Thursday, January 10, 2013

13 Questions with Nancy Collins...and don't worry, a review will be forthcoming


Good evening constant reader.

I'm going to do something a little different.

Usually I post a book review, then post the author's answers to the 13 Questions.

This time it's going to be the opposite.

Nancy A. Collins, author of Sunglasses After Dark, In The Blood, Paint It Black, A Dozen Black Roses, Darkest Heart, Dead Roses For a Blue Lady, Search and Destroy, Cold Turkey, Some Velvet Morning (her Sonja Blue series) two more series, Vamps and Golgotham (both trilogies), writer for the comics Swamp Thing and Jason Vs Leatherface, a handful of novels, collections, a lot of novellas, contributor to anthologies...well, you get the idea, she's quite prolific...has answered my 13 Questions.
But I've not reviewed her...yet.

I read Sunglasses After Midnight, In The Blood and Paint It Black when they were first published, (1989, 1992 and 1995 respectively) and they were a knock out. Visceral and twisted, bloody and violent - a vampire lover's delight.
I'm going to go back and re-read Sunglasses After Midnight and publish my review after the 13 Questions.

Nancy has a new Sonja Blue novel in the works and has started a indiegogo page to fund it.
You can find all the information here: Kill City - the new Sonja Blue novel by Nancy A. Collins
If you can help fund this project, I urge you to.

1. You’re hosting a dinner party. What is the menu, and do you cook it yourself, or do you call a caterer?
Grilled shish-ka-bobs made from filet mignon, chicken breast, peppers, onion & Portabella mushrooms; par-grilled corn-on-the-cob; potato salad; and pumpkin-cheesecake with an apricot glaze for dessert. And I'd cheat and do both, because my fiance is a a professional cook and I'd let him do the grilling & the corn, while I'd make the potato salad & dessert.

2. What is your beverage of choice?
Non-alcoholic: Coke Zero.
Alcoholic: Larceny Bourbon.

3. Physical book Vs an E-Reader. Your preference and why?
I still prefer physical books, although I have been reading more and more on my Nook. The basic reason is habit more than anything else--and the fact I can't accidentally skip several pages ahead or back by where I put my thumb.

4. What kinds of books make up your personal library?
It's split between non-fiction reference materials and fiction by friends and those writers who have influenced me over the years. And graphic novels. I have a great deal of J.G. Ballard, William S. Burroughs, William Kotzwinkle, Ramsey Campbell, H.P. Lovecraft, Michael McDowell, Robert McCammon, Joe Lansdale, John Shirley, Alan Moore, Pat Mills and Neil Gaiman in my personal collection.

5. How and when did you catch the writing bug?
Around the age of 3, according to my mother. I got bored waiting for adults to read me stories and started drawing my own--since I still didn't know how to write.

6. What is your writing routine?
Well, I usually do a detailed outline in long hand, breaking the story down into chapters, with each action taken on a separate, numbered line. As I finish that section of the story, I cross it off the list. I usually don't start writing until after dinner, as I spent the afternoon handling the nuts-and-bolts of my business--answering emails, going to the bank, calling agents and editors, etc. I usually work until 2-3 in the morning.

7. If you ever encounter writer’s block, what steps do you take to get past it?
I've had more than one bout of writer's block. The only thing you can do is push your way through it. I try to write something every day, even if its only a couple of paragraphs.

8. Do you have a hidden talent?
I bake.

9. What was your best subject in school?
English, of course.

10. As in any entertainment, there are current trends. How much do these “current trends” influence what you write?
Well, I was approached to write a YA vampire series a few years back, if that answers your question.

11. Mac or PC?
PC.

12. Where do your ideas come from?
If I told you that I'd have to kill you.

13 What advice would you pass on to an aspiring author?
Write what you know. Read outside the genre you're writing for.
Grow as thick a skin as possible, and if you can't grow a skin, never read your reviews on Amazon.


Nancy A. Collins on Fantastic Fiction 
Nancy A. Collins on Facebook 

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