose between my children! I love them all for very different reasons. A current fave, however, is "Shadow Children"--a short story featured in an anthology edited by R.L. Stine called "Fear: 13 Stories of Suspense and Horror". I love this story, because in it, I face a fear that I still very much deal with. The fear of What's Lurking in Dark Places.

JET: Any advice for the novices out there?

Heather: Stick to a daily word count. Set a goal (no matter how small) and reach that writing goal every single day, no matter if you're sick or travelling. And remember this formula for writing a book:
Butt + Chair = Writing!

JET: All right - now that I’ve hammered you with the big questions, let’s tackle my favorite (and geeky) quick ten. . . starting with Paper or Plastic?

Heather: It depends what we're talking about. Bag-wise, I prefer cloth or plastic (paper rips so easily). Cups? Plastic. (Note: I am terrible for the environment)

JET: Steak or Tofu?

Heather: Steak! The more rare, the better. I'm a carnivore, through and through.

JET: Beach or Mountains?

Heather: Mountains. Hiking is a blast! Besides, I don't do well in the sun, and I get incredibly bored at the beach. When you're a non-swimmer, there's really not much to do there.

JET: Country or Rock-n-Roll?

Heather: Rock-n-Roll!

JET: Classics or Modern?

Heather: Everything has its place, so I'll pick both (though I do tend to lean toward modern).

JET: Silent Film Classics or Cheesy B Rated Horror?

Heather: I loves me some silent films, but I am all about cheesy horror! For instance, William Shatner once starred in "The Devil's Rain". It was horrendous. I loved every second of it.

JET: Zombies or Demons?

Heather: I think it's been well-established that I am on Team Zombie, no matter who or what the opponent is. Unless someone brings up Team Vampire or Team Starbucks...then I'm in trouble.

JET: Paper or Digital?

Heather: As far as books go, it's gotta be the real thing. Paper, without a doubt.

JET: Salty or Sweet?

Heather: Sweet. I could give up potato chips, if necessary, but don't you touch my Godiva chocolates.

JET: Coffee or Tea?

Heather: Though I often tout my love of Starbucks, I'm actually a bigger fan of tea. Nothing like a cup of tea and a cookie to relax me at night.

JET: Thank you for indulging me. Before we wrap this up, can you tell us what you're working on now? What's next?

Heather: I just turned in the first draft of "Beginning", the first book in my new spin-off series, called "The Slayer Chronicles". These books will take place during the summers between the school years of "The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod". If readers enjoyed the bloodshed in my Vlad books, they'll love what's in store for Joss!

I'm currently working on the first book in another series, called "Bloodbound". Monsters, sword fighting, and a kick-butt girl - what's not to love?

"Beginning" will debut Fall 2011, and Minions can expect "Bloodbound" sometime in Spring 2012.


JET: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat on my blog. Folks, you can find out more about Heather Brewer and her work at the following places: http://www.heatherbrewer.com/, http://twitter.com/heatherbrewer, http://www.myspace.com/heather_brewer

Next Friday, I'll be talking about my new release Vengeance and highlighting some of my Backspace friends releases. 

Until then,
Ciao.
JET

Dishing it up with the authors of DRACULAS (A Novel of Terror)...

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with F. Paul Wilson, Jack Kilborn, Jeff Strand and Blake Crouch, the authors of DRACULAS (A Novel of Terror) released this week on October 18, 2010. DRACULAS hit number one on Amazon under Occult books and kindle e-books due to an interesting marketing strategy including hundreds of reviewers posting to their blogs and websites and Amazon and anywhere else they possible could - all coordinated with the book release.

Here’s the skinny on DRACULAS:

A DYING MAN’S GREATEST TREASURE…

Mortimer Moorecook, retired Wall Street raider, avid collector, is losing his fight against cancer. With weeks to live, a package arrives at the door of his hillside mansion—an artifact he paid millions for…a hominoid skull with elongated teeth, discovered in a farmer’s field in the Romanian countryside. With Shanna, his beautiful research assistant looking on, he sinks the skull’s razor sharp fangs into his neck, and immediately goes into convulsions.

OPENS THE DOOR TO AN ANCIENT EVIL...

A rural hospital. A slow night in the ER. Until Moorecook arrives strapped to a gurney, where he promptly codes and dies.

WHERE DEATH IS JUST THE BEGINNING.

Four well-known horror authors pool their penchants for scares and thrills, and tackle one of the greatest of all legends, with each writer creating a unique character and following them through a vampire outbreak in a secluded hospital.

The goal was simple: write the most intense book they possibly could.

Which they did.

A word of warning:

Within these pages, you will find no black capes, no satin-lined coffins, no brooding heartthrobs who want to talk about your feelings. Forget sunlight and stakes. Throw out your garlic and your crosses. This is the Anti-TWILIGHT.

About the authors:

F. PAUL WILSON is an award-winning, NY Times bestselling novelist whose work spans horror, adventure, medical thrillers, science fiction, young adult, and virtually everything between. He is best known as the author of THE KEEP and creator of the urban mercenary Repairman Jack. (http://www.repairmanjack.com)

JACK KILBORN is a pen name of J.A. Konrath, who has written six Jack Daniels thrillers. The seventh, SHAKEN, will be available this October. Kilborn is the author of AFRAID, ENDURANCE, TRAPPED, and SERIAL UNCUT, (written with Blake Crouch) which has been downloaded more than 250,000 times. (http://www.jakonrath.com)

JEFF STRAND is the Bram Stoker Award-nominated author of such novels as PRESSURE, DWELLER, GRAVEROBBERS WANTED (NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY), BENJAMIN'S PARASITE, and THE SINISTER MR. CORPSE. His secret shame is SUCKERS, co-written with J.A. Konrath. (http://www.jeffstrand.com)

BLAKE CROUCH is the author of four thrillers, DESERT PLACES, LOCKED DOORS, ABANDON, and SNOWBOUND, all published by St. Martin’s Press. His short fiction has appeared in Ellery Queen, THRILLER 2, and other anthologies. (http://www.blakecrouch.com)


JET: What prompted you folks to write a novel together?

Blake, Joe, Paul and Jeff: We all know and like each other, respect each other’s writing, and when Joe came up with such a hot title and premise, it seemed like a no-brainer.

JET: With voice being the key to any story, how did four very distinct and talented authors come together to a meeting of the minds to produce a novel with consistency in the voice and tone?

Blake, Joe, Paul and Jeff: First, we set all egos aside. We opened our work to each other to read in very early stages, and tried to stay receptive to feedback. One of the cool bonus features of this book is a 40,000-word email chain between the four of us, which shows a glimpse into our collaborative process, warts and all.

JET: Was there ever any disagreements on where the plot should go? If not, can you tell us about some of your more interesting collaboration sessions? If so, tell us about one that sticks out in your mind.

Blake, Joe, Paul and Jeff: Yes, we had major disagreements about the end, the fate of a character, and a scene toward the end we ended up taking out. It’s all chronicled in exhaustive detail in the bonus features of DRACULAS.

JET: Tell us a little about Draculas. What makes this a "must have" read?

Blake, Joe, Paul and Jeff: Pure Intensity. Horror. Major scares. Laugh-out-loud humor. And it all takes place in a hospital over 4 hours.

JET: What's next for each of you?

BLAKE: Next up for me is finalizing a new book I’ve just finished. My first two novels, DESERT PLACES and LOCKED DOORS also just went up on Kindle for a reasonable $2.99, so I’m jazzed about that.

JOE: I've got two sci-fi ecopunk novels in the TIMECASTER series coming out in 2011 with Ace Berkley, and a few other super secret projects in the works. I'm writing the eighth Jack Daniels novel, called STIRRED, with Blake, which will also be the third in his Andrew Z. Thomas books (DESERT PLACES, LOCKED DOORS.) It's a wrap-up to both of our series.

JEFF: Next up for me is WOLF HUNT, which does for werewolves what DRACULAS did for vampires, except that I finished WOLF HUNT several months before DRACULAS, so actually it's DRACULAS that does for vampires what WOLF HUNT did for werewolves. WOLF HUNT is funnier, though.

PAUL: FATAL ERROR, the penultimate Repairman Jack novel, hit the street mid-October. Just finished a draft of THE DARK AT THE END, the (sort of) last Repairman Jack novel. I say "sort of" because the whole series ends with NIGHTWORLD which will come in 2012. Jack is a player in that novel, but the cast is an ensemble from across the Secret History.

Buy DRACULAS here!

My review of Draculas was posted on Monday October 18, 2010.


Next week, I have author Heather Brewer on my site for a pre-halloween minion fest! Join us for the fun and games.


Until next week,

Ciao,

JET.

Happy First Friday!

October 1. Holy cow. Halloween is just around the corner and I’ve got to start thinking about finding those candy deals. In honor of the fun and freaky month of October, I’ve set all my short stories on Smashwords so you folks can set whatever price you feel is fair – even zero – for my stories for the entire month. Enjoy!

In the meantime – I’ve got some fun guests on my blog this month. I’ve got Jonathan Maberry, Author of Patient Zero and Rot & Ruin swinging by on the 15th. The fab four - F. Paul Wilson, Jeff Strand, Blake Crouch, and Joe Konrath talk about their release Draculas on October 22 and Heather Brewer – author of the Vladamir Tod Vampire Chronicles series hanging with me on the 29th.

October is also a busy month for my Backspace brethren and their book releases. Join me in giving props to the following folks and the fabulous books they’ve written:

 

 A. S. King - Please Ignore Vera Dietz

Jonathan Maberry - Rot And Ruin

Tasha Alexander - Dangerous to Know

Lauren Baratz-Logsted - The Sisters Eight Book 6: Petal’s Problems

Erin Blakemore - The Heroine’s Bookshelf

Laurel Corona - Penelope’s Daughter

Linda Gerber - Trance

Camille Kimball - What She Always Wanted

This month you can find me over at eXcessica’s blog and don’t forget to follow my Jenny Craig experience here on Wednesdays.

Well that’s it for today. Happy October!

Catch you next week.

Ciao.

JET