Anyone who knows me can’t escape the fact that I love vampires, all kinds: sparkly, pale, day walkers, vegetarians, evil, not so evil… Whatever. I’m very open minded 🙂 Today A.D. Duling, author of paranormal fiction, joins me to talk about some of her work. Like me, she read L.J. Smith books in school and is a fan of Twilight and Billy Burke (yummy man). Read on to find out more.
Wecome to Emma’s Ramblings. Today you’re here to talk about your books, One of Them and the sequel, The Other Vampire. Can you introduce yourself and tell us about these stories? A big hello, my name is A.D. Duling and I am the author of One of Them and The Other Vampire. I just love vampire stories and my love for them started with L.J. Smith’s The Vampire Diaries- in which I devoured way back in high school. From there I was got hooked! Now today, being a fan of the Twilight Saga, I too chose to jump on the bandwagon of fan fiction, but wanted to write a story far from “just another Twilight knockoff”. So through embracing the hype, I created my character- Evangeline (Evie) Patterson- who stumbles across a vampire, but figures him out right away through the learned signs she read about from vampire fiction. From there, you go along with her to discover werewolves and shape shifters in the mix and also find Evie is no fragile flower. She is not a helpless teen and fights on her own even in the beginning where she is still human. As you go along further into the story, you find a few twists as Evie discovers she is either a werewolf or a vampire- she is entirely a whole breed of her own. (Look for- Embracing The Dhampir –Fall 2013)
Did you always know you would write a follow up book to One of Them? Actually, no I did not. As I went along telling the tale, I found myself creating something more than what I originated and continuing on with The Other Vampire. When I started writing this installment, I believed Evie’s story would end there, but it hasn’t! I found myself at another twist and another installment to the series in which I am really hyped about it.
What is it about the paranormal that draws you? Curiosity of the unknown I would say- the magic, mystery and the scare that comes with it. To be able to transform into a creature above the human form and have immeasurable strength would be awesome! To conjure a spell and fight against evil with the simple wave of a wand or a hand, even cooler!
You have a section on your blog inviting authors to be spotlighted. What made you decide to run such interviews?
When I first embarked out into the “Indie” world, I was overwhelmed and inexperienced. I, like many other indie authors dived in head first without really knowing what I was getting myself into. Fellow authors (indie and traditional) without expecting anything in return, helped me in gaining my platform by giving tons of advice, tips and boost ups. There is a deep running, humble comradeship within the author community where we pride in helping another. Through this kindness, author spotlights were created-example yourself Emma- to give these authors more opportunities. It’s sort of a pay if forward idealism. So of course, offering an author spotlight on my blog is my way of paying it forward to my fellow authors to help them in building their own platforms and to get shared advice that I was given or picked up on.
How active are you on social media? Do you think it’s important to promote and interact online with other writers and potential readers? What’s your marketing process? I am not as active as I want to be on social media. With six kids, it’s hard to do, but you would be surprised what you can accomplish in one, two or even three hours. Also don’t expect to get rich at the get go or even at all- most Indie authors do not sell many books at the start, but don’t let that discouraged you. Success is possible, however big you want it. Time, commitment and tons of promoting is the factor on reaching that goal of yours, but also be realistic. Remember first you are a writer, so keep doing that, don’t get focused too much on promoting and forget to write. Also you have to have thick skin with this territory- be open to criticism and improvement- there is always room for improvement. Definitely don’t just write to sell books. Write because you love to and write what you enjoy. There are readers out there who enjoy the same as you.
It is very important- noticed I underlined very- to promote and interact online with others- writers and readers. You have to give to receive; you can’t just take, it’s selfish. It takes a village…that statement is true. It is possible to do a lot on your own, but it’s so much simpler and even sometimes shorter doing so with that village, so keep that in mind. Plus just helping another feels good. As for my marketing process- well I promote a little via Facebook, Twitter and through giveaways. I just dipped my feet into the blog tours, by being a host. I get to read great books (for free-always awesome) and then give my review.
I guess all in all, my marketing strategy is focusing mainly on continuing to write, helping other authors and some promoting. Give and ye shall receive…
How do your children feel about having a writer for a mom?
Oh they love it! In fact, they write too, which I am very proud of that. I encourage my kids to read and feed their imaginations. To be considered a success to my kids is a success to me. If all I get out of this is a proud family and readers who enjoy my books, that’s great. I look forward to seeing a few published authors from my family in the future.
If One of Them and The Other Vampire were adapted for the big screen, who do you imagine playing the central roles? Oh gosh…to many great actors to choose from. I honestly think if my story hit the big screen, I would love a few fresh faces, but familiar ones as well. For my character Michael, I would love to see Billy Burke play him. He’s rockin’ it in Revolution.
What kind of music, films and TV shows are you in to? Music- I enjoy almost everything, but not so much R&B and Blues. Hard, hard rock as well. Cranberries fan for life. I like Adele, Bruno Mars, Maroon 5, pink, Lady Gaga…to name a few. I am also addicted to that “Titanium” song by David Guette/Sia.
Is there any advice you’d like to give to budding writers, something you would have liked to have known maybe when you started out? I guess I covered that already in the previous question above, so just to add to it- I again cannot stress enough to keep writing- that’s important. The second greatest advice I would give, would be edit…I do agree it is best to have a professional, but it isn’t always possible. Many of us Indie authors cannot afford to pay someone to edit, we cannot even afford not to not be able to afford a professional edit :0)- but this doesn’t mean it isn’t possible to put out a polished piece of work. You definitely cannot be arrogant in this line of work, there is always room for improvement and when it comes to editing, you cannot edit enough. I read this somewhere: You’ll know when to stop editing when you find yourself just switching the sentences around, then you can say you’ve done enough.
Would you like to include a teaser excerpt from your books? Oh definitely!
One of them
The skin of his neck was ice cold against her cheek; a discovery that had shocked Evie when she first touched him. He had been the one to jerk his head away first, but didn’t repeat the reaction the second time, when her head came back down to avoid another low hanging branch. This time, she kept her cheek far from his as possible. The speed at which he ran was ridiculously fast, making the trees around them a blur.
No Olympian, Evie was sure of, would have ever reach this speed. When a fallen tree came into their path, he jumped it without hesitation; his leap putting even Superman to shame. It did not take much observation for Evie to realize what he was: A Vampire… the words echoed in her thoughts. Evie had read the books, she was familiar with the signs; but her sources were from books labeled fiction and physically holding onto one of those fictional characters was uncomprehendable.
“Having fun in there?” he yelled back to her, interrupting her thoughts.
“What?”
“I said… having fun in there… trying to figure this all out?” his tone insulting. “Well don’t!” He snapped before she could muster a response, “You’ll just give yourself a headache, you stupid girl!” He insulted.
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The Other Vampire
The full bellied moon at his front lit up his wicked smile and made his tar black eyes glow, matching her own. A strip of fur down her back stood up on end and she growled at him.
A howl responded to it from behind her and Lincoln zipped out of her sight. Evie took chase after him and howled again. She knew Jonas was close by, even though he did not howl back. Ahead she could see the retreating vampire and kept close on him. Suddenly the vampire stopped and Evie leapt at him.
He could have darted then and she knew this, but he didn’t. Instead the vampire remained in his place, solid as a wall, arms opened to catch her. Evie flew into them, ready to maul him, but in that instant, his hands went separate ways and twisted her body with it. Evie heard a Snap! – and pain followed it.
It was the most intense pain she had ever felt. Evie yelped and a howl from Jonas came in response to it. He let go of her and Evie’s limp body dropped to the ground; he had snapped her spine in half.
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GIVEAWAY*****GIVEAWAY *****GIVEAWAY
A.D. would like to give one reader a Kindle copy of One of Them. All you have to do is answer the following question in a comment: Which side would you choose to be on? Vampire or Werewolf?
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Check out her books on Amazon: One of Them & The Other Vampire
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Happy Halloween for tomorrow
Emma's Ramblings on Supernatural Fiction 