Amanda Meuwissen will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
Life as a Teenage Vampire
by Amanda Meuwissen
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GENRE: YA Paranormal
Romance/Urban Fantasy
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INTERVIEW:
What elements are necessary components for
this genre?
Realism.
When dealing with urban fantasy, paranormal, anything outside our real world,
what connects people to your story, no matter how fantastical and creative you
make your fantasy element, is the realism in the characters themselves. Real
problems, real flaws, real conflicts that readers can relate to. It’s doubtful
too many teenagers can relate to turning into a vampire their senior year like
in my new novel, but certainly many know what it’s like to feel like an outsider,
like you can’t trust yourself, like you’re just learning who you really are at
the cusp of adulthood. Making that feel real helps bring the fantasy elements
to life in more powerful ways.
What
expertise did you bring to your writing?
This book
more than any other I’ve written is almost like an autobiography. Not tied to
any particular character, but a lot of the events, interactions, things like
playing card games while evacuated to the church across the street because the
high school had a bomb threat – that happened to me. Similar stories are all
woven into this narrative, so it’s coming from a very personal place. And while
this is my first time writing Young Adult, I think my online presence helps get
to that younger voice. I may be well past my teenage years, but I interact with
teenagers and people of all ages in fandom regularly online, and can better
relate to younger readers because of that.
What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?
I identify
as bisexual, and while I don’t think that should influence whether or not
someone reads my books, it does lend a different perspective to my writing and
characters. My protagonists are usually bisexual as well, because I feel I can
speak from a place of authority when it comes to accepting that about yourself
and how it plays into relationships. I also always focus on male characters
because I relate to them more. I think I approach relationships and having
characters come to accept who they are in a very real way, and I’m proud of
that.
As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?
I am
excited to get my next novel rolling, which is back to my more adult roots.
Lovesick Gods, currently in progress, is actually a superhero story. And while
it is a love story where the hero and his nemesis go from enemies to lovers to
actually falling in love, it’s also a very deep and personal look at bipolar
depression, overcoming trauma and loss, physical and emotional abuse, and
various ways to heal from that. It’s a powerful story I am anxious to share
with my readers, and hope to have out in early 2017.
If you could be one of the characters from this book, who would it be and why?
Alec. While
Alec in some ways is a lonely character, as the eccentric vampire mentor he is
also very powerful, knows more than he lets on, and despite his age, has a
vulnerability that I adore. I very much enjoy mentoring others, and I relate to
Alec’s wit, his geeky interests, and his flair for dramatics. Plus, I can’t
deny that as a vampire fan since I was almost too young to remember – Count
Duckula anyone? – I wouldn’t say no to living forever as long as I had
companions by my side.
Can you give us a sneak peek into this book?
I joke
sometimes that it’s everything I wish Twilight HAD been, because on the surface
the synopsis sounds very much like that, and I tell people, hey, it’s a YA
paranormal romance story about vampires. BUT, besides the obvious difference to
Twilight with the love interests both being boys, it’s also so much more than
surface fluff, and shows a healthy and powerful friendship between the
characters long before any romance gets involved. There are also strong themes
of friendship amongst the other characters, and the vampires end up being more
of a backdrop to a real look at being a teenager and accepting things about
yourself just as you’re about to embark on what can be the scariest thing of
all – life after high school. If I don’t make you fall in love with these
characters while they’re falling in love with each other, I haven’t done my
job.
What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)
Worst was
on a writing forum, specifically around a screenplay I was pitching. I wanted
assistance with my query letter, because despite sending it out to many people,
I wasn’t getting any traction. A responder said I should just give up on that
idea then and move on to something else. NEVER listen to that sort of advice (I
sure didn’t), unless you’re only in it for money. If you care about your
stories, then you have to stick with them. The best advice was the very
opposite, to never give up. I eventually found someone to publish my first
books because I kept trying, and now I’ve learned the skills to go it alone
with confidence, and to turn to traditional publishers when it seems right.
Try, try again, and always look to improve.
Do you outline your books or just start writing?
Bit of
both. If I feel a bug and need to write, I write. But I tend to step back and take
TONS of notes, eventually arranging that into an outline. With Life as a
Teenage Vampire, there were certain scenes and conversations I knew I wanted to
include, but in some cases I wasn’t sure where they would fit, so I’d look at
the outline as a whole and consider pacing, the timeline, and balance of
certain types of scenes. In some cases, I cut ideas all together, but balance
is something I think writers often miss when organizing their stories. Yes, you
have to follow the flow of the narrative, but you also don’t want too many
conversations back to back without a breakup of action, and vice versa.
How do you maintain your creativity?
I honestly
write every day. Not just fiction though, nonfiction too. Commentary, blogs,
articles as part of my day job. It all helps bolster creativity for my fiction
because I don’t allow those muscles to grow stagnant. It’s one of the reasons
why I love National Novel Writing Month. It’s coming to the end of the year,
we’re all tired, I personally was drained this year and hadn’t written much in
about a month, but NaNoWiMo is something that forces you to try to write every
day in the hopes of finishing 50k of a novel. It always rejuvenates my writing
bug. In this case, Life as a Teenage Vampire was my NaNo project in 2015. The
book is much longer than 50k, but I got just over 50k of it written during that
month. I did the same with my current project.
Are your plotting bunnies angels or demons?
Both. I
love plot bunnies because I’m a fanfiction writer at heart. Most plot bunnies
for me are ideas I get when my favorite show, movie, etc. doesn’t do something
that I wish they would, and thus, I must write it myself. This has led to many
of my original works as well, because the idea is so good that I just have to
turn it into an original story. This can also be demonic though when ideas
won’t leave you alone…but then part of those have to be thrown away. Not every
bunny works out, and it can be frustrating. But my take on things is to never
think of any writing as a waste of time. Everything helps lead you to your next
great idea.
BLURB:
Emery
Mavus just wants to survive his senior year of high school. Becoming a vampire
complicates things. So does a bizarre mentor, a group of vampire hunters, and
an unexpected, new attraction for his openly gay best friend, Connor. An
occasional uncontrollable hunger for blood might be the least of his worries.
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EXCERPT:
It was a trick. Emery had made it all up, knowing that the
details would lead Connor to vampires. These were just Halloween fangs. Connor
wasn’t really hypnotized into submission; he was just stunned, believing his
own crazy imagination. He’d longed for years to have Emery this close, after
all, crowding him into a corner, lips descending. He’d just imagined them
descending a little closer to his mouth, though his neck wouldn’t be so bad…
…if not for the sharp sting, the breaking of the skin and
rush of blood sucked out of him so fast he felt dizzy, and then—wow.
It didn’t hurt at all. It felt like Emery was tucked into
his shoulder intimately, fully aware of the pleasant buzzing he caused in
Connor’s gut every time they touched. Connor had dreamed of this, imagined it
just like this, and felt lulled by Emery’s body being so close, and the way he
shivered feeling those lips on his skin. He almost thought he heard Emery’s
soothing voice whispering affirmations he’d always wanted to hear.
“Em…” Connor breathed out, barely audible.
The room was dimming, but he felt cozy where he was. His
arms were limp and heavy as he lifted them to pull Emery closer, feeling the
soft fabric of the sweater against his somewhat numb right palm. He pulled
tighter, twisting flesh and plastic fingers alike in the fabric, pulling…with
the faint sense that he should be pushing instead.
“Em…” he choked out like a whimper, like he was crying. Why
was he crying? This was everything he’d ever wanted…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Amanda has a Bachelor of Arts in a personally designed major
from St. Olaf College in Creative Writing, and has been posting content online
for many years, including maintaining the blog for the digital marketing
company Outsell. She spent a summer writing screenplay script coverages for a
company in L.A., and is an avid consumer of fiction through film, prose, and
video games. Amanda lives in Minneapolis, MN, with her husband, John, and their
cats, Helga and Sasha (no connection to the incubus of the same name).
Author
web links:
https://www.amazon.com/Life-Teenage-Vampire-Amanda-Meuwissen/dp/1943619328/
http://www.amandameuwissen.com/
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Amanda
Meuwissen will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly
drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
