Diana Laurence Interview
publication date 01-09-10
Diana Laurence
Diana is the author of several award winning books: paranormal, non-paranormal, fiction, and non-fiction.
Latest Release
How to Catch and Keep a Vampire: A Step-By-Step Guide to Loving the Bad and the Beautiful
Release Date: October 2009
Publisher: Sellers Publishing
How to Catch and Keep a Vampire’s Official Site
The Interview
Tell us a little about what’s been going on with you. Are you working on anything currently?
I’m serving as a consultant and editor for a graphic novel my illustrator, CC Rogers, is doing. She’s so talented, I’m really excited to be involved with it. As far as my own writing, I’m taking a little hiatus. Along with the release of How to Catch and Keep a Vampire last year, and all that entailed, I published four other books last year. Pretty exhausting in addition to the day job!
What is your favorite thing about being an author? Share a story?
I just love having readers. Knowing they are reading my words, and the people and worlds I’ve created are playing out in their imaginations–it’s the best! There have been a few particularly spectacular examples. I met the aforementioned CC Rogers when she sent me some fan art based on a scene in one of my stories, and that blew me away. One time a graduate student emailed me because he was writing a paper comparing my story “The Dark Prince” with Nathaniel Hawthorne. Can you imagine? People have posted online that some of my books and stories are their favorites ever. You can’t put a price on that kind of reward.
Who are your favorite authors?
My favorites and influences are pretty eclectic: Neil Gaiman, Jane Austen, Stephen King, C.S. Lewis, Charlotte Bronte, Robin Hobb, John Irving, William Shakespeare, Ray Bradbury. A crazy blend of classic British literature, science fiction, classic romance, fantasy and horror. If you read my stuff, I think you’ll see it!
What keeps you motivated to write?
I have a conviction that some people write like they sleep, eat and breathe, and I’m one of those. Before I could write I made up stories. As soon as I mastered a pencil I started writing those stories down. It’s been a part of my life for as long as I remember.
What do you do with your free time?
Having a full time job AND writing and running my little publishing company (Living Beyond Reality Press), it’s amazing that I have free time! But I actually do (largely thanks to a husband who does most of the home management stuff). I love working with polymer clay (here’s my online gallery: www.dianalaurence.com/polyclay.html), I make beaded jewelry and sew sock creatures, I dabble in drawing and painting, I love cooking and mixology. Plus I watch movies and a ridiculous about of TV; I’m a pop culture addict.
What is the first thing you wrote that you were truly proud of? (not necessarily a novel, perhaps a poem in high school) Can you share some of it?
In the fourth grade our class listened to a national radio show called “Let’s Write” and did the assignments. My teacher sent in many of my pieces, and a couple of them got read on the air. One was a poem about taking a sleigh ride through my home town (which to my knowledge no one has ever actually done). The other was a story called “600 Yards Under the Shoe” which was about running the 600 yard dash from the point of view of one of my sneakers. Then, when I was 13 I had a short story called “The Orange Crate with No Second Floor” published in Teen magazine. I was especially proud of that because I worked so hard editing it I almost lost my mind!
What is your inspiration for the idea of this book?
The credit for How to Catch and Keep a Vampire goes to my editor at Sellers Publishing, Robin Haywood. She had the idea to do a vampire dating book, and searched online to find someone to write it. I had written one of my 2006 monthly columns for the Novelspot website on the subject of taming vampires (or rather, how you can’t). That and my history of writing vampire stories prompted Robin to invite me to author the book.
Where do you get your inspiration for your characters? Are any of the traits based on people you know?
A lot of times a person (or more often a character from fiction, TV and movies) will inspire the characters I create. That was the case with a couple of my personal heroes, hockey star Guy Carbonneau and Les “Survivorman” Stroud. Sometimes the inspiration is not so literal and more just the spark to get me excited, for example when James McAvoy’s performance in the Dune mini-series inspired Etrae’u in my novella “Conjugals.” No one would ever see a resemblance!
Do you have a favorite vampire character besides your own? Why?
I loved Frank Langella’s interpretation of the role of Dracula in the 1979 film. He was unbelievably sexy and desirable while not compromising his creepy, evil, monstrous nature. He was scary and charismatic, the ideal combination for a vampire. His portrayal has haunted me for thirty years and I’m sure influenced all my own vampire characters. Currently I’m very fond of both Bill and Eric on “True Blood.” They are dangerous, charming, funny and sexy, and to my mind very true to the model of a “modern vampire.”
Would any of your vampires date a Sookie or Bella? If not, what character would they date?
With apologies to the Twilight fans out there, while there were many things about that series that I liked, Bella drove me a little nuts. Envisioning my Mordred on a date with her is pretty humorous…he would be rather different than Edward, I assure you! On the other hand, I can see most of my vampire friends willing to hang out with Sookie. She’s the kind that the vampires of my acquaintance really love: spunky and self-assured, yet very enamored of the undead. She appreciates vampires without kowtowing to them.
Which of your vampires did you enjoy writing about the most?
I am just as much in love with Conner as I seem to be in the book. He’s pretty much my personal dream vampire. But for sheer fun, writing about Mordred is right up there. He’s got the dangerous, sexily scary persona going on, but is also dryly funny and perfect beneficent–at least to his friends.
Have you gotten only positive reactions from people about this book? Anyone writing you to tell you that vampires aren’t real?
It’s gotten a ton of reviews and they have been 92% extremely positive. It’s been wonderful seeing how enthusiastically people respond to the book. Nobody has criticized it because “vampires aren’t real”…there are just a few readers out there who don’t get the appeal of the undead and didn’t like the subject matter in the first place. But it seems people who like vampires, whether they be fans of the characters from “True Blood,” Twilight, or other immortals, really dig it. Actually, my most common emails from readers ask me if the vampires I wrote about are real. Even people who are solidly in the camp of realists find themselves caught up–which I just love to hear!
Would you date a vampire? Why or why not?
When Glamour magazine asked me that question, they required me to take the negative side (for good reason: Charlaine Harris was already on board to take the positive!). But truly, I would be thrilled to date any sort of vampire except the evil kind. Just hearing firsthand about events from centuries ago would be worth it. Throw in the fun supernatural powers and the irresistibly domineering allure, and you have a pretty nice package. Plus, as we well know, they are all very hot looking.
Do you believe the image of the vampire has changed in the last 5 years? How so? Do your vampire friends like this change?
When I entered the romance writing scene in 2005, vampire romance was already booming. Most people have always felt vampires were sexy, but they were too dangerous to consider as dating partners. I think that began to transition with Buffy, and her relationships with Spike and Angel. Somewhere along in there more and more people gave consideration to the potential of the undead as romantic heroes. Obviously the international craze that is Twilight brought this “new approach” to the general public. Personally I (and my vampire friends) love these developments. There is too much potential for great storytelling about the undead to limit them only to serving as monsters or villains. And with these fresh new approaches to the archetype, people are learning to love vampires who paid them no attention before.
Can you tell us a little about your other novels?
I first made a name for myself in romance with my series of Soulful Sex story collections. They fill a niche that I don’t believe was addressed much before: readers who enjoy reading about sex but are put off by standard erotica. My stories are very graphic but also tasteful, if you can picture that! I’ve published five volumes, most recently Soulful Sex: The Darker Side, my favorite book to date. I have also published five novels: The Resurrection of Captain Eternity (a contemporary romance), Souls’ Embrace (a paranormal romance in a Renaissance-type fantasy setting), Looking on Darkness (a contemporary thriller about psychic vampirism), and my vampire romance novels Bloodchained and Bloodchained II: The Secret of Secrets. I also have two non-fiction books: Living Beyond Reality: A Jungian Primer for Enhancing Your Life and Do-It-YourSelf Publishing. Lastly, there’s my comic book set in the Bloodchained universe, Sign of the Bloodletters, and my romance fortune telling cards, “Diana’s Deck.”
Any plans to include any other paranormal creatures or do you want to stick with vampires? Are you planning on writing any follow up books to “How to Catch…”?
I am very eclectic so would certainly not limit myself to vampires! I have an idea for a sort of sequel to HTCAKAV that would involve paranormal creatures galore, so that may be what I work on next. We’ll see!
Do you have any plans to include any characters from this book into your future novels?
I’m definitely considering that, since people seem to be responding to them so well. So stay tuned!
Is there anything you’d like to add or say to the readers?
For those who’ve never tried my work, I invite you to try some out for free! I have seven works you can read online or download in ebook format here: www.livingbeyondreality.com/readfree.html. There are also excerpts from my books and other fun stuff to enjoy on my website www.dianalaurence.com (click on the “Vampires” button to find my works on that subject!). For those especially interested in HTCAKAV, I recommend a visit to the official site www.howtocatchandkeepavampire.com. And lastly, there’s my Erotica with Soul blog on sex, romance and pop culture at www.eroticawithsoul.blogspot.com.
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