NYT Best Selling Author Debbie Viguié - Author Interview and Review!!

I am happy to say today we have with us, NYT Best Selling Author Debbie Viguié!

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I’m happily married to the man of my dreams. I love animals and have a black cat named Schrodinger. I love traveling, visiting theme parks, and fine dining. It’s my aspiration to someday build my own theme park based on the one I created for my Sweet Seasons series. (Check out The Summer of Cotton Candy for a peak at it!) I love writing and acting and spent serious time trying to decide which to pursue. I ultimately went with the writing though I still love to act in community theater. I’ve been described by a reporter as a “pink goth”, a title I’ve proudly claimed. I’m light and bubbly and optimistic while yet enjoying the dark and the macabre. Both come across in my writing. I love movies and see as many of them as I can. When I write I often picture my books as movies. I write both secular novels and Christian novels. I enjoy both.


Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

I started writing when I was very young. I read a lot and made up stories about my toys.  I wrote poetry, short stories, etc.  In elementary school I had a teacher that loved creative writing assignments.  My parents still talk about my story called “My Life as a Piece of Chewing Gum.”  They say that they really knew I was going to be a writer when they read that story.  In elementary school I won the D.A.R. award for a paper I wrote about Ben Franklin from his wife Deborah Franklin’s point of view.  When I read The Lone Star Ranger by Zane Grey I closed the book after finishing the last word and knew I wanted to be able to make people feel the way I felt right then.

What surprised you the most about the writing/publishing process?

The impossibility of removing typos. I used to roll my eyes when I’d read a typo in a book. Now that I’ve seen the entire process I can tell you that half a dozen people are looking for those things to fix them and yet still a couple always seem to make their way into the printed book. It’s always baffling and frustrating. It’s one of the reasons I don’t like to read my books once they’re in print. I catch one of those and wondered how I missed it the last six times I read it.

How do you develop your plots and characters? Do you use any set formula?

As far as plot goes there’s no set formula I stick to. I try to constantly ask myself “What if?” and “And then?”. For characters I think it’s important to understand what drives them. The vast majority of people are only driven by a handful of things. I like to pick songs that I feel encapsulate the characters in some way. Most people have songs that they feel speak to them, their life, their situation, their beliefs and desires. Knowing what song does that for a character helps to focus me when writing about them.

What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

That’s a tough one because all the elements are so important and they are interdependent. I can tell you that the two things that can make or break a story for me when I’m reading are whether the characters are sympathetic and how the pacing works. I like to read about people I’d like to meet and I like the pace to be brisk so I don’t feel the urge to put it down and walk away.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Hard Cover

I’ve been working on five different series. In the Young Adult genre Nancy and I have been working on Crusade and Wolf Springs Chronicles. Crusade is the story of a young group of freedom fighters trying to stand up to vampires who have taken over the world. Wolf Springs Chronicles is a little like King Lear with werewolves told from the point of view of Katelyn, an outsider forced to go live with her grandfather in a remote mountain region. I have three series targeted more toward adults. The Psalm 23 Mysteries are mysteries that pit a church secretary and a Jewish rabbi against murderers including a serial killer who replicates the events of Easter week. The Kiss trilogy deals with vampires and how a young woman is drawn into an age-old feud that will soon turn into full scale war only to discover that her family has been at the center of the battle for centuries. The third series is as yet untitled but involves a police detective with a dark past who must come to grips with it if she’s to stop a group of witches from raising the same demon that killed her family when she was a child.

What was it like to work with another author on a book?

It’s amazing and fun.  What’s great about our relationship is that her strengths are my weaknesses and vice versa.  We are able to rely on each other.  Also, the ideas are exciting because with the two of us working on a book it morphs into something awesome that isn’t necessarily what either of us would have done if working solo.  Being a co-author means you have to put your ego aside and decide together what’s best for the story.  Nancy and I have had no problems doing this with each other and the results have been remarkable!

I have a nice time following you on Twitter. In 140 characters or less, sum Crusade for us.

Vampires have gone public taking over governments, enslaving humanity. A group of young vampire hunters are the only ones who can stop them.

How did you come up with a story that was such a whirl wind of events?

Nancy and I love taking a concept and then pushing it and tweaking it and adding as much action and

Most people will/have probably found this book to leave them aching for the next book, how long did it take you to write it, and did you have any writer’s block along the way?

We spent a solid four months writing this book and several weeks handling the revisions. I’ve gotten pretty good at working around writer’s block. It helps when you write with a partner you trust completely because we can shuffle difficult scenes back and forth.

Will we be seeing a following book to this story? Please say yes! ;)

YES!!!! Crusade is the first book in a trilogy. The second book, Damned, hits stores at the end of August. The third book will be out a year later.

This was a great story set with our everyday world. Was there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Nothing particular to this story. In general, though, writing the middle third of a book is always the most challenging.

What were your feelings when you first saw the cover of the finished book?

I was so excited! I love the cover; it has such atmosphere to it! And the blood on the cross and the gate just made me squeal with joy. The paperback covers are also beautiful and I’m especially excited about the Damned one.

Is there a message in this novel that you want readers to grasp?

I try to avoid “messages” since I see my primary job as that of entertainer. However, there was one thing very much on my mind while writing this book. Freedom is a precious thing and must be vigorously defended or irrevocably lost.

Paperback

My Review:

I found Crusade to be refreshing when it comes to recent vampire books. The pace was fast and packed with action. The dysfunctional characters were well developed. The interesting world that the authors created I found realistic. They really know how to make the different setting easy to see, original, and interesting. Especially using the third person narration. The ending was so-not expected. The plot, though exciting, had some holes in it. I am hoping that they would be filled with a sequel. All in all it was an enjoyable read. It will grab on to your curiosity and you will not want to put it down.

My Rating: 5 stars!

Find Debbie Viguié:
Website
Good Reads

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