Adrianne Brennan

We’d like to welcome Adrianne Brennan to our interview blog this week. A very talented author, Adrianne has brought added dimensions to our catalog. Her works include the vampire series (Blood of the Dark Moon, Blood and Mint Chocolates, The Longest Night, A Memory on Record) and the Oath series. Fan-yourself hot, you’ll need a cold shower after reading her works. (grin)

Welcome, Adrianne.

Adrianne: Thanks for the welcome, Marci!

FB: I’m not sure where to begin. Each of your books deserves time. Hm… Okay. I’m going to touch on something that involves all of them: Magick. While some may say vampires are paranormal, they are truly magical creatures. What attracts you to magick and what some would believe as the darker side of it?

Adrianne: What a fantastic question! To be honest, I both study and practice certain forms of magick and am familiar both with its fictional and real-life aspects. When I read Harry Potter and see the obvious research that JK Rowling put in, I can’t help but grin!

The Longest Night by Adrianne Brennan

Magick increases possibilities. With possibilities, you can stretch the boundaries of reality–and hence your imagination. Applied to a fictional book, you can explore the way magick  is used both as a tool by the characters and for furthering plot and character development.

Like any tool, it can be wielded for good or bad. It can reveal someone’s personality and how they think and view the world. As a result, it can be both abused and misused by those who are looking for a quick fix at the expense of others.

It can also serve to enhance a really hot sex scene.

FB: Your depiction of vampires is very in depth and each vampire is uniquely different in some way. For instance, I would never have considered that they may have as much of an affinity for chocolate as I do, but in Blood and Mint Chocolates, Merideth worries that her addiction for it could get her in trouble. Do any of your other characters have these propensities? And is there a reason why you like to add something like this in a character’s makeup?

A Memory on Record by Adrianne Brennan

Adrianne: The thing with being a vampire in my books is that it’s not a quick fix to improve their lives, but it’s not this huge, heavy burden to bear with much angst as one might see in other vampire stories. It affects everyone differently. Some are resigned to it, others love it, and a few feel restricted by it. One of the things I cover is how different vampire cultures place greater restriction than others due to differing philosophy and ideals. People love to take something and add both dogma and complexity to it, and the hows, whys, and how much speaks a great deal as to the nature of their culture and mindset. It’s how people respond to those restrictions that reveals their personal character. Merideth is very much someone who is shy, a bit insecure, and while she appears to agree with much of the philosophical limitations placed on her due to vampire status, she possesses an internal conflict over them. A part of her wants to break free, have fun and be herself while the other part wants to be someone better than who she is. It’s how she handles that conflict which I feel makes for an interesting story and is the foundation behind the plot of the book.

Blood of the Dark Moon by Adrianne Brennan

FB: I have to say that Blood of the Dark Moon at first seemed to have too angst for me. I’m more of a happy, happy, make me laugh sort of person, but I do enjoy good vampire fiction. And that’s exactly what this series is: good vampire fiction. Are we going to see more of this series beyond Blood and Mint Chocolates along with The Longest Night and A Memory on Record? And what can we expect to see in the next installment? Will we continue to follow Amanda and Jesse? Will you introduce us to new characters? Will you expand on already established ones? Inquiring minds want to know. (Oh, yeah, and we want to know when too. LOL)

Adrianne: You definitely will have other books! I’m hard at work on book 2, which not only furthers the development of the relationship between Jesse and Amanda, but also shows the conflicts with the hierarchy of their Order as well as between them and other orders. I won’t reveal much except to say that the ending won’t be what people will expect, but it’ll be a LOT of fun and will open up the door for stories to follow.

There is also a sequel in the works for Blood and Mint Chocolates which will introduce a VERY important character, someone whom you will see more often in book 2 of the main works in the series also.

In regards to when, I’m hoping to get theBlood of the Dark Moon sequel out before the end of the year if nothing else. A writer’s work never ends!

Blood and Mint Chocolates by Adrianne Brennan

FB: Blood and Mint Chocolates is lesbian. Have you considered writing gay erotica?

Adrianne: Yes, and am finally writing my first work! I plan on having many more, including one that will be a prequel to the Dark Moon series set in Victorian England.

I have to admit that it took me a while to get into reading and enjoying gay erotica. It wasn’t until a particular pairing of two men whom I found attractive were paired together that I finally understood the appeal! I’ve recently got into yaoi, which is m/m anime. At last, I am converted.

FB: Do you relate more to any one of your characters than the others?

Adrianne: That’s hard to say. There are bits and pieces of me in all of my characters, some more than others. It’s interesting to note that I tend to write about characters as the leads who are far more introverted than I am, much shier–and throughout the story I set them free a bit. I find it to be interesting to both write and read and love watching them evolve as the story continues.

Amanda’s love of classical literature and culture, Merideth’s chocolate fixation, Kalia’s bluntness, Lila’s desire for spiritual and personal evolution–all of these things I relate to a bit, but they’re all such vastly different people than me. I’ve become quite fond of them all and often wonder what it’d be like to hang out with any of them over a cup of coffee!

The Oath: Book 1 by Adrianne Brennan

FB: If you are okay with discussing it, do you think your pagan beliefs influence your writing?

Adrianne: They definitely do. Most of my main characters have been polytheists, most specifically Amanda, Jesse, and Lila. Merideth is someone whom I would call an open-minded agnostic, but putting the label of polytheist on her wouldn’t be inaccurate, either.

I like to write about real pagan beliefs in novels and portray them in such a way that they seem normal and everyday, particularly in comparison with all of the other fantasy elements. You don’t have to believe in or practice magick to be a magician or a witch, nor do you have to believe in a god or gods in order to practice magick. I write about atheists, agnostics, Christian mystics, Thelemites, Greek pagans, and Kemetics (Egyptian pagans), and yet somehow they can all interact, get along, and find common ground. I find that to be important and liken it to a lot of science fiction and their attempts to portray race and sexuality across the spectrum in a way that normalizes those differences.

FB: Are there any other genres you’ve considered trying?

The Oath: Book 2 by Adrianne Brennan

Adrianne: Yes–historicals plus m/m, and am at work on both!

FB: Sounds wonderful. I love historicals. I think m/m historicals are becoming more and more popular. So, what else are you currently working on?

Adrianne: Aside from the above-mentioned works, I have a new series that I’ve been working on about modern day witches, alternate realities, magick, and the fae. It takes a lot of old beliefs and twists them into something quite different from the original, but I’m having fun with it!

I’m also hard at work on finishing books 4 and 5 in The Oath series.

FB: Oh, that sounds like it’s going to be a great series, Adrianne.

Now for some fun questions:

FB: What about writing life/being an author took you by surprise?

The Oath: Book 3 by Adrianne Brennan

Adrianne: How much time gets sucked into promotion, and at the same time, how easy promotion is when you’re not trying. I can’t believe how much of my selling books has been due to friends, friends of friends, social networking online, and events where many like minds are gathered who would be interested in my works.

I’ve made a lot of new friends because of my writing, and I’m very grateful for that!

FB: Where did your journey as a writer begin?

Adrianne: Writing a sci-fi comedy about sentient vegetables in space at aged ten. I’ve been hooked ever since!

FB: If you could be any man, living or dead, who would you want to be? Why?

Adrianne: Honestly, I wouldn’t want to be anyone other than myself–but there are definitely many people whom I would love to meet either dead or alive: Jim Morrison, Madeleine L’Engle, Neil Gaiman, the Dalai Lama, Hunter S Thompson, Joss Whedon, and numerous others.

FB: Of the current vampire series out there, which one appeals to you most? Do you share any characteristics with them? If so, which ones?

Adrianne: I really love Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire series (the one True Blood is based on) and LA Banks’ Vampire Hunter series. I also love Buffy. I’d have to say if I shared anything it’d be on the urban fantasy level, the mixing of the real with the fantasy. I honestly haven’t read any books like mine; I think I spend a bit more time wandering off into pagan and occult geekery than most!

FB: Any last words? Um, for the interview, that is. (grin)

Adrianne: Sure, why not? I just got back from Ireland and am very tempted to work it into a story somehow. Perhaps in the Dark Moon series. A clan in Ireland? Or another trip of Merideth and Kalia’s? Hm…

You can find out more about Adrianne at her website.

Freya’s Bower books by Adrianne:

The Oath: Book 1 by Adrianne Brennan	The Oath: Book 2 by Adrianne Brennan	The Oath: Book 3 by Adrianne Brennan
Blood of the Dark Moon by Adrianne Brennan	The Oath: Book 2 by Adrianne Brennan	The Longest Nigh by Adrianne Brennan
A Memory on Record by Adrianne Brennan

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 2:42 pm and is filed under Author Interview. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.