Q&A with Adrian Phoenix

The Craft

BC: What is your writing process like? Do you keep organized notes? Do you designate a set time for writing each day?

AP: As far as a set times goes, since I still have a full time day job, I have to write in the evenings when I get home and on the weekends, holidays, vacations, etc. LOL. I like to start my writing time with a cup of coffee, music playing (NIN, for starters, usually) and everything nice and neat on my desk. I do keep notes as I go, but a lot of the writing is in my head. I sit down and think over the scenes I want to write that evening and go.

BC: Do you have music that you listen to for inspiration?

AP: Yes, definitely on the music! It provides an emotional soundscape for the stories and the characters. What I listen ranges from NIN to movie soundtracks such as The Last Samurai, all three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Batman Begins, Last of the Mohicans, etc. Some of the songs that had strong resonance during the creative process are from: Nine Inch Nails - all albums, but The Downward Spiral, Broken, March of the Pigs, Closer, and The Fragile, in particular. I also listened to Mutter by Rammstein, the soundtrack to The Matrix, Chevelle (first two albums), Stabbing Westward, Queens of the Stone Age.

BC: How do you celebrate finishing a book?

AP: My sprawling in a stupor on the sofa. LOL. Usually I try to go out for dinner with friends. I also collect little Goth dolls and I buy one whenever I finish a book.

BC: Why did you choose the vampire as a character for your book?

AP: I don't know if I so much *chose* to have a vampire as a character in my book as it was a case of I was writing about Dante and he happened to be a vampire. Meaning, I wasn't trying to write a vampire story, but Dante's story.

BC: What is easier to write- the hero, the heroine, or the villain?

AP: Oh, they're all fun to write! A villain can be a blast, because you can just let it all hang out. Go to those dark and violent places and enjoy it (through the bad guy), you don't need to worry about right or wrong or any moral complications, just the bad guy's happy little goal. LOL. But writing the hero and heroine is just as fine because you explore the lines they won't cross, *can't* cross and what happens if they are forced to cross one of those lines. Plus you get to really look at the nature of love, sacrifice, friendship, duty, and redemption.

BC: Favorite character that you have written?

AP: I love all of the characters in The Maker's Song series, but I think Dante is my favorite. Please don't tell the others. LOL.

BC: What vampire mythology do you use in your writing?

AP: My own, I believe. (Which readers will learn about as they explore A Rush of Wings,)

General Vampire Questions

BC: Looking back in history, who is the one person you'd expect to find out was really a vampire? Why?

AP: Great question! Jesus Christ, because of the blood thing and the whole leaving the tomb, looking radiant and healthy, then disappearing thing. I kid. (A little.) I thin Rasputin would be a good choice. He had a hypnotic effect on most people, but he also had an extremely sexual allure (which I can't understand just by looking at old photos of the man), but if he had been vampire - it would make perfect sense. He fed off the royal family, more or less, and look at the difficulty his assassins had in killing him!

BC: What would you want to say if you met a real vampire?

AP: Holy crap! That would be the first thing I'd say. Then, if they weren't trying to kill me or anything, I'd want to sit and chat for a while. Are they happy to be a vampire? Unhappy? Brooding? Did we have the right ideas about what being a vampire really entailed? They'd probably snack on me just to get me to shut up.

BC: If vampires existed should they stay hidden, or reveal themselves?

AP: I think they'd be better off if they remained hidden, otherwise they'd be opening themselves up to mass slaughter.

BC: Would you make a good vampire?

AP: Well, I like the night and I'd like to live forever, but drinking blood and maybe even killing . . . sigh . . . no, I'm not good vampire material.

Speed Round

Vampires- fangs or no fangs?

AP: Fangs, hell, yes!

Blood- fresh, bottled, or synthetic?

AP: Blood needs to be fresh - for the life force it contains.

Romance or Horror?

AP: Both? Can I have both?

One thing readers would be surprised to know about you?

AP: That I once sold vacuum cleaners door to door. That surprises even me. Did I enjoy it? *hysterical laughter*

Favorite vampire book? Movie?

AP: My favorite vampire movie is Interview With the Vampire and my favorite vampire book is Lord of the Dead by Tom Holland about Lord Byron as a vampire.

Big thanks go out to Adrian for taking the time to answer some questions for the readers at Bite Club. Don't forget to stop by on February 1st and 2nd for the Rush of Wings chat days!