Terrific Thursday with Victoria Blisse:)

Welcome! Please introduce yourself and tell us about your latest release.

Hi, I’m Victoria Blisse. I live near Manchester in the UK and I’ve been writing erotic romance for the last ten years. I sing in the church choir, I love to bake and am re-discovering my love of sewing by hand and by machine. I’m a twitter and a facebook addict. Please add me, I’m victoriablisse on both of them. I’m a chatter box. I need some kind of outlet for all my waffle!

My latest release is Stopping Point which is Book two in my Point Vamp Series. It can be read out of order but if you love vampires, you’ll want to read book one as well.

Have you ever had an idea for a story which scared you after you began writing it?

I quite often have story ideas that scare me. I think it’s what keeps you writing and also what keeps your writing fresh. When I got the idea for Moon Shy, I had no real clue how I was going to write it. I really tried to just ignore it but Lowell, my reluctant Werewolf demanded to be written.

I’m really lucky that my husband is so patient with me. He helped me walk through the story chapter by chapter until I got an idea of how it was going to go. It scared me right up until the moment I submitted it though, it was something quite different to what I usually write.

Have you incorporated actual events from your own life into your books?

I do this rather often, actually. No, I’m not going to tell you which scenes have happened in real life, you’ll just have to guess.

How much research do you do? Do you research first and then write, or do you write first, then research as needed?

I love being an Erotic Romance author as I get to count having sex as research. In which case I am an absolute slave to it. I must say I generally start writing before I think about any kind of in depth research. I very rarely plan a story before I get started on it.

Is there any message you want readers to take from reading your work?

The message I hope to give is that every single person is sexy no matter what they look like and how many flaws they think they have. Flaws in our own eyes are often the things that attract others to us.

I hope people come away from reading any of my books feeling positive about people in general but also to have a little bit of a self confidence boost themselves.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? And have you ever had a story take on a life of its own?

Oh, I’m a seat of the pants girl and virtually every story I write takes on a life of its own. Characters won’t stop bonking, others are hesitant to seal the deal and other ones just want to kiss forever. I do tend to rouse the rabble into some form of organization in the end though. Each story is an adventure though, I can tell you that.

How long did it take for you to be published?

Oh, this is actually a touch embarrassing. I always wish I could say I sent off story after story and how I’ve collected a healthy pile of rejections but the truth is the first story I submitted to a publisher was accepted. It was serendipity and from that first story, I’ve not stopped. I’ve continued to have books published over the last four years now.

If you could go back and tell yourself anything when you first began your writing career, what would you say?

Organize yourself and do it now. I think I could have done a whole lot more if I had actually managed to get myself settled into some kind of organized schedule from the start.

Laptop or pen and ink? What are your ‘must-haves’ when writing?

I’m a lap top girl and if you’ve seen my handwriting you’ll know why. I sometimes scribble down story ideas on bits of paper. Reading what I’ve written can really be a struggle, I’m much happier tap, tap, taping away at my laptop.

All I need is my Connie (I name everything, even my laptop) and a glass of water to sip on and I’m set!

Who are your favorite authors? Who would you say influenced you the most?

I love Terry Pratchett, I’ve loved books since I was a child. The same goes for Roald Dahl, I really love reading books like The BFG and Matilda to my daughter at bedtimes.

David Gemmell is an author I can read over and over again. I love my fantasy authors especially but I will read anything that takes my fancy!

What would your readers be surprised to learn about you?

Well, I collected smarties lids for a while as a teenager. They all had letters on them and I did get the alphabet in the end! I also love Cliff Richard and have seen him in concert a couple of times.

For Fun:

Favorite Halloween memory?

Halloween isn’t a big thing over in the UK at all so I have very few memories. I do remember dressing up as Meg from the Meg and Mog books (she’s a witch for those not in the know) and I assume that was for some kind of Halloween something or other.

Favorite Scary Movie?

Oh, I don’t scare well at all, I’m a wimp. However, I did get conned into seeing Scream at the cinema and I have watched it a few times since. Generally though I’m too much of a cowardly custard to actually watch scary films!

Frankenstein, Dracula, or Werewolf?

Oh, Dracula I think. I’m rather taken with vampires as you can tell by my Point Vamp Books. You can read one for free at Total-E-Bound, it’s called To Comfort a Vampire.

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=850

It will give you just a little taste of what my vampires are like!

Thank you for being here today! Please tell us where we can find your books.

Oh, I’m rather spread about. I have some books in anthologies with Phaze, some print and some ebooks with Xcite and a bulk of my work is currently with Total-E-Bound. You can also find me in a few Coming Together anthologies and I have a Christmas story coming out with Silver Publishing on the 22^nd December.

The best place to see all of them is on my website!

http://www.victoriablisse.co.uk/mybooks/

Blurb:

Josh is a vampire he just doesn't quite know it yet.

He is confused and his voluptuous sire, Cara is far too busy being mysterious to really help him unlock the secrets of his Afterlife. However, he pieces it together by himself and decides to turn his best mates into Vampires too. This doesn't quite go to plan but he does discover The Point and its unique, ten-second rule.

Cara does not approve of Josh visiting The Point but that night she turns up at his door bloodied and much more dead than usual, and accepts Josh's help to escape from her much older and much crazier Sire Leopold. How is Josh going to defeat an older, wiser and more powerful vampire? He hasn't a clue but for Cara he is willing to find out.

And an Excerpt just for you!

"Cara? Can I ask you some questions?"

"Certainly Josh, I am your sire after all."

"My sire? You’re a woman. And how do you know my name?"

"You've not read many vampire novels have you? A sire is the vampire who made you, dear and it has nothing to do with that vampire’s sex. And I know your name because I hunted you down. I've seen your employee name tag."

"Okay, that's a little freaky."

"You've just fucked a girl tied to a tree and drunk her blood and you think me looking you up in the supermarket is freaky?" She laughed, "Boy, you're such a newbie."

"Can vampires burn up in the sun?" Josh asked, determined to change the subject.

"Yes, but with high protection sun lotion, good glasses and avoiding high noon we can survive the sun's rays."

"How can vampires be killed?"

"Oh, the usual. Stake, beheading, fire. Gun shots and knife wounds are painful for a while as are broken bones, but they heal. It's no big deal."

"Are there a lot of vamps in the world?"

"Oh, a fair few. It's a minority really, a small minority compared to humans but you can expect to find a hundred or so in every major city and a few in every town and the odd one in villages. Mostly we like cities though, more nameless victims to go through."

"Are there other beings, you know, fairytale beings too?"

"Well, I've not seen any but I don't rule it out. I've heard rumours though."

"Do you work?"

"No, I don't need to."

"How come?" Josh asked, sitting down on the fridge-mound beside her.

"I'm in real estate." She said, "My money makes itself."

"Oh," Josh replied trying to work out what she actually meant.

"I had to work at first, of course. We might not need to buy food but we still need clothes and a house to live in but I started saving, bought my first house and I've been making money off my portfolio ever since."

"How old are you,"

"No, no, no," she laughed and laid a finger on his cheek, "it is impolite to ask a lady her age."

"No, I don't mean that. I can see you're in your pretty young, similar age to me I think. I mean how long have you been a vampire?"

"Oh, about fifty years now."

"Is that old for a vampire?" Josh asked, trying not to think of Cara as being older than his grandma.

"No, not really, I know a few who are hundreds of years old."

"Wow," Josh exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's quite an achievement. You have to be pretty wily to last that long. The first few years are the toughest on a vamp but once you get to my age you know most of what you need to know."

"Cara?" Josh was full of questions,

"Yes, Josh," she smiled and flicked a curl of golden hair behind her ears.

"Why did you pick me? Why didn't you just drain me?"

"Oh, I had my reasons," Cara stood up in a flurry and Josh wondered why she was so obviously flustered. If she'd have been a human her cheeks would have been flushed red he could tell.

"Why do you always rush of like this?"

"I like to keep you guessing," she said and turned to blow him a kiss. "I'll see you again soon, my pet. Take care."

You can pick it up from Total-E-Bound now!