What is it about the paranormal, in
particular vampires, that fascinates you so much?
My
introduction into the paranormal and the world of “what if” came at a very
early age. I remember sitting on the floor by my mother’s feet as she folded
laundry with the original soap opera, ‘Dark Shadows” on TV in the living room.
I was both enraptured and frightened at the same time to say the least, but it
formed a lifelong fascination with the paranormal.
Please tell us about your latest
release.
My
latest release is a departure from vampires and weres, plus it is also my debut
novel in the Young Adult genre. The book is called Hollow’s End, and it is a YA
horror with a splash of history, romance and the paranormal. Inspired by historical events that
surround the town of Sleepy Hollow and the famous legend that shares its name,
this Young Adult Horror takes you on a journey full of history and suspense
with a splash of romance and the paranormal. In the story, Hollow’s End, two
hundred years of secrets and lies are bleeding into the present, and high
school seniors, Hunter Morrissey and Rowen Corbett, find themselves linked with
unseen forces shrouded in mystery and violence. Truths, buried and long
forgotten, have risen at a time when the veil between the living and the dead
is at its thinnest. Only Hunter and Rowen hold the key to locking the past in
the past, and setting old wrongs to right.
Do you have a special formula for
creating characters' names?
People
ask me this quite often, and it may sound crazy but my characters seem to name
themselves. A name will come to me and if it resonates with the feel and
personality of the character in my head, then it’s a done deal. I have recently
started using my reader’s first names for characters in my books. I put it out
to my Street Team and they loved the idea! I may even extend the offer to fans
that follow me on my social media sites.
Do you try to match a name with a
certain meaning to attributes of the character or do you search for names
popular in certain time periods or regions?
If
my character is ethnic, then I will find an ethnic name that resonates with me
and the character’s personality. It’s fun…like naming one of my kids all over
again!
Was one of your characters more
challenging to write than another?
Yes.
Some were easy and straightforward, but others were much more complex with
emotional baggage that needed to be worked out both in the story line and in my
head. The character of Lily Saburi was one of the hardest I had to write. Book
three in the Cursed by Blood saga I will be concentrating on the character of
Ryan Martinez, but the French vampire, Remy, will be featured prominently. I
have a strong feeling he’s going to give me a hard run. It the tortured ones
that are the hardest to write, but also the most satisfying when done.
Do you have a formula for developing
characters? Like do you create a character sketch or list of attributes before
you start writing or do you just let the character develop as you write?
For the most part I have an idea of where I want the
character to be in the story and where they are in their life that has led them
there, but outlines and my original plans are never written in stone. The
characters have a way of telling me what works for them and what doesn’t. When
we have a standoff is when I get writer’s block. As for formulas…I have no use
for them. Formulas tend to make the story rote and boring. Keeping character
attributes straight in my head is sometimes a daunting task, so I enlist the
help of my Street Team, and they maintain a bible of sorts which we call The
Character Keeper. It’s a quick reference tool that not only keeps a character’s
physical attributes current, but also notes their inner and outer motivations
and my reader’s take on what makes the character tick.
What is your favorite scene from the
book? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?
In
Hollow’s End, my favorite scenes are the ones where main character Rowen
Corbett has her visions. The images get more intense as the story progresses
and they all tie into the climax at the end of the story. I had a lot of fun
writing the horror aspects and linking them to the paranormal and helping the
hero and the heroine come together as a couple.
Did you find anything really
interesting while researching this or another book?
Absolutely!
I learned so much about the lesser known urban legends surrounding the village
of Sleepy Hollow, as well as truths that could have been the inspiration behind
the writing of the original Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I’m from the Hudson Valley
and my husband’s family is originally from Sleepy Hollow. Our children were
born there, so to learn about the histories that lie beneath what is commonly
known was interesting to say the least!
What is the most interesting thing
you have physically done for book related research purposes?
Walked
and studied the Old Dutch Burial Ground at the Old Dutch Church and looked at
genealogies and historic accountings from over 200 years ago.
Can you tell readers a little bit
about the world building in the book/series? How does this world differ from
our normal world?
The
world building I created in my urban fantasies and paranormal romances differ
from our normal world in only one way….vampires and other supernatural being
exist and walk among us. What is different about my vampires lies in the way
they are created. In my world, if a vampire is created with cruelty, selfish
disregard and lust, those are the only emotions they retain in their new
existence…BUT if a vampire is created with compassion and kindness, they retain
the entire spectrum of human emotion and some of their humanity in that they
can love and feel empathy for fellow beings. I wanted to show the dichotomy of
the beings that inhabit my world, that vampires are predators despite their
passionate allure, and for them to truly be the romantic figures we all love,
they must work to earn that awe every day of their existence.
With the book being part of a
series, are there any character or story arcs, that readers jumping in somewhere
other than the first book, need to be aware of? Can these books be read as
stand alones?
I
have endeavored to make each of my books a standalone, but as with most series,
the characters overlap and for readers to get the full impact of the stories
they should be read in order. Blood Legacy, my vampire paranormal romance, was
originally going to be book one in a separate series from my Cursed by Blood
Series, but now that I am bringing the characters together through cameo
appearances and through dialogue mentions, my aim is to merge the books into
one Saga.
Do any of your characters have
similar characteristics of yourself in them and what are they?
All
my characters have me in them…especially the females. The men are always a
compilation of the men in my life: what I love about them and what I don’t…plus
there’s always that element of fantasy that is a must—the ideal that gets
brought to life in my head and follows suit into the written word. Real is
boring. The idealized is what makes the characters and the stories fun and
escapist.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s
block? How do you deal with it?
I
step away from the story and just do other things. Sometimes I talk to my
friends about where I’m stuck; sometimes I just wait for a dream to hit me with
an Ah Ha moment. My writer’s block never lasts for long, thank God, and I work
best under pressure. I once wrote 20,000 words in one week. When it flows, it
flows…
Do you write in different genres?
Yes.
I have Hollow’s End which is more YA horror, and I also have a mystery suspense
outlined foe this winter as well as a contemporary romance alla Nicholas Sparks
just itching to be written. When you’re a writer, you just write. I personally
never want to become pigeon-holed.
When did you consider yourself a
writer?
In
the seventh grade I wrote a love letter to a boy in class, and true to form for
a 13 year old boy, he showed it to all his friends. They were impressed. In
fact I remember distinctly the words were, “Dang, that girl can write a good
letter.” I knew then I had a way with words…especially romance…and I’ve been a
scribbler ever since. J
What are your guilty pleasures in
life?
Oooh….ice
cream! Though I have lactose sensitivity and pay dearly every time I eat it. And (hangs head in shame) I watch
reality TV, especially the Real Housewives. I know, I know… it’s trash
television, but it’s like road kill, you are horrified yet compelled to look.
What was the last amazing book you
read?
I
read Kim Harrison’s Everafter and I
LOVED it! I am addicted to the Rachel Morgan Hollows series. I also reread
Diana Gabeldon’s Outlander Series every chance I get, and I’m so psyched they
are finally making the saga into a television series…fingers crossed it follows
the book and does the author justice!
What can readers expect next from
you?
I
have a New Adult paranormal romance due out this fall called Secrets of the
Moon. The characters are fresh out of college, so it is still a coming of
age/coming into one’s own story. The great thing about the New Adult genre is
that characters can experience adult situations and language while still trying
to find out who they are and where they fit in this world…or in the worlds I
create for them. It’s more freeing in terms of writing, because I don’t have
the same restrictions as when writing Young Adult. I know that high school kids
these days could probably show me a thing or two about sex and language, but I
chose to follow the lead set by Kami Garcia (Beautifu; Creatures), Nancy Holder
(The Evil Within) and Stephenie Meyers (Twilight) in that none of them included
sex and language in their YA best sellers, so neither would I. Within the first
six months of 2014 I hope to have sequels out to both Blood Legacy and Twice
Cursed as well as finishing up a new contemporary romance.Intrepid? You bet. Do
I love it? Absolutely.
Where can readers find you on the
web?
Yes,
of course. I’m always around on Facebook and absolutely LOVE to interact
directly with readers. My author page is https://www.facebook.com/mariannemoreaauthor You can tweet me as well at @mariannemorea or
contact me through my website at www.mariannemorea.com.
Would you like to leave readers with
a little teaser or excerpt from the book?
Sure! Enjoy…
“It’s just Halloween,” I
mumbled flipping my covers back, but in our house it was never just
Halloween, nor was it ever just about trick-or-treating. It was the Witch’s
New Year and one of the biggest sabbats on the wheel of the year. Not that I
believed in that sort of junk. That was my family’s thing, not mine, even
though my mother and grandmother had been trying to make it mine since the day
I was born.
I swung my legs over the
side of the bed and sat for a moment. I’d heard it a thousand times, “We’re different,
Rowen, embrace it. People would kill to be able to do what we can.” Like people
needed more reasons to think I was half a freak. And as to wanting to be like
me, uh… I didn’t think so.
“Rowen, hurry up! I need
to talk to you before you leave,” Mom’s voice called again.
My room looked like a
tornado hit. Clothes and shoes everywhere, and the books and math sheets I
reviewed last night were still in a haphazard pile across my desk. Two empty
Coke cans topped a pile of candy wrappers, and a large, half eaten bag of
potato chips lay crumpled on the floor next to my backpack.
Oh God, I didn’t.
At the incriminating
sight, my hand shifted to my stomach, and a familiar self-loathing settled onto
my shoulders. I slumped a bit, cringing inwardly at what the scale would read
this morning.
With a sigh I pushed
myself to stand and slid my gaze to the clothes I somehow remembered to set
out. My lateness was reaching epic proportions, yet school was only halfway
through the first semester. Most of the student body had learned to get out of
the way when I came barreling in for homeroom.
Mom seemed to think my
tardy nature would improve once I earned my driver’s license, but of course,
that didn’t happen. I was seventeen and already driving for the past year. We lived
around the corner from the high school, and senior privilege or not, I didn’t
relish the idea of taking my mother’s minivan.
Grabbing my outfit from
the back of my desk chair, I walked into the bathroom and snapped on the light.
I had no problem envisioning my mother, coffee cup in hand, impatiently waiting
for me to come downstairs while she planned her latest concoction for the
store.
When my mother says she
needs to talk it usually means extra work for me, and considering how busy it’s
been I’m surprised it took her this long to ask. Not that I mind helping out at
the shop with all its curiosities, but I can’t seem to stomach the people who
come in just to gawk. Of course, the townspeople wouldn’t dare insult my mother
that way, but the tourists loved to look at the whole lot, including us.
I took inventory of my
face in the mirror, running fingers over the puffy skin beneath my eyes,
trying to ignore the glare from the bathroom’s overhead lights. Telltale dark smudges from my late date with calculus were
evident beneath my lower lids, making my hazel eyes look a little muddy. “Now,
that’s attractive,” I grumbled reaching for my makeup remover. Giving each eye
a quick swipe, I checked my reflection for any marked improvement. No such
luck.
Most of the time, I liked
the way I looked. From the dark curls and high cheekbones I inherited from my
dad, to winning the genetic lottery for great skin courtesy of mother’s side of
the family. Most of my friends hated that I never got zits or blemishes, but Mother
Nature evened the playing field, seeing to it I gained weight if I so much as
looked at junk food.
I muttered an expletive
thinking about the bag of chips I’d massacred and pushed the bathroom scale
under the vanity with my foot. One of these days I’d learn not to let the
number glaring up at me dictate the kind of day I would have, but today was not
that day.
The Corbett’s tended to
be on the fleshy side, or at least that’s what it looked like in all the family
pictures. I wouldn’t know firsthand, though, my dad having died when I was
little, and his parents before I was born. Then again, having a mother who
leaned more toward the vegetarian line helped a lot in that department.
Gathering my hair, I twisted it into
a loose bun at the top of my head. There was a peculiar tension building in my
stomach, and I didn’t think it was the potato chips. I was out of sorts,
restless for some reason, and a dull ache throbbed behind my eyes. I grabbed my
toothbrush and turned on the tap, breaking one of the cardinal rules of my
house by letting the water run while I brushed my teeth.
A calculus test was scheduled later
this morning, but I was never one for being neurotic over grades. So why was I
so edgy? I rinsed my mouth and stuck the toothbrush in its holder. The light
pounding behind my eyes escalated and I winced, tilting my head down against
the pain. That was when I saw it, or thought I saw it.
I stood motionless with
my hand frozen in place as I stared at the water in the sink. The slow drain
had allowed the flow to gather in the basin and ribbons of red curled and
spread like blood streaming into the water. It didn’t look like rust or red
clay or anything else. It looked like blood, swirling and coating the white
porcelain with streaks and tiny clots. Worse yet, it smelled like blood, with a
sharp, metallic tang that lingered in my nose and throat. I gagged, squeezing
my eyes shut.
A wave of dizziness hit
and I gripped the edge of the vanity, sucking in short shallow breaths trying
to work up enough air to yell for my mother. I swallowed against the sour bile
taste in my mouth and counted to ten, and when I opened my eyes, only clear
water flowed in the sink.
My hand shot forward
turning off the tap, and I pumped the water-stopper lever behind the faucet a
bunch of times. I held my breath ‘til the last of the water ran down the drain.
Did I say half a freak? How about a full-fledged weirdo, complete with
psychotic visions? Backing up, I grabbed hold of the towel rack and sank to
the floor, the cold tile adding to my already goose-pimpled flesh.
Minutes passed and though
my heart rate slowed, my mind raced. Was this some leftover nightmare skewed
from Chiller TV? Part of me wanted to yell for my mother, but the other part
knew she’d make a huge deal about it, and I didn’t have time for a protection
spell or whatever else she’d think to do.
The clock was ticking,
and I needed to get myself together and out the door. Afraid to tempt fate and
run the water in the sink again, I wet a washcloth under the bathtub tap. “No
more sleep deprived delusions for me, thank you.”
The problem was this
didn’t feel like a byproduct of too little sleep. Something happened, I sensed
it. Gran told me the night of my birthday that my aura was bleeding. Happy
birthday, darling, and by the way… Gee, thanks. Love you too, Gran.
That night my mother made
light of it, telling me everyone’s aura bled from time to time, it’s part of
coming into your own—yet I hadn’t missed the look she shot my grandmother. And
what the hell did that mean? Was I coming into my own as a strong, independent
woman, or did some weird, cosmic witchiness hit me square in the face courtesy
of my messed up gene pool? Right now, I didn’t want to know. I wanted to go to
school and take my exams like any other normal teenager. The question was could
I?
2 comments:
Roxanne! Thank you for the interview questions! The were a blast to answer!
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