by Neha Yazmin
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Questions with the Author
Q: What was the main inspiration behind the Poison Blood series?
A: Short answer: Ellie.
Long answer: I’d wanted to write a vampire romance for a while, and I considered the idea of writing a series of short stories about vampires living on the London Underground. These characters wouldn’t necessarily be friends or hang out together, but have their own tale to tell.
One of the characters I thought up was Ellie.
However, I didn’t start writing anything until I woke up one morning with Ellie talking me through her life. This was a few days after I listened to the band Linkin Park for the first time in years, so I think it was their songs that triggered the instinct to write Ellie’s story.
Music has that effect on me!
Interestingly, Chapter 1 is almost identical to the monologue that roused me that first morning! Quickly, it became clear that Ellie’s story wasn’t as short and sweet as I initially planned. She had a lot more potential than I expected, which was great, though it meant I had to put my Vampires on the Underground collection on the backburner.
Q: Why did you write and publish a paranormal romance so soon after publishing your contemporary romance novel Chasing Pavements?
A: It’s usually the characters and how strongly they present themselves to me, how clearly I hear their voices in my head that determine when and what I write. Even if I plan to write something, like a compilation of short stories about vampires making the underground transport system their home, unless I can see that world, hear the characters speak to me, the narrative doesn’t flow as well. I tend not to commit to a project unless I find myself immersed in the story. And when a character beckons to me, lets me into her mind and the world she lives in, I try not to ignore her.
But why follow-up Chasing Pavements with a vampire romance? Well, why not? If we enjoy reading an eclectic mix of books, I see no harm in exploring different genres when we write, provided we apply the same level of dedication, effort and enthusiasm for each story. As authors, we should do that for every book we write.
Growing up, my favourite genre to read was paranormal/fantasy and I was a huge fan of TV shows such as Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Unfortunately, like so many others I know, I stopped reading when I was at college and Uni. Upon rediscovering my love for books, I found myself reading contemporary fiction, crime, comedy/satire; the only fantasy novels I’d read in recent years were the Twilight and Harry Potter books. These I loved so much that I wanted to write for this genre, particularly about vampires. But I didn’t venture into this area until Ellie came to me.
Q: The vampires in Poison Blood are extremely similar to the Twilight vampires. Was this intentional?
A: Yes.
There are a range of vampire myths – from those that burn to ashes in sunlight and can be slain by driving a stake through their hearts, to immortals that sleep like the dead during the day and hunt by night – but my favourite is of course the one explored in the Twilight saga. I knew that if I was going to write about vampires, I would conform to most of the rules set out in these books.
I wasn’t going to set my books in the Twilight world though. So I invented my own vampire government (The System), one which has modernised over the years and now operates like an institution the humans would be proud of. A few restrictions needed to be in place though (such as vampires not being able to enter a house without invitation), so that these indestructible creatures didn’t go around slaughtering an entire council estate in one night. And of course there had to those that would try to stop these demons from doing what they liked.
The other certainty was that the stories would be set in contemporary society, specifically London. Although it’s exciting creating a whole new world, one in the future or in another dimension altogether, what appeals to me more is the idea that the world we live in now could be full of magic and mystery, amazing creatures with supernatural abilities, and the kind of love that we don’t dare to dream about achieving ourselves.
Q: Did you plan to end Book 1 on a cliff-hanger?
A: Absolutely. Every novel needs as many loose-ends tied-up by the end of it, and the same goes for each book in a trilogy or a saga, but there’s nothing wrong with leaving the reader with a question at the end, one which entices them to read the next book for the answer.
It’s also a good idea to have an unresolved issue that continues throughout a book series, or if it’s resolved in book 2 or 3, a new plot thread can be introduced to run into the next instalments. You need to give the audience plenty of reasons to read the next book and the next and the next.
Cliff-hangers like the one at the end of Book 1 work well if many of the main themes explored in the novel come to some sort of conclusion. Such as Ellie finally realising who she is, making sense of the life she had before she was changed and discovering why she became the vampire she is.
Q: What will happen in the next book and how many will there be in the series?
A: I can’t tell you what happens in the next instalment! But I can tell you that it’s called Poison Blood, Book 2: Absolution and it’s billed to “answer the questions raised in Book 1 while raising many more.”
There are four books in the series.
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CHASING PAVEMENTS – Blurb