As always a great time was had at the signing. I got to visit with Anna (Hearding Cats & Burning Soup) and met Jeannie (Just Jeannie's Books & Bling) and we talked blogger and book stuff afterwards.
No, I am not a giant...Pamela is a very petite. I called her short...*facepalm* blogger fail.
The Q&A went on for about 40 minutes. I have paraphrased and tried to include all the important info that readers might find interesting. It is long and if you have been to any of their signings or read other interviews some of this might be old news to you. They do give some info about their new projects near the end. So skim through and hopefully you will learn something new!
Both gave introductions about their book/series. Apparently when Pamela was younger she wanted to be an astronaut, but she said that wasn’t exactly the case. She wanted to be on the Enterprise, then she figured out that wasn’t going to happen she decided writing would be more fun.Pamela said Wulfe is the last book of the Feral series, but not forever. There are some characters that still need their story told, but this is the end of the story arc.
Pamela named her 9 warriors after the animal they shift into because it would help keep her and the readers from getting confused with so many names.
Both were asked about how they went about ending their series and when they knew it was time.
She knew how she wanted to end the story arc of Cat and Bones since close to the beginning of the series. At the time she estimated how many books that would take. (Then made a joke about how apparently she can’t count <G>). Originally she thought it would take 9 books, but she wrote a long novella Home for the Holidays and that pretty much covered one of the books she was planning. So she now had 8 books, but half way through Up From the Grave she realized it could all be wrapped up in this book and it would take a lot of filler to make an eighth book and she didn’t want to do that. Ending it was a case of respecting the story.
Pamela: Her situation was very similar. She always knew the external plot and each book takes a piece of that and wraps a romance around it so she never knew exactly how many books that would take. She had 9 heroes, but more Ferals showed up. She really thought there would be another book, Griz’s and even started setting it up in Wulfe, but the external plot was going to be done. Any more books would be full of filler and she didn’t want to do that either. She hopes to go back and write Griz’s, Viper’s and maybe some of the others. She doesn’t know when or if they will be standalones or another story arc.
(without hesitation) Jag. She had a lot of trouble with him because he didn’t want to be a hero. He was nasty and didn’t want to do it, but Olivia thought he had it in him. It took her several tries to get it right.
Is it hard to write a stand alone?
Do you know where the Broken Destiny series is going?
Is it hard to write a stand alone?
Pamela: It takes so much time to world build, months and months of work then I create the story and I want to stay and play there a while. In a paranormal it would be difficult.
Jeaniene: yeah, what she said... I write what I like to read. I love reading series novels.
Pamela: They become like family. I finished the series, but I’m still not ready to let go. You become part of the community by this point.
Will we see Cat and Bones in any short stories
Jeaniene: I haven’t ruled it out. While I have said I won’t write another full novels featuring Cat and Bones because I left them in the situation I always intended too. I think they have earned their rest. Maybe a quick short story. I would love to showcase Cat and Bones in this new position in their lives fast forward 10 years. That would be fun.
Will we see Cat and Bones in any short stories
Jeaniene: I haven’t ruled it out. While I have said I won’t write another full novels featuring Cat and Bones because I left them in the situation I always intended too. I think they have earned their rest. Maybe a quick short story. I would love to showcase Cat and Bones in this new position in their lives fast forward 10 years. That would be fun.
Jeaniene: If I had a jar called The Ian Jar, and every time I got asked this a dollar was put in I could buy a car. Maybe. I have ideas, but if I don’t have a complete story in my head and I don’t feel committed enough to tell it I don’t want to write it. Especially with Ian. That man scares me. Getting into his mind, it’s great as a side character. You just take your conscience and set it aside for a while then write about Ian. But to get in his head in a personal way to write a book? I might need therapy! I do have ideas and a partial story in my head. If it becomes complete and starts banging around in my head, which is by the way how characters get a book. It is like being schizophrenic, but making the voices earn their money.
Pamela: I’ve done the secondary characters I wanted too, but there is one I would like to do, Pink. Who is half flamingo. You would be surprised how many people want her story and I have no idea how to tell it. Right now, probably not.
Do you have a writing space?
Do you have a writing space?
Pamela: I did, it would write in the dining room. But now I like to write in the grocery store. (Lots of laughter). There is a coffee shop, not in the isle. I make myself sit there for 3 hours and I don’t get up because I would have to take my computer with me. I get more work done in 3 hours than I get done at home in 6. I started doing this 3-4 months ago.
She writes at a Wegmans. OMG! I have grocery store envy.
Jeaniene: I wrote my first books in a corner by the TV. We moved and I now have an office. I am a tyrant. I shut the door and no one is allowed in, except the dogs. I have a music playlist for each book. I am conditioned to write when I hear my playlist. Once my iTunes got deleted and it was embarrassing how much I freaked out over it. I’m OCD to a dangerous level when writing.
What do you do when you get to a part and just can’t seem to write?
What do you do when you get to a part and just can’t seem to write?
Pamela: If I hit that point it is almost always because I did something wrong. I plot ahead of time and no where I am going so if it’s not working I will go back and try to figure out where I went wrong. The simplest trick is the List of 20. Write down your question, it might be you don’t have answer, you just don’t know what comes next. Start writing 20 different possibilities for whatever that question is. 20 because the first 5-10 are the obvious things before you get into the creative things.
Jeaniene: She is organized and left brained, and I am right brained, lazy and unorganized. The good news is if you too are like that you can still write a book! How I get past something like that, I do it out loud. I ask myself a question and it usually helps if I am walking around. I like to walk the dogs because if you talk to yourself, asking questions and arguing with yourself the neighbors will think you are talking to your dog. The same idea just verbally to myself instead of writing it down. Do what works.
Ever had a difficult character that wouldn’t do what you wanted?
Ever had a difficult character that wouldn’t do what you wanted?
Pamela: yeah, Jag.
Jeaniene: if I am running into that it is because I am doing something wrong. An example is the book Eternal Kiss of Darkness. My heroine in my outline was angry because of her past and she is a little tough and hard and when I was writing her I was having the most difficult time with the scenes and it finally occurred to me that she is not angry. She’s moved past it, my hero is the broken mess. She’s the one emotionally stable. Once I realized that I was able to move past the difficulty I was having and the story flowed.
Pamela: one of mine was Melisande, the heroine of book 7. She was over 5000 years old, talk about a lot of baggage. Mostly it was just me trying to figuring her out. I just didn’t have a handle on her yet. It was complicated. Just keep digging and asking questions until the ideas flow.
Do you keep a notebook on reoccurring characters
Do you keep a notebook on reoccurring characters
Pamela: yeah, that would be a really smart thing to do. I was having to read the previous book again before I could start the next and by the time I got to book 5 and 6 it was taking me a month to read through them so I started highlighting.
Jeaniene: I re read. Most of the main things I know, it is usually side characters. When I was writing Up from the Grave I didn’t know the color of Dave’s eyes. I still don’t know. I had to go back through 5 books! I was going to do a twitter contest to see if anyone could tell me just so I could stop re reading. I think if you are doing a multi world it isn’t a bad idea to jot things down.
What actors would you want to play your characters?
What actors would you want to play your characters?
Pamela: she thinks the heroine from the show Continuum should be the heroine from Vamp City. I love her.
Jeaniene: no one actor that personifies Cat and Bones, but Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in the Avengers is the closest I’ve seen. Bones is a blend: young Bruce Campbell, young Billy Idol, James Franco and put them in a blender and make a little man mold, then that might be close to Bones.
What are you working on now?
What are you working on now?
Jeaniene: I have a new paranormal series coming out in Aug. The first book is called Beautiful Ashes, the series is called The Broken Destiny series. My hero/heroine have opposing unwanted destinies. My heroine has no idea at the start of the novel and she thinks she is a regular college student that has unfortunate chemicals imbalances that caused her to have hallucinations her whole life. After her sister is kidnapped and she is almost murdered she discovers everything she has ever seen is real. There are dark demon realms outside this one and because she is the last descendant of her line she can see them. The hero who ends up saving her life has had a beef with demons his whole life for reasons that would be spoiler. He finds out she is actually a destiny he has been trying to avoid ever since he was born. It complicates things when they start to become drawn to each other. Paranormal with angels, demons and minions. Also two historical lines I won’t say what, but you will recognize them once the spoiler comes out. It deals with what do you do when you have an unwanted fate thrown upon you and the one person you love is the one person who is going to ruin your life. I’ve had this story in my head since 2007 and it just wasn’t the right time, also people couldn’t sell a novel with a heroine that was too old for YA and too young for adult. She is 20 and when I was trying to shop it I was told I had to put her in high school or age her up past this awkward age. Then self-pub helped create a new genre called New Adult. I was finally able to tell the story the way I had it.
Pamela: I am currently working on the third Vamp City book. I just rereleased two Scottish historical time travels I had written under the name Pamela Montgomery they are now under the name Pamela Palmer. I love these books. I have a Scottish fetish and I am also currently writing a contemporary thriller set in an old Scottish castle and it has romantic and paranormal elements. That is taking a little longer than expected. Turns out when you’re not writing straight paranormal you actually have to research. I’m use to making this stuff up.
Jeaniene: I have in my head a three book series. I am almost done writing the first book. As of right now I would say 3. It could possibly change, but I think it will be three.
website-FB-twitter-blog
Jeaniene Frost is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the Night Huntress series, the Night Prince series, and the upcoming Broken Destiny series. To date, foreign rights for her novels have sold to twenty different countries. Jeaniene lives in North Carolina with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. Aside from writing, Jeaniene enjoys reading, poetry, watching movies with her husband, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling – by car. Airplanes, children, and cook books frighten her. Jeaniene is represented by Nancy Yost atNancy Yost Literary Agency.
Pamela Palmer
website-FB-twitter
Pamela Palmer is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of more than a dozen novels including both the Vamp City and Feral Warriorsseries. When Pamela's initial career goal of captaining starships failed to pan out, she turned to engineering, satisfying her desire for adventure with books and daydreams until finally succumbing to the need to create worlds of her own. Pamela lives and writes in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.
About the Authors
Jeaniene Frostwebsite-FB-twitter-blog
Jeaniene Frost is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the Night Huntress series, the Night Prince series, and the upcoming Broken Destiny series. To date, foreign rights for her novels have sold to twenty different countries. Jeaniene lives in North Carolina with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. Aside from writing, Jeaniene enjoys reading, poetry, watching movies with her husband, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling – by car. Airplanes, children, and cook books frighten her. Jeaniene is represented by Nancy Yost atNancy Yost Literary Agency.
Pamela Palmer
website-FB-twitter
Pamela Palmer is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of more than a dozen novels including both the Vamp City and Feral Warriorsseries. When Pamela's initial career goal of captaining starships failed to pan out, she turned to engineering, satisfying her desire for adventure with books and daydreams until finally succumbing to the need to create worlds of her own. Pamela lives and writes in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.
I loved this post! As a writer, I'm really curious about the process of others, and these gals are my idols. My favorite grocery store (in which I actually did write once) is a Safeway in Walla Walla, Washington, which has a Starbucks AND a deli --- I could LIVE there!
ReplyDeletePS - Wrote this all out once but somehow deleted it --- if an extra shows up when you're moderating the comments, please remove it, LOL!
lol, it only showed up once. I've been to a Wegmans in VA and it was gorgeous. My kids were walking around in a daze. The fanciest we have is a Harris Teeter with a Starbucks unless I want to drive to a Wholefoods, but they are noisy. I can't think of a great place to go write in my area.
DeleteYeah actually I worked there :)
ReplyDeleteI so want to go to that grocery store... I think you summed everything up nicely... Great post lady :)
ReplyDeleteWoot! That was a fun one. Enjoyed hanging out with you ladies :) And gah. Yes. Grocery store envy there.
ReplyDeleteI work at a Marketplace, we have groceries and clothing ...hell we have everything. One stop shopping baby!!!
ReplyDeleteI work at a Marketplace, we have groceries and clothing ...hell we have everything. One stop shopping baby!!!
ReplyDeletethe only thing we have around here is a wal-mart, & k-mart. wish we had something more exciting.
ReplyDeleteI want that grocery store. All the ones near me are boring. Love the post. Both ladies are amazing authors who I love.
ReplyDeleteI have a Wegmans, but I write at Whole Foods. I can't get WiFi there :)
ReplyDeleteOMg I could so see Scarlett Jo as Cat! Soon as she said it, I saw it. Though Cat is taller and I think Scarlett is a short stack. But I get where she's going with it. Loved this Sharon! You had such an awesome night out! :)
ReplyDeleteThis was such a wonderful post. I loved reading these awesome authors thought processes and where they are going. Looking forward to continuing to follow their work. Thank you for sharing this treat with us today :)
ReplyDeleteSadly I am stuck with just a Wal-mart to do my shopping at >.<
ReplyDeleteI prefer the term VERTICALLY CHALLENGED
ReplyDeletewhats wegmans?? I'm a reader - not a writer :)
Nope...I live in a little hick town and all we have is Wal-Mart.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately....no. Just like Texas Book Lover...I live in a smaller town and we have a Wally World too...course, doesn't every town?
ReplyDeletecmucha319 (AT) yahoo (DOT) com
Unfortunately no. :(
ReplyDeleteWe have a local store - Heinens. It's like a tiny Wegmans :). Thank you.
ReplyDeletevsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com
I'm a huge fan of both of these ladies. Such a great post. We have a little store close to us called CVS but the security guard will kick you out if you try milling around.
ReplyDeleteNope. Just the normal ones. But I could easily spend hours checking out the gluten free section at my Dierbergs. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteNo, my Publix doesn't have a coffee shop in it. :D The closest thing would be the Pizza Hut in Target, LOL.
ReplyDeleteno
ReplyDeleteI loved meeting Pamela Palmer last year in Berlin, she is such a nice lady. My best friend arranged for a whole collection of her bookcovers, signed to me, for my birthday.
ReplyDeleteI am banned from grocery shopping by my boyfriend as I always buy too much. I am an impulse shopper, he makes extensive lists and searches for the cheapest stores to get them. As I really hate shopping, this is a good thing. Unless of course he forgets something I am suddenly craving ...
What a great gift! I like to shop hungry. Otherwise when I am looking for something good to snack on during the week there isn't anything to chose from :)
DeleteWe have a grocery store, D & W, that looks a little like the picture-- they have a starbucks and a big area with tables to sit at to drink or eat. I haven't written there yet-- maybe this summer I'll give it a try:)
ReplyDeleteNot really. Out of all the supermarkets in the area only one has a place to sit and eat.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness this is SO funny. I actually am known for hanging out in the local Safeway / Starbucks area.. I use the wifi and can catch some yummies. There are tons of people who come looking for me now when they want something, or they text me... and ask when I'm going to be there!
ReplyDeleteWhen the bookstores started disappearing it left a hole for readers and authors who want to socialize about books. Coffee shops replaced it for some. Wouldn't it be cool to have "book" shop/bar where you could go get snacks and coffee/tea during the day and then at night you could get more adult drinks and it is a place to hang out and talk books or write or just a comfortable place to take a date just to talk...
Deletenope nothing like that where I live. I've never even heard of them.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what Wegman's is like, but we have Schnucks and Meijer's.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately here in Brooklyn the supermarkets don't have food courts or areas to eat food purchased in the store. I loved doing that when I was visiting my brother down in Atlanta.
ReplyDeleteNo, I live in the boonies and have to travel 30 minutes just to get to a grocery store.
ReplyDelete