Интервюта от различни сайтове

by **Little_Dhampir** Нед Окт 10, 2010 9:49 am

Интервю за "Духовна връзка":

What can you tell us about Spirit Bound?
Spirit Bound takes place almost entirely outside of the school that gives the series its name, so that’s kind of ironic and funny. The characters are sort of on their own now, so we get to see what they do when they’re not within the confines of teachers and school rules. It’s less of a tearjerker; the other ones had these big sudden shockers that tended to leave people crying, so I would get email for weeks after the books came out that with people telling me how I left them sobbing. I don’t think there will be quite as much as that, but I can’t always tell that. This is going to be more twists in the story of the ‘Oh my God’ variety. People will still be surprised, and there’s still a cliffhanger, buy I think it will be less emotionally traumatic.

How did you create the series?
I’d been writing adult books sort of in the same genre, the paranormal urban fantasy realm, before that. I had two series, one about demons and one about fairies, and at the time I had extra time on my hands and I wanted to try something for young adults. I was kind of running out of paranormal creatures, so I thought, ‘Well, let’s do vampires,’ little knowing what I was getting into at the time with teen vampires. I had no idea it was about to become a phenomenon unto itself.

Is it hard to deal with the fact that there are so many other vampire books out there and people are going to compare your books to those? Does that get annoying?
No, not at all. There’s always a sort of idea that authors are terrible rivals and hate each other. The Twilight phenomenon if anything has helped me. Teens are so voracious; these books come out that they’ve been waiting nine months for and they read them in four hours. Then they’re looking for the next vampire book. To have so many out there, we just feed each other. Someone finishes one series and jumps to the other. It’s great to have so much interest and so many other series. I know a lot of these authors, and they’re a lot of fun to hang out with. The biggest thing is probably just when people mix up the series; they come up to me and say, ‘I love The Vampire Diaries.’ I’m like, ‘Me too, but I didn’t write that!’ [laughs]

What’s the process like while writing the Vampire Academy books? Do you know what’s going to go into each book?
I plan out all of my series. I have to know how many books it’s going to take to tell the story and what the big plots are going to be in each book and the series as a whole. I know a lot of authors who are so brilliant they can make it up as they go; not me, I need to know my direction, I need to know what my end point is, so most of them are very planned out. I outline everything. There are always things that pop up along the way, subplots you hadn’t thought of that kind of organically rise up, but all the big things haven’t changed; they’ve been there from the beginning.

I read on your website that this series is supposed to end with the sixth book. Is this still the plan?
It is and it isn’t. This arc with this character and this storyline will end at book six, and that comes out in December. Then I’m going to start — I keep calling it a spin-off for lack of a better word — a new series with a new arc, but it’s going to be the same world. We’ll have new characters in the forefront that are taking the place as protagonists of the characters we’ve already met. It’ll be a new story. It’s a way for me to keep myself fresh and start something new. I certainly don’t want to beat a story into the ground when it should end. At the same time, it’s going to give readers who are in love with this world a chance to stay with it.

Why do you think this has been such a popular series? Did the success surprise you?
It was very much a surprise to me. I was working on adult stuff, and if anything this was the side project. Because I didn’t fully realize what Twilight was becoming, and because it hadn’t quite become that anyway, I didn’t expect it. It was kind of a surprise. A few months after the first Vampire Academy came out it won some honors from the American Library Association. It was a very gradual climb. Our sales numbers were creeping up each week, I was getting more and more email from it, people anticipating the next book. The second book came out and it made the New York Times list, and it was like, ‘Where did these readers come from?’ I didn’t expect it; it’s still sort of a surreal thing for me.

The exclusive trailer we have on our website will air Thursday night during the CW’s Vampire Diaries and in movie theaters before Eclipse. How do you feel about having a trailer based on your books to air on TV and in front of one of the biggest movies of the summer?
It’s kind of unreal. I haven’t reached a point where I can take any of this in stride yet. Each thing is still kind of astonishing and miraculous to me. It’s daunting, a little bit, to think of so many people seeing that. I’m a little nervous to see it as well. It’s strange to see anyone do something with your work. Whenever I listed to the audio versions of my books, it’s like, ‘Wow, someone took that and did something with it.’ I have no idea what to expect with this; I understand they actually had a cast and did real filming. I want the books to reach as many people as possible, and Penguin is just so wonderful with promotion, to think of these things. I’m grateful and excited.

There are fans who have made their own trailers by putting together footage from movies and television shows and posting them on YouTube. What do you think about that?
That’s going back to that kind of weird reaction I have to see someone else…it’s so close to me, and then you see someone else’s interpretation, and the cast of Gossip Girl is playing my characters in these clips. It’s strange. I can’t watch a lot of them; it’s kind of funny at the same time and just weird. It’s amazing to think that I could have created something that has such a profound affect that people will splice together the clips to make this because they’re so excited about it. It’s kind of a wake up call for how these reach people; it’s not always as obvious until you see something like that.

You’re embarking soon on a two-week book tour. What are those like?
I do a lot of outreach with fans. I travel quite a bit to see then, and this year they’re sending me to smaller places, like Mobile, Alabama and Albuquerque. We’re trying really hard to get out there to connect with those readers. I think what’s really great with this series is there really is so much interaction between me and them; along with the travel there’s a very active online presence. I interact with them through all the assorted social networking sites. I read all the comments and respond when I can, which isn’t always so easy.

The second day of release, I can assume that everyone who’s at a signing has read the book. Even sometimes that first day, they got it that morning and I see them at 7 p.m. and they’re ready with questions. It’s amazing.

by **Little_Dhampir** Нед Окт 10, 2010 9:50 am

Интервю за Wondrous Reads от април, 2010:

Wondrous Reads: Okay, let's get started... Has your education had a big effect on your writing?

Richelle Mead: Not as big as people tend to think. I didn't major in English or anything like that, but I certainly took a lot of liberal arts classes that gave me some background rather than content matter. I learned to write more just by reading -- you read good writing and it helps you to pick it up.

WR: Weren't you a teacher as well?

RM: Very very briefly, yes!

WR: How long for?

RM: 6 months. I was writing while I was getting my teaching degree, and then my books sold well, I had my first job and I decided to quit teaching.

WR: How did you go about getting your books published? Did you go through an agent?

RM: Yes. For fiction, you pretty much have to go through an agent, or the publishers won't take it.

WR: Was it a quick process?

RM: Not that quick, but quicker than most. I never know how to answer that - people ask me was it easy but it's not easy for anyone. I was luckier than most.

WR: Well, we're very glad you got published! I've always wondered though, does writing 3 different series get confusing?

RM: Not confusing, just demanding because there's never enough time. I have to turn over a new 100,000 word manuscript every 2-3 months, and then I'm always editing the previous book while writing the next book. It's time more than anything.

WR: Is it a rush?

RM: Very much so.

WR: How do you get a balance - do you just not have a social life for 3 months?

RM: I have a social life but I work at weekends, there's no boss to tell me you can't have that day off or anything. I still get out and see people, but you've got to stay on track as an author. Some people think you can take time off when you want, and go out and enjoy yourself for a day, but the books don't get published if I decide not to get on with them.

WR: So which books do you prefer writing? Do you have a favourite?

RM: I like writing them all... they're all different. Some parts are harder in one series and easier in another. I enjoy it.

WR: What music, if any, do you like to listen to, and does any in particular inspire you?

RM: No, I'm not one of those authors who listens to music while I write, or has any particular inspiration. I'm old, I listen to a lot of 80s music - I never seem to have the radio on any more.

WR: Which 80s music?

RM: Oh, all of it - the cheesy bands were great.

WR: And still are! One question I have to ask you, have you always been a vampire fan, and do you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

RM: I never disliked vampires, but I didn't love them either. I was already writing about paranormal creatures before Vampire Academy, so they were kind of the next stage. I like Buffy, but I didn't watch it while it was on, I was never a die-hard fan - I watched the first couple of seasons.

WR: What do you think about the recent surge in vampire popularity?

RM: It's good, but people seem to think us vampire authors all hate each other, and people slam Twilight a lot. That's something I don't like - we're all contemporaries, and people read vampire books and look for others, so it's helped everyone's careers.

WR: Do you read other YA vampire books, like House of Night and Morganville Vampires?

RM: Morganville I do read sometimes, I'm a fan of Rachel Caine and I like her books. As a general rule, I avoid all the vampire stuff - I've never read Twilight or House of Night. When you write about vampires, you don't really want to read about them. It's not that they're going to influence me and I'm going to start writing Edward, I just don't want that in my head.

WR: A lot of authors say that when you write YA, you don't read YA, so that's interesting to know. When you started writing the Vampire Academy series, did you have it all planned out, or did you go one book at a time?

RM: It was planned. I can't be one of those authors without a plan and who makes it up as they go along. I know how each book is going to end, and a lot of the sub-plots are created along the way as I write. All the big plots and moments are planned - I always knew how the series would end.

WR: But you didn't have the last chapter written way in advance, like J. K. Rowling?

RM: Does she write them first?

WR: She had the very last chapter locked in a safe for years, apparently.

RM: No, I write the last chapter when I get to the last chapter.

WR: Has there ever been part of a Vampire Academy book you wish you could have re-written after publication?

RM: Nothing significant. As an author you always want to keep revising and revising, because I do write them so fast - to me there's never enough time to fully polish them, and that's what I wish for. I see flaws that I think one more round of editing could have fixed, but there's nothing traumatic I did to a character that I regret. I stand by it all, all the good and bad parts.

WR: So how long is the process between you writing a book, and it being published as a hard copy?

RM: Like I said, I have to write the first manuscript in 2/3 months, editing with the publisher takes about 4 months, then probably another 3 months when the book is turned into a book, y'know, it's printed and produced. There's a whole business side to publishing people don't know about, like there's someone at Penguin who works with Barnes & Noble, someone who works with Borders, who works with Amazon. They all have to communicate with each other during that lead time, because the books don't magically appear on the shelves - they talk orders and that's what the last few months are spent doing. Everyone's prepping for release, and then it shows up on the shelves. My books tend to run about 9 months - some authors can turn it over in 6 months, and some take a year.

WR: How far are you with Spirit Bound?

RM: Oh it's done, it's in pre-production now.

WR: In the editing process you mentioned, how much does the editor change?

RM: Each book is different, you know the editor doesn't change anything without my consent. And at the same time, something the editor hates doesn't go through either - we're very much a team. They may say this part could be cleaned up and you can change this, and I might agree to change one bit but not another bit. It's a group process.

WR: Do you have any say in your book covers?

RM: No, no. I have never had a cover I've hated so much. I like some better than others, but as an author you learn to pick your battles. I have had very good covers - I have known others who burst into tears when they see their covers, and vent at their publishers. I haven't had a cover that bad.

WR: Which is your favourite Vampire Academy cover?

RM: Blood Promise.

WR: Same here. Do you like the new UK ones?

RM: Yes they're very nice, they look much nicer in person. I can't see then properly when people send me digital images.

WR: When you've finished the Vampire Academy series, would you consider revisiting the character's lives in short story format?

RM: After this, there will be another 6 book cycle - there's going to be a spin-off. I mean we're not going to leave them, there will be more, but about a different character. Occasionally short stories will show up, but I really dislike short stories. It's a very different writing style than a novel, people don't know that and I don't have the short story mindset. But one is coming out in an anthology, it's about Lissa's parents. I'm not a fan of how that turned out, because I just don't like my short story style. Other people may like it, though.

WR: I like the story you wrote for the Immortal anthology.

RM: Yeah, people like that one, but I didn't like that either. Short stories have a very small word count, and to me you need a lot more to tell a story.

WR: You mean there's not enough time for development?

RM: It's very plot-orientated, a short story, whereas in a novel you can build characters. Maybe if I do more short stories, which I'm intending to decline now, there could be. But with the next 6 books, we'll see more people anyway.

WR: Can you say anything about the spin-off series?

RM: It'll be characters people already know, the only character I'm giving up, that's in there, is Sydney. The rest, you'll know who lives or dies when the current books stop, and I can't give that away.

WR: On the subject of future books, is there anything you can tell us about Spirit Bound? Is it a big Dimitri book?

RM: Oh, everyone's in there, it's a continuing story so it's all the usual characters. Spirit Bound is action-packed, and there are no tragic 'I'm going to cry' moments in it. Hopefully that'll cheer people up, because I know books 3 and 4 largely, and 2, upset a lot of people. There's nothing quite that traumatic in Spirit Bound, but there are a lot of 'OMG I can't believe that just happened' moments.

WR: One of my friends read Shadow Kiss, and she was in tears.

RM: You could have a support club, so many people cried over it.

WR: So which is your favourite Vampire Academy book?

RM: Shadow Kiss.

WR: I agree with you on that one! And going totally off-topic, what's your biggest dream?

RM: I'm living it. I'm happy with my career, if anything I'd probably want to finish these series and write 2 series. So that's my dream - most people would want to be putting out more books, but the schedule's too hectic at the moment, so I'd like to focus on my 2 series, to make sure I was writing the most best books that I can.

WR: Do you just want to carry on writing forever now?

RM: That's the plan. We all have bills to pay, and I enjoy my job. It's still a job, I think people have a much more glamorous image of an author, but it's a lot of work.

WR: Does going on tour like this set you back a lot?

RM: Well, the deadlines don't change. The deadlines don't move because I tour, so it falls back on me for time management, to deal with the loss. I can't write - partially it's time, and partially it's exhaustion - I can't write while I tour. So this is 8 days out of the cycle of book six, which doesn't seem like a lot, but it is. I mean, touring's great, it does its part, and so I'm very happy to do it.

WR: You must be like Superwoman!

RM: Well, y'know, it's just time management.

WR: I suppose you're used to it now, after doing it for so long?

RM: You fall into a certain rhythm after a while, and people ask me, are you enjoying the UK. And I am, but after a certain point, I could almost be in any city, because it's such a hectic cycle. You go from signing to signing, and I forget that I'm in another country. I could be in Miami or New York, y'know. It's a busy schedule.

WR: Do you enjoy meeting all your fans though?

RM: I do, that's the best part.

WR: And travelling around?

RM: I don't enjoy the travelling. This is luxurious, to be based out of London here. When I tour in the US, I'm in a different city every day, and there are so many travel hassles. The travelling is miserable, and then that signing I do every night is gold. I've never had a signing I disliked, and I really enjoy them. You hear about authors who resent their signings, but I've never been like that.

WR: You sell a lot of books at events though, and get to meet your fans.

RM: You do. So many people come with books they already own, but then they hear about other ones, so it spreads that way. Word of mouth is really what does it.

WR: Talking about word of mouth, do you think the internet has helped, like blogging and reviewing? Has that helped with your sales?

RM: Yeah, absolutely. The internet is just a whole new world for writers. I don't know if you guys have seen The Shining - y'know, the Jack Nicholson author who's locked away in his office - that's gone. We're all writers connected to each other, we're connected to our readers and social networking is just great for spreading the word.

WR: Like Twitter?

RM: Twitter's fantastic.

by **Little_Dhampir** Нед Окт 10, 2010 9:55 am

Интервю за Spinebreakers.co.uk:

Who is your favourite character?
Rose is my favourite, but I don’t really identify with her more than the other characters. They all come from inside my head, so I identify with each of them in different ways, if that makes sense. I definitely love writing Rose the most, though, and since she’s my narrator, we have to spend an awful lot of time together.

How many books are you planning to write for the series?
There are going to be eight more VA books coming out over the next few years. Two of them will be about Rose and will finish off her story. The next six will be a “spin-off” starting a whole new plotline that takes place in the same world but follows different characters (whom we’ve already met).

What was the inspiration for the characters and plot of the series?
The races of Strigoi, Moroi, and dhampirs are based in Romanian folklore. I took those ideas and then built the world of the series around them. The characters rose along with that world. I knew I wanted a very strong female lead, and slowly, the important relationships in her life (Lissa, Dimitri, etc.) began to emerge as I figured out how I wanted her to grow as a person.

When you started to write, did you sit down to write a book, or did it just happen?
My books are always planned out in advance—even the series are. So, when I sat down to write, I had a clear vision for the first book as well as the rest in the series.

There are now many vampire books out on the 'Teen' bookshelf, but how did you make your ideas different from the now modern portrayal of vampires?
When I decided to write a vampire book for teens, I had no idea that that genre would be so big. I knew the adult market was going strong, so it was important for me to do something very different from those books. So, I tried to stay away from the ‘standard’ vampire stories in our society and see what else was out there in the world. Interestingly, almost every culture has myths about some type of vampire. I’d taken Eastern European folklore classes in college, so I jumped into research about those myths first and found the Moroi and Strigoi stories. There wasn’t a lot there, so I’ve had to improvise a lot in the series with how I best think a world with two vampire races would live. Dualism is a big part of Russian and Romanian myths, which is why the balance of light and dark is always so key in the Vampire Academy universe.

How long did it take you to write the book?
It took me about six weeks to write the first draft, which is normal for all my books. A book is never “finished,” however, until it has gone through lots and lots of editing and revision—which can take months.

Did you expect the plot to go in the direction it has?
Little details and subplots have changed along the way, but all of the big plotlines and each book’s ending have stayed how I imagined they would.

What are you working on right now?
I’m editing both Spirit Bound (VA #5) and one of my adult novels right now.

Were you surprised by the reactions you have got to the series?
Absolutely! An author never knows how her books will be received, and I feel so lucky that mine have been successful. The enthusiasm is amazing, and it’s incredible to see the kind of attachments my fans have formed to the characters. I’m honored to have such support from my wonderful readers.

Did you find it hard to get into the young mindset of Rose and Lissa?
Surprisingly, not so much. The feelings and problems they go through are as intense as those adults face, so I don’t find myself stressing too much over the age. And with each book, I get to know them so well that the writing becomes easier and easier.

Will it ever work out for Dimitri and Rose?
Ah, that’s too big a plot point for me to give away! You’ll have to keep reading.

http://www.spinebreakers.co.uk/books/vampireacademy/authorinterviews/Pages/InterviewwithRichelleMead.aspx

by **Little_Dhampir** Нед Окт 10, 2010 9:55 am

The age difference between Dimitri and Rose is quite big, why/how did you decide to make Rose’s love interest a much older man?

Well, it’s not that big a difference! Questions like this are hard to answer because my response is usually “because it felt right.” That’s just the way their story needed to be told. When I started conceiving the characters and the world, it just came together that Rose and her instructor would fall for each other. And of course, it adds the dangerous and forbidden element that we all love.

Lissa and Rose are an unlikely match, personality wise. If they weren’t bonded, do you think they’d be friends?

Absolutely! They actually were friends years before the bond existed. I think it’s a pretty common phenomenon (the friendship, not the bond!). Sometimes we need to be around people who have different traits to complement our own, and I’ve had a lot of teens write me and say their friendships are just like Lissa and Rose’s.

The Vampire Academy world has three ‘types’ of vampires. Why/how did you decide to separate the good, evil and half breeds into three separate races?

This is actually a concept found in Romanian folklore. I loved the idea of it, especially since it was so different from the usual images of vampires that are out there. So, I used pieces of that myth as the basis for my world and then built my story around it.

All throughout the VA series, there have been references to Russian language and culture, especially in Blood Promise. Do you have any familial ties or previous interest/experience with all things Russian?

I actually have no connections whatsoever to Russian or Romanian culture—and struggle when people ask me to pronounce some of the VA terms! I chose to have both cultures influence the VA world because those regions have such fantastic vampire stories in their folklore. So, it seemed natural that Eastern Europe would be where a lot of my vampires came from. Without having visited, I have to do a lot of research to make things work! I read a lot and am lucky enough to know people who speak the languages.

Do you name your books, or does your publisher have some input, too?

They definitely have input. In fact, I’d say the relationship in selecting titles is 50/50. We can’t go forward until we have a title we all like, and Shadow Kiss is notorious for having taken months. So, we end up constantly swapping suggestions back and forth, and every time, one hits that gets us all excited.

How easy/hard was your rise to publication success?

Publication is never easy for anyone. There are so many variables that affect success: book quality, promotion, timing, and a lot of luck! Any of these can have their own degree of difficulty. Mine were mixed, which is typical of most authors.

Before the Vampire Academy books were released, you wrote adult fiction (and still do). What prompted your move into the YA genre?

I had some extra time (if only I did now!) and wanted to start a new project. Since I was a teacher then, someone suggested YA, and I thought it sounded like a lot of fun. I was also interested in it was because it was so different from my adult books, and writers always looking for new ways to experiment with their creativity!

What is your fave book?

I have a few faves, but let’s go with The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not writing?

I do a lot of mundane things like reading and watching TV. I also occasionally try my hand at gardening (with varying results) and have been dabbling in genealogy recently. Probably one of my very favourite things is socializing with friends, which gets tough to fit in with books always being due!

For you, what is the best and worst things about being a writer?

The best part is that I absolutely love it, which is so important because even the most wonderful jobs will have hard, stressful, hair-pulling days. It’s hard to get through those days if you aren’t passionate about your work, and I definitely am. I love my characters, their worlds, and their stories. The hardest part is that the job rests on me. I don’t work for anyone. I sell my books to my publishers, and then it’s up to me to make sure I finish them. So, this job requires a lot of discipline and time management to go with the romance and glamour. It’s up to me to make sure I’m putting in the time and giving the books the attention they deserve. It can be very stressful sometimes!

by **Little_Dhampir** Пет Дек 10, 2010 10:29 am

Интервю на МТВ (Ришел говори за филмирането) :

Every loyal book fan wishes their favorite authors could get a movie deal like J.K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer's—almost complete control over how their novels are translated onto the big screen. But that's not the way things usually go, and "Vampire Academy" author Richelle Mead is completely aware of that fact. When we caught up with her on the eve of the release of "Last Sacrifice," the final chapter in her series about born vampires and their badass half-breed protectors, we pumped her for news on what's happening with the "Vampire Academy" movie, which was optioned by Preger Entertainment and producer Don Murphy ("Natural Born Killers," "Apt Pupil").

"It's such a funny thing, the movie business," Richelle said. "There's no action going on right now. There's no production, no casting, no scripting. There's nothing for me to be involved in at the moment. They're certainly in touch all the time. Right now, they're out soliciting studios and writers."

While she isn't yet sure how involved she'll be with the movie, she said she has no "delusions" about full control. "People write to me like, 'Richelle, make sure when you hold auditions...' I know my involvement won't be to that extent," she said, laughing. "But they're a wonderful company. They talk to me a lot. They talk to the fans a lot, which is amazing. They've got this huge Facebook page, where they're always asking, 'Who would you like to see? What's your favorite part in the book?'"

As she plays the waiting game, Richelle said she has talked to someone who has a bit of experience with the adaptation process, Charlaine Harris, whose Sookie Stackhouse novels are the basis of "True Blood."

"I actually talked to Charlaine Harris a number of times," Richelle said. "She's really sweet. She's so down to earth. It was interesting to hear her perspective on that. She's got a real open-minded view to the process of adaptation and how that worked out. It's nice to hear a good success story and to have that on the horizon."

So if and when Rose, Lissa and Dimitri finally make it to theaters, what scene is their creator most excited to see? "Even though it's far down the road, the ending of the third book ['Shadow Kiss']," she answered without hesitation. "The big battle and its aftermath—I would love to see. Mostly because when I wrote that, I envisioned it very cinematically in my head."

And is there anything she's worried might get lost in translation? "I'm sad at the fact that I know there are going to be fans who will never be happy with any adaptation; I feel bad for them," she said. "There are people all the time who are like, 'Don't ruin the books!' I've made my peace with the fact—I had to, otherwise I wouldn't have optioned it—that with a movie, it's not going to be the book verbatim.

"I'm not saying I want a bad adaptation, but I've prepared myself that some things may be different, and that's OK," she reasoned. "I'm kind of zen with it right now, but that's easy to do when nothing's in production."

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