Be Inspired!

So a few weeks ago I had the lovely Sophie Moss here as a guest. She writes about selkies and roses and romance, and she blogs at Sophie Moss Writes. You can also find her on Twitter @SMossWrites

Last week she wrote about the Be Inspired Blog Hop (you can see her post here), and you know what? She tagged me for the next round.  How cool is that?!

I like this meme because it's about inspiration and where it comes from. What are the seeds of our work?  In our dreams, who do we cast as our characters? Read through these ten questions to learn a little more about me, and  don't forget to pop over to Vicki's blog Page After Page to see her answers, too! At the end I'll tag some writers to carry on in the next round. (The rules say to tag 5 writers but I might do a couple more.)
;)


1. What is the name of your book?
A Vampire's Deadly Delight








2. Where did the idea of your book come from?
I was tired of reading books where the main (female) character dropped and spread her legs as soon as the uber-handsome vampire came into the room.  I mean really, girls. Have some self-respect. And I'd been watching a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which possibly influenced me (A LOT!). 

3. In what genre would you classify your book?
Paranormal chick lit with strong romantic themes.


4. If you had to pick actors to play your characters in a movie rendition, who would you choose?
So the basic ideas that a rather ordinary bookstore owner, Kristen, has a secret. Whenever she smells vampire, she turns into Jai, a super-gorgeous instrument of vampire destruction. Kristen thinks it's all a big game until they run up against the one vampire Jai can't kill. He claims a history with Jai, and their ability to survive the resulting turn of events may hinge on whether or not Kristen and Jai believe him.

For the role of Kristen, I've always pictured an actress named Jillian Armenante. She had a recurring role on Judging Amy for a number of years, and she's a college friend of my sister's.  Here's her pic:

For Jai, I'd need someone completely different. I've always pictured the very awesome Angelina Jolie in her Lara Croft incarnation. Doesn't she look like she could tag some vamps in this picture?

 











And for Sir John, the vampire that Jai nicknames Shakespeare (because he speaks like the 17th century gentleman he used to be), I always pictured Mathew McConaughey. Because, well, duh...

(And can I just say that it was hard to find a picture where he looked even remotely like a vampire. It was a struggle, but I had to pass up the pic of him shirtless on the beach. Sorry gang. It would have totally ruined the effect.)

5. Give us a one sentence synopsis of your book. 
Oops, I think I did already. There was a 4-sentence synopsis in question #4. You get the idea.

6. Is your book already published/represented? 
 It came out in January of 2012 with Black Opal Books, a boutique publisher where the people are smart and funny and they value their authors.

7. How long did it take you to write your book? 
It's technically a novella (about 42k words) and it took me about two months to come up with the first draft. I pitched it to Black Opal at a SavvyAuthors.com call for submissions and they offered me a contract. After that there was some back and forth with the editing and such. I started writing in February of 2011 and the book came out in January of 2012. Oh, and it would have been nowhere without some fabulous and timely feedback from my beta readers, particularly my sister Liza, who also did the cover art.


8. What other books within your genre would you compare it to? Or, readers of which books would enjoy yours?
While Deadly Delight does have a strong romantic element, I think I was equally influenced by the sort of tongue-in-cheek humor you find in books by writers like A. Lee Martinez and Christopher Moore. And comic books.

9. Which authors inspired you to write this book?
Equal parts Joss Whedon, Christopher Moore, and a couple pissed off '70's feminists.

10. Tell us anything which might pique our interest in this book?  
Anything? Really? How 'bout  that there are colorful characters, an unconventional plot, and a spider. If you don't like spiders, this isn't the book for you.


And now for the tags...I'd like to send the gift of inspiration to the following bloggers...
Tami Clayton ~ Taking Tea in the Kasbah (look for her Letters to Benedict)
Sara W. Foster ~ Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition (look for her 50 Shades of WTF)
Mike Schulenberg ~ Realms of Perilous Wonder (look for his post on shifting gears)
Laird Sapir ~ Shabby Chic Sarcasm (in hopes this will inspire a new post ;)
Cora Ramos ~  Cora Ramos Blog (look for her series of posts where she teaches how to use star signs and the tarot to inform your characters)
Jami Gray ~ Jami Gray's Blog (where Raine teaches Jami how it's done)
Leslie Wright~ The Basement - Level 5 (where she's still twirling from her new release!)
Christine Hughes ~ Write What You Love (if Leslie's twirling, then Christine is creating some kind of centrifugal force - TORN came out last weekend!)
Zrinka Jelic~ Romance Powered by History (one of the best ways to start Monday...)
Mackenzie Crowne ~ Mac's Mad Mania (Mac's got a new release That Dating Thing that's loads of fun)
Jillian Chantal  ~ Romantic Advanture with an International Flair (check out her awesome new cover art)

Amanda Byrne ~ The Rubber Duck Brigade (book & movie reviews and a very snarky worldview...)
Shannon O'Brien ~ Bringing A Little Paranormal Thriller To Your Life (look for her review of A Discovery of Witches)

I hope you find some inspiration here, and that you check out A Vampire's Deadly Delight. If I've tagged you, remember that the rules say to answer the ten questions, link back to me (and Vicki too), and tag five other bloggers. I just tagged more because I couldn't choose just five!
Peace,
Liv


TEAM SOPHIA UPDATE: Hey, so last week when we celebrated Sophia's cancer freedom, I said I wanted to raise $150 to add to the donation Stacey, Sophia & I are going to bring to Seattle Children's Hospital. You've donated $85 so far, which is very cool, and we all thank you for it. If you've got a minute, check out the Team Sophia page on this blog and hit the PayPal 'Donate' button in the upper right corner. If everyone who reads this page kicks in the cost of a latte, we'll blow past that $150 goal. Thanks so much!


Photo credits: 
Jillian Armenante: TV.com
Angelina Jolie: Mike's Collection
Mathew McConaughey: People