I want to share with you today Karen E. Taylor who is a horror/paranormal author, with eight published novels to date and an eclectic assortment of short fiction which ranges from vampires to ghosts to telepathic, romantic dinosaurs. She claims she starts out to write a “normal” story, but then her characters turn spectral or grow fangs or fur or wings. So she writes what she loves and hopes her readers love it too. She started writing her first novel (Beauty Like the Night) in 1988. It was that novel, published in 1993 under the title of Blood Secrets, that started Karen’s career.
Thanks so much for visiting with us today and sharing the undead energy in your June 2011 release, HUNGER: THE VAMPIRE LEGACY from Kensington Publishing. Here’s a little teaser for you:
Deirdre Griffin didn’t choose to be a vampire. But she is. And she’s determined to make the most of her fate. For Deirdre that means surrendering to the raging hunger ignited by even the slightest whiff of blood a hunger that pulses through her body like a fever, demanding release. It means making friends in dark places and savouring every hot, salty, bitter, revitalizing drop of life force the night has to offer..
When did you publish your first book?
Blood Secrets was first published in December 1993. It’s been reprinted several times – most recently as the first half of the omnibus HUNGER.
What genre is your current release and what made you decide to write in this genre?
The publisher currently has HUNGER listed in the fiction/literature category. When the Vampire Legacy novels were first published they were included in Zebra’s horror line. They probably fit best in the fantasy/urban fantasy/paranormal area. I didn’t actually decide to write in any particular genre; in fact when I started writing that first novel , there was no paranormal romance classification. It was the publisher who sorted them into a genre. To be honest, I’m still not sure where they best fit – there is horror there, as well as romance and mystery.
Tell us a little something about your book.
HUNGER is an omnibus edition of the first two novels in the series – Blood Secrets and Bitter Blood. They tell the story of Deirdre Griffin, coming to terms with her vampiric existence and learning to balance her life of human emotion and monstrous appetite.
The heroine sounds interesting. What else can you tell us about Deirdre?
Deirdre is an unwilling vampire, who holds tightly to her human past, keeps her true nature as secret as possible, and tries to keep her human acquaintances at arm’s distance when possible. She’s not looking for love or a relationship of any sort, she’s just trying to stay alive.
I bet it would take a very special hero to handle her? What is he like?
Mitch Greer is a plain-clothes detective. He is strong, guarded and stubborn, burned by relationships in the past. And although he is drawn to Deirdre, he has a hard time believing in who and what she is, until confronted with the truth.
Where is your story set and does that influence the plot lines and characters in your stories?
The first novel is set in NYC. The second starts in London, moves to NYC, and ends in London again. I think that the places serve mostly as atmosphere, but don’t really dictate plotlines or character actions, except where navigating traffic, etc. is involved. And sometimes the places create hazards of their own – extended air travel is usually more complicated than it should be, as is living in places too far north where the summers don’t contain enough night-time.
Do you have any rituals that you do before starting to write?
I often turn off the lights in my office (which is actually half of my walk-in closet) and light candles. I also cue up music picked especially for the book/story I’m currently working on and make sure I have something warm to drink (coffee for morning/afternoon and tea for evenings.) Then, of course, I play a few rounds of solitaire to settle into the chair.
What are you working on now and what will readers have to look forward to in the future?
Currently I’m working on Eviction Notice, a novel about Lexi Trask, a half-breed elemental (demon) living in wildfire-stricken Santa Barbara. She’s outstayed her time on earth and must find a way to outsmart the devil, before being deported back to hell. It might be a series, depending on publisher interest. Before then, though, CRAVE will be released in October 2011, another omnibus edition that will contain the third and fourth Vampire Legacy novels. 2012 might also bring two more editions, finishing out the series.
Thank you so much for dropping by, Karen! If you want more information about Karen’s latest release, HUNGER: THE VAMPIRE LEGACY, you can visit http://www.karenetaylor.com or drop by Karen’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-E-Taylor-Writer-of-Supernatural-Tales/125652237503799,
There are some characters that you fall in love with as a writer and I think Bobbie and Adam were that for me in THE LOST. I loved the way they grew as the story developed and how they overcame both their physical and emotional wounds to find love.
When I first thought of the hero in my new romantic suspense novel,