Post by Ivy on Jun 15, 2009 23:29:20 GMT -5
Here is Book Reader Times Interview with Jeaniene Frost. ;D
Red= Book Reader Times
Black= Jeaniene Frost
Can you please tell us about yourself?
My name is Jeaniene Frost, and I’ve wanted to be an author ever since I was bitten by the reading bug as a pre-teen. I got married right after high school at nineteen, and all my friends/family thought it wouldn’t last. Well, my husband and I are coming up on our seventeen year wedding anniversary, so we sure proved them wrong. At thirty, I finally quit procrastinating about writing and made it my goal to finish a book, no matter what. That book turned out to be HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE, the first novel in my Night Huntress series.
What or who inspired you to become a writer?
As I mentioned above, it was my love of reading that initially inspired me to be a writer. Plus, I’ve always had very detailed, vivid dreams, and I’d make little stories out of them even as a teen. As time went on, I tried to plot entire books around my dreams, but only in my head. I never took the time to write them down. Then I had a dream about this half-vampire who’d fallen in love with, and left, a full vampire, and I just had to write it.
Can you please tell us about the Night Huntress Series?
I always find it hard to sum up my series in just a couple sentences, but here goes: Cat Crawfield is a half-vampire who’s been taking out murdering creatures of the night one at a time. Bones is the Master vampire who challenges all of Cat’s preconceived notions about the undead – and herself. Cat and Bones navigate a world filled with ghouls, ghosts, vampires, and government agents, but the biggest obstacle to their relationship might not be the things that go bump in the night.
How did you come up with Cat and Bones’s personality?
Their personalities were firmly established from the beginning. I can’t claim credit for them – but my subconscious can. Cat came almost fully formed as far as her personality, even from my first glimpse of her in a dream. Bones was more mysterious. He surprised me the most while writing him. My initial idea of Bones didn’t include his background as a former prostitute. I knew he was a hitman from my first idea of him, but I didn’t know how he’d gotten into that line of work, or how it was more about righting wrongs, in Bones’s way of thinking.
How did you come up with the concept of Cat being half vampire and half human?
One night I had a dream where I saw this half-vampire woman arguing with her full-vampire ex-boyfriend, and they were arguing because he was mad that she’d left him years before. In the dream, I knew she still loved him but never thought it could work, and I also knew he wasn’t about to let her go that easily. So Cat being half-vampire was just a fact right from the beginning, as was Bones being a full vampire.
Who is you favorite character in this series? Why?
Oh wow, that’s a hard one. Cat and Bones are probably my favorites, but I love writing Spade, Mencheres, Vlad, Ian, Denise, and Justina, too. I just finished Spade’s book, and while writing it, I really plugged into his character. He would have been my favorite, if you asked me a month ago. Now I’m writing Mencheres’s book, so he’s probably my favorite at the moment. Once I write Cat and Bones again, I’ll be back to them as favorites. Call me fickle.
What kind of stuff can we expect in the book “Destined for an Early Grave”? Can you give is any hints?
Well, this is from the back of the book:
“Since half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her undead lover Bones met six years ago, they've fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire, and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it's time for a vacation. But their hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when Cat awakes one night in terror. She's having visions of a vampire named Gregor who's more powerful than Bones and has ties to her past that even Cat herself didn't know about.
Gregor believes Cat is his and he won't stop until he has her. As the battle begins between the vamp who haunts her nightmares and the one who holds her heart, only Cat can break Gregor's hold over her. She'll need all the power she can summon in order to bring down the baddest bloodsucker she's ever faced . . . even if getting that power will result in an early grave.”
In addition to what’s going on with Gregor, Cat’s half-breed status is the focal point for a potential ghoul rebellion, and Cat and Bones are both confronted with their greatest fears – with serious consequences for each of them.
How many books are you planning to write in this series?
Right now I’m planning to end Cat and Bones’s storyline at book seven, but that won’t be the end of the Night Huntress world. Spade’s book, FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON, comes out January 26th. After that is Mencheres’s book, which will come out fall 2010. I’d like to do more books on other familiar characters from the Night Huntress series after those two. Several more side characters have been demanding their own books, lol. Through those books, readers can still get peeks of Cat and Bones in the Night Huntress world even after their individual storyline is completed.
What kind of books did you read before you became a writer?
Romance, mystery, horror, true crime, non-fiction, fantasy, literary classics…all kinds.
Who is your favorite author?
It would be impossible to select just one author as my favorite. I have a list of favorites on my website, though, broken down by genre. This is the most I can narrow it to: www.jeanienefrost.com/links-of-interest.html
Do you have a favorite fictional character? If yes, who and why?
*grin* That’s just as hard as asking me to pick a favorite author! I have so many favorite fictional characters: Keenan from the Wicked Lovely series, Eric from the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dexter from the book/TV series, Kate Daniels from Ilona Andrews’ series, Joanna from the Signs of the Zodiac series...I could go on, but I’ve already cheated by naming more than one.
Why do I like these characters? They’re flawed, complex, morally ambiguous, strong-willed, loyal, and mesmerizing.
If you could go back and change anything in your books, what would it be?
Oh God, I’d tweak so many things! I’m a compulsive re-writer. If it weren’t for my editor taking my books away from me, they’d never get published, because I’d never stop fiddling with them. I’d take out about half of the exclamation points in HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE, for starters. Then I’d show more of Cat’s interactions with her mother that didn’t only involve their fights. I’d fit the first time Bones sees Cat’s tattoo back into ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE. I’d add the bridal shower scene into AT GRAVE’S END. I’d…never stop messing with books, see??
Do you see yourself in the future writing something other than Urban Fantasy?
Yes and no. Urban fantasy is such a broad term that covers both the urban fantasy romance that I’m doing with my Night Huntress series, plus also darker novels that brush the boundaries of horror. I can’t see myself writing something without paranormal elements at this time, and urban fantasy is the most common umbrella to put paranormal novels under. If one day it isn’t, then I’ll be published under whatever label my publisher feels would fit best, but it’ll still be a novel with strong characters and a paranormal backdrop. That I don’t see changing.
What books are you currently reading?
I’m on a tight deadline right now, so my reading time is limited, but the last thing I read was the first three novels from Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series. Really liked those. At my next deadline break, I’ll read more in Kresley Cole’s series. I’m enjoying that as well.
A huge thanks to Jeaniene Frost for accepting to do the interview for Book Reader Times. ;D
Red= Book Reader Times
Black= Jeaniene Frost
Can you please tell us about yourself?
My name is Jeaniene Frost, and I’ve wanted to be an author ever since I was bitten by the reading bug as a pre-teen. I got married right after high school at nineteen, and all my friends/family thought it wouldn’t last. Well, my husband and I are coming up on our seventeen year wedding anniversary, so we sure proved them wrong. At thirty, I finally quit procrastinating about writing and made it my goal to finish a book, no matter what. That book turned out to be HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE, the first novel in my Night Huntress series.
What or who inspired you to become a writer?
As I mentioned above, it was my love of reading that initially inspired me to be a writer. Plus, I’ve always had very detailed, vivid dreams, and I’d make little stories out of them even as a teen. As time went on, I tried to plot entire books around my dreams, but only in my head. I never took the time to write them down. Then I had a dream about this half-vampire who’d fallen in love with, and left, a full vampire, and I just had to write it.
Can you please tell us about the Night Huntress Series?
I always find it hard to sum up my series in just a couple sentences, but here goes: Cat Crawfield is a half-vampire who’s been taking out murdering creatures of the night one at a time. Bones is the Master vampire who challenges all of Cat’s preconceived notions about the undead – and herself. Cat and Bones navigate a world filled with ghouls, ghosts, vampires, and government agents, but the biggest obstacle to their relationship might not be the things that go bump in the night.
How did you come up with Cat and Bones’s personality?
Their personalities were firmly established from the beginning. I can’t claim credit for them – but my subconscious can. Cat came almost fully formed as far as her personality, even from my first glimpse of her in a dream. Bones was more mysterious. He surprised me the most while writing him. My initial idea of Bones didn’t include his background as a former prostitute. I knew he was a hitman from my first idea of him, but I didn’t know how he’d gotten into that line of work, or how it was more about righting wrongs, in Bones’s way of thinking.
How did you come up with the concept of Cat being half vampire and half human?
One night I had a dream where I saw this half-vampire woman arguing with her full-vampire ex-boyfriend, and they were arguing because he was mad that she’d left him years before. In the dream, I knew she still loved him but never thought it could work, and I also knew he wasn’t about to let her go that easily. So Cat being half-vampire was just a fact right from the beginning, as was Bones being a full vampire.
Who is you favorite character in this series? Why?
Oh wow, that’s a hard one. Cat and Bones are probably my favorites, but I love writing Spade, Mencheres, Vlad, Ian, Denise, and Justina, too. I just finished Spade’s book, and while writing it, I really plugged into his character. He would have been my favorite, if you asked me a month ago. Now I’m writing Mencheres’s book, so he’s probably my favorite at the moment. Once I write Cat and Bones again, I’ll be back to them as favorites. Call me fickle.
What kind of stuff can we expect in the book “Destined for an Early Grave”? Can you give is any hints?
Well, this is from the back of the book:
“Since half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her undead lover Bones met six years ago, they've fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire, and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it's time for a vacation. But their hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when Cat awakes one night in terror. She's having visions of a vampire named Gregor who's more powerful than Bones and has ties to her past that even Cat herself didn't know about.
Gregor believes Cat is his and he won't stop until he has her. As the battle begins between the vamp who haunts her nightmares and the one who holds her heart, only Cat can break Gregor's hold over her. She'll need all the power she can summon in order to bring down the baddest bloodsucker she's ever faced . . . even if getting that power will result in an early grave.”
In addition to what’s going on with Gregor, Cat’s half-breed status is the focal point for a potential ghoul rebellion, and Cat and Bones are both confronted with their greatest fears – with serious consequences for each of them.
How many books are you planning to write in this series?
Right now I’m planning to end Cat and Bones’s storyline at book seven, but that won’t be the end of the Night Huntress world. Spade’s book, FIRST DROP OF CRIMSON, comes out January 26th. After that is Mencheres’s book, which will come out fall 2010. I’d like to do more books on other familiar characters from the Night Huntress series after those two. Several more side characters have been demanding their own books, lol. Through those books, readers can still get peeks of Cat and Bones in the Night Huntress world even after their individual storyline is completed.
What kind of books did you read before you became a writer?
Romance, mystery, horror, true crime, non-fiction, fantasy, literary classics…all kinds.
Who is your favorite author?
It would be impossible to select just one author as my favorite. I have a list of favorites on my website, though, broken down by genre. This is the most I can narrow it to: www.jeanienefrost.com/links-of-interest.html
Do you have a favorite fictional character? If yes, who and why?
*grin* That’s just as hard as asking me to pick a favorite author! I have so many favorite fictional characters: Keenan from the Wicked Lovely series, Eric from the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dexter from the book/TV series, Kate Daniels from Ilona Andrews’ series, Joanna from the Signs of the Zodiac series...I could go on, but I’ve already cheated by naming more than one.
Why do I like these characters? They’re flawed, complex, morally ambiguous, strong-willed, loyal, and mesmerizing.
If you could go back and change anything in your books, what would it be?
Oh God, I’d tweak so many things! I’m a compulsive re-writer. If it weren’t for my editor taking my books away from me, they’d never get published, because I’d never stop fiddling with them. I’d take out about half of the exclamation points in HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE, for starters. Then I’d show more of Cat’s interactions with her mother that didn’t only involve their fights. I’d fit the first time Bones sees Cat’s tattoo back into ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE. I’d add the bridal shower scene into AT GRAVE’S END. I’d…never stop messing with books, see??
Do you see yourself in the future writing something other than Urban Fantasy?
Yes and no. Urban fantasy is such a broad term that covers both the urban fantasy romance that I’m doing with my Night Huntress series, plus also darker novels that brush the boundaries of horror. I can’t see myself writing something without paranormal elements at this time, and urban fantasy is the most common umbrella to put paranormal novels under. If one day it isn’t, then I’ll be published under whatever label my publisher feels would fit best, but it’ll still be a novel with strong characters and a paranormal backdrop. That I don’t see changing.
What books are you currently reading?
I’m on a tight deadline right now, so my reading time is limited, but the last thing I read was the first three novels from Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series. Really liked those. At my next deadline break, I’ll read more in Kresley Cole’s series. I’m enjoying that as well.
A huge thanks to Jeaniene Frost for accepting to do the interview for Book Reader Times. ;D