VampireS (€) X: An Adult Historical Supernatural Memoir By Bryan Genesse

8/8/2020

Debut author, Bryan Genesse introduces us to his first book:
“VampireS (€) X”:
I Am Demon. And God. The Last Of My Kind. Read My Story At Your Own Peril... a memoir of secrets revealed. Relentless, painfully honest, thrillingly intimate and a true account of anguish and immortality told by an author in hiding who after 1000 years might still walk amongst us. A stunning tale unlike any other in the genre, for the author, promises to dispel every lie, myth and fable told in all the made-up stories ever written about vampires. Spanning across continents and centuries from New York City to Italy to North Africa and deep into jungles of the Mayan Coast, the author weaves a relentless tale of infinite love, relentless wars and dancing with madness while divulging the realities of being an immortal...whose gender and sexual appetites are the biggest enigmas of all. A tsunami of revelations leads to the unimaginable: how anyone, whether mortal or immortal, can still turn a human into a vampire. If you do not believe this journal is Nonfiction as soon as you start reading you will. If you do not read this memoir in one sitting; if instead, you decide to go to sleep—Do Not Turn Off The Lights. Believe me! The author does not require an invitation to enter your home that is a myth! This is...the Truth.

This is an interesting take on the common vampire theme. Written as a supernatural memoir, it has quite a few surprising twists. I loved it.
I really want to talk about some of the twists and revelations that are slowly revealed in the story. But I am committed to not revealing any spoilers.
The feelings of the vampire while recording thoughts are very evident and at times elicit a great deal of sympathy, this is a big part of the author’s genius. All of the characters come through as complex and very relatable. They are real, with conflicting desires and emotions.
I enjoyed the dialogue quite a bit, it was very witty at times and rather gritty sometimes.
There were many locales and time periods, which was entertaining. The scene setting is done well also.
The action was excellent.
The author describes his novel as an adult memoir with good reason, there are a handful of fairly sexy scenes.
I award “VampireS (€) X” a score of 4.5 stars.

You can buy this book:
https://www.amazon.com/VampireS-E-X-Adult-Historical-Supernatural-Memoir-ebook
https://www.goodreads.com/vampires-e-x
https://www.amazon.co.uk/VampireS-E-X-Adult-Historical-Supernatural-Memoir-ebook

You can follow the author:
https://twitter.com/bryangenesse
http://www.bryangenesse.com
http://facebook.com/bryangenesseauthor

paranormal, fantasy, romance

Copyright © 2020 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction

57 Comments

Bryan Genesse link

8/9/2020 01:41:29 am

Thanks for the great review, Mark. I am looking forward to chatting with you for the interview.

Mark

8/9/2020 09:24:05 am

You are welcome. I enjoyed reading your book a lot.
First question.
Please, tell us more about yourself. Perhaps something a little bit beyond your bio.

8/9/2020 03:48:09 pm

I grew up in a small town in Canada near Niagara Falls and moved to NYC at 19 years old. In my first career, I began as an actor. Luckily, I found success as a thespian, and the creators of The Bold and the Beautiful hired me for their new soap opera, which was my first worldwide show.

More importantly, they moved me to California, where the soap opera was filmed, and I met my future wife, Brooke Theiss (Genesse.)

Comedy fans may know her as Wendy Lubbock from the ABC hit show, Just the Ten of Us. Horror fans recognize her as Debbie, " the cockroach girl," from Nightmare on Elm.Street IV. Brooke does a lot of horror conventions to meet her fans. Although Covid has temporarily paused all meet and greets. For anyone who wants them, signed autographs of my lovely wife and I are available at https://wwwsignaturehorror.com

We live outside Los Angeles and have two amazing children. Mitchell is our oldest at 25 and Aubrey is his 11 year old baby sister.

As well, we foster dogs and adopted, Smoochie, a Papillon-Chihuahua mix. She is a mother of five puppies and we placed her smallest with our best friends. So Smoochie gets to play with her "son" every week.

We also have a basketball-sized cat, Kashmir (who refuses to diet) as well as four gerbils and a fish. None of whom are writers.

I began writing screenplays for Hollywood and sold several. But novels have always been my favorite escape. After an injury on a film set curbed my acting career, scribing novels took over my life and gave me purpose.

C'est la vie...Yes. I do speak French and Italian.

8/9/2020 05:22:44 pm

Very nice. Working on the screen, whether big or little, entails a lot of memory work, it seems to me. Not many actors or even regular people get the job they really wanted the first time. Congratulations.
I haven't seen any of those shows, regardless of the screen size. I would not recognize your wife, if she was walking down the street toward me.
Do you accompany her to the conventions? Is there a convention for the soaps?
Smoochie sounds like a beautiful dog. Many have mistaken Grizz for a Papillion. He was a pure-bred long-hair Chihuahua. We sure miss him.
You have quite a zoo in your home.
Multi-lingual is very good.
New questions.
Are you a full-time or part-time writer?
Are you in the writing business for love of writing or for money?

8/9/2020 07:41:08 pm

I am a full-time writer with five novels completed or, more realistically, five novels never quite completed. Currently, I am changing the POV one of my protagonists in a thriller to first person from third. As you know, Mark, it us a pain in the derriere to change the POV in a 90k word novel.

Writing is my love but I consider it a career. As.such, I would like to make money doing my passion. With the opportunity for novels to be adapted to movies and television shows, I believe there is more opportunities than ever to prosper. Ever the optimistic, I shall keep my faith and believe in success as a derivative of hard work and learned skills.

This is why I self-published VampireS € X; to learn the entire process. It is also why I have held off self-pubbing my other novels until I get an agent or major publisher on board.

On a personal note, have you found another fur baby? I am sure Grizz wants you to bring another family member home to warm up your lap.

Keep smiling.

8/9/2020 08:24:23 pm

Changing POV would be a herculean task, harder in some ways than the actual writing. Instead of the words flowing from your finger tips, as the muse smiles and whispers in your ear, the reality ogre is leaning heavily on your shoulder pointing out everything that needs to be fixed. Getting paid to do what you love is a wonderful thing. I know that for a fact. I love to read and proofread.
You are so right about the opportunities for books being adapted to the screen, big or small. I think the recent explosion of streaming services is going to open up far more opportunities for writers.
Be sure you get a lawyer experienced with intellectual property law before signing a contract. I have heard so many horror stories from authors who trusted their agent or publisher and wound up with nothing. They lost all of their IP rights to their book.
We were looking for a new dog. In June, my wife fell and hurt herself pretty bad. Full recovery is almost a year away. We are now going to wait until next year sometime. We miss Grizz so much. A few nights ago I dreamed about finding a small dog that looked a lot like Grizz in an airport. In the dream I was trying to figure out how to smuggle him onto the plane so I could take him home. He seemed to be all alone. It will happen, not soon enough for me.
New questions.
Does your past work have any influence on your writing?
What inspired you to write this book?

8/10/2020 03:18:47 am

My heart sank to hear about your wife's injury and the time it will take for her to achieve a full.recovery. From my personal journey to healing, it took a a few years to walk without a limp, and I still suffer from ongoing aches but...life is such a precious gift, perhaps, as only a vampire knows.

There are no experiences from my life or career, which influenced the vampire's tale (although I did play an actor playing a vampire in a Perry Mason television movie while still living and working in Canada.)

I might project the story grew out of my philosophies on life, fear of death, fascination with the abomination that is immortality, and love of Anne Rice novels. Of course, my constant disappointment with vampire lore revolved around it's blatant disregard for science and the principles of biology and existence.

World building in VampireS € X took a lot of time because I wanted to honor history. I wanted the reader to taste, smell, and imagine each location throughout time. A reader's imagination is the best canvas to paint the pictures; I believe the writer merely provides the paint and first few brush strokes.

As a human being experiencing my own immortality, the lure of eternal life appeals to a part of me. And a vampire can embody the and worst human traits on the the search for God and Truth, a Soul and the Why of Life.

No one gets out of life alive but the undead have a cool trick to fake out Death while fighting the emotional ravages of time, and I like those conflicting elements in my heroes and villains.

Keep Smiling but never show too many teeth. A vampire taught me that 🤫🤗😎

8/10/2020 10:42:24 am

Healing is not as easy when you are no longer young. It takes longer. My wife's broken bones are close to being knit back together. The soft-tissue injuries to her hand and arm are what is going to take so long.
I love that you played an actor playing a vampire on a TV show. That is classic.
We all have the fear of death, don't we? I am 66 years old, soon to be 67. The cessation of my life on this mortal plane is of more interest to me now than ever before. Although I do expect to be a centenarian. At some point, near or far, the light will be extinguished.
Your respect for science and the principles of life are some of the things I loved about your book. I read Abraham Stoker's book a few years ago. I found it to be rather boring and insipid. I also read Mary Shelley's tale of animation and reanimation which I found to be awesome! The differences between the two books were stark for me.
With your attention to detail in the different ages and locales your book would make a wonderful adaptation to the screen. Although I don't know who would attempt a faithful display of your story besides HBO. The sexy parts seem to be in their wheelhouse. I must admit here that I skipped the massage scene in the Mayan jungle.
We are all immortal, until further notice, aren't we? Or at least that is how many of us feel when we are young. I know I took a lot of chances as a young man.
Keep smiling without showing too many teeth. I love that bit of advice.
New questions.
Who designed the cover of your book? Feel free to drop a link if appropriate.
What do the elements on the cover represent?

Bryan Gwnesse link

8/10/2020 12:03:49 pm

Your waters run deep, Mark. Whoever said youth is wasted on the young got it right, didn't they? I also became lost in Shelly's tale.versus Stoker's, but breaking new ground is hard and sometimes boring.

I designed the book cover because I really did want to understand each aspect.of launching a book..

It is a simple image, yet...

Who is looking at whom? What.has that eye seen? Are eyes truly the windows to the soul? Is it a man or a woman? Is that eye the narrator's? Does red represent blood, lust, hate, sadness, fear, or...?

I liked the striking simplicity of the image and how each reader might interpret it.

Plus, it's kind of twisted-sexy..

Your turn.

8/10/2020 12:15:40 pm

Yes. Youth was fun and silly, so much wasted energy sand angst. Yet, it's part of the process of maturation that few can avoid.
I was struck by the eye. I couldn't tell what the gender is. The red iris is very striking. It is all of the above and more. You did well with that cover, it really stands out. Have you entered it in any competitions?
New questions.
Was it hard to come up with the title? What was the process?
Were the character names difficult to develop? How did you choose them?

8/10/2020 03:38:42 pm

I didn't know book cover competitions existed. Wow! You learn something new every day.

Titles are always difficult for me. In hindsight, I would have chosen a different title for this book. Why? Because I didn't consider the search engine and how difficult this title is for most people to write down. My bad! Luckily, if anyone puts my name into Amazon, the book shows up. But, I chose this title specifically for the double (really multiple) entendre: the play on words. With multiple meaning.

Is the title meant to be vampires EX...vampires e x....or vampire sex?

My hope is curious readers want to find out. A couple clues for anyone considering purchasing my book: firstly, we are all composed of chromosomes X and Y...secondly, this tale slips into the erotic at times...thirdly, who knew a darn title could be so complicated?

As for the naming of characters? Please, do not get me started. Another difficult part of process.

For VampireS, I needed names that fit historical time periods, names that have a hidden meaning, names that personify strength or sexiest or intelligence or all three and more. Of course, the protagonist is never named. And I love that about this book. Although, I do give away most of the lead character's other secrets..I will never divulge the name. The vampires' pets needed cool names too. So it sometimes takes me a while to lock a name in. As a homage to the original vampire novels, I had to use Vlad for one character

I would like to know, whose name is your favorite, Mark? And what names do any readers of my novel like or dislike the most, I wonder.

Keep the lights on and some garlic close.

8/10/2020 04:45:28 pm

There are many kinds of competitions, covers are only one. There are bogus competitions also, some of those will try to empty your wallet or your future wallet by stealing your intellectual property rights. Anne R. Allan is one of my favorite bloggers. I have shared many links to her blogs on my Highly Regarded Blogs page. She always has a short list of ethical and safe contests to enter. She or someone else has written a blog about that topic also.
Your title is tricky. My web host took your title literally and I can't change the result in the search bar. You used the symbol for the Euro currency and that is what popped up when I typed your title in. Live and learn.
Names bedevil a lot of authors. There are multiple websites devoted to names from different countries, cultures and time periods. Including the top baby names in America going back for many decades.
I am three books past reading your book. I cannot recall any of those names, I am sorry. I do recall enjoying the names and I caught the name of Vlad also. I was hoping to see an Abraham as well.
New questions.
This is your first book on Amazon. Have you written others, that are published elsewhere or unpublished?
Have you entered any writing contests?

8/10/2020 07:55:44 pm

I have never entered a writing contest but I will keep it in mind.

I have 5 completed novels but have not published any more since VampireS € X. Halfway through book two of the series, VampireS XY. As well, I have a R and R from Entangled Publishing, so I am busy trying to create perfection

8/10/2020 08:46:17 pm

I forgot, you are going to try and get those other books traditionally published.
What is an R and R? I am not familiar with that term. I looked it up in Acronym Finder and there are 45 definitions, none of them seemed appropriate in publishing. Unless it is Read and Review.
More questions.
I noticed that your book is in Kindle Unlimited. How is that working out for you?
Have you ever gone through the query process, seeking an agent or submitting directly to publishers or did you go straight to indie publishing or self-publishing, and why?

8/10/2020 09:59:28 pm

What a strange world, our daughter is virtual learning, starting Wednesday, and we just met her teacher online. The new normal is freaking weird to me. Anyhoo....

Rewrite and Resubmit (R & R) and this is my first R & R because it is usually a pass or a publisher who says yes but, who I don't want to go with. So I am.excited about this publisher and the opportunity.

I have submitted to traditional pubs and agents but have not had any luck yet. I see it as a necessary part of the process.
Interestingly, I have learned tons through rejections where the agent or publisher provides helpful.comments. Their suggestions made me rework aspects of of my novels, and improved them vastly. So I'm happy I didn't self-pub any other books.

VampireS € X Is the exception. I have always liked the story and it's flow. The most difficult part was writing the erotic scenes and making sure they didn't read like bad porn. Truly, it is an art to write sexy, beautiful erotica. I hope I accomplished my goal. I'm not asking you, Mark, because I know you usually don't read books with explicit sex. Thank you for making an exception for me (although I know you skipped over those scenes) because your question and answer blog is a brilliant forum for every author.

Long story short, I self-published VAMPIRES € X so I would fully understand what agents, PR firms, publishers etc., have to do to get a book out into the world. It was an eye-opening experience and has already made me appreciate the agent and publisher who will partner with me one day in the near future.

I like Kindle and have had a great experience so far. Royalties are always paid on time. Marketing is made easy on the platform but can get expensive. Formatting my novel into Kindle was easy. I like it.

8/11/2020 10:47:48 am

Thanks for explaining about Rewrite and Resubmit. That would be exciting to receive, no question! An author I know received one of those, she emailed the person and she never heard back from them again. So she proceeded with self-publishing.
Getting helpful comments and constructive criticism from agents and publishers should be very useful. Many authors who are querying get nothing back so many times. I understand that the agents and publishers are frequently overwhelmed by submissions, so it's incumbent upon the author to follow submission guidelines precisely. That is one way that agents winnow their list.
The 'easiest reading is damned hard writing' is certainly true, your story flowed quite well for me.
Glad to hear your Kindle Unlimited experience has been good. Some authors avoid it because they want to publish their book on as many platforms as possible for wide distribution. Many of them use aggregators to assist in that process.
New questions.
Do you see any advantages of being self-published as opposed to getting a book deal?
Do you think independent publishers can produce a book as good as mainstream publishers?

8/11/2020 07:17:24 pm

You know, my experience with self-publishing has allowed me to control everything from the launch of my book to pricing to correcting grammatical errors to...everything. The ability to dive deep into the publishing aspect will make every writer better at the business of being an author.

I never divulged to you that I paid for a full edit as well as running Grammarly until the program begged for a rest. This was before I knew you, Mr. Word Refiner. And you located a couple handfuls of spelling mistakes, so I believe any author who self-pubs must have a professional edit. They should all work with you, Mark, to present a technical read-worthy novel. As we all know, it can be quite jarring to come across mistakes while trying to get lost in a narrative.

Personally, I expect more from a mainstream publishing deal including, being partnered with an editor, all grammatical mistakes found and corrected, a marketing budget and a Public Relations firm brought onto the team.

I believe an independent author or publisher can publish a professional novel but, I'd hope, a mainstream publisher would excel at their expertise, provide a lot more tools and support, and do a better job. But, you know, an Independent Publisher can be a good choice.

8/11/2020 08:17:34 pm

The ability to have control over all aspects of publishing a book is important for a lot of authors. They don't like sharing control or the profits. I keep hearing how much advances have shrunk, and also how there is no royalties to the author until the advance is repaid.
Then there is the time frame, I have heard of some publishers waiting for up to a year before actually publishing the book, because they felt the time wasn't right, for one reason or another; including interfering with another book they have just published.
That is funny, but I am not surprised. Some of my clients have paid for more than one edit and a proofreader. When I read the book for a review, that's only one pass, I still found mistakes. He has had me proof the other books since.
I have tested Grammarly and another program and have found both to be wanting. They get some things right and a lot wrong.
I tell my clients to have their book edited and complete all the rewrites. When they think it is ready to be published then send it to me. That is when I provide the greatest value. I am a polisher.
Large traditional publishers frequently have several different kinds of editors on staff as well as proofreaders. Errors still get through. I find errors in books from main stream publishers as well as independent publishers.
I don't want to pop your bubble, but most traditional publishers do very little beyond listing a book on their website and other platforms as they can. This is due in part to shrinking profit margins. We have Amazon to thank for that, they turned the publishing world upside down on its head over a decade ago and they are not recovering well. The traditional publishing industry has experienced tremendous contraction since that time. I think we are now down to the big 5 in the publishing world.
Yes, there are some real good independent publishers out there. Some of them specialize in one or two genres and have a good knowledge of the market for those genres. There are also scammers who merely want to lighten your wallet and will promise the moon. Look for the Writer Beware blog, they specialize in uncovering those scams and there are many of them.
New questions.
What are the three most important considerations for an independent author to be certain of when signing a contract with an independent or hybrid publisher?
If a new writer asked you for one piece of advice to be a good writer what would you say?

8/11/2020 10:49:43 pm

I agree with everything you stated above.

In fact, initially, I signed with and independent publisher and it was a nightmare. All lies. My attorney wrote an email and I got out of the contract with all my rights intact.

As you know, I am not a lawyer but the three things any writer should make sure of before signing with an indie pub are:

1) Never lay out money to a publisher. They pay you residuals.

2) Retain your copyright. Never give it away. It is easy and inexpensive to copyright your work at:

https://eco.copyright.gov/eService_enu/start.swe?SWECmd=Start&SWEHo=eco.copyright.gov

3) Do a deep dive into Google to search the publisher's reputation and talk to current authors. Your gut and their rep is usually enough to direct your best choice. Even though it's hard to pass on an offer.

I have passed on several indie publishers in the last couple of years.

My best advice for a new author to become a good writer is simply this: LEARN THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF WRITING A NOVEL.

Writing is not gushing words from our hearts. It is the struggle of rewriting and crafting that pile of heartfelt words into a narrative. The technical aspects are not a secret but they are hard to perfect over three hundred pages or so.

Learn about literary devices like symbolism, allegory, flashbacks, foreshadowing, alliteration etc.. Be able to identify your protagonist's inciting incident (I still struggle with this.) Understand the different POV's and which genres prefer which. Know the structure of a scene, which are the same as a novel but are micro and macro-sized. Then there a a million more things to know so your heartfelt and brilliant idea is expressed in such a professional way an agent and publisher will fall in love with you.

Most of all, do not quit. Although you will probably want to many times. I have been writing one of my novels for 10 years, so far. VampireS € X, took me a little over 2 1/2 years to complete. In general, a novel is a biiiiiiiiiig undertaking with numerous elements layered throughout the narrative.

Writing and getting an agent or publisher is a marathon, not a sprint.

8/11/2020 11:24:33 pm

You have a good lawyer! Congratulations. I am glad you got out of that contract.
There are a lot of scammy publishers out there, there are also vanity publishers some are closer to scams than others. There is another type of publisher that is known as a participating or hybrid publisher. At first glance they look similar to a vanity or scammy publisher, because they ask the author to share in some of the production costs and pay a higher percentage of sales back to the author: They also offer many of their services on an ala carte basis, so an author can get only what they want. They are also not trying to grab all of the IP rights. Research is VERY necessary.
That is great advice. I would clarify one thing, when signing a publishing contract make sure that you, the author, are licensing only the specific rights that you intend to. If publishing an ebook and a paperback, then a hardback is not part of the license, neither is an audio book, a large-print book, a graphic novel, and you get the idea. The license you grant should only be for a certain length of time, then all licensing rights should return to you, the author. My disclosure: I am not a lawyer nor have I ever played one on TV. ;-)
Learning to write well is so important. I tell authors to gush out the first draft, to borrow a phrase, get it written down, because the story cannot be edited or improved until it's out of the person's head. The first draft is the easiest. It's a little bit like the navy seals motto, the only easy day was yesterday, paraphrasing again.
There are some editors who will take the first book an author has written and throw it away, while telling the author that was good practice, now go write a real book. I can barely imagine how disheartening that could be. Other editors might want to toss out the first chapter or two and have the book start with some action instead off background information, otherwise know as the info dump.
Keep writing is perhaps the most important piece.
New questions.
Is using Twitter and other social media part of your marketing strategy?
When you decided to indie-publish how did you pick a publisher?

8/12/2020 02:06:03 am

As always, your additional information is spot on. Every writer needs to learn the ropes and rules in order to untie and break them to suit their narratives and characters' truths.

I prefer Twitter over all other social media platforms. And I use it more to collaborate with professionals like you. To meet interesting people, who are often other writers, and to make connections in the field by connecting with editors, publishers, and maybe one day an agent.

Twitter is less of a marketing platform for me and more of a work group, where I can interact with thousands of other professionals, part-time authors, and cool people. Of course, I do promote my work across all the platforms and really appreciate people who purchase a kindle or paperback copy.

I picked Amazon after looking into several publishing platforms. Amazon was the easiest to use, offered a great royalty per sale, and included marketing for an additional cost. First I took an online course in how to pick your genre sub-headings to maximize your opportunity to get to number one. I made it to number 2 in several countries but couldn't quite break numero uno. A mistake I made was changing my genre subheadings after publishing...something I knew not do. Otherwise I might have hit #1//

I would certainly publish again with Amazon.

8/12/2020 10:49:26 am

There are a lot of interesting people and many are involved with writing and publishing. I have lists of many different people on my Twitter home page including, but not limited to, agents, publishers, graphic artists and audio book narrators.
Congratulations on that achievement, #2 is noteworthy.
New questions.
Did you use Amazon ads or other platforms such as Facebook or Bookbub?
Have you thought about offering a large-print edition of your books?
Have you thought about doing an audio book?

Bryan genesse link

8/12/2020 09:36:24 pm

I did use Amazon and Facebook and had a good response. As well, I paid for PR distribution across several online media and print sources, which I couldn't track. So I don't know the specific response to that. I did not use Bookbub.

I did not consider a large print edition because with Kindle anyone can adjust the print size. But I would consider it.

I would love to do an audio version but am not certain if the cost would justify sales. Do you have any experience with audio versus print?

8/12/2020 10:09:18 pm

I think you are the first author to report having a good experience with ads on Facebook. Of course, I haven't been asking that question for very long.
Yes, book font can be adjusted on the Kindle. But there are those who like to hold a real book, and with print on demand I don't think it's very expensive for you.
I do know that audio books have been exploding around the world for several years. There are a lot of countries where English is the official language of commerce and government. Many citizens can only access the internet through their smart phone, audio books work great on a phone and the listener can improve their grasp of the English language.
When the Covid virus crisis hit and people stopped commuting to work, audio book sales dropped some. Recent figures indicate sales are returning.
There are many blogs written about audio books, including how to DIY. I have links to several blogs by Joanna Penn about audio books on my Highly Regarded Blogs page. I also had the opportunity to include a narrator with the author I was interviewing that week. Here is a copy and paste link: https://www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/heir-to-a-prophecy-by-mercedes-rochelle-narrated-by-kevin-e-green
I know a lot of people who love audio books. Many who listen are vision impaired or their reading skill are very poor. Some people are much better with information intake audibly rather than visually.
They are not my first choice because I have found it difficult to maintain my concentration while listening. I speed the playback up to at least 1.25 times the normal speed. I do enjoy them when I do that.
New questions.
Do you have a favorite book by another author or just favorite authors?
Did you have a favorite book as a child?

8/13/2020 12:21:56 am

For all the information on Audiobooks, thank you, Mark.

The difficulties in choosing one favorite author are myriad, buuuuuuuuuut...Ken Follett and The Pillars of the Earth. Heck! The whole Kingsbridge series. Aaaaaaaannnnnd, I must include Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead...she was an amazing writer. Ummmmm, Stieg Larsson, Anne Rice, Thomas Harris, Mary Shelly, Steven King, Michael Crichton.and many more...sorry. Too many to pick JUST ONE...come on, man!

One of my favorite childhood books was Sos the Rope by Piers Anthony. I grew up on Canada, back east, and we had a basement with a rec room. My mom and dad dedicated one entire wall to our home library. There were tons of older pocketbooks and I would get lost in fantasy and sci-fi worlds that came to life in the authors' imaginations and lived on their pages. I considered that rec room a sacred retreat where time ceased to exist as I escaped into ink-scribed worlds.

8/13/2020 09:58:14 am

You are welcome. I hope that more authors can be supported by their craft. There are two ways to accomplish that goal, one is to have published a lot of books, until that occurs the second option is to publish the existing backlist in as many forms and on many platforms as possible. Licensing your book is how that is done. Audio books, graphic novels, deluxe editions, large print, screen plays, role playing games, and in many authors' minds a movie deal is the holy grail. Foreign distribution in English, such as Big Bad Wolf does all over the world and translations into the languages where the English language has been selling well.
Choosing a favorite author is nearly impossible for those of us that love to read. The struggle is real and I feel your pain.
I grew up on a non-working farm in a very small town, a population of less than 1,500. I had two younger sisters and baby brother who was 10 years younger, there were no playmates for me of my age anywhere near. I found great solace in reading, escaping into space and alternate times, science fiction was and is my favorite genre.
New questions.
Does writing have a spiritual or healing component for you, does it energize you or make you feel tired?
Why is it important for writers to tap into the emotions of the characters?

8/13/2020 04:08:44 pm

Sounds like an idyllic childhood but too small of a hometown has its own challenges. At least we had 28K in our hometown.

Definitely, I find writing to be healing, spiritual, and energizing. When I am deep into plotting I often write for 12 hours without realizing the day has whipped by.

Writing is cathartic, whether the author focuses on poetry, short stories, graphic novels or standard novels and, I believe, regardless of the genre. Through the narrative, the author can heal pain from their past and share their joy or sadness or humor or....

We must tap into the emotional truths of the narrative's characters to pull the reader into the pages. Emotional depth and truth is universal and can't be faked, even in fiction.

8/13/2020 04:28:54 pm

It was a very small town and I did not fit in.
I suspected writing was cathartic. I have heard some authors describe it as the quiet after giving voice to the characters desperate to get out of their head, demanding their story be told.
We are all emotional creatures at the most basic level. Without a connection to the characters on the page it is all flat, dull and boring.
New questions.
Has your life turned out differently than expected or planned?
Have you ever done NaNoWriMo?

8/14/2020 05:58:55 pm

My career took a big u-turn about 15 years ago when I was badly injured on a movie shoot. To get healthcare, we had to move back to Canada because the 3 companies that produced the film kept fighting about who should be responsible to approve the Insurance. It was a nightmare.

After operations and years of therapy I could walk without a cane and we .iced back to Los Angeles. But my acting career was pretty much shot, since so much time had passed. The good news is I had time to write novels now.

I have not done NaNoWriMo...well, I have-ish, bit I don't pressure myself to finish 50,000 words. My porcess is to write a chapter and then edit, so I don't want to just spew.

8/14/2020 06:10:21 pm

That sounds pretty bad. Glad you are better now.
Something similar happened to me a few years ago. There was a mass on my left lung that showed up in annual physical. I had it removed and it was not cancerous, but they didn't understand why it was growing.
I was working for a large company and they laid me off as soon as I was released for full duty. I retired a few months after that.
NaNoWriMo is an interesting process, it stretches a lot of writers out of their comfort zone. Many do it every year as a way to kickstart a novel. Some plotters do a lot of work in advance with detailed outlines, character studies, biographies, and maps or floorplans, perhaps. People join groups for mutual support and encouragement.
It sounds like fun to me.
New questions.
Are you an under-writer or an over-writer?
When the first draft of each chapter is done, do you need to add more to flesh it out or do you have to cut material because there is too much?

8/14/2020 06:38:43 pm

I tend to overwrite most scenes. When I'm under it is a nice surprise. Even with overwriting I must get to the heart of the scene and re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-rewrite, edit and re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-re-edit then send it to betas and my editor and then don't all again and again and again. Then send it to you to find all the mistakes that slipped past all of us 🤣🤣😅🤣😅

8/14/2020 07:01:50 pm

You have lots of company. I think it's a good idea to get everything out of your head and onto the page. It's much easier to sort through everything that way.
New questions.
Are you talking about sentences, paragraphs or a chapter that didn't survive the final cut?
Do you cut mostly descriptions, action, dialogue or whole chapters?

8/14/2020 07:16:51 pm

All of the above. Sometimes a chapter is cut completely or scenes are reduced then reorganized in the chapter. Sometimes a chapter is one scene and it is mere words and sentences sliced away.

I find editing my own work difficult. Not the extra fat that is easy to catch but any nuanced repetitive plot points which I've selfishly fallen in
love with. Trimming the fat off the meat and pushing the potatoes off the page has taken me many years.

8/14/2020 07:56:03 pm

A lot of authors go through all of that, and honestly, it is worth from my point of view as a reader. I don't recall who said it, easy reading is damn hard writing. It certainly seems to be the case.
Self-editing and self-proofreading is difficult and requires a certain mental rigor. There are a number of tricks that a person can employ to give their brain fresh eyes on the manuscript.
Learning to edit is really what takes an average writer to the next level.
New questions.
Do you save the parts that didn't make it into the final version?
Do you prefer dialogue tags or action beats in your books?

8/14/2020 08:05:58 pm

I save everything. Sometimes with the intention of using it in book two or three, but that doesn't always work out.

I find both dialogue tags and action beats useful, depending on the requirements of the scene itself The new norm seems to frown on dialogue tags. I find action beats help with POV although I try to let the dialogue flow without plugging it up with too much direction.

8/14/2020 08:24:23 pm

If I was a writer I know myself well enough that I would be saving incremental backups of everything.
I prefer the use of action beats where possible. They keep the story flowing better in my opinion. Not every author realizes action beats are treated differently than dialogue tags, when it comes to punctuation. A lot fewer commas are used when there are lots of action beats. It is funny how usage of certain things waxes and wanes like the moon.
New questions.
What do you do to flesh out the characters for your stories?
Do you base your characters on people you know or have met, or is it easier to just invent them completely?

8/15/2020 03:04:08 am

How do I create my characters? Sometimes I create a character tree which devolves into a decrepid monster. Its twisted branches laden with unreadable character traits. Sometimes I use acting tools to help me create my characters. Sometimes I let the characters germinate as I write and they slowly push their way out of the pages and grow into themselves. Then I incorporate the tree, the acting tools and excercises.

As for creating each character, I usually make them from scratch, adding all the ingredients they need to grow into themselves to come out fully baked.

8/15/2020 10:08:01 am

Many writers like to build their characters from their imagination exclusively. While others draw upon a few traits from people they know or have met and keep the characters detached enough that no one will recognize themselves.
It is easy for me to imagine that skills you have developed when acting help you to develop your characters.
One of my guest bloggers, Rick Hall, has created a tool to help authors grasp all of the psychological ramifications of their characters. He introduced it in his post about character creation. It is free and it's fabulous.
Do you like to cook?
New questions.
Which is more fun to write, the protagonist or the antagonist, and why?
What is one thing you hate about your protagonist and one thing you love about the antagonist?

8/15/2020 03:03:55 pm

I do like to cook...hahahaha. Also I would love to check out Rick's blog.

The antagonist always tends to break all the rules so I have fun delving into the nasty side. At the same time, to create believable characters, I prefer bringing out the duality of the protagonist too.

One character trait I hate about both the antagonist and protagonist are their fatal flaws. Those damn flaws always tip the boat and often sink it.

8/15/2020 04:03:46 pm

Rick has written several interesting blogs for me. The website he built for his Character Creation tool is very cool.
I have heard it said the antagonist is most believable when they think they are the hero in the story. Both protagonist and antagonist need to be multi-layered characters with good and bad qualities each. Then they are most like us and very relatable.
Those personal flaws are part of what makes an interesting character.
New questions.
What is your writing routine when you sit down to write?
Do you write in a straight line or do you write whatever the muse provides for you at a given moment?

bryan genesse link

8/15/2020 04:22:18 pm

When I sit down I write. Often I do 12 to 14 hour marathon sessions if the flow is fast and clear. Occasionally, if the flow gets jammed, I will start reading from the beginning and make grammatical and spelling corrections as I go. Then the story clears up,the jam breaks apart and I can get back to writing the current chapter.

8/15/2020 04:41:50 pm

It sounds like you have a hard working and fairly cooperative muse. That is wonderful.
Some writers are not so fortunate. They struggle at times to remain connected to their muse. Occasionally, I hear about an author that has not heard from their muse for months on end. That has to be very hard.
New questions.
Which is more important to a story pace or flow? How do you control it?
Did your writing process change much from your early writing to your current project or did it stay the same?

8/16/2020 03:18:16 am

Both pace and flow are equally important to the narrative. Pace is the rhythm and speed of a story. Several literary devices can help a writer increase or decrease pace. Introducing a backstory and subplots, increasing description, cliffhangers, action scenes and words...More detail and description will slow pace. Action scenes and words will increase pace. Additionally, allowing blank space to exist on the page, created by paragraph and sentence along with scene and chapter length, the use or neglect of active voice, and dialogue versus prose will either increase or decrease pace. Many more devices exist.

Flow is simply the purposeful structure of the entire work. A specific order of sentences, scenes, paragraphs and chapters. Being able to vary your sentence structure by using complex sentences. By getting to the point. Cutting out unnecessary words. Knowing when and if to use run-on sentences or a sentence fragment.

Stephen King writes brilliantly about everything writing in, 'On Writing: A memoir of the craft.'

Flow and pace are created by several main tools: Narration. Dialogue. Description. Exposition. Inner Monologue....

We can add or detract from this list slightly but you gotta use the right tools to make a good product.

Each writer needs to understand their available literary devices andtand to incorporate them in their narrative. If you've forgotten about them...get Mr. King's book or any numerous other authors' books or at least cheat with Google.

8/16/2020 09:50:55 am

You explained that quite well.
Each genre, meaning the fans, has somewhat different expectations about pace and flow. From literary fiction and fantasy, the fans tolerate a large amount of exposition or back story, to action and thrillers whose fans expect a fast-moving pace and a minimum amount of back story. It pays to know what the fans look for.
Depending on the genre, I am usually looking for words that can be deleted, words that do not move the story forward. Many authors have filler words, words such as like, that, just, to name only three. Getting rid of filler words can tighten up a story and speed it along to the climax. When it's dialogue I am more than likely to leave those words in place to allow for character differentiation.
New questions.
Now that your book is published, is there anything about it you would like to change?
How do you think your book relates to the world we live in today?

8/16/2020 04:02:20 pm

I totally agree, always cutting the filler words and writing for each genre.

Soooooooo, I actually flipped the inciting incident and put it as the epilogue. I did it because at the time I worried it might be to erotic at the beginning but I would put it back now. And I might out it back.

Doesn't every love story relate to the current era since love is unbounded by time?

The readers must decide for themselves how VampireS € X relates to our current world.

8/16/2020 05:55:50 pm

It could still be too erotic for some and not erotic enough for others. C'est la vie.
Every love story does relate so closely to the core of the human experience. Every person wants to be loved and accepted for who they are.
New questions.
Do you have a classical author or poet, you admire?
What popular modern authors have influenced you?

8/16/2020 06:24:00 pm

So many classical authors have greatly inspired me while magnifying and enriching human truths. A few include, Plato, Shakespeare, Orwell, Dickens, Steinbeck, Hemmingway...too large of list. Oh, gotta add,.Emily Bronte, Toni Morrison, Jane Austen, V. Woolfe....

Modern Authors who have influenced me include, Ken Follett, Thomas Harris, Stieg Larsson, Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, N. K. Jemisin
...,but are not limited to the above.

8/16/2020 06:34:35 pm

I love that you have read so widely. I have read some and not others personally.
Starting in elementary school, I became enamored with science fiction. That was all I wanted to read. As a freshman in high school, I was introduced to the fantasy world of J. R. R. Tolkien. By the time of my graduation I had read the LOTR trilogy three times and The Hobbit once or twice. After that I split my reading time pretty equally between the two genres for many years.
Now I love good writing in almost any genre.
New questions.
Are there any authors that influenced the writing of this book?
If you could meet your favorite author, what would you ask them?

8/16/2020 06:46:18 pm

Without doubt, VampireS € X was influenced by Anne Rice's Vampire Series. I devoured her books and read several multiple times. Bram Stoker deserves some credit for all vampire tales written since the 19th century because he made the genre popular, in my opinion.

If I could meet any of my favorite authors I would ask only one thing...

Could you read my book, fall in love with it and send it to your agent?

Too much?

8/16/2020 07:06:23 pm

Anne Rice is a very popular author. Her vampire books sold a lot of copies, I think.
It's not too much to ask that from a favorite author. I wonder how many times they are asked that. I have read that some famous authors get a lot of manuscripts in the mail or email. Their lawyer has advised them to never open an unsolicited manuscript.
New questions.
What software do you use to write and publish your books, and why do you use those?
How do you keep track of all the characters and events in your books?

8/17/2020 01:07:04 am

To be clear, I would NEVER ask my favorite authors to read my book and send it to his or her agent. Can we all say, JOKING?

I write in word, nothing fancy. For my fantasy novels, I create elaborate Bible's (it might be called something else) of characters, locations, magic etc. As well, I draw a map of the world labeled with all pertinent facts about each specific location. For my thrillers, romantic comedies,and paranormal vampire memoirs (yes, I scribe across genres) I create a master list of characters with sub-notes (my word) of pertinent character traits, attributes, emotional behaviours, fatal flaws etc...

As an aside, did you know the plural of crux can be cruses or cruxes? I Just learned that. I thought it could only be cruxes.

8/17/2020 09:58:48 am

What if your favorite author wanted to read your story? You could ask them if they would be willing to advise you about your query letter. If they said yes, then take it from there.
Character bible is a good term. Many authors do that. Some who also have artistic talent make drawings of their characters, some even award them to fans. Others search the internet to find pictures of people who look like the character in their mind.
I think maps are great. I love it when an author includes a map or two with their book. That is also another item that can be licensed and made available or sale or rewards, like on a kickstarter.
I didn't know that about crux. I would have assumed the same as you. I can't think of another word that has more than one plural form.
New questions.
Are you a plotter, a pantster, or a hybrid?
Have you ever had the experience of the story swerving in a different direction than planned, as if a character was driving it?

8/17/2020 02:57:33 pm

All your ideas for a Kickstarter launch are great. And, yes, if my fav author asked about my work...well then, the sky's the limit.

I'm a Planster, combining both plotting and writing by the seat of my pants. More a plotter but both. Initially, I create a rough outline but not specific chapters.

Every night as I lay in bed I arrange my story in my head and scribble into my table side notebook,.regarding the direction of tomorrows writing, any new ideas, working out plot problems etc.

Every story has always swerved into different directions because of one or more characters changing lanes. I love the surprise of a story finding its own way

8/17/2020 04:14:47 pm

It seems that a lot of authors are a hybrid, similar to you. They do some plotting but do quite a bit of writing inspired by their muse. While many do a rough outline, a few actually plot out a chapter after it's written. I think that is a good idea for the future, as more books are written, the details of an early book can fade.
I think it would be exciting to be writing a book and have something unexpected happen, perhaps even a little unnerving. So many authors have reported similar occurrences.
Last questions.
Action, dialogue, or narration; which is easiest to write?
Of the five senses which is the easiest to write and which is the hardest?

8/17/2020 05:22:13 pm

For me, I am comfortable writing both action and dialogue because of my experience with screenplays. After, Street Justice, the action series I did with Carl Weathers, I wrote a bunch of action screenplays and managed to sell a handful and even get a few produced.

Wow. Of the five senses the hardest for me to write is smell. Getting the concept of smell onto the page takes me a lot of work. Especially depending on the smell I'm trying to describe. For instance, congealing blood in a forest with the sun scorching the grown--whst does that smell like?

What a great blog.

8/17/2020 05:34:09 pm

Seeing your screenplay produced has to be a good feeling. Right about the level of publishing a book.
I think there might be only one way to find out about the blood thing. Quite a few authors have said the same thing about smell being the hardest sense to write about. A few have listed it as first or second because it is so close to taste.
I have another promotion that starts tomorrow. So I must bring this time to a close. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you in this chat. I wish you great success in writing your next books and finding the publisher you want.
Until next time, keep on writing.

8/17/2020 05:37:43 pm

Mark, you are like sunshine on a cloudy day. Thank you for this opportunity and for making me a better interviewer with your thoughtful questions.

VampireS (€) X: An Adult Historical Supernatural Memoir By Bryan Genesse

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