Welcome to Augie’s Corner,Today’s guest is Michele Drier who’s the author of SNAP: The World Unfolds, which is her first vampire romance novel and Edited for Death, which is her first mystery.
Michele: Definitely espresso! I’m a caffeine kinda person, but iced tea is my best summer drink.Augie: I love warm tea when I interview, but iced tea is a favorite too. Let me tell you, I really appreciate this title SNAP: The World Unfolds. It happens to be one of my favorite words to use, Oh Snap. Why SNAP for this book?
Michele: The premise is that Maxie Gwenoch lands a job at an international, multimedia gossip and celebrity conglomerate. I thought about OMG (taken), PIX, Celeb, but SNAP worked on a couple of different levels. First is the image angle (the magazine buys from paparazzi) and then the instant exposure in today’s 24/7 media cycle.
Augie: I love that idea…. Audience, you may not know that this is not Michele’s first novel; she has also written Edited for Death, which was released October 1. You should be so thrilled. Let’s talk about Edited for Death. I understand that this it is a mystery, but what is the premise of this novel?
Michele: This is the first in the Amy Hobbes mysteries. Amy is a daily newspaper editor in a medium-sized town in California. She and her police reporter, Clarice, both love the adrenaline of covering instant news, and murder is a favorite. Each book will have an actual murder in it as backdrop, but the main plot is fictional. In Edited, the death of a prominent politician starts Amy off on a chase to find the man behind the office. In doing this, she uncovers a 60-year-old secret involving stolen art, Nazis, Holocaust survivors and three murders in a small Gold Rush town.
Augie: Sounds fascinating, you got my ears perked.
Michele: Well, conventional wisdom says “write what you know” so my protagonists are women working in the print media—an industry that’s fighting to stay alive. In the Amy Hobbes novels, this will add some tension as she loses staff to cut-backs.
Augie: It would be shameful if we allowed print media to die. I love it when characters deal with today’s problems, like bullies, drug abuse, discrimination/racism, and the written word which is so important. Hopping onto another track, so during the time you were waiting for a ‘house’ to pick up Edited for Death, you were already writing your second novel, SNAP? Truly a novelist, actually you are a journalist.
Michele: Yep, I began writing SNAP—a completely different genre, while still looking for an agent or publisher for Edited for Death. SNAP: The World Unfolds was always planned as a self-published ebook. I also thought the marketing I’d have to do for SNAP would help with Edited, and it has, to some extent.
Augie: Being a journalist did this aid you in finding a ‘house’ to publish your first novel?
Michele: No, not really. I will say that the editor for Edited for Death said that it was one of the cleanest manuscripts she’d ever worked on. I don’t know if that’s from a background as a journalist or from having half-a-dozen alpha and beta readers!
Augie: Uh-huh. Tell us about SNAP? I understand that it is a vampire novel, but of an unconventional nature.
Michele: It is. The owners of the international conglomerate that’s SNAP are a “family” of vampires headquartered in Hungary. They have other financial dealings, but SNAP took off and is now their main enterprise.
Augie: There is a huge market for vampire novels, and there are many to choose from, what makes your family of vampires different?
Michele: The idea came from an off-hand remark my daughter made. She said “You only see a lot of celebrities at night. They all wear dark glasses. They travel around in limos with tinted windows. They could be vampires!” And so SNAP was born.
Augie: I Love It! What a fantastic idea, you have an astute daughter there. Hollywood does not sleep…it’s almost a mini Las Vegas, but without all the wattage . Did you model your antagonists (vampires) from which Hollywood stars, Nosferatu? I know the favorites as the misunderstood were Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr.
Michele: The vampires certainly aren’t modeled on any previous ones!
Augie: I like that. When was SNAP released?
Michelle: SNAP was released July 1.
Augie: How are you going to stand it? Two novels released within 6 months of each other. Congrats to you. Lady it sounds like you are on your way. Will your vampires have humor like Gerry Bartlett or Katie MacAllister?
Michele: The book is humorous because Maxie is so taken aback when she finds out that the SNAP owners are vampires, but the vampires themselves aren’t humorous. They’re very sophisticated, wealthy Europeans.
Augie: Tell us about Maxie, does she consider herself yet to be a vampire slayer?
Michele: No, she’s worked hard to get where she is in her media career and the fact that SNAP is owned by vampires slows her down, but doesn’t stop her.
Augie: Will Maxie’s epiphany be reached in the first novel? And will we see her develop from that point on, or will she be like our beloved Nancy Drew, whom we love, as we yell ‘be careful or don’t open that door.’ And, why vampires?
Michele: Maxie wrestles with her attraction to the vampire Jean Louis, and she faces a Hobson’s choice: does loving Jean Louis mean she has to give up her career? Things will develop in the next two SNAP books, but no spoilers here!
Augie: The unknowing of vampire lifestyles, the myth of them hanging upside down to sleep, is more of a Hollywood movie scare of the heydays, but today Vampires are savvy and not as much cater to the young, but more so to adults. Will there be romance for your main character and would SNAP eventually be for adults? I ask you this, because I know that Gerry Bartlett’s books are not quite for the young.
Michele: There is definitely romance in SNAP. The book is for adults, but there’s not much violence and little sex, so YAs would like it, too.
Augie: What’s next for Maxie? And when can we expect to see her again?
Michele: I’m writing the second book now, SNAP: New Talent. It’s a continuation of where SNAP: The World Unfolds ends and I’m planning a winter 2012 release.
Augie: So much to look forward too. I’m curious, was there much research for your characters? I love the name Maxie, it reminds me of someone who can get herself into trouble, but she always finds her way out.
Michele: Well, since paranormal isn’t a genre I usually read or write I did a lot of reading...Charlaine Harris was at the top of the list! And yes, I chose “Maxie” because she’s a smart, capable, take-charge person who runs into a situation that’s beyond her usual ability to control her environment.
Augie: Sounds like a Maxie to me, capable and willing and yet so human. Michele is there anything else you would like to tell us about yourself or your characters?
Michele: Well, I’d like to have Maxie’s moxie!
Augie: Here-here. I can see that you will be very successful with SNAP: The World Unfolds as well as Edited for Death. Who are your Publishers?
Michele: I self-published SNAP: The World Unfolds and Edited for Death is published by Mainly Murder Press.
Augie: When did you decide to self-publish? How costly was it to take on such a project, in regards to family time, work, children, grandkids, health, etc.
Michele: As I was writing SNAP, it was always designed to be a self-published ebook. I had an artist do the cover (which I love!), but I formatted it myself and uploaded to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. It took a couple of days to get everything right, and I had to take it down and republish. The costs so far have been the cover and the copyright, but I’m planning to do a paperback in a couple of months so there’ll be some costs with that.
Augie: When do you have time to write?
Michele: I try to write at least a couple of hours every day, but marketing two books is sucking time away.
Augie: As readers, we appreciate all the time you have spent in marketing both novels.
Just quickly I would like to get your first reaction on the following words.
a. Favorite colour: Green
b. Favorite food: Italian
c. Lover of dog or cat? Have both
d. Favorite cologne/perfume? Chanel’s Chance
e. Drink of choice? Water (love a good Bordeaux, though)
f. If you and a companion could travel anywhere in the world, all expense paid for two weeks, where would you go? OMG, probably France, but Slovenia and the Eastern Adriatic is pretty high on the list, too!
g. If I had the ability, I’d wish that the Good Brain Fairy would visit some of the world’s leaders a LOT more often. She’s been on strike for far too long!
Augie: Michele, it has been a pleasure as well as fun to have you with us today.
Michele: Thanks for having me, Augie!
I invite my audience to purchase Michele Drier’s “Edited for Death” and “SNAP: The World Unfolds,” as you can see there is more to come!
You can reach Michele at mjdrier@gmail.com or visit her website, www.micheledrier.com .
You can purchase SNAP through Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0059K50D8 and Barnes and Noble http://bit.ly/nrddwr
Edited for Death is available at http://bit.ly/qAEsQN , http://amzn.to/roic00
Michele Drier, thank you again for stopping by, great fortunes and good writing.
See you all real soon Augie
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