Today, I'm bringing you an interview with Regan Summers - author of Don't Bite The Messenger from Carina Press. I have read it, and can say that the story is as good as the cover. From Amazon:
Anchorage, Alaska
The vampire population may have created an economic boom in Alaska, but their altered energy field fries most technology. They rely on hard-living—and short-lived—couriers to get business done...couriers like Sydney Kildare.
Sydney has survived to the ripe old age of twenty-six by being careful. She's careful when navigating her tempestuous clients, outrunning hijackers and avoiding anyone who might distract her from her plan of retiring young to a tropical, vampire-free island.
Her attitude—and immunity to vampires' allure—have made her the target of a faction of vampires trying to reclaim their territory. Her only ally is Malcolm Kelly, a secretive charmer with the uncanny habit of showing up whenever she's in trouble. Caught in the middle of a vampire turf war, Sydney has to count on Malcolm to help her survive, or the only place she'll retire is her grave...
I want to thank you for visiting us here. We like vampires and all magical creatures. I really enjoyed Don't Bite the Messenger - a very clever title. Did you come up with it or was that much of a hassle to find the right title?
Thanks so much for having me, Bettie. I'm delighted to be here!
This title was an easier one. I might have even had it on the page before I'd finished the first chapter. It just seemed to fit, you know? (Please don't hate me. This is a rare occurrence.)
So.. how safe is it for the people of Alaska, what with all these vampires around? I know they have been a boon on the economy, and they have a lot of leeway. But do people feel safe? Do they go out at night?
They do feel safe and they do go out at night. In fact, there are lines to get into vampire blood lounges, even when the temperatures dip below zero. Would people still feel safe after getting a glimpse at the real machinations of vampire society, rather than the PR image they project? I'm not so sure.
I loved the way the vampires in your book have a sort of energy field that the heroine, Sydney, can sense. But she is special... can everyone sense them, and what does it feel like?
This is an ability maybe not exclusive, but fairly unique to Syd. Most people feel uneasy in a vampire's presence, or get the sense there might be something off about the person. Vampires are kept moving, thinking and feeling by a energy other than that which powers regular humans. Syd feels that power like cold pinpricks, or a static electric shock. Disconcerting, I'd think.
You mention people being addicted to the bite of a vampire, but they are still human. I take it Vampires can create other vampires in your mythology - do you want to reveal how that happens at this stage?
In this world it does take more than a bite to spur the transition into undeath. It's actually a lengthy, rather intimate process. *smiles pleasantly* Which I'd rather not go into at the moment.
I well remember my first vampire encounter - a very smexiful vampire in the form of Frank Langella. Do you remember your first vampire and was it horror or smexiness that drew you to write about them?
It must have been Bram Stoker's Dracula. The book, not the movie. I recall being intrigued, and more freaked out and fascinated by the brides than by Dracula himself. I wasn't attracted to or horrified by vampires then, but I was certainly fascinated by them. They have to watch the people they love die or, if they try to keep them, they alter or destroy them in the process. Could there be a more dramatic backstory?
There are some exciting chase scenes.... I think one reviewer said something about a movie voiceover calling it a thrill ride. :) - tell us... how did you learn to explain such exciting, daring, nighttime maneuvers?? *innocent smile*
Only the very best reviewers say things like that. :)
I physically block as many scenes as I can, both to make sure they're possible and so that I get some of the nuances of the motion. Ask me how long I had to ice one of my wrists after a certain bannister-related move. :/ When it comes to driving, obviously I can't grab a friend with a truck and take him out to practice rolling it. So, for those stunts, it's more obeying the laws of physics and watching a lot of "making of" extras for movies with realistic chases and crashes. And, sometimes, dragging people out to watch B- movies. It's all in the name of research, my friends.
I know you are hoping to get out a sequel... can you spill any beans yet? Or can you assure us we won't go Sydney and Mal-less??
Can you "make it rain" with beans, or is that a slip and fall hazard?
Never fear, you will not have to go without Syd or Mal for long. The sequel, which is a novel rather than a novella, will be released by Carina Press. Details to follow because I do not yet have them. I can tell you it was a freaking blast to write, so I hope it will be an equally fun read.
Is there anything else you like to address before we go, or predictions for the future?
I'd encourage all you writers out there to write what you love. This story started as a way to amuse myself during a very cold, very dark winter a few years ago, and it is steeped in my enthusiasm. Had I written it "to the market", it wouldn't have had this energy and voice, which I believe were major factors in the sale.
Thank you so much for having me, Bettie! You've got such a lovely blog, and... *gets distracted by the vampire...baron* So...pretty...
Well, of course, it's hard to concentrate with hot vampires just draping themselves over furniture. Congratulations on the sequel. I'm glad you stopped by - and as I've said before, I will not pimp a book I didn't really enjoy. I highly recommend Don't Bite The Messenger - and await the release date of its sequel.
Back to your regularly scheduled programming, folks!
