Interview and Giveaway with Seleste deLaney

Today, please pull up a chair and have some vodka, chickadees. We’re welcoming my dear friend and colleague Seleste deLaney for a chat—and giveaway!—celebrating her new release, Kiss of Death.

Eleventy-million years ago (*cough* approximately), I first met Seleste when accepting her work for inclusion in the charity anthology Nothing But Red. It was later, I think probably on Twitter (it all leads back to Twitter) where we connected again, and I got to know the sheer extent of her awesomeness. Seleste has work with Carina Press, Decadent Publishing, Evernight Publishing, and now I am thrilled to have her at Mundania Press for her new novel. Read on for more about the origins of Kiss of Death, her fantasy casting, REMY!!!, zombie survival plans, bad writing advice, a giveaway, and more.

You’ve done this in other blog posts, but can you give us the ten second summary of where Kiss of Death had its origins?

The series started as a 1300 word story for a writing challenge. That grew into the first Blood Kissed prequel short, Of Course I Try . People said in more than one review that they wanted to know the rest of the story. After a bit of panic, I gave it some thought and realized there was more... quite a bit more. After another prequel short (The Ghost of Vampire Present ) the stage was set for the bigger story that begins with Kiss of Death .

For those who haven’t read the prequel shorts Of Course I Try and The Ghost of Vampire Present , what should they know going into Kiss of Death (without spoiling the shorts) about the characters?

Without spoiling the shorts (in case someone wants to read them prior to Kiss of Death ), they set up the main character, Jocelyn, and her love interests Max and Chad. Of Course I Try tells the story of how Jocelyn met Max right after college graduation and fell in love, but something about him kept making her leave. She always came back though, and she never really understood why. The Ghost of Vampire Present takes place the following Christmas when Jocelyn has moved on from Max and is dating Chad (another vampire, though she doesn’t realize this). On Christmas Eve she’s visited by the ghost of her grandmother who warns her of impending visits from three vampires. But the next day, she has reason to believe it was all a dream.

Which Blood Kissed ’verse character do you identify with the most?

Oh wow. Um... this is hard because each of them are like me in some ways. I’m going to have to go with Jocelyn’s grandma. Mainly because she’s very outspoken, people are always trying to shut her up, and even when she does get to talk no one really listens. Also because of how she was when she was younger—both the studious part and the stubborn part. Yeah. I think it would have to be Analise.

I LOVE Jocelyn’s grandma. And, as an aside, I’d love to see a prequel featuring her in her younger years someday. ;-)

Okay, okay, I can’t bear waiting to ask: I’ve said I will be SHOCKED if Remy doesn’t end up with a fan club after people read this book. Where did Remy originate from?

When I was plotting out the story in my head, I knew two things needed to be added. First, comic relief within the council of elders and, second, someone acting on the other side rather than just re-acting, someone who would manipulate things. I don’t recall now if I ever considered the possibility that those two wouldn’t be one and the same. And then I saw these gorgeous pictures of Adam Lambert. One made me think what a beautiful vampire he’d make, and the other was the moment when I saw Remy for the first time. At that point, he became character inspiration in the truest sense of the word. As far as the next question goes, he would be my one demand if it ever happened. I want Lambert to be Remy.

What’s your dream cast for the inevitable Kiss of Death movie?

Inevitable? I think I love you.

It’s what I’m here for. ;-)

In my head, Max has always been Christian Kane (only taller, so we might need some special effects... or really well-heeled cowboy boots) and Chad was always Jensen Ackles. Jocelyn is a little tougher for me. I haven’t ever found someone who is exactly how I see her. America Ferrara comes close but isn’t quite right. Grandma has to be Betty White, so I’d really like to get this movie made soon. I won’t go into all the elders, but Dominic I see as very Robert Deniro. And then there’s Remy. *happy sigh* I cannot tell a lie (that’s totally a lie, but I won’t tell one in this case) Adam Lambert was a huge inspiration for Remy.

That is a fab cast.

What’s next for the Blood Kissed series? (Moar Remy??)

There is MUCH more Remy coming. The next book will be called Kiss of Life and my uber editor said we’re hoping for a June release ;-)

Yes, I do recall hearing something of that effect... *cough* ;-)

There will be more Remy, along with more secondary characters who are set up a little at the end of Kiss of Death . They’re building an army, but some weapons need to be forged in fire. So things aren’t going to be easy for our main trio. (Anything more than that will be spoilery.) However, if you want some more of the history (free, I might add), there are some flash pieces under “free reads” on my website.

Writing stuff: Best compliment you’ve ever received and weirdest fan mail/encounter/what-have-you.

Best compliment actually has to do with my YA novel (Pretty Souls ). A reader bought a copy at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention this year, planning to give it to her daughter, who is not a reader. It felt like a mountain of pressure, but I smiled and signed it. A short while later, she tagged me on a couple photos on Facebook. They were pics of her daughter voluntarily reading my book while she ate breakfast before school. There is truly no better compliment than that.

As for the other... my husband started pimping my work early on. I was shopping at the mall one day (specifically, I was in Frederick’s of Hollywood with my kids while hubs took a call outside). I was paying for something (probably panties) and a woman walked up to me and said, “You’re Seleste deLaney, right?” I started stuttering and blushing because it threw me so badly. Ended up she was someone who works with my husband and saw him outside. She HAD actually read my stuff, but I still felt like an idiot for my reaction.

Everyone always asks for “best advice for aspiring writers.” Screw that. What’s your WORST advice for other writers? What was the worst writing advice you ever received?

The worst-worst came from people not in the biz such as “you don’t need to research, just write it.”

Side note: as an editor, those people should be stabbed.

(There are more examples, but I don’t count those as “advice” exactly.) Now, this isn’t necessarily bad advice, but it was bad advice for me. “Stick to one genre.” See... the problem is my mind doesn’t work like that. I write urban fantasy and then I need to do something else because I have no more energy to pour into urban fantasy. If I tried to write Kiss of Death, Kiss of Life, and Kiss of Eternity back to back to back, I’d have to take a year (or more) off afterward because I’d be so burned out. But by (for example) writing a romantic suspense this summer then moving to a humorous fantasy BDSM romance then moving to urban fantasy then moving to steampunk romance, I don’t need much of that downtime because my brain is fresh for the new project. And the truth is, I like them all. I would be miserable writing in just one genre. And a miserable me is a bad thing because I tend to make everyone around me miserable too.

If you could convince everyone to read one author and/or one book, what would it be and why?

I’m guessing you mean besides my stuff (or yours—which is brilliant and I love it, but it’s a suck-up answer :P).

We’re working under the assumption the many people reading this are intelligent, sexy beasts who have already read my stuff and your backlist. Of course.

I’m going to cheat and give two for different reasons. Bitten by Kelley Armstrong changed my world. That book, and the rest of the series, made me re-think urban fantasy and story telling.

LOVE that book. It basically opened my eyes to UF—prior to that I was just reading trad and historical fantasy. I think hers was actually the first contemp fantasy I read. So much love.

The second book I want to mention is my favourite (my copy is falling apart), Phantom by Susan Kay. It was actually part of the inspiration behind how I developed Blood Kissed into a series. She took the well-known and loved Phantom of the Opera and told the story behind the story. For anyone who has read the original novel, there are a bunch of things that don’t make sense (the Persian, anyone?). Kay took that original and imagined a world where all those things did make sense. Amazing work.

I will absolutely check that out when I see it.

My favorite thing to ask people: What’s your zombie survival plan? Which of your characters would you want on your zombie survival team?

Oh hell, I’m going to die quickly if there’s a zombie apocalypse. Honestly, if the zombies start taking over, I don’t want to survive that shit. ... Unless I can survive it with Remy. And Max. And Chad. Oh... and a dirigible. I am kind of okay with combining worlds to live, so Ever can come too. And... :P

Yeah, I’d definitely bring Ever...

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About Kiss of Death:Too many years of killer vamps have triggered the curse of the Blood Kissed. They’ve awakened the bloodline that can alter their world, because her blood has the power to control them all—even make them destroy each other.

Jocelyn thought her troubles with vampires were over when she drove a stake through her boyfriend Max’s heart one year ago. Even though she’s engaged to Chad, she’s never really forgotten him. Now Max is back, and Chad is taking her into the heart of the vamp community—and they’re the ones trying to keep her alive. The ones who love her and each seek to claim her for their own. Because once the elders know who she is, they’re all going to want her…or want her dead.

Where to find Seleste: Check out her website, blog, Twitter, and Facebook.

Giveaway: So I love Seleste and I love her book and I want you totally prepared to read it. Leave a comment on this blog entry (include your email address or a way to contact you) along with the words “Enter me” for a chance to win both super sexy prequels Of Course I Try and The Ghost of Vampire Present—I’ll get you BOTH stories in your preferred ebook format and draw someone randomly Friday night. If you buy Kiss of Death this week, forward me your receipt (skyla{at}skyladawncameron{dot}com) and I’ll multiply your entry by five.