Interview with
Christine Feehan
SR: How did you get started
writing?
Christine: I've
always written. I wrote the most wonderful (LOL) mysteries in elementary
school. I remember getting in LOTS of trouble for writing stories
instead of doing math. My notebooks were always filled with stories.
I wrote at my children's events, soccer, baseball, basketball.. I
wrote while my family watched television. I recently discovered I
never actually watch videos, I'm listening while I
write. It's a worse
habit than my reading addiction if you can believe that!
SR: Did
you always want to write about the Carpathians?
Christine: No, I have
always written mysteries, or suspense stories. I like action stories
as well. There was a time in my life where I needed to write something
very different for myself and that's when I began to write my Carpathian
stories. I didn't really envision the books as a series, so much
as a world where I could continually return and write the story of a Carpathian
when the characters became strong. I
didn't want there to be a
set number because I always have more stories that come out of nowhere
and demand to be told.
SR: How
long did it take you to sell your first book?
Christine: A few years
ago I sent out a couple of manuscripts and was lucky enough to have an
editor really notice my work. Unfortunately at the time, when she
wanted rewrites, my husband was in a bad car accident and I just gave the
entire thing up. I was sending my work in more because family
and friends were pushing me to do so than because I wanted to be published.
Dark Prince was bought when Alicia Condon at Dorchester agreed to
read it. One other house looked at it, the editor wanted it, but
the senior editor wouldn't go for the content. So we were actually
lucky even to get it read.
SR: Just to torture
us readers out there, how many of thefuture Carpathians are already written?
Christine: I know everyone
thinks I have a surplus built up because I had a couple of books written
prior to publication, but they went out on a four month schedule.
I write three to four books a year and I don't always offer a book because
I have to write something different in between each dark book. At
this time, I have next years books written as they must be written one
year in advance to get on the schedule. I just completed Dark Melody,
a very stubborn book that insisted on going its own way! I am now
working on Dark Destiny.
SR: Why do you think
the Carpathian books have become so wildly popular?
Christine: Hopefully
the books are popular because I have a strong voice, a different voice
and I weave in issues that speak to us. I am a woman who believes
strongly in certain things and I hope it comes across in my writing.
I like to think I've been writing for many years and have developed a unique
voice and a different world readers enjoy delving into.
SR: Can you tell us
a bit about Dark Fire and Dark Legend, as well as what's coming up
with that series?
Christine: Dark Fire
is already out and is a story about Darius, a man who guards his family
and asks little in return until he meets Tempest, a woman who has
never had a family. Blending them together was fun and I loved how
he loved her. Dark Legend is very different. This is the story
of a woman who is an ancient in full power. She has remarkable talents
and survived completely on her own, unlike Desari who was under the
protection of several males. Gabriel finds his lifemate and
together they must do battle against Gabriel's twin, a game-playing vampire
who wants to keep everything strictly between the two of them.
Dark Dream is the story in
After Twilight and was a good entry for the coming of the real ancients,
warriors sent out by Mikhail's father.
SR: Do
you have some type of a reunion planned between Gregori and his lost siblings?
Christine: Dark Melody
is essentially as all the other books a love story between Dayan and his
lifemate. A reunion does take place between Gregori and his siblings, but
in these books, because the word count specifies how deep one can go into
something, I want my readers to realize I always keep focus on the main
couple. Several Carpathians come together to aid Dayan in attempting
to save his lifemate and her unborn child.
SR: Will we be seeing
more ancient Carpathians?
Christine: Absolutely.
I have many more books planned.
SR: How did you end
up writing Gothics?
Christine: My
editor called me up and asked me if I would be interested.
I like writing dark. At first I was hesitant, I'm not
into historicals all that much, nor am I into the details of historicals,
I tend to skip that when reading, but I liked the idea of presenting a
book with the emphasis more on the heroine. I chose a time in history
that was interesting to me from the stand point of women's rights
and used the weather and ignorance of the time to help the gothic feel.
SR: How
does writing a Gothic book compare to writing a Carpathian book?
Christine: It
is very different in that I prefer writing with at least a 40 to 50% male
POV which you technically shouldn't do in a gothic. I'm trying to
find a nice balance that will work for me yet still give the dark
creepy feel to the book a good gothic have. I like to write in that
feeling of impending doom.
SR: What do you find
the most difficult part of writing a Gothic book?
Christine: For
me it is finding a way to make the male lead appear as if he might harm
the woman, yet have her fall for him. I'm sorry, if I thought
the man was a serial killer, I wouldn't be falling into bed with him.
I want to create a new format, with the dark gothic feel, the journey for
the woman, a strong heroine, yet without the male always being the
suspect as traditional gothics have done. For me, I just NEED that male POV!
LOL
SR: Could you possibly
tell us a bit about your upcoming gothic?
Christine: I love
Beauty and the Beast. I always have loved every story with that theme.
I began playing around with my own version and while I was writing the
Scarletti Curse, I did research on the region and earlier religion and
decided the Italian Alps was perfect for a beauty and the beast story.
Setting it in the 16th century allows me to keep theheroine from having
too many resources for aid. I loved writing this book and think my
readers will really enjoy it. And I managed to give the male POV
much more than in Scarletti which satisfied my need to do that.
SR: Will we be seeing
a story about the brother from the SCARLETTI CURSE?
Christine: No,
I have no intention of writing another Scarletti book, although as I wrote
the book, Byron's story unfolded. I knew his lifemate was a descendent
of the Scarletti's and inherited their wealth and treasures. I'm
looking forward to writing that book.
SR:
You write about both vampires and gothics
- what is it about this type of book that attracts you and how do
you get your story ideas?
Christine: I like
to be able to use my imagination and the power of the paranormal to expand
creativity. I like the use of dark and light and good and evil.
It's plain fun to create stories of this nature. That and I may be a trifle
twisted!
SR: Do
you intend to explore any other genres of romance in the future?
Christine: Absolutely.
I have written contemporaries and suspense and action for years.
I hope that my readers will give those stories a try as I write them in
between dark books. I love strong dark heroes in great need of redemption
and heroines who put them in their place quite firmly!
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