Paranormal Week - Author Interviews

5 QUESTIONS FOR TAMI DEE, Author of the Mists of Time Series:

QUESTION #1 - How did the Mists of Time Viking Series come to you? What was the inspiration?

TAMI: The seed was planted in a dream. The dream was of a wall mural of a Viking ship braving rough seas on the inside of a young woman’s apartment. She ends up being swept into the mural and…. Well, you get the picture.

The funny thing is, the story line of Under A Viking Moon has nothing to do with what that dream. Nether was Dawn of A Viking Sunrise, or Beyond A Viking Horizon. I am still working on book four, Through A Viking Mist, but so far, no wall murals. Lol

One of these days though, I really will write that story.

QUESTION #2 - Do you have a "favorite" book in the series?

TAMI: I have been asked that before, and each time I really, really, try and think if I like one book over the others, and I always come back to the same answer. No. Each book is special to me, I became emotionally evolved with each set of heroes and heroines and I just can’t pick a favorite. ☺

QUESTION #3 - Have you ever been to Denmark?

TAMI: No, never.

QUESTION #4 - Tell us how the Time Traveling pendants work? How did you get the inspiration for them?

TAMI: I’m not a Scientist so as I give you my logic of the ‘how’ please keep that in mind. The pendants clasp together when they are near one another, the reason would be that the materials they were made from are magnetic. The glow which comes from them is based on the principal of those glow sticks, you know, bend the stick and it will glow. As for them sweeping people through Time, well, when the magnetic and ‘glowing’ mechanisms are activated, the result is the opening of a worm hole to another Time and place.

As for the inspiration for the pendants, I had gone through several books on Viking lore and I needed a medium to accomplish Time Travel, pendants seemed a logical choice.

QUESTION #5 - What project are you currently working on?

TAMI: Right now I am working on book four in the series, Through A Viking Mist. This book ‘speaks’ to me day and night, and I really wish I did not have a ‘day job’ so I could get this story out of my head and onto my laptop! Through A Viking Mist will take readers full circle within the series, and I think that readers will be surprised, and then more surprised, by where one goes.

5 QUESTIONS FOR J. MORGAN, Author of the Love Bites Series
QUESTION #1 - What attracts you to the paranormal?
JMO: Being scared of the dark as a kid. Honestly, that's the reason. One day I just decided I wouldn't be afraid anymore. So, I walked a mile in the dark and came home and watched Salem's Lot, the old scary one. After that I devoured every horror novel I could. Mainly, the Stephen King ones. Then, I moved on to Anne Rice and that's when I fell in love with anything paranormal.

QUESTION #2 - What the inspiration for the Love Bites Series?

JMO: Good friends. My very good friend, Lynne Connolly suggested I write a short for this open submission she knew about. Then, in a different chat window, my equally good friend Savannah Chase made a comment and suddenly, I had a first line in my head. The first draft of Love at First Stake took a little over two weeks to write and came to a staggering 20,000 words. So, long story short, I subbed it, the story was rejected. Strangely enough, I loved it. I had wanted to play with it since I hit send, and now I had the chance. Another 20k or so, I thought I had the story I wanted. Then, Desert Breeze/Gail Delaney got ahold of it and said, "I see more story there." Four books later, I'd have to say she was right.

QUESTION #3 - What was the inspiration for the Southern Werewolf Chronicles series?

Duct tape, unsightly hair growth and my wife. None of those things were muse-ically connected. Let me make that perfectly clear. My wife does not have unsightly hair growth, or has ever used duct tape at any time to get rid of said growth. Seriously, I've always read werewolf books that were set either in Europe or in some other locale. I said to myself "hey, people in the South are hairy. How come no one's written a werewolf book about us?" Seemed like a no-brainer to me. From there, it just kind of flowed into Were Love Blooms. Just to set the record straight, I do have unsightly hair growth but am too wussy to use duct tape. I just live with it, and howl at the moon when the need arises.

QUESTION #4 - What's your writing space like?

JMO: Messy. I'll not elaborate any further.

QUESTION #5 - What's your favorite paranormal movie?

JMO: Shoot. Too many to name, but the one I watch the most is Shaun of the Dead. I just love funny and zombie in the same celluloid goodness.

5 QUESTIONS FOR STEPHANIE BURKHART, Author of the Budapest Moon Series
QUESTION #1: What was the first book/movie that got your interested in the paranormal?

STEPH: For the book, I would have to say Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire." I read that my senior year in high school. Growing up, "The Creature Double Features" on Saturday morning fed the inner spook of my 7-year-old self.
QUESTION #2: The Hungarian embodies the best of the Gothic Romance and Paranormal Romance. What were your influences to bring this together?

STEPH: Gothic romance has been around since the late 1790's. Elements include the spooky house/manor/castle, secrets, a possible prophecy, and "supernatural" events with natural causes. (I sound preachy, huh? Pass the Oreos, JMO.)

No one did this as well as Victoria Holt. While Anne Rice isn't a "romance" author, her supernatural creatures wage an inner war between the human psyche and dark, more feral elements – Louis from Interview with the Vampire embodies this. In "The Hungarian," Matthias deals with the struggle between his human and feral natures, all against the backdrop of dark settings, spooky houses, and events with –wink- definite supernatural origins.

QUESTION #3: Would you ever branch out to write about other things that go bump in the night and what would you pick?

STEPH: Definitely! When it comes to my vamps, I'm picky. I do write about a clan in my Moldavian Moon series, Book 1, The Wolf's Torment. In my horror writing, I usually take a page out of Kostova and draw on the historical facts surrounding Vlad Dracula. (ie, my short stories, Red Paint, Crimson Blood, and The Watch Tower.)

I love writing witches and the Moldavian Moon series is going to have a bunch of them. I wrote about a Russian Ruslka in "The Music Box," (a haunted spirit that wasn't baptized) I would like to look at more European myths and explore them.

QUESTION #4: I'm stealing this one from you. What's your writing space like?

STEPH: Would you believe it's in the spookiest corner of the house with candles and incense? –wink- Actually, it's downstairs on the dining room table with lots of light from a nearby window and plenty of noise from my boys.

QUESTION #5: What paranormal author's world would you like to step into for one day?

STEPH: Gosh, this is a toughie. Does JK Rowling count? I love her Harry Potter series. I'd also love to step in Vijaya Schartz's world in the Chronicles of Kassouk, but that's not paranormal. How about Anne Rice's "The Witching Hour" world?

I wouldn't mind visiting Forks, WA either. –wink-