Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I lived in six countries and consider them all to be my homeland. It helps me a lot in my writing, since I was exposed to so many cultures and traditions. At this point I’m starting to get an itch to move again. I lived in the US for almost twelve years now. That’s twice as long as any other country. But I tell myself that it’s time to be a responsible adult and end up trying to get the excitement in some other way.
At the moment I have a collection of stories and novelettes out, Curse Your Body.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
Curse Your Body was inspired by another book, Hounds of Dracula. To be more specific, it was the teaser that they put in the beginning of the book.
The premise of that book was a man from Dracula family trying to escape the family’s past by moving to another country and changing his name. Unfortunately, a dog that was turned into a vampire by one of his ancestors was able to find him and decided to turn him into a vampire.
The idea of trying to escape being a vampire and failing, fascinated me so much that I got this itch in my head. I had to figure out the best way to use that idea, so I started thinking. If a person was born a vampire, they wouldn’t be as likely to hate what they are because they don’t know any other way. Besides, how are you supposed to escape it if you were born into it?
The other choice is fearing to be turned, but that takes away the heredity. Plus, victims wouldn’t really know that it’s inevitable, because they might be able to run, hide, or die before they are turned.
So, I decided that my vampires would live as humans but ones they die, they turn. Each member of the family knows about their inevitable change. There’s no way to stop it. There’s no way to kill a vampire, not even with silver of stake. The best they can do is to immobilize the body. Imagine spending eternity locked in a tomb?
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I kill people. A lot. Every time I hit a writer’s block, it’s time to do something terrible to my characters. Sometimes I torture them, other times I kill them. Sometimes those who died end up coming back as ghosts, vampires, and demons.
In one of the books I’m writing right now, I managed to kill the main character, a small town, and a vampire unicorn.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
It’s hard to say. I read a lot, but I try to read different authors from different time periods. Bulgakov, Pushkin, Turgenev, Shakespeare, Stephen King, Scott Sigler, and so many more. I think each of them influenced me in one way or another.
What are you working on now?
I’m actually almost ready to release the next series of short stories and novelettes. This one is based around Slavic mythology, World War II and the events that are unfolding right now in Ukraine.
I have a whole bunch of stories that follow different character through just over a century. In the last story, they will all come together to stand against the threat that Ukraine is facing.
It’s that last story that I work on every morning. I follow the news, talk to my family and friends who live in Ukraine, and try to incorporate it into the novella.
For the basis of the story I used the idea of ghosts of those who died in World War II rising to find their country in this situation.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I go to a variety of sites, often not book related. For example, I’m trying to promote Curse Your Body on atheist sites because of the atheist journey subplot, and pagan blogs because the book takes vampires back to their pagan roots.
However, the most important thing for me is nurturing the relationships with the readers I already have. I invite my fans to sign up for my email list at http://www.undercandlelight.com/ where I give them exclusive content, offer free review copies and even name characters after them.
I’m hoping to turn them into super-fans, who will read everything a write and will be generous with their reviews.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
When you’re done writing, get beta readers. I’m not talking about you friends and family who might try to spare your feelings. I’m talking about people who will tell you the truth, no matter how much it’ll hurt. If you don’t know people like that, try to find an online writing group.
When getting a critique, remember to look further that the words you’re hearing. When a beta reader is telling you that he didn’t like something, try to understand why, then figure out what to do about it.
Did he think a specific scene was boring? Is it because of the sentence structure? Because nothing is happening? Because it’s just not needed?
A beta won’t always be able to explain to you why they feel a certain way, so you have to decipher it.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Just keep writing. If you finished one book, start writing the second. If you hit a writer’s block, who cares. As long as you sit down every day and put something down, you will not only finish this book, but you’ll improve as a writer.
What are you reading now?
I just started reading The Spider #6, Slaves of the Laughing Death. It was published in 1993. I was going to start a different book, but I was running late for work, so I grabbed the first book from the ones we got this past Free Comic Book Day, and ran out the door. Now I’ll have to wait to finish The Necroscope series until after I’m done with this superhero novel. Not that I’m complaining. So far it looks like a great story.
What’s next for you as a writer?
There are a number of projects I’m working on. I want to finish the Kairan Curse series (Curse Your Body is the first collection. Curse Your Blood and Curse Your Soul are going to be number two and three.) Then there is this troll story I’ve been collaborating on. On top of that, I want to write stories that complement some of the comics and graphic novels that my husband, Vincent, is working on now.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
I have this wonderful survivor book. It’s written and illustrated by hand. It covers everything from building a house to making mead. I got it as a gift while Vin and I were winter camping.
The next would probably be a book on edible and medicinal herbs.
I could use a book on making my own wind or water energy generators, because guess what my next book would be… a notebook. Preferably with wireless connection. This way I can download a whole bunch of fiction books that would keep me sane while I’m there. I hate rereading the same books over and over, so the idea of being stuck with only 3-4 books is very scary. I’d probably lose my mind.
Author Websites and Profiles
Armada Volya Website
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Armada Volya is a post from Awesome Gang