Welcome to Julies Book Review.
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Julie's Book Review would like to
introduce Carole Gill. Welcome to the site. We are all
excited to meet and learn more about you.
Let's start with Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I
live in Yorkshire, not far from Haworth and the Bronte Parsonage. The
moodiness of the dramatic Yorkshire moors is very inspiring for what I
write.
In fact I was inspired to write The House on Blackstone Moor because of where I live.
The
idea for novel came pretty quickly. I pictured a grand house built on
windswept, desolate moorland. Then I peopled that house with beings,
notice I am not saying people! The House on Blackstone Moor became book 1
in The Blackstone Vampires Series.
I have always written. I wrote my first two stories when I was eight years old.
They were science fiction which was not surprising as my parents loved sci-fi.
I continued to write, got into Poe and then discovered the Brontes and Daphne DuMaurier.
Those authors all influenced what I write.
I
write dark horror with romance. And yes, I believe it can be combined
as I have just finished my fourth book in the Series and find I have
done that with each of the novels, combining horror and romance.
Remember
those fantastic gothic romance book covers years ago? They always
seemed to promise dark and horrifying secrets being laid bare but I
found I was almost always disappointed that nothing horrific was
revealed! I wanted romance with horror. And well, eventually I began
writing what I had always wanted to read.
What genres do you write? If more than one does you have a favourite?
Gothic romance, dark horror and some sci-fi. Gothic romance, as dark as I write it, is my favourite!
What can we expect from your books? Action, sex, adventure, romance?
You
can expect a story with characters as vividly drawn as I can make them.
There is plenty of debauchery in my novels because vampires aren’t
goody goodies. They are vampires. They engage in vicious blood feeds and
have wildly passionate sex. Whether good or bad, they are all tortured
beings simply because they are what they are.
Although
for short fiction I often write in third person, for longer fiction I
prefer first person narration. Writing in first person, allows me to get
into their head. Let me quote Anne Rice here (who by the way is an
icon):
'First-person narrators is the way I know how to write a book with the greatest power and chance of artistic success.'
~Anne Rice
My heroine, Rose Baines, opens The House on Blackstone Moor this way:
“They
say my father was mad, so corrupted by evil and tainted with sin that
he did what he did. I came home to find them all dead; their throats had
been savagely cut. My sisters, only five and eight, were gone, as well
as my brother who was twelve. My mother too lay butchered in her
marriage bed. The bed her children were born in.
I discovered him first—in the sitting room lying in a sea of crimson, the bloody razor still clutched in his hand...”
I was Rose. I felt her pain, her anguish. That book came from my soul.
In
books 2 and 3 which contain the confessions of a demon, I became that
demon. I got into his skin. I said to myself, if I fell in love and
wished to confess my sins,
where would I begin? That gave me the
two books. And since Eco has lived forever, his sins have spanned
centuries—a lot of time, a great many sins)!
In book
four, The Fourth Bride, I am Dia who becomes Dracula’s fourth bride. As
this young woman, I experience everything: love, lust and the debauchery
of being a bride of Dracula. My resentment of the other wives, my
horror at Dracula’s destruction as well as a most surprising storyline
that developes!
Do you have a favourite book or character of yours that is a favourite? Why?
My
favourite character has got to be Eco, the demon vampire. Eco is the
evil counterpart of tortured, Louis Darton—they are cousins. Sons of
fallen angels and human women.
Eco is evil and
debauched, he is decadent. In fact he is without mercy in book 1 of my
Series, but guess what?! I wrote books 2 and 3 from his point of view!
And let me say it was challenging because he was insane and thoroughly
evil in The House on Blackstone Moor. Now, writing from his point of
view after that, I had to think of a way in. I had to give Eco scope.
I
wanted to get into his skin. Why was he the way he was? Had he ever
been different? If Louis Darton sought to do less evil than himself, did
Eco do the opposite for his own reasons?
Also in Eco’s case Satan is like a father to him!
Eco
is highly intelligent. Now, if a demon, loved by Satan as a son is
extremely intelligent, what would he think of the Crucifixion?
I
happened to write a short story entitled, The Ointment which is free to
read on my blog:
http://carolegillofficialauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/friday-flash-fiction-ointment.html
I have to say I liked it so much I used it for
inspiration for Unholy Testament – The Beginnings which is part of Eco’s
confession!
How could I not resist saying that Eco is my
favorite character? He was a demon with intellect. He is also tortured
in his own way, those he did love, he lost. He is insanely jealous of
Louis Darton. Yes, without a doubt Eco is my favourite!
Can you tell us anything on your newest release?
It will be Book 4, The Fourth Bride.
The characters are both introduced in Book 3, Unholy Testament – Full Circle.
As
it features Dracula I had another challenge. I did not want to do an
injustice to Stoker’s novel by watering it down or changing it.
I have written my dark love story (with a lot of horror) around the story of Dracula so that nothing is interfered with.
A
further note: I love a challenge. And I wanted to see if I could tell
this tale of passionate love along with vicious vampire feeds. I found
to my delight, that I I could have both!
Are you working on anything new? When will it be out and can you give us any details....hints?
Yes,
a brand new series has already begun. The three books are due out
within the year. There are two characters depicted in The Fourth Bride
who are in the new series. There are a lot of surprises one of which
will be totally new settings and time periods.
The
characters so loved by many readers from the first series will be
peppered throughout as well so as not to disappear forever. I was asked
to please do this and I am!
What kind of advice would you give new authors or people who are trying to get published?
Write
as much as you can and write regularly. Get that work out there. I
would say to submit to anthologies, so you know what goes and what
doesn’t.
Writing is a commitment. It is your job. You have to be willing to deal with that. It’s quite a lot to embrace.
The
best advice I was ever given was to never wait for inspiration. You sit
down and you write. The inspiration comes on its own. There are days
your fingers fly and there are times when they don’t. If you get stuck,
write notes. If that doesn’t help, think about what you are writing and
why. Sometimes what seems a brick wall isn’t. It might just be a message
from your brain:
“Dear writer, I am your brain and I
want to tell you, some of the grey cells here think you might need a
detour just about now. So don’t get huffy, just think about it, okay?”
Read
a lot, don’t be in hurry. Writing and getting published is one on-going
learning curve. Remember to learn your craft, hone it, and go for it!
Let’s find out a little more ....How about some FUN stuff!!
Fun
stuff: I love to watch my dogs because they’re both insane. As I’m
writing this one is telling off the other one because he gets locked in
all the time and can’t get out from under the stairs. Lassie, he isn’t
but we love him.
I love a good comedy to relax. Laughing is great; it really is good for you.
I
can’t think of a more fun than to go to the seashore with husband and
doggies and watch them on the beach. Indie (the one that gets stuck)
used to think he could jump over the waves and not get wet. That was
hysterical, especially seeing his reaction when he realised he couldn’t!
Fun is good!
Favourite place to travel?
I love to travel period. But favourite country is France and favourite city is Paris.
If
I could, I’d grab huz, doggies and go there tomorrow. If I had my life
to live all over again, I’d be fluent in French and I’d be strolling
along the Champs right now! The food is not to be beat and the people
are lovely. Normandy is not to be missed. The sense of history and the
emotions we felt standing on the beaches: was incredible.
All
those young men who fought, many making the supreme sacrifice so that
evil would be destroyed, well we owe them a lot. We owe them our respect
and really, anyone who is able to, should visit Normandy.
One more thing about France, their most popular TV show is a book review show, need I say more?
Favourite foods?
Anything
fattening (!) from fried chicken to Fettuccine Alfredo to stuffed baked
clams to Eggs Benedict...! Pizza, bring it on!
Favourite past time?
I
suppose watching old films. Films of the 1940’s especially! Jane Eyre,
Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, Now Voyager. There are some great films now,
but romance was captured particularly well in those earlier films I
feel.
Book (not yours but one you can recommend)
Combining this with Author (one you can recommend)
Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire is the book I’d recommend.
Anne
Rice created vampires with depth, not just fangs. She writes
hauntingly, beautifully. Her prose and characterisations are beyond
beautiful. She is my absolute icon.
What could be more haunting than Claudia, the child vampire?
Gothic
landscapes, panoramic history, the sad, poignant reflections of a
vampire as he is interviewed. Yes, she did something that enriched and
changed forever the entire genre of vampire fiction. Anne Rice gave it
class and style! She rules!
Any pets?
Yes! Mr. and Mrs. Indiana Jones! Our two Parson Russell Terrors I mean terriers.
They
are a real couple. They are deeply fond of one another and us. They had
beautiful puppies that family and friends took. We have their babies’
framed photos hanging in our kitchen.
Penny is fearless
and loving, Indie is afraid of almost everything but he’s gotten better.
He did run away from a kitten once which I told him was something not
to be proud of.
He used to be afraid of the dark, loud noises...and raised voices. He’s better now.
They are hysterical and very much loved! Our vet’s nurse calls them ‘double trouble.’
Finally is there any special places we can find you and your books (Links please)
Links
The Blackstone Vampires Series at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=the+blackstone+vampirs+gill
http://www.amazon.com/Carole-Gill/e/B0032TTVVA/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
My blog with regular updates and free fiction! http://carolegillofficialauthor.blogspot.co.uk/
My author page Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carole-Gill-Author/120405794703293
Twitter page and I love to tweet!
https://twitter.com/carolelynngill
It
has been a please visiting with you. JBR wishes you great success and
hopefully you will be back here again with more reviews of your future
books.
Julie Ramsey
Thank you!
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