VBT# Rachel Caine - Author Interview

Another Author who has just recently toured good ol' New Zealand was Rachel Caine - author of many series including one of my favourite "The Morganville Vampires".

Author Bio : Rachel Caine

Rachel Caine is the New York Times, USA Today and internationally bestselling author of more than 30 novels, including the immensely popular Morganville Vampires series, the Weather Warden series, and the Outcast Season series.

In 2011, Rachel will publish the first novel of her new series, The Revivalist, with the release of Working Stiff in August.

She has been honored with a Paranormal Pearl Award and an RT Booklovers Award, and was recently nominated for Best Urban Fantasy novel of 2010 as well as a Career Achievement Award, both from Romantic Times. Her first young adult novel, Glass Houses, was chosen for the Texas Tayshas List in 2009.

Rachel has appeared as a guest at over 100 science fiction, fantasy, mystery and romance conventions and conferences over the past 20 years, including Dragon*Con, San Diego ComicCon, the World Fantasy Convention, and the World Science Fiction Convention. She has been featured in several national publications including People magazine and Vanity Fair, and on local and national television.

She was born at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, attended Socorro High School in El Paso, Texas, and earned a bachelors degree in business administration from Texas Tech University. She’s worked in many jobs, including accounting, graphic designer, insurance investigation, corporate communications, and web design, to name just a few. She became a full time writer in 2010.

Rachel is married to award-winning fantasy artist R. Cat Conrad, and has two iguanas as pets: Popeye and Darwin.

Interview With Rachel Caine :

1) You have a new series being released called "The Revivalist" can you let us readers know what it's about?

The Revivalist series follows Bryn Davis, a young just-graduated mortician who takes a job at a prestigious funeral home ... only to discover that they've got a lucrative side business in reviving the dead for profit. That knowledge proves deadly, not only because of her Death Business bosses, but because a giant pharmaceutical company wants to keep this powerful drug all to themselves ... and they're willing to kill -- and revive -- to keep it.

2) Are you a fan of the Paranormal/Supernatural Genre and if so what are some of the books that you have enjoyed in this genre besides your own ?

I have ALWAYS loved paranormal and supernatural books, for as long as I can remember. It used to be called "horror," but now it's in every genre -- romance, suspense, fantasy, young adult. I have so many favorite reads, though, it's tough to pick only a few! In fantasy, I adore Barbara Hambly's THOSE WHO HUNT THE NIGHT, as well as the Jim Butcher Harry Dresden series, P.N. Elrod's Vampire Files novels, FEVRE DREAM by George R.R. Martin, The Amber series by Roger Zelazny, Mira Grant's FEED ... so many! In YA, I really love Carrie Ryan's zombie novels, and Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy books. A great discovery is Jackie Kessler's Four Horsemen series, too.

3) What gives you the innovation to write a particular genre?

I think it's just the way my mind works. Some ideas fit well into a paranormal framework, so they'd probably be "urban fantasy" -- others have young adult characters, so they're "young adult." Others may have a suspense storyline, so they get shelved in "suspense." But really, we try not to think too hard about the genre. You write the book, they think about where it goes on the shelf.

4) Has your characters or writing been inspired by friends/ family?

I don't usually base characters on people I know -- it causes uncomfortable conversations! But certainly there are lots of traits I borrowed from people to use in characters. And I have something in common with Claire Danvers: my laundry got stolen from the washer my first week in college!

5) Did you experience writers block? If so, what did you do to get rid of it?

Generally, I find that writers block is just my subconscious telling me that I've done something wrong, and I need to fix it before I can move on. So I go back and look at what I've done, and fix it. If I can't, I skip ahead to the next part, and then go back later.

6) What are you working on now?

I'm working on the 4th and last book of the Outcast Season series, UNBROKEN!

7) You have just released the 10th Book "Bite Club" in the Morganville Series , is this the final one or can readers expect to see more in the Morganville Series ?

There will be at least two more. Book 11 is called LAST BREATH, and will be out in November!

8) You have written earlier books including the Red Letter Days and Athena Force, what were they about?

The Red Letter Days series (DEVIL'S BARGAIN, DEVIL'S DUE) was about a female ex-cop who has a strange encounter with a lawyer who delivers a check to her from a stranger -- but it's only valid if she'll open a detective agency with another woman, an ex-spy, who also received the same offer. The idea is that the two of them have a unique place in the universe -- what they do directly affects the course of history, and can alter it. So they're being manipulated by forces that want to control the future, in great or small ways.

Athena Force is a shared-universe series, and I was asked to do the first of 12 books of the second storyline -- it's about a school for girls with special gifts, and the kidnapping of two of them.

9) When writing your books are there any scenes that were cut in the editing process you wish had made it into the book?

No, not really. The editorial process is cooperative, and if there's something I want to keep, I can keep it. The editor is there to improve the book, just as I am!

10) Can you give us one fun fact we might not know about The Morganville Vampires Series? Something about the story itself or the writing process?

I started thinking up the town of Morganville because as I was driving along at night, I noticed that the streetlights were really far apart -- and that led me to consider WHY they were so far apart. I concluded that if vampires planned a town, that's what they would do! So that's how Morganville actually got its start.

11) How did you get into writing? Did you always want to become a writer?

No, I wrote as a hobby from the age of 14 on, but I intended to be a professional musician. Later, after I played professionally for a while, I decided to focus on my writing more (as a hobby), but it slowly turned into a full time job, which is where I am now.

12) Out of the Series you have written A) The Morganville Vampires, B) Weather Warden or C) Outcasts - Do you have a favourite?

No, not really ... they're all great fun and challenging to do in their own way. I can't say that one is easier, harder, or more fun than the others.

13) What are you reading now? Which author has inspired you most and why?

I'm reading Holly Black's RED GLOVE -- I love her work so much! I think of all time, Stephen King has inspired me most of all ... I love his storytelling intensity.

14) In the Morganville Vampires are you more a Team Shane or a Team Michael?

I don't honestly think there is any such thing ... there's no "teams" in that sense, because there's no drama about the relationships. I intentionally didn't create any love triangles, because I wanted it to be very honest and sincere. Claire loves Shane, and Shane loves Claire. They may have trouble sometimes, because that's how it works, but Michael's not in love with Claire, nor vice versa. They're just close friends.

15) What advice would you give aspiring authors?

I would say BE PATIENT. Writing is just as difficult and time-consuming as any other form of art ... you have to practice lots to get better, and lots more to become professional. So work hard, and be patient, and don't look for shortcuts and easy answers. It takes effort, and it

SHOULD.

16) What can readers expect from Rachel Caine in the upcoming year?

Lots to come! There are two more Morganville novels coming, and a new series starting in August (Revivalist), plus the last Outcast Season novel and a lot of anthologies and short stories coming, too. Exciting times for me as a writer, and I hope you enjoy it as readers.

Thank you very much!

Rachel