Bitten by books hosted an interview! Check it out!
Interview:
Hi P.C.!
Welcome to Bitten by Books, we are excited to have you here today!
I would like to thank you taking the time to join us for the question and answer session with our readers. It has been very interesting to get to know more about you and what makes you tick as a writer! Readers, if you haven’t done so already please stop by and get your copy of P.C.’s newest book Tempted
BBB: What are the most challenging and the most rewarding aspects of writing?
PCC: The most challenging aspect is probably the lack of control an author has over several aspects of her career. in most jobs you know going in what your basic paycheck will be, how you’ll be promoted, and the length of time you’ll need to put in before you can retire. Not so with the career of being an author! That can be scary, especially if you’re like me and support your family. Oklahoma public school teachers don’t make squat, but at least I knew exactly how much squat was and when it was coming in. So the lack of control over the security part is definitely a challenge. The rewards of being an author are worth the scariness, though. I like being my own boss, and working in my pjs is pretty cool, too. I love creating worlds and then populating them with characters I care about. As a longtime teacher, from a family of teachers, it’s important to me that I continue to serve as a role model for young people, specifically young women, and my books, especially the House of Night series, enable me to continue to do that. It also still gives me a major rush when I walk into a bookstore and see books by ME!
BBB: Do you consider different books paranormal romance or urban fantasy? and do you think it is important to distinguish between the two?
PCC: I’m from the old school point of view where I still see the genre line as sci-fi/fantasy. All those other distinctions feel like going through a lot of trouble arguing over what color birthday cake blue icing really is: Is it sky blue? Ocean blue? Sapphire blue? Turquoise blue? Who cares, let’s just eat the cake! I don’t ever think about the labels. From my first book I just decided to create the story I’d most want to read, and that meant, to me, writing in the fantasy genre. I added a modern heroine and some modern settings (urban fantasy?), and a healthy dose of sex (paranormal romance?), and that was that. When I buy books I’m the same way. I don’t care about genre labels and I grab anything and everything that sounds good to me. Right now I’m rereading Diana Gabaldon’s A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES so I can remember what’s going on when I dive into AN ECHO IN THE BONE. What the hell genre is she? Paranormal romance? Sci-fi/fantasy time travel? Historical fiction? Who cares? She’s awesome! And isn’t that what’s really important – telling an awesome story.
BBB: Is is difficult to collaborate with your daughter on the House of Night series and vice versa? And do you ever disagree on the way the book/series should go?
PCC: Nah, Kristin and I work easily together, probably because I’m the mom and The Boss of Her. (Side note to my daughter: KFC, do not post in here and disagree with me!!) Okay, seriously, Kristin and I brainstorm together before I start each book, but then I write it. During the initial writing process I rarely even talk to her about what’s going on with the plot, and she knows it’s going to change radically from what she and I initially discussed. We do disagree sometimes, but we’re on book seven, and by now we both understand that no matter what kind of agenda each of us has for Zoey and the rest of the gang, they’re going to end up doing whatever the hell they want to do anyway.
BBB: What is the most ridiculous thing that you have thought about doing to any of your characters but never did?
PCC: Well, I was going to kill off Grandma Redbird in UNTAMED and I mentioned that to a couple of my friends. They threatened me with severe bodily harm. Jeesh, they were really upset. So Grandma recovered from her nasty car accident.
Oh, in the original manuscript for GODDESS OF SPRING (my Goddess Summoning Series) I had my heroine thinking the hero, Hades, might be gay before he grabs her and passionately kisses her. My editor at the time, the amazing Christine Zika, called me and said, “Uh, PC, I know you think you’re being funny, BUT YOU’RE NOT. It’s not sexy to think the hero might be gay.” I pouted, but changed it. Retrospect says she was really, really right.
BBB: Which do you like better: the original covers for your goddess series, or the new ones? (Both are beautiful, by the way.)
PCC: The new covers are sexy and modern, but I’ll always absolutely love the original four covers. They were simply beautiful artwork. Actually, the original cover to GODDESS OF THE ROSE is my favorite of all my covers.
BBB: How do you keep track of your world building?
PCC: By tapping into my schizophrenic tendencies? Or rather, I use a lot of silly sticky notes all over my computers and I do word search clusters through old manuscripts to be sure I don’t mess stuff up. And the truth is that once I’ve created a world the rules just stick with me. I guess it shouldn’t be that simple, but it is. It’s like knowing the rules of this world. It’s not like you’re going to forget we can’t jump off a hill and fly, right? Same thing with my fictional worlds. Example: the vampyres in HoN can use magic, but it is nature or earth based, which means Zoey can call the element earth to her and have it channel through her and fill her with power from an ancient oak, but she can’t call earth to her and have that power allow her to zap that dorky Elliott kid into a mouse. Does that make sense?
BBB: What do you feel are the benefits of the new electronic readers such as Kindle 2 or Sony Digital Book Reader
PCC: Well, obviously they save trees! I don’t really know much about them, but Kristin just ordered a Kindle to take with us on tour, so I’m going to check it out and see if I want to get one for myself.
BBB: What impact do electronic readers create on the bottom line for authors in the end? Do you feel they have a negative impact or positive, or no impact at all that you can see?
PCC: I think people will always buy books, real books. Even if I fall in love with Kristin’s Kindle and have to have one of my very own, I’ll still buy real books I can touch and smell and put on my bookshelf. I do think in this electronic age publishers have got to get a handle on e-book piracy, though.
BBB: Can you tell us about your different stories and the general storylines that drives them?
PCC: Well, I have the House of Night series. Book six, Tempted
BBB: What else do you currently have in the works? When can we expect your next book?
PCC: Right now I’m working on BURNED, book seven in the House of Night. I’m not sure of the exact release date, but I imagine it’ll be summer/fall of 2010. Also in 2010 expect a very cool illustrated FLEDGING HANDBOOK 101. And, as I already mentioned, BRIGHID’S QUEST (March 2010, HarlequinTEEN). I’m planning on writing the third book in that series, CIARA’S DESTINY, too. Oh, and GODDESS OF LEGEND in Dec 2010. Jeesh, I’ve been busy…
BBB: Do you feel that centaurs are under-represented as love interests in the romance genre?
PCC: Absolutely! There could never be enough centaurs in romance! Man + horse = total hotness.
BBB: Have you and Kristin thought of writing another series together? Has writing together changed your relationship as mother-daughter at all?
PCC: Yep, we’ve already proposed another YA series to St. Martin’s, and they loved the idea. No vamps in it, but it is still paranormal. We get the question about whether working together has changed our relationship all the time. People have even asked, “Do you two really have a good relationship, or is this just your public persona?” (which utterly baffles us) Here’s the real deal: I’ve been a single parent a long time. Kristin and I have always been close. She saw me struggle through college and work three jobs to support us. She knows what it’s like to watch me worry about whether I can buy food for us and still pay the electric bill. All we had for a lot of years was each other, so we’ve always had each other’s back. From the time she started talking in complete sentences well before she was two, Kristin and I communicated easily. Nothing will ever change that. We love working together because we’ve always been close and we love and respect each other.
BBB: Where do you see the YA fantasy/urban fantasy genre headed? Can you see it slowing down in the near future, or do you think that the immediate future is pretty bright for it?
PCC: I don’t have a clue. I don’t even think about it. I think the bottom line is people will always want to read good stories, no matter the genre. I prefer to write with a paranormal/fantasy influence, so whether the perceived trend is for that to be hot or not, that’s what I’ll be writing.
BBB: How difficult is it to transition between co-authoring the House of Knight series with Kristin and writing your own stand alones?
PCC: Not at all. I think I’d published a little over a dozen books when I sold the House of Night series to St. Martin’s, so I was already an established author. The only difference with the HoN is that Kristin sees the manuscript before it goes to our editor. Usually no one reads my manuscripts before my editor(s).
BBB: How do the two of you navigate the actual story writing, e.g. do you pre-plot it all out, get the main details and pantz it, divide up chapters, etc.?
PCC: Like I said before, we brainstorm and then I write the book. I do make notes to Kristin directly in the text, especially when it comes to pop references. After I finish the manuscript I send it to Kristin, and she goes through it answering my notes and making comments of her own, then she sends it back to me and I go through it again before sending it to our editor at SMP. During the writing of Tempted
BBB: True Blood or The Vampire Diaries?
PCC: True Blood!!
BBB: Do you have any plans for book signings/ readings anytime soon? If so, where can our readers find you?
PCC: Kristin and I are going on tour starting with the live launch of Tempted
Tuesday, October 27, 7 pm, Borders, 1260 Old Country Road, Westbury, NY 11590, 516-683-8700 (store)
Wednesday, October 28, 6 pm, Barnes & Noble, 118 E. Broadway, Mall of America, Bloomington, MN 55425, (952) 854-1455
Thursday, October 29, 6 pm, Third Place Books, Party! 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest Park, WA 98155, 206-366-3333
Friday, October 30, 7 pm, Book Signing/Party, Books Inc., 855 El Camino Real # 74, Palo Alto, CA 94304, *Pre-selling tickets to Halloween Ball, kids can pick them up on day of or when they buy the book.
Sunday, November 1, 11:30 am – 12 , PC signs Goddess Summoning Books, 1pm, Texas Book Festival, Capital Building, Austin, TX
*1-1:45 reading and discussion at festival with book signing to follow with Kristin. For more details check out Texas Book Festival on-line.
Monday, November 2, 7 pm, Barnes & Noble, 7660 North Point Parkway, Alpharetta, GA 30022, (770) 993-8340
Tuesday, November 3, 7pm, Borders, 4475 Roswell Rd. – Ave. E. Cobb, Marietta, GA 30062, 770-5650947
Wednesday, November 4 (KRISTIN’S BIRTHDAY!), 7 pm, Borders, 11054 Lee Hwy, Fairfax, VA 22030, 703-359-8420
Thursday, November 5, 6 pm, Barnes & Noble, 8123 Honeygo Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21236, (410) 933-9670
Saturday, November 7, 2 pm, Borders, 2740 E 21st Street, Tulsa, OK, 918-712-9955
And then I’m going to disappear into the Scottish Highlands with my man for the rest of November.
BBB: Do you and Kristin get flack for leaving such big cliffhangers in the series? And is it deliberate or is it an editing decision to write the books that way?
PCC: Kristin and I stopped reading reviews a long time ago, and most readers who contact us are passing along positive comments. My outlook on life is that it’s healthier to focus on the positives and not give negative energy much attention. Luckily, I’ve never been the kind of woman who thinks she has to please everyone, so I pretty much ignore flack. But to conclude with cliffhangers is an editorial decision because they’re holding me to a word count, and I simply can’t complete more than one plot arch within those confines. I’d prefer to write huge books and only put one out every other year or so, but my publisher wants them broken up into smaller pieces.
BBB: You have two very different series going at the same time. Do you enjoy it when you get to “leave” one and then concentrate on the other? Or, do you write both at the same time?
PCC: Actually I have three publishers and have my fingers in four different series. I don’t find it difficult to move back and forth because the worlds are so different. It is fun to move from YA to adult. I like the variety it gives me. And I wish I could write different books at the same time! I can’t, though. I’ve tried and it just doesn’t work. I can be in the editorial process with one and be writing the draft of another, but that’s the best I can do. I’m just lucky that once I get focused in a book the writing goes pretty quickly. Of course sometimes it takes me two hundred pages to focus…sigh.
