About Your Books:
1) What are you currently working on now?
Another Nocturne, but a shorter novella, about half
the length of the usual, tentatively titled "A Kiss of
Frost", and possibly out next November 2008. The hero
is Jack Frost (yes, that dude) and he's an assassin.
Goes after environmental offenders. The heroine is a
snowflakologist, who is trying to find two snowflakes
alike. They can only find true love if her heart can
grow cold, because if Jack's grows warm, he's toast
(or rather, a puddle). :-)
Yep, it's a far cry from vampires, and I'm loving this
story! I'm also a huge fan of snow.
2) Which book, of your own, is your favorite?
Which one of my babies do I like best? :-) It
changes. Right now I love FAMILIAR STRANGER. But if
I had to pick one overall fav, it would be MY LADY
MADNESS. It's twisted. The hero was suicidal, the
heroine insane, and the villain was an evil castrato
who wanted to murder the heroine. It's set in my
favorite time and place, 18th C Paris. Oh, and there
were faeries, too! :-)
3) What do your friends and family think about you
writing stories involving vampires and witches?
They just give me 'that look'. I'm sure if you're a
fan of vampires, you've gotten the look too. But I
have a few relatives who read my stuff and really
enjoy it. Oftentimes at book signings, a sweet little
old lady will approach and ask what the story is
about. I just know she'll freak if she even touches
the book, so I gently explain it's paranormal, about
vampires. They usually shudder, and walk away.
Quickly. Hey. Not everyone likes vampires, and I
understand that. I'm a little hard-pressed to like
werewolves, myself. :-)
4) How did you get involved with Silhouette and the
Nocturne series?
It was a strange route from initially selling a
medieval fantasy trilogy to the LUNA line (SERAPHIM,
GOSSAMYR, RHIANA), then my editor suggested I try
Bombshells because she knew I liked the
action/adventure stuff. Then the editor suggested
Nocturnes when that line was created, because she knew
I liked paranormals. So I've sort of been 'invited'
to write for each of those lines, and am really glad I
did, because they are right up my alley!
5) How long did it take for you to become a published
author? Did you sell your 1st book?
Erm, yeah, I sold my first book. (Lots of authors
give me 'the look' for that one, too.) Sold it back
in 1993, and it was a vampire romance. Back then, I
can say that the romance market wasn't as competitive
or glutted as it is now. It was probably a bit easier
for a first time author to get read and bought. Now,
wow! There's so much competition. I feel for a
first-time author trying to market her work and get it
read. But it does happen all the time, so I don't
want to discourage anyone!
About Writing:
1)What book do you suggest for aspiring authors to
craft their own vampire novels?
Hmm, like research books? Well, I read The Annotated
Dracula (highly recommend the annotated version
because there's a lot of stuff in there that needs
explanation). This will give the writer a good idea
of one of the original vampire stories. What is
possible, and heck, it's just the best vampire story
ever written.
Then, pick up one of the vampire encyclopedias out
there. They have definitions and all sorts of info on
vampire mythology. I read through a lot of those
kinds of books as I was writing my first vamp story.
I had an exact idea of what I wanted to do, but to
read some of those books will give you a basis for
your own mythology, which you really want to have to
make the story convincing.
2) What advice would you have liked to have known
before you became a published author?
Hmm. I really jumped into the whole writing thing
blindly. Wrote my book during the evening after work.
Didn't know another writer. Wasn't aware of writer's
groups or critique groups. Then when I sent it out to
publishers, I was completely on my own as well. After
that first sale, I learned there was this whole world
of writers out there, just like me. So I guess I
would have liked to have info. on agents and
contracts.
You can sell that first book yourself. But, you
really want to know what is in that contract you are
signing. If you don't have an agent, find one, or
hire an entertainment lawyer to read through the
contract. Do not sign that contract without
understanding every single line in it! That is the
best advice I can give.
3) How do you write your books? Do you storyboard your
book ahead of time or just write and let inspiration
guide you?
I'm a dreamer. Literally. I'll come up with an idea,
then over the course of a week or two, it'll come to
me completely in my dreams (I can direct my dreams
when I'm just falling asleep, most of the time). I'll
take notes in the morning. Then, I'll start writing.
I don't like to have a written outline because I just
like to follow the characters and see where they take
me. But having dreamed it out in advance, I have a
basic idea of what I want to happen, and where I want
things to go.
Then, after I've got that first draft, I'll sit down
and outline, and figure out GMC (Goal, Motivation and
Conflict) and really do some work on the story.
4) Do you feel that the stigma against Romance writers
has changed? Is the genre still seen as "bodice
rippers" books in the publishing world?
The publishing world, I believe understands that
romance sells over half of all mass-market paperbacks
yearly. That includes all the big names like Stephen
King, Grisham, whatever. Romance outsells them all.
Now, a select portion of readers, I think, may still
have a very old opinion of romance. They used to be
bodice rippers, in the early eighties. They've
changed. Drastically. But unfortunately, the stigma
remains. That's so weird. But then, some of the
covers are very explicit, so I can see where a reader
might look at a book and cringe.
About Your Book:
1) How many changes, if any, did you have to make from
your original storyline to the finished product, after
the publisher, editor, etc got involved?
For KISS ME DEADLY? I just did light line edits.
Sometimes an editor may suggest major revisions, like
different plot lines or removing scenes or adding them
for a book. I've done that. Sometimes, she'll just
breeze through and edit, leaving but a few sentences
for you to correct. I've done that. Other times, it
just depends.
Usually you hand in a proposal before you write the
story. The editor then makes suggestions for changes
from that, or she says it's great and to write the
story. That prevents a lot of huge changes after the
manuscript is complete.
Sometimes you'll get an edited manuscript back with
post-it notes all through it. That means the
copyeditor wants you to verify your research, or
names, or places, etc.
2) If you were able to write this story as a 100K,
instead of the required 70K range, what would you have
included in the story?
Oh, heck, not sure. Probably would have increased the
storyline involving the werewolves. Showed them
interacting with Truvin more. Might have beefed up
Gabriel's part. More romance between the hero and
heroine. I think it was fine as it was, though.
3) If Johnny Depp didn't exist, who else would you
have used as the reincarnation of "Himself"?
So you're asking me who my greatest temptation is?
Well, right now I'm staring at a picture of Jonathan
Rhys Meyers. He's the inspiration for my Jack Frost
character. Those lips! Oh, and then there's Daniel
Day Lewis, who serves as inspiration for an Irish
swordsman I'm also writing about. And Michael Wincott.
He just...does it for me. :-)
4) Did Silhouette consider this book a success? How do
they determine "success" if they pull the book after
only a month?
Well, it usually takes a good year for 'numbers' to
show up for a category release. That's because the
publisher has to wait for returns. After the book has
been on the shelf a month, the next months' books
arrive. So, if there are any copies of my book left,
the store will strip off the cover (I know!) and send
it back to Silhouette for credit. This can take a
while for all the covers to be returned and the
accounting dept. to catch up. We just got royalty
statements and I got numbers for my first Nocturne
which was out
November '06. That did well. But you see, it doesn't
really show until much later. But overall, I've been
told the Nocturne line is doing very well. Readers
love paranormal. I think the genre won't die down any
time soon. We must have our vampires and witches!
From: jthelms8901: Why did you start writing about
vampires and witches? Where do you get the ideas for
them and are they usually present times you write
about? Thanks again!! Can't wait to read more.
Why did I start with the vamps? Well, it
actually started with television remake of the Dark
Shadows series, starring Ben Cross. That was early
90s. I had never considered the vampire as a 'sexy'
being before, but Ben Cross did it for me. (Well,
back then he did.)
So I'd always been a very imaginative person and had
often said to myself, 'you should write this stuff
down', so I finally did. And that first book was a
vampire romance, DARK RAPTURE.
The witches came in a lot later; in fact, I didn't
consider writing about them until this latest Bewitch
The Dark series.
And yes, usually I write contemporaries for my
paranormals. Though, sometimes I will toss in some
historical flashbacks because my first love is the
historical romance. (I published five historicals
after that first contemporary vampire romance).
I do actually have a historical vampire story that
features Baptiste Renan (Jane Renan's father; she is
the heroine of FROM THE DARK). I'm trying to sell that
one right now, so cross your fingers!
If you're interested in my backlist, you can find it
at my website: www.michelehauf.com
From: blackroze: how much different is it to write a
paranormal to any other genre romance?
Answer: Paranormals are different from 'straight'
romances only in that there is a new 'world' I get to
work with. The romance is still fore in the story. But
I get to create vampires and witches, and decide
exactly what they get to be like, and what aspects are
a part of their lives. Do vampires get to walk in the
daylight (as Dracula did) or do they burst into flames
at first sight of sun? Do they drink blood from
humans, or are theY the blood bag types? And I've got
to make it all believable, which is the hard part.
But I love doing paranormal stories because of that
added world building. And for me, I'm just not
interested in a contemporary story that doesn't
involve some kind of otherworldly creature. At least,
not at the moment.
From MrsHenryFitzroy: Are you going to write about "Himself" (I just loved that name) especially the fact
that he can change at the drop of a hat? How did you
come up with that name?
Answer: Conny, about Himself. I love that dude! And I
got the name because there are many names for the
devil, and one of them is The Old Lad Himself. In my
historicals, if I mention the devil, I usually call
him The Old Lad, so in my contemporary story it was
just natural to call him Himself.
And I have this same vision of the devil, no matter
what story I write, in that he would appear to you as
your greatest temptation.
From Sylvie: Hi Michele! Thanks so much for taking the
time to answer our questions! My question is about the
story itself. It strikes me as sort of a reverse
Beauty and the Beast. Instead of changing back to a
prince when Ravin says she loves Nikolaus, he changes
back to a vengeful would-be killer. (Although from the
point of view of the Kila, Ravin is the beast!) Was it
your intention to tweak the Beauty and the Beast
story? Because it definitely made for an interesting
and exciting twist!
Answer: Sylvie - I wasn't thinking about Beauty and
the Beast at all, but it always is so interesting to
me when readers pick up on things like that. Because
yeah, it fits, doesn't it?
From Catlady: I like vampires and witches so this
story was great for me. I'd like to know which one of
these paranormal characters fascinate you the most:
witches or vampires, and why? And do you plan in the
future books to explore more of the witchcraft lore
(spells, powers...)
Answer: CatLady - Vamps are probably my favorite, just
because I've written about them a lot, and feel most
comfortable with their 'lore'. Witches are newer to
me, and I'm a little intimidated by all the research
and folklore and actual knowledge about them. So I
tried to create my own idea of witches. And yes, I
will explore them a bit more in book #4 of the Bewitch
The Dark series, which is tentatively titled, THE
DEVIL TO PAY. (But could be changed to DESIRED THINGS;
just depends which title my editor likes.)
From freg: Hi Michele! Thanks so much for coming out
to play with us. Oh and an early Happy Halloween!! YAY
I had to order your book online because I didn't
realize that the books were only on the shelf for a
limited time. What's the advantage of publishing a
book that gets pulled in a month?
Answer: freg - I'm not sure there is an advantage, to
an author, of having a book out on the shelves for
only a month. But that's how the series books at
Harlequin/Silhouette work. The publisher is able to
put out more books, which the readers like, and then
the authors do have opportunity to publish more books
faster. But of course, that requires writing the books
quickly, and every author has a different pace.
Myself, I can write a great story in five months. So
that gives me about 2 1/2 books a year. Which is
great, because then my readers have about 2 books a
year to read.
Single titles books (anything not series like the
Harlequin stories) do get a longer shelf time. When I
was writing historicals they were put out for at least
six months, or until they sold out. That's much
better!
From DreamVision: Your cover art model is different
from the man in your book. Did you have any influence
on the cover art? Do you like the cover to your book?
Answer: Yes that cover model. Well, but he's handsome,
yes? I wish I could have had a bald tattoo-scalped
cover model, but Harlequin wasn't too keen on that.
The authors are asked to fill out an Art Fact Sheet
before the art department begins the cover art. That
form allows us to give the art department details on
what our hero/heroines do, look like, and even some
scene suggestions. Oftentimes, when I write, I have an
actor or model in mind, so I'll even post a picture
for the art department. Nikolalus Drake was Michael
Wincott, by the way. Ravin was Michelle Rodriguez. But
usually, we authors are just thankful if the
characters on the covers look half as close to what we
want. Heck, sometimes the hair color isn't even right,
so we've got to be thankful for something, eh?
From DreamVision: I like the "Nocturne" series. Did
you write your book specifically for them and how many
books are going to be in your "Bewitching the Dark"
line?
Answer: And yes, I wrote this story specifically for
Nocturne. The Nocturne series of books are shorter
than the average book on the romance shelves (Ex:
Sherrilyn Kenyon's are probably 100k words long.)
Nocturnes are 70k, so an author goes into the story
knowing it's shorter and she can't have as complicated
a plot as those longer books. It's an exercise in
restraint. Right now, I really like my editor, and I'm
allowed to explore pretty much anything I want in the
Nocturne line, so I'm happy writing for them. I'm
actually working on a faery idea at the moment.
Because the Bewitch The Dark series is 4 books total,
so after that, I want to try something different.
Thank you Michele!
Thanks for having me at the Blood Ties forum this
month! It was great.
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