Third Anniversary Celebration Giveaway with CJ Ellisson

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ONE lucky commenter will WIN a SIGNED, first edition PAPER COPY of VAMPIRE VACATION by CJ Ellisson

TRC: HI CJ and welcome back to The Reading Cafe.

Congratulations on the upcoming release of BLOOD LEGACY the fourth installment in the V.V. Inn series.

For those who do not know about Vivian (Dria) and the V.V. Inn series, would you please tell us something about the background of the series and your leading heroine?

CJ: Vivian is 580 year old vampire married to Rafe, her human husband. She’s had many lives in five centuries, and at the start of this series, she’s running a supernatural inn with Rafe. She uses her gifts to entertain and amuse the guests, often playing matchmaker, all without their knowledge, of course. Vivian is a rare breed of vampire who can mind-control other vampires, even to the point of projecting physical illusions.

The concept of a resort location for the undead was the original push behind creating the series. It made sense to plan the getaway in a seasonal location where darkness reigns supreme: The wilds of Alaska in the winter. Every entertainment imaginable, with plenty of willing blood donors on hand for the visiting vampires.

TRC: How has Vivian’s character changed over the series?

CJ: In the beginning she was very isolated, trusting only her husband and Jon, her vampire servant who’s also an alpha werewolf. As the series progresses, she gains new members to her vampire family and slowly begins to trust them. There are bumps along the way, a few deaths, and lots of intrigue.

Vivian may be a very powerful vampire, but over time she recognizes those relationships she’s avoided have become a source of strength and weakness at the same time. She longs to keep the people she cares about safe, and must confront the reality that she’s not as powerful, or as prepared, as she thinks.

TRC: Would you please tell us something about the premise of BLOOD LEGACY?

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CJ: We left off in BIG GAME with Vivian recovering from torture and her vampire family rallying around her for support. In this latest installment we have her re-grouping with the two most important people in her life, Rafe and Jon, to track down the vampire who escaped her husband’s wrath in the last book. Nothing is as it seems, and the three must hunt two supernatural killers in Buenos Aires while trying to uncover their prey’s location.

TRC: What challenges or difficulties (research, logistics, background, geography) did you encounter writing this particular story?

CJ: I’ve had this story and the concept brewing in my head for over two years, since BIG GAME was published. I knew what I wanted to convey in this installment, even if I didn’t have it all written down yet. The biggest challenge I encountered was starting the book before I’d fully fleshed out the outline. I was working with a group of students on their first novels for National Novel Writing Month in November 2014 while writing this book.

We spent all of October focused on planning their projects, so when I sat down to write with them on Nov 1st, I didn’t have my outline completed. Consequently, when December hit (and they all made their goal) I had to go back and re-work what I had written to make sure everything flowed well and wouldn’t require a ton of revisions later.

It turned out to be the best thing for the book. I was able to finish my outline and start sharing the book in January with my alpha readers. They read it while I finished the rest of the book. The process was exhilarating and reminded me so much why I love this series.

TRC: Your story lines, including BLOOD LEGACY, are often written from multiple points of view. How do you keep the premise flowing smoothly using many POV?

CJ: That’s where the outline comes in. I plot the entire book from alternating POVs. When I made alterations in December, I had to add chapters and change passages to fit with the timeline. The process was tedious and drove home the point to not start a book without a completed outline. Especially when you have three POVs!

The only way the tale is going to be smooth is if you have a timeline written out and now exactly where all the players are at any given time, and exactly what they are doing and does it add to the story. If it does, you either have to show it or weave the info in at an appropriate time. I didn’t set out to write a story with multiple POVs, as the first book is only from one, but when I attempted to write multiple POVs years ago, it felt right. And I’ve never regretted the decision to tell the stories this way.

TRC: How do you keep the plot unpredictable without sacrificing content and believability especially in a storyline where most of the characters are supernatural and the premise focuses on the paranormal?

CJ: I read a lot. That’s the best way to explain it. If the books are shorter, like 30-50k, I can read them in an evening or two. If they are longer, like most of my favorite urban fantasies are, they will take a few days. As an author, you will only know what’s been overdone if you read what’s popular in your genre.

That’s not to say you’ll never repeat something that’s already been done, more than likely you will, but if you read a lot, you’ll know how to put a spin or twist on your idea that may make it stand out or not feel like a carbon copy of everything else that’s out there already.

I try my best to craft a story that is unpredictable. I’ve plotted books where the ending appeared obvious while I’m writing it, meaning I led the reader there too easily, and I will re-write the ending on the fly. As an example, I plotted THE HUNT with the idea I’d add Emiko to the growing seethe, or vampire family. But as I got closer to the end, that seemed obvious. I grabbed my notes and quickly re-plotted the ending. The final result was better than the plotted original, I think.

I’d also plotted BIG GAME as Vivian escaping her tormentors, killing everyone she encountered, and rescuing everyone else. The ending with Rafe being the hero turned out much better.

TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters? How much influence does Vivian have on the overall series direction?

CJ: I direct the writing. If I’ve plotted something that doesn’t match with the character, I either need to add a situation where they would act as I want, introduce an element that meets the end I want, or re-write the premise. In BLOOD LEGACY I’d plotted a difficult situation for Jon, but when I was writing the book I couldn’t write the deed as I wanted. Jon’s character was too honorable to go the route I’d directed. So I came up with a viable solution. And I’m glad I did. I like the result better this way.

The characters do not talk to me in my head. What I see as I write is more of a movie playing in my head. But occasionally the players stand around and do nothing. Or I sense that the action I want to happen won’t work with the character’s sense of self. Creating is an interesting beast. Different for every author, I’m sure.

TRC: What is something that few, if any people, know about you?

CJ: Hmm…. that’s a tough one. I’m pretty open about the real me online. Okay, here’s something that happened to me recently that I think very few people know: I had a run in with an angry reader last year that started me on a downward spiral of not creating for a very long time — eight months. The longest I’ve ever not written since I became a writer.

That incident was the tip of many bad things that followed — an event and several connected projects I’d worked long hours on fell apart, and a friendship I treasured dried up and disappeared without any concrete reason. Overall, it was a very hard time.

But the bright side of things was I spent more time on my health and finally focused on all the stuff I should have been doing to get better. That extra time helped heal me. I’m in a better place now and am more careful about how close I’ll let work-relationships get to me.

TRC: On what are you currently working?

CJ: I’m working on plotting the next V V Inn book (even a few novellas), three other separate series proposals for my agent, and then plotting the last book in the Walk on the Wild Side series, VANILLA SPICE.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

CJ: Nope, I’m good. Thanks for the great questions. Really made me think.

TRC: Thank you CJ for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the release of BLOOD LEGACY.

CJ: Thanks for having me here today, Sandy! I wish your blog a more prosperous year than ones before, and may every book you read bring you on a journey.

CJ Ellisson has graciously donated a signed, first edition paper copy of VAMPIRE VACATION for ONE lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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11. Giveaway runs until February 28, 2015