First, thank you all very much for your enthusiasm and your interest! I'm honoured and thrilled that these books have found a place in your hearts.
> From Grave_Tidings: If you could change anything about what you've written in "Blood Price," what would it be? (Other than to make Coreen Vicki's assistant as they did on the show, as you've said you'd have done if you'd thought of it.)
Except for hiring on Coreen -- which would have been a minor change in PRICE but made some definite changes in the rest of the series -- I honestly don't think I'd change anything.
> From nessalyn: What inspired you to write Blood Price?
Economics. *g* I wanted to move out of the city and to do that I needed to buy a house and to do that I needed money for a mortgage. I was working at Bakka Books (in Toronto) at the time and saw that vampire readers were incredibly loyal to their genre. They'd buy anything with a set of fangs on the cover in the hope of finding something decent to read. So I thought that if I wrote a good vampire book, I'd find an audience. And I did...
> From vicki&henry4ever: I believe I read somewhere that there weren't going to be any more Blood books. But, while I hated that Vicki was turned because it meant that she and Henry couldn't be together, there was a hint that that might not necessarily be the case in the last book. This is not to say I hated the book, just a testament to your writing that I could have such a strong opinion.
So, I was wondering, if you would find it in your heart to write a sequel, taking place years down the road, in which us Henry/Vicki fans find out if the vampire lore holds true of if Henry and Vicki can break tradition?
I wrote the last Blood over ten years ago and I am truly, honestly, completely done with this mythos at novel length. While I'm thrilled that you (many of you) love these books enough to want more, I've explored everything I want to explore about these characters and their interactions and should I go back at this point (convinced against my better judgement)
you'd only end up with one of those books (and we all know they're out there) where you can only sigh and say, "I wish she'd stopped while they were still good."
> From Daelith: Are there any new urban fantasy/paranormal books in the works? Or even in the "kicking around your brain" process?
Also, when you’re writing, do your characters sometimes have a tendency to take over? I know when I've tinkered at writing, I've had a scene playing out in my head but as I'm writing, it takes a whole different turn.
Hmmm, let's see... I have to finish the fourth Valor book, then I want to write the Napoleonic werewolves book, then I was thinking about a near- future kind of mystery/SF on Mars books, then there was this traditional heroic fantasy I sort of had in my head with giants and bards... and all of this (except the fourth Valor book) is subject to change without notice so the short answer is I've got nothing right now but that doesn't mean I won't tomorrow. *g*
I usually write with nothing more than a general road map so my stuff is very character driven. I know where I'm going but character development often ensures I get there in unexpected ways.
> From beowulftheseus: How much were you influenced by traditional "vampire lore" if at all? If you were influenced, in what ways and did you find it overly constrictive for your characters?
The thing about traditional vampire lore is that a lot of it is self-contradictory so many writers take Bram Stoker as the definitive work. I wanted to work the Henry-is-helpless-in-the-day versus Vicki-is-helpless-at-night (for certain broad definitions of the word helpless). So I kept the whole sun comes up, vampires fall down thing. I liked the visuals of bursting into flame -- and the more powerful the character the more debilitating their weakness has to be or they're boring to write -- so I kept that. I pretty much kept what supported the story and pitched what didn't.
> From Catlady: My question is about Vicki. How did you create her, where did you find the inspiration for such a strong female lead? Are you like her, do you want to be like her or do you know somebody like her?
Every character is a composite of people you know, the things you've read, the what if’s you've run down to their logical conclusions... that said, there's a lot of me in Vicki. Except for the RP, the book Vicki and I are very similar physically (or were back when I was writing it), a lot of her emotional ticks are mine, and the reason she's constantly shoving at her glasses is because at the time I had a pair of loose frames that were constantly sliding down my nose.
> From Kady: My question is: is there a chance you may write a series of books about the Were family that was featured in Blood Trail?
Not books, no, but there are a couple of short stories floating about in my brain that may one day see the light.
> From freg: Hi Tanya. Thanks so much for volunteering to be our first vict.. er .. writer. I picked up all of your books when I first heard the show was coming out. Love them! I love twists on vampire lore and that you chose what was logical to you. Every aspect of the characters came off clear and solid. Okay.. question. I am HUGE lover of vampire lore. What sparked your interest in the vampire genre?
I'm very interested in how one deals with the gift/burden of immortality as well as how many aspects of the vampire myth are so closely tied to sex -- both actually and symbolically. But that said, only five of the twenty-three books I've written have to do with vampires so I'm much more a generalist than a specialist when it comes to myth and lore.
> From Lorelai: Thank you Tanya for taking our questions! I've read other books by you and been a fan, and I'm so happy to see the Blood books turned into a TV show, and that it has been done so well and you like it too! So here's my question: why did you decide to stop writing the series, despite how much the fans want to hear more about Vicky and Henry (and Mike too I guess). Did you just have to stop yourself so you wouldn’t end up rewriting, or have you just said everything you wanted to about the characters? (That's one question, right? I was just trying to make it nice and clear).
You've hit the nail bang on the head! When I got to the end of book five, BLOOD DEBT, I said to my editor that was it. That I'd said everything I had to say about these characters at novel length. Because short stories are idea driven rather than character driven, I'm more than willing to do those but no one, no matter how big a fan of the series they are, should want me to write more books just for the sake of writing them because without an
emotional involvement on my part, I can pretty much guarantee they'll suck.
> From SourGirl: Hello Tanya. Thank you soo much for taking time to answer our questions. My question is...Out of all the Blood books which one was your favorite to write and why?
I think, probably, the second, BLOOD TRAIL. How can you not have fun with a book that has a line in it like, "I don't know as I'm hungry for rat." *g*
> From MmsmcMillen: Tanya, first thank you for doing this interview. My question: The wer family in Blood Trail is so very different from any werewolves I've ever read about or seen in TV or the movies. Very different from the norm. How did you come up with your version of werewolves?
My version of the werewolves is based on wolf pack dynamics. These are wolves who just happen to also be people who maintain the pack dynamic in both forms.
> From Kitty: Thanks Tanya for answering our questions! Are there any authors (living or dead) that you would name as influences to the Blood books? What's your favorite vampire book? (Besides your own wonderful series!)
The thing is, when I start writing in a genre, I stop reading in that genre because the last thing you want to do is inadvertently "borrow" an idea or drive yourself crazy reading something you think you could have done better had you been given the chance. Fortunately, I've been out of the vampire genre for ten years and have really been enjoying Charlaine Harris' Sooky Stackhouse books. (favorite non-vampire authors are Terry Pratchett and Charles de Lint).
> From Scotialynn: I want to say that I love Norman. As off as it is I can relate to him having been picked on through most of school (for being a bookworm). What was your inspiration (if any) for him? Thanks so much for your time.
In high school, I sat at the "geek" table. And we were pretty eccentric even for geeks. Okay, honestly? We were VERY eccentric. *G* Norman’s a composite of the guys I ate lunch with for five years. (until recently Ontario high schools went to grade 13, thus, five years).
> From Ghostvamp: Thank you Tanya for taking time for us. Really like the Star Trek references in your books. My question is, how do you think of all the characters and their names?
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Names! I hate coming up with names. I have (turns and counts) four how to name your baby books in my office. A lot of the choice is based on sound -- how the name works in the cadence of the sentences -- and some of it's like naming a pet -- you base it on personality and hope they don't change much over the course of their life. Once, I actually renamed a character after the book was finished
> From ChrisL: What book, author or movie struck you when you were young that sent you on the road to being an author, especially a writer of this genre.
The Narnia books by C. S. Lewis. When I was in grade three I borrowed them from my older cousin and read them to pieces.
> From nocturnal mistress: Thank you Tanya for being so generous with your fans: Of all the Blood books, does a particular one come to mind that gave you a lot of difficulty to conceive and write? Perhaps a stubborn character who refused to speak to you for days on end, or an idea that refused to blossom and had to be edited out?
Honestly, it's been so long I can't remember. I do know that book four, BLOOD PACT, was the hardest to write because it's the closest to pure horror of the five and horror is very personal.
> From MidnyghtAngyl: Hi there Tanya! I read the Blood books back when they first came out so it's been a long time. They were good then, and now the show is even better. Since there are only 22 episodes for Blood Ties that Lifetime will be showing, I'm wondering if there may be a chance for any more or a movie in the future covering the books?
There's always a chance. Financing, that's the big question! It costs a LOT of money to produce a movie -- seriously, pick a number you think is realistic then multiply it by twenty and you'll still be low. But I'm all for it if it happens!
> From Zia: Thanks for taking the time to answer a few of our questions Tanya! When I read a book, the characters often come to life visually in my mind. When writing do you have specific visuals of your characters (what they look like, mannerisms, etc.)? When writing a book, do you have certain rituals you do to get in writing mode?
Most of the time I do because I write very visually -- it's like I'm transcribing a movie that's playing in my head. When I was writing the Blood books (and remember, I started in the late 80's), I was visualizing Jamie Lee Curtis as Vicki and Ed Marinaro (Joe Coffee from Hill Street Blues) as Mike and the actual portrait of Henry Fitzroy as Henry.
Because writing is my job, I don't actually need to get into a writing mode, I just need to get my butt into my office and actually get the work done, so five or six days a week -- seven during deadline crunches -- I sit down at my desk at one and I write until six. Okay, I also check my email, listen to some Steve Carlson while I'm playing Freecell, and drink a lot of tea, but mostly for those five hours, I write.
> From tanya50801: Who inspired you to become a writer and how did you break into the business.
I always told stories. I have copies of stories I told my grandmother that she wrote down to send to my father from when I was three. Eventually, I started writing them down myself. When I was ten, I sold two poems to a local paper and thought, "Hot damn, someone will pay me money for something I'm going to do anyway!" (I'm paraphrasing a bit there. *g*) I kept writing (novels, short stories, song lyrics, a very bad musical) and there came a time when I realized that what I was writing was as good as what was being published so I started sending a short story around and after two rejections, AMAZING STORIES bought it. About the same time, I sent my novel CHILD OF THE GROVE to Sheila Gilbert at DAW Books, Inc. in NY and it turned out, she wanted it -- after I added a battle scene. Apparently, you can't write a book with a war in it and not include a battle scene. *g*
> From Born2RazeHell: What got you interested in this genre?
I've always read SF and Fantasy. The very first book I have a clear memory or reading was an enormous book on the Greek Gods and Goddesses that I had to get special permission to take out of the children's branch of my local library. I've always loved stories that wondered, what if...
> From SanLynn: Hi Tanya, thanks so much for answering our questions! There's a really major event that happens to conclude your fourth book. I won't go into detail for those who haven't read it but I was wondering if you had that event in mind when you started the series as a way to bring it to a close or did you come up with it after you started the series? Also, why did you feel it was important to the arc of the series to have that event happen? Hope that makes sense. Thanks again for answering our questions.
The major event was where I was aiming right from the very beginning. It was what generated pretty much everything that happened outside major plot points in the first four books. It wasn't so much that it was important to the arc of the series as that it was the ENTIRE under-pinning of the emotional story arcs of the three main characters -- everything was heading right for that spot.
> From Zanna: Hi Tanya, Thank you for taking our questions. And thank you for creating these characters we all love! If you could pick one of the Blood book characters to "come to life" and talk with for an hour, which character would you pick? Thanks again.
Probably Mike. He was always my favorite.
> From francesca: Vampire lore has deep roots in Christianity and its teaching. Your books (and the TV show), have a strong undercurrent of religious ideals and references; for example, in your book the Resurrection of Christ is an event that prevents the entry of a demon in Blood Price and literally knocks Henry to his knees. With Religion a topic that inflames passions, especially if believers feel their religion or beliefs are being belittled or falsely applied, how difficult is it to include religious symbolism or ideology (of any sort) in your writing? Do you worry about getting it right? Or, does "poetic license" allow for loose interpretation of doctrine if it advances the story? Thank you for taking time to answer our questions.
I worry about getting everything right; religion is no different. Henry Fitzroy was a practicing Catholic (except for when it was politically expedient for him to keep it quiet) so to be true to the historical character, my Henry also has to be a practicing Catholic. I don't actually worry about offending people -- I worry about getting it right, doing justice to both the plot and emotional content of the story, and not insulting my readers' intelligence. I called the Catholic Fellowship Center in Toronto to get the Latin liturgical of Christ is Risen and when I explained why I needed it there was a long pause on the other end of the
phone and then the Sister called out, "Father, I think this one's for you!"
> From beyond hope: Okay question: You based Henry after an actual historical person, which by the way is very cool; how did you find out about him or is history kinda your thing?
History is one of my things. *g* I was reading a book on the Tudor age and there was a paragraph on the death of Henry Fitzroy -- he was in perfect health and then, three months later, he was wane and dead and I thought, sounds like a vampire to me. Which lead me to look up other details about his life and then, when I needed a vampire for the first Blood book, there he was.
> From nightsmusic: Thank you, Tanya, for taking questions. I have a million floating around in my head as my husband's family emigrated from a little village outside Transylvania in the late 1800's, at a time when Stoker's Dracula was very popular...made for an interesting transition to America. However, what I think I would like to know is -- I have a few friends who are also published authors and I asked each one of them this question and am curious to hear your response as well. When they propose a new book, they turn in an outline however, every one of them, hands down, have all told me the story is always very different from the one originally proposed including, often times, the details of the ending though the ending itself remains true to the original idea as far as who gets 'what’. Do you turn in an outline as well and then find your characters taking you in completely different directions as well and if so, how do you and your publisher agree on the finished product since it varies so from the original. Thanks again!
Because I've now written twenty-two novels for the same editor my outlines tend to consist of who the main characters are and where the story begins and where I'd like them to end up which leaves me a lot of room for changes. Even back when I was writing longer outlines, I generally didn't look at them once the book was sold. I remember during NO QUARTER getting the characters into a situation I wasn't sure how to get them out of and I thought, "I know, I'll check to see what I said in the outline." Ha. At that point I wasn't even close to the outline. I always know where I'm going and I always end up where I say I will and I pretty much have the highlights in my head before I start but I'm just not always sure how I'm going to get to where I need to go. In the end, my editor only cares that I've written a good book. We've had conversations that went something like:
Her: I thought X was supposed to happen?
Me: Yeah, me too.
That said, work for hire -- media tie-in, gaming books, and the like -- have to have very detailed outlines. We're talking a point-by-point chapter break down. Once that's approved and the final contract is signed, it's the author's responsibility to stick to it. When I wrote the Ravensloft book, SCHOLAR OF DECAY, the only change between the outline and the final book was that one of the chapters split -- it took longer to tell but the details of the story didn't change.
> From teresab313: Thank you, Tanya, for taking our questions. I was not familiar with your books until the Blood Ties show. I am so glad I found out about them. I have read all the Blood books now and I am finishing the 3rd Smoke book. I have enjoyed them all immensely! Although you have stated on numerous occasions that you have written all you will write about the characters in the Blood books, could there possibly be a series of short stories hidden away in the back of your mind about the time span between when Vicki and Henry move to Vancouver and Vicki returns to Toronto? I don't know why, but I am curious to read about exactly what happened during Vicki's transformation, what prompted the decision to move back to Toronto, as opposed to moving somewhere else, how Henry handled the transformation and the move, etc., etc. Again, thank you for taking our questions.
No, sorry. Right now, ten years away from writing the last Blood book, there's no chance of me taking a look at that time span. Which is not to say I'll never write it, but it's very unlikely. I can tell you that she went back to Toronto because of Mike.
> From MrsHenryFitzroy: First of all I love your books!!! My question for you I is: if Tony would make an appearance on Blood Ties who would you like to play Tony and why? Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.
The problem is, I don't know a lot of the hot *young* actors right now. (both Jared and Jensen are way too old)(yes, I'm a huge SPN geek). Chad Michael Murray wouldn't have been bad six or seven years ago -- back in his GG days -- and back in 2002 when he started playing Conner on Angel, Vincent Kartheiser would have been great. Right now... my top pick would have to be Taylor Kitsch who plays Tim Riggins on Friday Night Lights.
> From Sylvie: Hi Tanya! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions! My question is: Are there any particular writers whose style influenced the way you write today, either positively or negatively?
I think I'd have to say Robert Heinlein and Andre Norton -- both of them had a clean, clear prose style and concentrated on solid storytelling with sympathetic yet imperfect characters. I've read pretty much everything they've both ever written. These days, I'd have to say that Terry Pratchett has an influence just because I love the way he uses language and how he finds the magic in people just living their lives. Okay, they're living
their lives on a world resting on four elephants floating through space on the back of a giant turtle but still...
> From Boomer: Hi Tanya! Thanks so much for taking time out of your schedule to answer our questions. I'm wondering how you approach the details that go into your books ... do you tend to write what you know as authors are often encouraged to do or do you have to do extensive research into certain topics? I'm thinking specifically of your knowledge of police procedure as related in the Blood books, and I was particularly impressed with the details regarding firearms and shooting competitions in Blood Trail, which I just finished reading, btw, and thoroughly enjoyed ... couldn't put it down! Are these things that you have specific or first-hand knowledge of or did you have to spend endless hours in the library researching?
Both. *g* Some things I know but most things I research. But I spend more time talking to people who know what I need to know than I do in the library. People are an author's most valuable resource because you don't just want the facts, you want the feelings.
> From bettyboop73: Tanya thanks so much for answering our questions. I was just wondering what made you decide for Vicki to be with Mike in the end instead of Henry?
From a purely practical viewpoint, in my mythos two vampires cannot share a hunting ground. They're very territorial predators -- as top of the food chain predators often are. Secondly, she'd known and loved Mike for years. They shared a history, interests, laughter... He's handsome, he's intelligent, he laughs at her jokes, he's tolerant of her emotional ticks but she can't push him around. Henry was an exotic bad boy who blew into
her life one day and turned things upside down. There's never a future with those guys.
> From pandorasknife: What kind of things do you dream about? Are they inspirations for your books? Thank you.
Well, lately I haven't been dreaming enough about the guys from Supernatural but that's something I need to take up with my subconscious... The first two chapters of Fifth Quarter were based entirely on a dream but other than that, I've never used them in my books.
> From allmightybecca: Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. I also want be fan-girl for a minute and say a huge THANK YOU for so writing so many wonderful books!!! My question: How long does it take for you to write a book? Do you ever have ideas that you think will be a short story and they end up longer?
It takes me about nine months to a year to write a book. I finish a book then I go right into about three months of research for the new one -- it takes about three months to reach a critical amount of information -- then I write beginning to end, rewriting as I go, then I edit for about a week (because I rewrite as I go, there's almost no difference between my first
and final draft) then I send it off and I start all over again.
Because my actual training is in radio and television, I'm very good at writing to length. Short stories are usually contracted between 5,000 to 7,500 words and in sixty-four stories I've gone over twice and under once. That said, I just wrote a story called Blood in the Water for a military fantasy anthology that I think could be part of a book.
> From strangelogic: Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions! I read that you had previously thought that Christina Cox would make a good Vicki before the show had even been conceived. Were there any other actresses you imagined playing Vicki? And were there any actors you had pictured as Henry or Mike?
When I was writing the Blood Books (and remember, I started in the late 80's) I was visualizing Jamie Lee Curtis as Vicki and Ed Marinaro (Joe Coffee from Hill Street Blues) as Mike and the actual portrait of Henry Fitzroy as Henry.
> From auntyrobin: First off thanks again for being willing to subject yourself to the fan fervor. I too came to the books through the series and was immediately hooked. My question -- was it always intentional to have Mike and Henry come to have such a great respect for each other, (if grudgingly so), or did that just seem to flow as each book came about?
Well, I was always aiming for THE scene in book four so from the beginning had to develop the respect necessary for that to work.
> From slpa: Tanya, thank you for taking the time to participate and answer our questions. I have read in several articles that in the books Vicki was bisexual. I have read all of the books and did not pick up on this. Is it true? Do you know if this will be dealt with at all in the television series?
Christina and I actually spoke about this and she thinks that something she said was misconstrued. I never explicitly said Vicki was bi but I never explicitly said she wasn't either so I am happy if they want to go with it.
> From Barbi: Vicki is a strong female character. Before your books were published, did you get feedback to soften her character?
In BLOOD LINES my editor wanted me to expand the climb up the tower to show how much pain she was in but she's never asked for any personality changes.
> From Jessie: I know that some authors also teach writings online or at colleges. Is this something that you have done or will do in the future for other aspiring writers?
Teaching is a specific skill that not only requires talent but training and I just don't have either. I don't have the patience a teacher requires or the ability to explain things so that people can understand it. I can't tell a student why something doesn't work and how to fix it but I can't do it in such a way that they'd actually learn anything.
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