Comments on Paranormality: Guest Blogger: Rick Taubold

Glad I dropped by and found this post. I love Lyn...

2009-06-12T14:07:02.570-07:00

Glad I dropped by and found this post. I love Lynda's blog. Rick, your vampires are fascinating.

Congrats, Cecile! Thank you for having me, Lynda....

2009-06-10T05:11:05.818-07:00

Congrats, Cecile!

Thank you for having me, Lynda. Just so you know, this was my first guest blog. I enjoyed it and the warm welcome immensely. I'll definitely try to visit here on a regular basis.

And for anyone who reads my novel(s), I appreciate all feedback, even on stuff you didn't like, because it helps me be a better writer. You can always reach me through my website.

Thanks again to everyone for all the great comments and questions!

--Rick

I am on my way to email central!! YAY!!! Thanks yo...

2009-06-09T21:19:22.025-07:00

I am on my way to email central!! YAY!!! Thanks you guys!!! I can not wait to start reading it!!

Thanks for stopping by, Karen, Cecile, Tiffany and...

2009-06-09T18:11:43.065-07:00

Thanks for stopping by, Karen, Cecile, Tiffany and Jeffe! It was a pleasure to have you here, Rick. I hope your book sells tons of copies!
Lynda

Hey, Everyone. I'm peekin' in between clients at w...

2009-06-09T12:36:45.236-07:00

Hey, Everyone. I'm peekin' in between clients at work. Nice comment responses, Rick! I didn't know you weren't in a romance group anymore! I must have missed that. But I'm glad you have a supportive group. That's really important. ACK! Phone's ringing . . . next client must be here.

I'll answer the other questions in one post-- CEC...

2009-06-09T10:23:24.522-07:00

I'll answer the other questions in one post--

CECILE-- What a coincidence indeed! I told my wife and she was amazed. Glad you liked the excerpt. Just so you know, this scene is the ONLY love scene in the novel. Sophie never appears again in it. She's a minor character, but important in the grand scheme of the story. You'll see the whole connection when you read the novel.

TIFFANY-- Since the story of how Chris and I met online and began this whole project in the first place is interesting, I'll post it on my vampiresinc.net website this weekend. Originally, when Chris proposed the story idea, he had somewhat more traditional vampires in mind. During our initial email discussions, we modified them. I don't recall if his had fangs. The idea that they were infected by a virus, which gave them their longevity and need for blood, came from my desire to make them more scientifically plausible. However, I liked Chris' idea of giving them telepathic powers and even gave a scientific justification to that. (I'll also put up the biology of our vampires on the site). Chris loves to create flawed characters with past baggage. So, we decided to play up the past and emotional problems of our characters, added to the idea that they were basically outcasts of society (not unlike the X-Men). They have to deal not only with what they are, but also whatever guilt they may carry with them. Again, I'll be expanding on our "vampire universe" on the website.

JEFFE-- Actually, my wife is not a writer. Until recently, she pretty much supported my writing but gave little input. However, she was always after me to add more female characters. While writing "Vampires, Inc." she told me I should put in a love scene. In the original draft of the novel, the New Orleans scene glossed over the relationship between Eli and Sophie and simply said they made passionate love over the year they were together there. Never having written a love scene, I asked my wife what she had in mind. She outlined what she wanted, we discussed it a little, and I began the writing. She read the draft and made a few suggestions (deleting a couple of things he'd originally wanted in it). We tweaked it until we were satisfied. The entire writing took a week. As far as I'm concerned, those 9-10 pages were the HARDEST ones to write in the novel. I had several romance writers critique it and had a friend who is fluent in French check those parts. This scene has probably had more eyes look at it than any other scene in the novel.

Since then, my wife has taken a stronger role in my writing. She lets me shake out all the bugs and polish the chapters, then she reads them over with a critical eye. She's not an editor, either. What she looks for is the flow and tone of the writing: is it smooth, do the words fit the characters, are the emotions there? Most of her suggestions are just small, subtle things--the way the characters act or move--but they make all the difference. Chapter one of Vampires, Inc. is significantly stronger chapter than it was because of her. She's a tough critic, but I cherish her input, knowing my writing will be that much better.

--Rick

LYNDA-- I've been writing seriously since 1991, wh...

2009-06-09T10:21:16.025-07:00

LYNDA-- I've been writing seriously since 1991, when I started my first novel, writing it on the weekends. After I finished it and saw it needed some polishing, I took several workshops locally. During that time, I had three short stories published (they're on my website www.ricktaubold.com under Shorter Works). Then I polished (and polished) that novel and finally found a publisher (where I met Lynda) and got published in 2004.

I'm no longer a member of RWA, in part beccause I'm not a romance writer. I joined originally because I wanted to belong to the local RWA chapter, which had some excellent writers in it and was very supportive. For reasons I won't go into, we divorced ourselves from RWA and became an independent writing group (www.lcrw.org). Since RWA was expensive to be a member of an no longer held sufficient benefits for me, I didn't renew my membership. LCRW, when I joined as ALL women, except me. Now we have a couple of other men in the group as we expand our writing focus. Interestingly, no all of the women were romance writers, either.

Along the way, I have attended 4 of the Romantic Times Booklover's Conventions and was at BEA in 2005. Although I'm not a romance writers, I do admit that romance writers know how to promote their works. I've learned a LOT from them and made many valuable contacts.

--Rick

Interesting post, Rick! So do you and your wife ac...

2009-06-09T07:45:23.848-07:00

Interesting post, Rick! So do you and your wife actively write scenes together, or do you trade pages back and forth and work individually?

Hello, Rick and Lynda! Enjoyed the excerpt! I'm s...

2009-06-09T07:41:35.752-07:00

Hello, Rick and Lynda!

Enjoyed the excerpt! I'm so curious to learn more about this incarnation of vampires. How did you and Chris decide to alter what we've come to know as vampires? I love it when authors give common perceptions fresh spins. :0)

Tiffany

Rick: Can you tell us a little about your author j...

2009-06-09T07:09:42.761-07:00

Rick: Can you tell us a little about your author journey? How long have you been writing? I know you're a member of RWA. What's it like to be a male romance writer?

Thank you, Cecile. You're always so wonderfully su...

2009-06-09T07:08:58.585-07:00

Thank you, Cecile. You're always so wonderfully supportive! I appreciate you and I know Rick does, too.
Hugs, Lynda

Thanks you Mr. Rick... I posted before the excerpt...

2009-06-08T22:22:19.449-07:00

Thanks you Mr. Rick... I posted before the excerpt was up... and now I have to tell you I reallllyyy want to win this book... because I live about an hour away from New Orleans and my family name is Benoit...
I almost fell off my chair when I saw that!! That made my day right there...
Oh and ps... tell the wife *two thumbs up* on the love scenes... Very well done!!!!

How are you Ms. Lynda? Thanks for having Mr. Rick...You know I love to add to the list of new authors...

Thanks for the love scene, Rick. Paranormality rea...

2009-06-08T13:44:22.630-07:00

Thanks for the love scene, Rick. Paranormality readers always appreciate a spicy naughty-bit.

Lynda, I just sent you an excerpt of the Love Sce...

2009-06-08T12:58:45.916-07:00

Lynda,

I just sent you an excerpt of the Love Scene. Yes, it was wife's idea. She pulled out the whips and chains and forced me to write it. Just kidding. I wrote it to her "specifications." It had to pass her muster, which it did and still does.

We're very proud of that scene. It took me a WEEK to write those 9-10 pages, with the background research on the time period it's set in. You'll have to read the novel for the full context and what happens to Sophie later.

--Rick

Rick: Your wife helped you with the love scene? Sh...

2009-06-08T10:55:18.923-07:00

Rick: Your wife helped you with the love scene? Should we use our imaginations with that one? LOL.

Hey, why don't you send me a brief excerpt of the love scene and I'll add it to your blog post. Inquiring minds want to know . . .

Hi, Cecile!

Lynda

Cecile, Thanks so much for the comment. To answe...

2009-06-08T10:43:32.086-07:00

Cecile,

Thanks so much for the comment.

To answer your question about the challenge in writing vampires as normal beings, I really don't have any problem with that. Once I had the premise of mortal vampires without fangs, the rest was easy. I simply gave them the burden of being vampires and being looked upon by society as undesirable, not unlike racial discrimination, except that the distrust and fear factors came into play. Hence, they tend to keep to themselves, living alongside humans. The novel, however, is about what happens when certain factions among the vampires see humans as inferior and unfit to rule the Earth. In a sense, it's an old theme done in a new way, like the idea of racial supremacy that Hitler held to. I guarantee a lot of surprises in the second and third novels. And in the second novel, you'll find out how and why Adrian became a vampire.

I'm excited about Adrian's site, too. He's quite the character, and his young protégé, Jonathan Clayton, will likely be sneaking onto the site, possibly without Adrian knowing about it. So, you never know what might happen on his site. On the vampiresinc.net website, I may expand on some of the characters in the novel (like deleted scenes) or tell more about their backgrounds than I do in the novels.

Hey Ms. Lynda! Hello Mr. Rick! It is nice to alway...

2009-06-08T08:38:02.399-07:00

Hey Ms. Lynda! Hello Mr. Rick! It is nice to always learn about a new author!
Mr. Rick... writing about vampires in any world is always interesting to me... Would you say that you are challenged to write them as normal beings as aposed to writing them for what we have come to know them for... fangs, biting, blood drinkers?
Thanks for coming over! Ms. Lynda thanks for having him!
Oh and ps. Mr. Rick, can't wait to see Adrain's site! Will be looking forward to that.

Hi, Karen. You'll find these vampires, and their ...

2009-06-08T05:33:29.181-07:00

Hi, Karen. You'll find these vampires, and their human friends, an interesting lot--not at all typical vampires. You'll find Adrian Shadowhawk (a vampire) even poking fun at "traditional" vampires. I tried to make this whole story plausible and feel as if it could really happen in our world.

And if you read and enjoy this novel, you'll love the second one even more. Vampires Anonymous has a Neo-Nazi skinhead character who gets "changed" by a "minority" vampire. That character was a lot of fun to write.

--Rick

Hi, Karen! Thanks for stopping by. Rick will drop ...

2009-06-07T19:25:59.332-07:00

Hi, Karen! Thanks for stopping by. Rick will drop in around his work schedule tomorrow and Tuesday.
Lynda

Rick: Thanks so much for being here! Paranormality...

2009-06-07T19:25:19.662-07:00

Rick: Thanks so much for being here! Paranormality is happy to have you. Rick's story takes place in Detroit, which is where I was raised, so I'm really enjoying reading his book.
Hugs, Lynda

Anything that says "Vampires" catches my interest!...

2009-06-07T19:21:30.103-07:00

Anything that says "Vampires" catches my interest!

The book - and universe - sounds cool! :)

karenwitkowski AT aol.com