Author Interview with Lana Dusk

Last week there were two author interviews and this week there are also two! Oh and next week as well....

However this weekend Amberkatze's Book Blog is happy to have author Lana Dusk here answering some questions about her book DUSK.

I hope you enjoy the interview and more importantly make sure to check out the book!

Come back tomorrow to meet author Sherri Edwin!

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Amber - Welcome to Amberkatze's Book Blog! Thank you for being a guest and for taking the time to answer some questions! Maybe you can start things off by telling us a little about your book DUSK?

Lana - Thanks for inviting me here, Amber. Ah yes, DUSK - a vampire romance novel featuring an ancient voodoo priestress, the Venus de Milos, a creepy old vamp in addition to the main hunk vamp, and a gargoyle. I tossed in a mystery and stoked the heat to an R rating here and there. Mainly, I just had a good time writing what I hope is a fun story.

I suppose that I should add the links in case someone wants to read DUSK:

Buy DUSK from Amazon

Ravenous Romance

And I suppose that I should add my home-away-from-home

Amber - How did you come up with the idea for DUSK? Was it a long process or did it just come to you?

Lana - I was lucky with DUSK. When asked to write a vampire novel, I decided to mix it up with the other characters I just mentioned as well as the mystery sub-plot. I wrote the novel with a cliffhanger ending so I could pick up the story later with a sequel.

Amber - Are you anything like any of your characters in DUSK? Or are any of your characters based on people in your life?

Lana - I wouldn't want to be like the creepy old vamp or spectre, that's for sure. Maybe I'd go for the Venus under certain conditions -- not the conditions I put her in, though! In all of my novels and stories, the characters are fictional creations. I suspect there's a bit of Lana in each character, but I'd be hard pressed to identify the bits.

Amber - What kind of research did you have to do to write DUSK? Anything interesting or is research boring?

Lana - I always enjoy research, and it's a huge reason why I became a writer. I love to learn new things and let my mind wander. I've been to New Orleans and Greece, so I could draw on those experiences while writing DUSK. I've written about voodoo in other books, so I could draw on that info. The rest? I made it up!

Amber - Why did you become an author? Is it something you always wanted to do?

Lana - I fell into it by accident, or possibly, fate. From the time I was 6 years old, teachers told me that my destiny was to become a writer. Hahahaha. I wanted to be a scientist. Hahahaha. I wrote my first book at 16 and wrote stories while sitting through college classes. Basically, I don't think that I had a choice in the matter.

Amber - Why Vampires? Why the Paranormal? Did you even think about writing any other genre?

Lana - My earliest stories were supernatural and weird -- about 3 dozen published stories focus on the paranormal. I've always been attracted to the merging of science (hey, I wanted to be a scientist) and the strange. Most of my books are speculative: What's possible and why? What don't we know about reality? I read The Turn of the Screw when I was 6 or 7 years old, and maybe that had something to do with my lifelong attraction to Odd Things.

Amber - How do you pick character names? Do they have any special meaning for you?

Lana - The names pop into mind along with the characters. For me, characters write the tales, and as author, I carve and edit their stories.

Amber - What is next? Are you working on any other projects you would like to tell us about?

Lana - As Lana Griffin, I've signed to write another vampire novel -- quite different from DUSK -- for Ravenous Romance (2010 release). I've also signed for another paranormal novel for 2010 Ravenous release. As my "real name" (Lana is my romance novel pseudonym), I'm under contract for a dark vampire novel, a dark supernatural novel, and a short story collection.

Amber - What is the easiest and hardest part about being an author?

Lana - The easiest part of being an author is the wardrobe: I get to work in my pajamas! The hardest part is the blend of long hours and low pay. I'll also add that as authors, we want to please our readers, we want to give readers something fun and different; so within the tight constraints of our deadlines, we hope that we're able to pull that off. Writing is actually a lot of hard work. I honestly want to entertain my readers, simple as that.

Amber - How do you relax? Do you have any hobbies?

Lana - Bubble baths, swimming, beaches, reading, walks.

Amber - Alot of authors have 'soundtracks' for their books. Is there any music that has influenced your writing so far?

Lana - I can't write while listening to music. That said, I have listened to music before writing certain scenes. For example, before writing a sword and sorcery story, I might listen to the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack. I was glued to James Bond theme songs for a few months. But I don't think that I can pin a soundtrack to any of my books.

Amber - What books do you enjoy reading? Do you have any favourite authors/series?

Lana - I like thrillers, suspense, paranormal romance, dark DARK vampires, ghosts, ghouls, dark fantasy, anything highly creative and unusual. Solid craft, good plots.

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

Lana - Probably a spectre. Not an evil ghost who haunts people until they go insane, nothing like that! But I think it might be cool to flit around in a ghostlike way, viewing our world from a different angle.

Amber - Thank you for visiting Amberkatze's Book Blog! Good luck with DUSK!

Lana - Thank you for having me, Amber! I'm always around to chat with readers, so please visit me at http://lanagriffin.blogspot.com.

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LANA GRIFFIN is the alter ego of a New York Times Best-Selling author. Her work has been published in approximately twenty languages. Publishers Weekly listed one of her books as a 2009 Best Seller. She's particularly fond of anything involving vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, wraiths, and other paranormal entities.