Raven Hart

[Michelle]

Raven Hart
Website (http://ravenhartbooks.com/)

Reviews:
The Vampire's Seduction (http://bookclubforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2412)
The Vampire's Secret (http://bookclubforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2443)

Interview (http://bookclubforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=3419)
Competition (http://bookclubforum.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=2787)

Although Raven isn't that well known, I'm a big fan of her vampire books, and a few others on here have read and enjoyed. They couldn't really be classed as horror, but they certainly don't fit into 'chick lit' or 'paranormal romance'. To me, they seem to slip into a genre all by themselves...

Maybe Raven can explain how she classifies the books.. she'll be with us for the month, answering questions, and sharing a little about her books.

[Raven Hart]

Thank you, Michelle! And happy birthday! Everyone join in in singing Michelle the virtual birthday song--"Happy birthday to you. . . "

I wanted to say a brief hello for now. I'll be holding forth about this and that as the month goes on. Feel free to ask me any questions you wish!

Love,
Raven

[Wraith*]

Hi Raven,

I read alot of vampire books but the question I wanted to ask is how do you react to feedback from your readers? If, for example, they say they don't like something one of your characters is doing or they think you could improve your books by doing something? Would you take on board what they've said or would you carry on doing it?

Cheers,

Wraith.

[Michelle]

And my question, from the intro, is how you classify the books.. do you think they can be classed as horror??

[Kell]

Hi Raven. I'm another fan of all things vampiric and my question relates to the mythos behind vampires. Just about every book that features vampires has a different set of "rules" - how did you go about deciding which ones would apply to your vampires and which ones would be dismissed?

[Raven Hart]

Great question, Wraith. I take readers' views very seriously and I treat them similar to the way I'd treat a critiquer's comments. If only one person told me they hated something in the book, I might not make a change. If two readers told me they hated something, I'd consider changing it. If several readers told me they hated something I would probably change it.

[Raven Hart]

Michelle, it's hard to say how to categorize the books. I thought of the first book as horror. But as the series has continued, it's turned more into romantic paranormal. I do think it's a bit scarier than a lot of the other romantic paranormals out there, though.

[Wraith*]

Great question, Wraith. I take readers' views very seriously and I treat them similar to the way I'd treat a critiquer's comments. If only one person told me they hated something in the book, I might not make a change. If two readers told me they hated something, I'd consider changing it. If several readers told me they hated something I would probably change it.

Thanks for your answer. My main reason for asking was some vampire authors seem to take everything to heart. Anne Rice had her famous rant on Amazon because someone gave her a negative review and my favourite author Laurell K Hamilton basicly said the opposite of what you just said.

Thanks, W :cool:

[Raven Hart]

Kell, I found creating the "rules" for the RH books VERY challenging. You want to give your vamps certain powers, but they can't be powerful enough to be able to zap all their enemies, or you won't be able to put the vamps in jeopardy.

Other than that, what you can do with your vamps is pretty unlimited. You're pretty much free to do what you want as long as you remain consistent and remember to actually follow your own rules. That's actually harder than it sounds. I can't ever remember if my vampires breath or have heartbeats! :blush:

I really like traditional vamps, so I borrowed from existing lore from everybody from Bram Stoker to Anne Rice. That is, they can't see their reflections, have to be invited in, that sort of thing. I was also a big Buffy fan and would love to eventually have a whole variety of demons like Joss Whedon did.

[Raven Hart]

Wraith, what did LKH say? I'm a big fan of hers too. I've liked all of her books. I've tried to read them in order and I'm now on Narcissus in Chains. I've read the first two or three fairy books and I like those too. I have heard readers of hers complain that her books now seem to be one big sex scene. But most of her readers must really like how the books are going because she sells tons of them. I don't know how she does it. I find writing about sex really difficult, but she seems to always figure out fresh ways to write about sex.

[Wraith*]

She wrote something on her blog in reply to someone moaning in her chatroom and some emails she'd been sent Dear Negative Reader (http://blog.laurellkhamilton.org/2006/12/dear-negative-reader.html). I find it quite annoying that she says I'm not a proper fan because I don't like the sex scenes.

The thing is I love her earlier books but I find it hard to read some of the 85 page long sex scenes in her newer ones.

As Anita once said "I don't date vampires, I kill them" now she doesn't kill anything or date, just does the wild thing.

Would you say LKH inspired you?

[Raven Hart]

Thanks for sending the link to LKH's post. I found it highly interesting. As far as whether she inspired me, I think that her earlier books did, yes. I just can't believe the action and the pacing of those books. You were always so breathless because jeopardy was coming at Anita from all sides. She'd be fighting off three or four enemies and you'd realize she'd been up for 72 hours straight or something and it actually make me exhausted because I identified with her so much. I liked the characters, dialog, the world she created, all of it. I haven't gotten yet to the later books that some people are objecting to. But I really like the ones I've read so far.

Anne Rice has influenced me a lot too. Bram Stoker still holds up amazingly well also. I really like scary horror, but when I sit down to write, I seem to come up with more humor than horror.:smile2:

[Wraith*]

To be honest I much prefer funny horror and characters like Anita. In my experience humour in a tough situation is one of the best coping methods.

Thanks for answering the questions. I'll actually read one of your books tomorrow :lol: and have more Q's

W :cool:

[Raven Hart]

I can't wait to hear what you think! :readingtwo:

[Michelle]

Raven, where did the inspiration come from to start writing this series.. the general ideas,and the characters?

[Icecream]

Hi Raven. I'm reading the book that you sent me at the moment. I was hoping to finish it, but my time has been taken up the last 2 weeks by setting my new baby into the house. I'm now managing to read some each day.

The first question I thought of is similar to Michelle's. Where did your inspiration for the book come from, in particular, although vampires are probably expected to be male, is there anything in particular that inspired you to write male characters as the main ones?

[Raven Hart]

Michelle and Icecream,
The orignial idea for the two male characters and the series came from my writing partner for the first two books, who died suddenly of an annyeurism about a year ago, a couple of months before the first book came out. We had belonged to the same writers' club for years and knew that I liked vampires--Buffy, Anne Rice, that sort of thing. She asked if I would be interested in writing a vampire series with her and of course I said yes.

She said that she had this idea about two male vampires in Savannah who needed each other to survive but didn't necessarily get along all that well. One was a rich, society guy and the other a southern-fried good-old-boy. She asked me which one I wanted to write and I picked the working class boy. And from then we were off and running.

Gin also wanted to have some kind of lore where sex between male and female vampires had some consequences when it came to vampiric power. So we worked it out to where females draw power from males during the act.

[Michelle]

Who thought up the 'irregulars'... and will their roles continue to develop?

[Raven Hart]

Sorry for the tardiness of my reply, Michelle. I'm not getting all the emails that alert me to posts.

I tought up the irrregulars because I love quirky secondary characters and because I thought Jack needed some good-old-boy buddies to interact with. They can also serve as informants and can participate in plot lines. Jerry, one of the nonhumans, as a bigger role in book 3 as a matter of fact. I think you'll enjoy that. I did anyway. :-)

I really like Huey, and he was a total afterthought. If you've read the advance chapter for "The Vampire's Secret" that's printed in the back of "The Vampire's Seduction" you already know that he might not be really and truly dead. What happened to him in book 2 was a total surprise to me that happened as I was writing that very scene. I then used him in what I think is an entertaining way in book 3.

If the series goes on long enough, I plan to use the other irregulars more, and add one or two along the way.

For those who have read book 1 (and/or had an advance look at book 2) what do you think of the irregulars?

susan

[Michelle]

I LOVED what happened to Huey in book 2.. the humour was great, and just typical of the sort of thing that happens to Jack.

I think once you start dealing with the likes of vampires, it makes sense to have characters such as shape shifters etc.. it's certainly done well in other books. It also offers a slight break from the vamps. I have a personal fondness for Daylaud and Reyha.. their love and loyalty is so strong.

[Michelle]

Obviously the amount of sex in a book is a very personal preference of the reader.. was it something you and your partner sat and discussed before you started, or did it just develop along with the books?

Then, on a different subject, are the books set near where you live? if so, do you find it easier to write about areas you know?

[Raven Hart]

I like the Rin Tin Twins too! :)

[Raven Hart]

Micelle, I knew there would be sex in the books, but I didn't know HOW much until my writing partner started sending me her scenes to read and I knew I had to keep up. :-) It mostly just developed.

Savannah is not all that near where I live. (4 hours or so) I wish I could go there more. If any of you in the UK get the chance to visit the southern U.S. I encourage you to come to Savannah. It's absolutely beautiful. The flowers alone are worth the trip in the spring. I have a trip scheduled for Savannah in June and I'm going to take a lanternlight tour of Bonaventure cemetery near where Jack lives. I've explored the beautiful forest cemetery on my own, but have never had a guided tour and never at night!

[mrstrecool]

Hi Raven,

First of all, I would like to say I recently won a signed copy of The Vampire's Seduction on this forum and am currently enjoying it very much. So, thank you for the opportunity of reading your book.

My question is do you have a plan for the series? Do you already know how it will end, if it will end at all? Do you write knowing you have to lead the story to a certain event? I was just interested to know if you have a plan, or is it developing as you write each book.

Thank you for taking the time to come here and answer our questions.

[Raven Hart]

Hi! I'm glad you like the book. You pose an excellent question. It's something I'm always curious about when I read books by others. In a very high-level way, I know what's going to happen. For me the answer is a little of both. In other words, I know the "big" events in the book and I fill in the smaller events, feelings and reactions of the characters, as I go along. The more I get to know my characters and what makes them tick, the easier it gets in a way. I do with with an outline, but it evolves constantly. I tweak it so much I have it up on my screen the whole time I'm writing on a chapter. I just got a wide-screen monitor to make this easier.

As far as the series as a whole is concerned, of course the success (or lack there of) of the books will determine how many there will be. I don't have the series planned too far in advance. I have only some ideas that I think would be shocking/entertaining/pleasing to the reader that I will narrow down and select from if I get the opportunity to write more books.

In the meantime I will let the "big" ideas ferment (fester?) in my mind until I get a green light.

[Michelle]

How did you find it when you had to write both characters for book three.. how was it 'taking over' William?

[Kell]

Hi Raven,

I'm reading The Vampire's Seduction at the moment and really enjoying it. I was wondering, how much more difficult does it make it for you as a writer when all your characters are from different eras? Was it hard to get your head round it when you were researching /writing, or did it all flow quite easily?

[Raven Hart]

Michelle, it didn't feel all that strange to take over William. I feel like I know him well. I know that his voice won't sound exactly like it did when Gin wrote him. But I think I approximated him pretty well. I tried anyway.

[Raven Hart]

Hi, Lady Kell and thanks. I'm glad you're enjoying the book. I didn't find it particularly hard to write from different eras. I thought it was really interesting and fun. The info I included from Jack's point of view about the Civil war battle in which he "died" was all true.

As far as William is concerned, I can't remember if it was book 1 or 2, but I enjoyed William's flashback to Elizabethan England. I actually gave Gin that idea and she did a great job.

Writing from the POV of vampire has so much potential for going back into the past, I'd like to do more flashbacks if I can figure out how to make it move the present story forward. It kind of gives you the fun of writing a historical while writing contemporary.

susan

[Michelle]

I just wanted to let everyone know Raven's new site is up and running.. and it's looking rather cool. :)

Are you doing anything else to promote the book Raven.. is it exciting coming up to launch day, or do you get nervous about sales?

[Kell]

As far as William is concerned, I can't remember if it was book 1 or 2, but I enjoyed William's flashback to Elizabethan England. I actually gave Gin that idea and she did a great job. I just got to this bit at lunch time - I loved the idea, especially as I'm fascinated by the Tudor royals anyway. ;)

[Raven Hart]

Thanks for the plug, Michelle. I get EXTREMELY nervous about sales. I don't want to have to go back to a REAL job. :eek2: As far as promotions, right now I need to get some new cards printed up to take to the events I have listed on the web site. Those appearances are the main thing I'm doing as far as promotions are concerned.

[Raven Hart]

Thanks, Lady Kell. I hope to do more of that as the series goes along.

[Michelle]

Now I feel really bad.. you wished me a happy birthday, but I completely forgot to do the same for you! :blush:

Happy belated birthday for the 15th, I hope it was a lovely day! :smile2:

[Kell]

Happy belated birthday for the 15th, I hope it was a lovely day! :smile2:And from me too - hope you had a great day! :mrgreen:

[Raven Hart]

Michelle, you sent me such a lovely card! But thanks for the additional birthday wishes, and thanks Lady K. Yes, I had a splended day. Some friends treated me to a nice lunch and I bought some new beads! :lol:

[Michelle]

You mentioned in your interview that you had written a few chapters of a different novel, and you also had another story 'fermenting'! Have you made any progress with either of these, or have your vamps kept you busy?

[Raven Hart]

Michelle, I really haven't had a chance to work on the other project lately, but I plan to get back to it soon. I had some distrations over the winter what with building a new office in my basement and relocating a lot of my belongings, but I'm about finished with all that.

The main project I want to work on is a southern mystery.

[Michelle]

Raven, how was 'launch day'? Is it exciting, or a bit of an anti-climax?

There was something else I wanted to ask.. how did you find the transition from writing romance? Do you prefer the type of book you're writing now, and do you think you may write further romance in the future?

[Raven Hart]

Great questions, Michelle. It's kind of anticlimactic, to tell you the truth. You visualize your books in a very prominent spot and then you go into the bookstore on the "laydown" date and they haven't even taken them out of the box. Oy! I went out to my nearest Barnes and Noble and that's what happened (again).

I much prefer the kind of book I'm writing now, in that there are fewer "rules" you have to follow. However, having said that, I must admit that more and more romance is creeping into the series. :smile2:

When you're writing a straight romance, the romantic story has to be the driving story and it's difficult to sustain the kind of believable conflict that will keep two people who are meant for each other apart for a whole book. Romance writing is pretty difficult, actually.

[Michelle]

LOL I think I'd start unpacking the boxes myself!!

[Raven Hart]

Believe me, I've been tempted to do just that! :roll:

[Icecream]

Raven, before you go, I would like to say that I am very much enjoying the book you sent me. I'm sorry I have not yet been able to finish it and ask you more questions. I'm sure you can understand having a new baby in the house, but I love the book. I have never read a vampire book before. It is very interesting and informative on that front so thank you for that, also the book has many levels and goes quite deep. I like Jack's character too.

[Michelle]

Raven, before you go, I would like to say that I am very much enjoying the book you sent me.

I'm sure that Raven will check in again if there are further comments/questions. In fact, I'll make sure she does! ;)

[Raven Hart]

Icecream, I'm delighted you like the book!!! You can ask me questions anytime. Visit my website at www.ravenhartbooks.com (http://www.ravenhartbooks.com) and leave any questions/comments you want. :)

[Raven Hart]

I've enjoyed talking to you folks this month. I'm off for a conference tomorrow morning, but I'll check the messages when I get back on Monday.

[Michelle]

I hope the conference was a good one. :)

I have one final question for you.. you often hear that when authors write a long series, or even lots of books of the same genre (especially crime writers), they can come under some criticism. Sometimes the quality seems to suffer, or they annoy a certain set of fans.

Does it worry you that that may happen if you end up writing a long series. Would you consider setting yourself a limit?

[Raven Hart]

The conference was lots of fun! Thanks!
Michelle, I've thought about this, and for right now, I'd like to write as many books in the series as the readers want. If I'm fortunate enough to be able to write several more, I might at some point get burned out, but for right now, I would love to continue. My only goal is to try and make each book at little better than the last. Only you guys can tell me if I'm succeeding.

It's been fun to be your featured author for the month. Thanks for the questions/conversation! Be sure and visit my site, www.ravenhartbooks.com (http://www.ravenhartbooks.com).

[Michelle]

Thank you for your time here, and for answering our questions. :)

[Nici76]

Hello Raven, I just wanted to say a big thank you for the books and t-shirt and thank you for the message in the front of the book!

I can't wait to get started on them :D

Thanks again x

[Raven Hart]

You're most welcome, Nici! And, you're welcome Michelle. It was a lot of fun. :)

[Nici76]

I just wanted to say that I am throughly enjoying The Vampires Seduction. I think it is fantastic and it is turning out to be the sort of book that I am getting excited about reading!

I love the characters and the way they interact with each other and Jack and William are making me chuckle! And to read a book with a bit of sauciness as well is a nice change to what I have been reading recently!

Fantastic read! Right, I'm getting back to my book....;)

[Raven Hart]

Thanks, Nici! :)