Hi all —
We have a special treat today. Lucienne Diver! Her new book FANGDEMONIU
M is out now! I am a HUGE fan of this YA urban fantasy series. It is a MUST buy in my world — funny, face paced, and fun. I’ve read this one and it’s To Die For! Or, better yet, To Be Undead For!
Except, Lucienne couldn’t make it so her character came instead….
Gina here. Look, Lucienne was supposed to do a guest blog this morning, but she’s not feeling it. It’s Sunday. Her day off. Not that writers get days off . . . or literary agents, really. That’s what she does when she’s not busy writing me or, you know, someone less interesting. No, wait, that’s Gina-centric, and I’ve grown as a character over the course of the Vamped series. Really, I have. (Don’t argue, just read. You’ll see.) Anyway…I’ll try again: That’s what she does when she’s not writing about me or someone otherly fabled. Whoo! See there—growth.
Right, so I’m handling things. Lucienne would like to tell you that she’s my “creator” and all that. She’d like to, but she can’t quite manage it. If you ever talk to her about me (and really, you should; I’m a fascinating subject), you’ll likely hear her say that I just appeared one day, fully realized, talking in her head and insisting on a story. She gave me one, a story. A vignette, really. Just a few pages, trying to get me out of her system. Didn’t work.
She brought that vignette to her writers group, who told her what I could have all along—the story needed to be a novel. Or, really, a series, but we couldn’t freak the poor girl out with too much all at once. To be honest, and I always am, I’m a lot to take. Lucienne wasn’t sure she wanted to spend that much time with me. You see, I’m a bit opinionated. I like fashion and my friends, mochas and Manolo Blahniks, tanning options, for heavens sake . . . and I’d just been Vamped. The series starts off with my “Rules for Surviving Your Senior Prom,” which I didn’t. Sorry, didn’t think that needed a spoiler alert since it happens straight off.
She was probably afraid that I couldn’t handle it. She probably thought I’d whine and throw things and stomp my fashionable feet. But I surprised her. (I’m like that.) Instead, I decided to put on my big girl panties (designer, of course) and deal with it.
That’s pretty much how we’ve gotten through the series. She lobs things at me, like having to claw my own way out of the grave, and I deal with it, broken nails and all. Rival vampiress, I’ve got that. Legendary figure from the mists of time. Well, give me a sec, I’m sure I can work that one out too. Or hell, I’ll just go for it. I’m more a pantser than a plotter, something like my “creator”.
But I’m getting off point. Lucienne’s blog this morning was supposed to be about how I’ve grown and developed as a character over the course of the series. Blah, boring. I mean, I have, of course. I’ve learned that friends are not minions. Not everything can be solved with hair spray, though couple it with a spark and it makes a helluva flame thrower. I’ve learned that sometimes I have to stand back and let others shine. (I may still be working on that one.) In short, I’ve learned a lot about a lot of things. Lucienne wasn’t so sure about me at first, but I’ve grown on her.
Not like a fungus. You just cut that out.
More like the bangs that you’re not too certain about at first, because you can’t pull all of your hair back into a hairband, but then you realize how they soften your face… Anyway, I’m just saying. I grew on her. I am more than I was when I started. Maybe it’s everything she threw at me. Maybe it’s, ugh, maturity. Whatever it is, I look back at the girl I was at the start of the series, and I think, “I wonder if I can borrow that dress?”
Gina out.
