“First Dates are Hell” is appearing the The Supernatural Underground anthology, Vampires Gone Wild, out February 12, 2013 at all e-book retailers. The book also features stories from: Kerrelyn Sparks, Pamela Palmer, and Kim Falconer
2) Where did the idea come from for the story?
We met the hero of “First Dates” Valiance in the third installment of the Diaries of an Urban Panther series. Valiance was a warrior prince for the vampire Clade inDallas and when our heroine and werepanther Violet Jordan needed a little more help, Valiance pledged his sword to her cause.
What Violet would expect of this warrior in a time of peace?
3) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
This is an easy one. I made a Pinterest board for each new project, so casting the characters was the first thing that I did.
It’s been a hundred years since Valiance dated; it isn’t any easier now than it was back then.
5) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?
It took me about a month to write the first draft. What was challenging about this project was that it was a short story, and even though there are fewer words, the characters still need to react and change during the story, so they needed to be the right words. Apparently, I think in epic story arcs, so I really needed to look at what I wanted to focus on, which was the one choice that Valiance would make.
6) What other projects would you compare this story to within your genre?
Hopefully it’s still in the same vein as Diaries, but I think this one is less snark and more emotions. I think that “First Dates” has elements of what has always influenced me as writer: the snappy snark of Shonda Rhimes, the emotional journeys of Alice Hoffman, and the paranormal world building of Charlaine Harris.
See the pictures of Michael Fassbender and tell me that you wouldn’t want to think about him non-stop for a month. My life is awesome.
Fun Story time: I’ve always preached that you should write about what you know. For, Diaries, the main character needed to shoot a gun, so I went to a gun range. In the second, I needed to know about biker bars, so I went to a few around town.
