Welcome to Day 2 of my Lara Adrian/Midnight Breed Event and Giveaway. Today I have the pleasure of sharing with you an author interview with Ms. Adrian – author of the amazing Midnight Breed Series. Please help me welcome Lara to my blog, That’s What I’m Talking About…
Twimom: Lara, Thank you for finding time in your busy schedule to stop by. I’m wondering, do you have a favorite character or book from your Midnight Breed Series or does it vary with each book you write? If so, who is it and why….
Lara: I don’t have a favorite character or favorite book within the series. Part of that is a conscious effort, because as a writer—and particularly as a writer of a lengthy series that follows numerous characters—I think it’s important not to lavish all of my attention on one specific series “star”. As for the books themselves, my personal challenge is to deliver something fresh and new with each release. Hopefully, if I’m doing my job on that front, there are plenty of potential favorites for readers to choose from within the series. 🙂
Twimom: Yes, I do have my favorites! I think that Lucan is so masculine and dreamy! And the lonely, manly Harvard… I can’t wait for his day to shine!
In your MB series, your characters visit all sorts of locals – Europe, Alaska, Boston, etc. Have you visited any/all of these locations? How do you research the areas in order to capture the essence of the locales?
Lara: I’ve lived in New Hampshire for the past ten years, and I’ve also lived in the Boston suburbs and other parts of New England, so I am fairly familiar with the area where the Breed, and more specifically, the Order, is headquartered. As for the other series locales, my mom is German, and our family spent a month there when I was a kid, so it was great fun for me to be able to set some of the series storylines in Europe.
Most of my location research is done via the Internet and travel books (I highly recommend the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides). I’m a research junkie, so I’ve clocked many hours (days, weeks!) poring over websites and travel photos, looking for interesting places and details to help bring my locations to life. Of course, in the end a lot of it comes down to imagination, and although there are bits and pieces of authenticity in my settings, there are equal bits of fiction mixed together with fact. As I said, I love research, but I’m more interested in making sure my scenes are vivid, logical, and cinematically conveyed to the reader, rather than accurately nailing down every street name and storefront.
Twimom: Well, I for one think you have been successful with your local descriptions. I feel like I’m actually there, with the Breed. With your MB series, did you know from Kiss of Midnight (Book 1) where the series would lead or do you get the details for each book over time?
Lara: When I first pitched Kiss of Midnight to my literary agent the summer of 2005, it was as a standalone novel. She loved the concept and sample chapters, and she asked me if I could expand the storyline and characters out to three books before she began to shop it to publishers. So I drafted two more book outlines and the series initially sold as a trilogy. But after I turned in the second full manuscript, Kiss of Crimson, something wonderful happened. My publisher came back to us and offered for another three books, bringing the series to a total of six.
Because I am a plotter, and because the Midnight Breed series contains an overarching storyline, expanding the books from three to six required a bit of regrouping and restructuring on my end, in terms of plots and characters. To make a long explanation short, I decided to take a leap of faith that the series might continue past even the six books my publisher was committing to at that time. I created a new twist for the series and a bigger, badder villain to carry the overarching storyline, then mapped everything out to a total of ten books, which is where the series currently stands.
Twimom: Yes, that “bigger, badder villain” reared his head in Shades of Midnight. I cannot wait to see what happens next (September seems so far away)! You mentioned that you took a leap of faith and mapped out ten total books. Do you have a set ending to the series or is it still open-ended?
Lara: There is a definite end to the overarching storyline, which will resolve in Book 10. That said, however, I’m not ready to leave the world of the Midnight Breed entirely. 🙂 With the conclusion of the main action plot, more questions and possibilities will be opened for a continuation of the series. I have several characters and storylines already sketched out, but right now, my contract only covers through Book 10. I’m really excited about where the series can go from there and I hope I’ll have the chance to play in this story world for a while longer. I’ll definitely let you know as soon as I have news!
Twimom: Excellent. I’m not ready to leave the Midnight Breed world, either!
Your books are considered paranormal romance. What inspired you to write “paranormal”? Did you read or watch a lot of scifi and/or fantasy growing up?
Lara: I have always loved paranormal books and movies—everything from horror to romance and fantasy. I grew up reading Stephen King, John Saul, Dean Koontz, etc., and even now my tastes still remain in the “woo-woo” category of entertainment (the darker, the better). When the opportunity arose for me to try my hand at writing something on the dark supernatural side of romance, I couldn’t have been more excited!
Twimom: Which authors and/or what books are you currently reading? What is your favorite book you’ve read so far in 2010?
Lara: Well, I’ve *bought* a lot of books this year, but I haven’t had much time to read them just yet. Between a fairly packed writing schedule, a handful of appearances (including a German book tour for the series next month!) and other commitments, my leisure reading time is getting the squeeze. I have read some wonderful ARCs of upcoming releases, however. That’s one of the best perks of my job—being asked to read great new books for possible cover blurbs! 🙂
A few things I’m excited about on the paranormal romance front include: Eve Silver’s “Otherkin” series (look for back-to-back trilogy releases from HQN starting with Sins of the Heart in August); J.K. Beck’s “Shadow Keepers” series (another back-to-back trilogy, from Bantam Dell, beginning with When Blood Calls in August); and Larissa Ione’s new Lords of Deliverance series in early 2011. And I’m currently reading and loving a December debut called Ascension, by dark paranormal romance newcomer Caris Roane. There are so many great titles and authors to choose from in paranormal romance right now—with even more exciting stuff on the way!Twimom: Wow – you have a busy schedule. Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to stop by and visit with me. Safe travels and we all look forward to more news on the Midnight Breed front. (Including the upcoming Taken By Midnight on sale September 28, 2010!)
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Please join me tomorrow when my dear friend, Una, shares her thoughts about the books of the Midnight Breed Series…
AND DON’T FORGET THE GIVEAWAY!! Open to US and Canadian readers. For contest details and how to enter, click HERE.
I LOVE the MB series and what a good interview. I probably would have acted like a realGOOF if I had met her, I mean seriously, I almost pee myself when I get a responce from Gena Showalter, Christine Feehan and Molly Harper. (Author Book Pimp: If you haven’t read Molly Harpers’s Nice Girls Don’t Have Fangs ,and the rest of the series, you are missing out. I listened to her on a Audible.com download and my sides hurt for days I laughed so hard, and the narrator has the perfect sarcastic note to her voice the Molly has in the writing.)
Anyway back to Lara. My fave characters of hers are: Gideon (wish he and Savannah had a story) Lucan, Tegan, and Sterling, Mr Harvard himself (loved the scene in the dance club on the dance floor with the 2 girls in Kiss of Crimson. HOT, HOT, HOT!! Can hardly wait for her next book!!!September seems like a year away:(
WOW, you seem like you had quite a productive interview with Lara.
I love all her character’s, they are all unforgetable in their own way. But i think Harvard is funny. I can’t wait til he finds his “good woman.” He needs someone to keep him streight, lol!
Great interview! Thank you so much for sharing and I hope to hear soon that book 10 is not the end!
Loved this interview!
You know Lara’s going way beyond book 10…come on!
Mina B.
What a great interview!!
I look forward to starting the MB series. It’s been bumped up on my TBR list because you recommend it so highly! 🙂
MamaKitty