In Conversation with Rachel Caine

As posted the other day, I had the chance to meet and interview Rachel Caine as part of her Bite Club tour in Australia, to celebrate the release of her latest book in the Morganville Vampires series.

Rachel was an absolute champ and answered so many questions for me and our hungry audience. So, as promised, below is most of our interview for those of you who couldn't make it.


ON MORGANVILLE...
Can you describe Bite Club in three words? Violent Bad Shane!

In Bite Club, we get to see some of the scenes from Shane's POV. What made you decide to do this?
Bite Club has a lot going on with Shane -- and it stirs up a lot of his past, his issues, and we see some of the hidden anger that he keeps under such tight rein. I felt it was important to really get inside his head for some of what was happening, because Claire is so much on the outside of many of the events, and without his perspective I felt readers might get too much of a one-sided view of why he was behaving as he was. I also really like writing Shane's POV ... I've done it in short stories (most notably Murdered Out, a short story included in an early UK edition, as well as a few more) and it seemed a good experiment to do in the novel.

Where did the idea for Morganville come from? Did it just pop into your head or was it something that slowly came to be?

Do you have a favourite character and why?
I enjoy writing them all, and different characters at different times, but I do love writing about Shane and Myrnin. I always know what Shane will do and I never know what Myrnin will do, so if I put them in a scene together, who knows what will happen! Monica, oddly enough, is also fun to write.

Why did you choose to write about a sixteen year old college student rather than a normal high school or college student?

I know music is a must for you when writing. If you had to pick one band/artist to represent the series, who would you pick?
Such a difficult choice, but I think I'd have to say either Lacuna Coil or H.I.M. -- but I have a very wide musical taste, all the way from '70s rock to trance, techno, alternative and blues. I tend to change the style of the music from one book to another, which is why I included all the extensive playlists at the back!

Do you know how many books you will write for this series?
At the moment there will be 12 books. If readers are still interested in Morganville after that then maybe there will be more! I love going back to Morganville. Book 12 is currently untitled and Last Breath, which is book 11, will be released in November.
And when the time comes, do you already know how it will end? I don't know if there is an ending, a town like Morganville just goes on... but obviously I would wrap up the stories of the characters in it. There's bound to be another generation of people with whole new problems though!

Is there anything you can tell us about Last Breath?
From the beginning of the series, the question about why Morganville was located in sunny West Texas has been a tricky one ... apparently. But there's a very, very good reason, and I'll give you this one hint: it has to do with water. There will be some shocking and scary events in this upcoming book, I can promise that, but also some deeply emotional scenes as well.

ON WRITING

You write a couple of other series. Do you stick with writing one book until it's finished or do you swap between them all? I will write the first draft of one consistently, but there is always a lot going on so when writing that draft, I might be re-writing a second draft of something else or proofing, etc. It's easy to swap between series, but I do have to do some traffic control issues in my head sometimes, and time management when you're juggling three series is quite an interesting challenge.

Apart from Last Breath coming out in November, you also have a new series that will be released in Australia. Can you tell us about that?
I have a new adult series coming out in August called The Revivalist. The first novel, Working Stiff, introduces Bryn Davis, who is a young funeral director discovering that her new bosses are reviving the dead, for profit, in the basement. That's only the beginning of Bryn's problems, which include tangling with a giant and sinister pharmaceutical company in the first book.

A BIT OF FUN
Have you ever had a fan-girl moment? *laughs* All the time! Although meeting Jennifer Lynn Barnes was very exciting. I've always loved her books. Carrie Ryan is also a huge literary crush of mine, and she's delightful in person, too. I also squealed quite loudly when I met Charlaine Harris for the first time.

Which fictional character would you like to trade places with? From Morganville I should pick Amelie because she always survives! But I think Eve would be a lot of fun. She has great fashion sense and drives a hearse! From other works I would say Dr John Watson so I could watch Sherlock Holmes at work.

If it was made into a film, who would you like to see portray your characters?I would love to see David Tennant play Myrnin! I really don't have a lot of great insight into who would be perfect for which characters ... it always turns out that who I'd pick for a role in other peoples' novels gets filled by an actor I'd never have picked, and they do brilliantly. Which is why I'm a writer, not a casting director!

Favourite word?
Crap *laughs*

Least favourite word?
Hard - my editor kept circling the word 'hard' throughout one of my drafts and asked me why I liked the word so much. I said 'I don't!' So now, I search and destroy it as often as I can.

Favourite sound?
Birds. I love birds. One of the most fun things about coming to a new country is to walk outside and listen to birdsong -- it's so different and beautiful!

If you were not an author, what would your dream job be?
A screenwriter, is that cheating?

What have you always wanted to do but never tried?
Scuba diving. Although as I'm deeply disturbed by the ocean, I probably never will!

How would you spend your last day on earth?
Writing. It's very rewarding and I look forward to it every day. Okay, I'd probably take a break to hold hands with my husband, but I'd obviously HAVE to finish all my stories, right?

*****

Once again, a massive THANKYOU to Rachel, and Felicity at Penguin Paranormal. And remember, Australian residents can enter my competition to win a signed copy of Bite Club. Enter here.

My Reviews
Glass Houses #1
Morganville series #2-9
Bite Club #10
Rachel Caine Event and Bite Club Giveaway

Rachel Caine Links
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