Author Interview & Contest with Vicki Pettersson

My guest this week on Amberkatze's Book Blog is the author of the Signs of the Zodiac series. Vicki Pettersson came on to the scene with an amazing new concept and book four in the series is due out in July.

Read the interview and find out more about the books, the writer behind them and the enter the contest!

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Amber - Welcome to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is great to have you as a guest here and I hope you will enjoy your time here ;) Maybe you can start things off for us by telling my readers a bit about your Sign of the Zodiac books?

Vicki - Happy to! The Signs of the Zodiac series follows Joanna Archer, a woman caught in the crossfire between battling factions of Shadow and Light in a previously unrealized paranormal underworld. Lest this sound too gloomy, I set Joanna’s story in my bright, raucous hometown of Las Vegas.

Amber - How was the idea for the series born? Was it a long process or something that just came to you?

Vicki - A bit of both. The scene that spawned my interest in Joanna came to me in a dream, fully formed and full of attitude, fun, danger … and questions. In searching for the answers to these questions - Who is this woman? Why is this man trying to kill her? What will she risk to prevail? — I combined a few other elements that had taken hold of my imagination, and ended up unwittingly writing Urban Fantasy. Most surprisingly, the supernatural aspects - the realization that these people were contemporary superheroes and villains - mushroomed up out of nowhere. A character popped up in the third chapter and claimed to be a superhero. Playing along with that turned my burgeoning little series on its head.

Amber - How much research did you have to do for the books so far?

Vicki - The beauty of writing fantasy is that I get to make most everything up. I love that. The only thing I must be sure to do is remain consistent with the rules I’ve already created. I also do a bit of work with the astrological aspects since that element is so important to Joanna’s world. However, for the most part I’ll look things up as I need them. I’m often surprised at how well they dovetail with my imagination. For example, doppelgangers are precursors to tulpas in my books, something I was able to create a new explination for out of a story need. This strengthened my world’s mythology while giving the reader something familiar to mentally hang their hat upon. Doppelganger myths aren’t new, neither are tulpas, but by combining the two I think I’ve created something fresh. Ditto for my take on superheroes.

Amber - The fourth book in the series is due out in July. Did you know the series would go so far? How far do you want it to keep going?

Vicki - I knew from the first book that Joanna had a lot of story in her. I also knew pretty early on that there would be six books in the series. I see a couple more beyond that, but she’s being pushed so fast and hard that she’s having to make tough decisions with each book. To be honest, I’m not sure how much more she can take, and given her personality - facing something head on, guns blazing - I see her driving herself toward the ultimate showdown with the Tulpa. She wants resolution. I should have a better idea of how many books that will require by the time I’m done writing the fifth..

Amber - What other projects are you working on? Do you have any other ideas you want to see put on print in the future?

Vicki - I have two other series ideas that have taken hold, but it’s too early to talk about either. Both are fermenting in the back of my mind, waiting their turn, but I know they have legs because they won’t go away. (Please ignore the inherent irony of that statement.) I’m a one-project-at-a-time sort of writer though, real slow and methodical, and I find it unsettling to work on two things at once. So all my focus is on Joanna and her world, and will remain so for the next little bit.

Amber - How did you end up being a writer? Was it something you always wanted to do?

Vicki - I was a reader. I scribbled a bit as a teen, but writing seemed something magical and mystical … something other people did, and not at all attainable for a little girl from a dusty desert town. Still, I was a lover of the written word, and at some point in my twenty-sixth year the idea of writing a novel took hold. I haven’t been able to shake it since.

Amber - I read you used to be a showgirl? How was that?? And what other interesting jobs have you had?

Vicki - Honestly? Repetitive. I did the same step in the same place with the same people every night for a decade. Even the backstage movement was choreographed - I’d pass the same stagehands moving the same sets into the same places, and we’d share the same jokes. The good thing was this freed up mental energy for my imagination. (That’s a nice was of saying I was bored out of my skull.) The hours were great, the pay was good, and there was a bit of autonomy … important because I don’t really like to be told what to do. The best part of it was that I met and made the best friends of my life - I call them my Tribe - a group of women who are there for me no matter what. They don’t care what I do - or if I ever write another word - as long as I bring wine to our regular gatherings.

As for other interesting jobs … hm. Let’s just say that I rarely kept one long enough to consider it mine. I have a big mouth and strong opinions on what suits me and what doesn’t. Thank God the writing thing worked out. I’m really not suited for anything else.

Amber - What books do you like to read when you have time? Do you have any must read authors/series?

Vicki - Anything by Lehane, Gabaldon or J.D. Robb. All are consummate storytellers in their respective genres. I also sink into Janet Fitch’s work. She writes poetry as prose. Surprisingly, I don’t read much in the Urban Fantasy genre. That feels too insular to me, like a snake eating its own tail, and I’m also on guard against being overly influenced by genre “expectations.” My readers generally cite my originality as the number one reason for enjoying my series, and I don’t want to lose that. There are exceptions, of course, and two are Kim Harrison — because I was reading her before I was published - and Jeaniene Frost, because she’s so unapologetically fresh and edgy. She’s not afraid to Go There in terms of her sex and her violence and her voice in the paranormal romance genre, and I absolutely love that.

Amber - How do you relax?

Vicki - Family time. Playing with my toddler, going to the park. I love being a mother. Also hanging out with my aforementioned Tribe. As long as I have meaningful work, my family, and my friends, I’m a happy (non)camper. (Camping = Not Relaxing. Color me Urban. {Wry g})

Amber - Lots of authors have playlists for their books. What music or bands would find their place on a playlist for the Zodiac Series?

Vicki - The readers on my message board have actually set up a Zodiac channel on Pandora.com, so if you’re really interested, you could check that out. It’s pretty eclectic. Green Day, 3 Doors Down, Evanescence, Metallica, Linkin Park, Within Temptation, Poe… it goes on and on. I’m digging on Ani DiFranco (always), Sarah Bareilles, KT Tunstall, and Katie Melua right now. A bunch of chick rockers. {G}

Amber - If you could be any paranormal creature what would you be and why?

Vicki - I’m sorry, but my answer has to be that I’ve created the paranormal people I’d like to be - superheroes, even with their sullied capes. I write them because they’re interesting to me. Vamps have the whole, you know, DEAD thing going against them. I can’t imagine how painful waxing would be if I were some sort of were. Just tranq me already. So superheroes it is. (Guess I’m writing the right thing for me, huh?)

Amber - You are stranded on a desert island. What 5 things do you hope to have with you?

Vicki - Food, shelter, my kid, my lover, my books.

Amber - Thank you so much for being a guest on Amberkatze's Book Blog. I hope you will pop by again sometime!

Vicki - Thank you!



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Contest Time!

Vicki is holding on to an ARC of City of Souls for the winner of this weeks contest. This fourth book in the Zodiac Series isn't due out till July so you will be getting this a whole month before it is released and it will be signed!

To enter the contest you have to comment here letting me know what sign of the zodiac you are!

No zodiac sign = No Entry.

Earn another entry for each place you link this contest on the net. Make sure you add links here for me to confirm your entries!

You can also earn extra entries by emailing your friends about the contest. Just make sure you send a copy of your email or receipt to me at Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot net.

The contest will stay open until Saturday 30th of May 2009 4pm CET and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.

If you are claiming a prize, have emailed me and have not heard back before the 7 day limit is up then post a comment here on the blog. Your email may get sucked into my spam filter.

Enjoy!