Squawk Radio
Friday, October 28, 2005
KITTY CHATS UP SUSAN SIZEMORE
KITTY: I caught up with the super-talented, multi-dimensional author Susan Sizemore as she was putting the finishing touches to a particularly lovely cable knit scarf. One caveat: I tape my interviews and then hand them over to Brockway for transcription. Sometimes she transcribes a little too much.
(sound of ice clinking in glass)
So, Brockway made you a bat. Huh. I thought I was the only bat. Yeah, I'm miffed. Have you noticed how she never includes me in that little in-group on the side? Like she' so--What? Oh. Right. It is running. Thanks.
"I screw dead people!"
Sorry, I HAD to say it. But tell me, Susan—what is the deal with the undead? Why do we find them so sexy? I mean I've bedded some stiffs---
(raucous laughter ending in a coughing fit)
Oh, God. Oh, stop! Ah. Okay. Okay. Really, Susan, what’s up with that? Dish, girl!
SUSAN: I do not screw dead people! No necrophilia in my vampire universe! The Primes are born vampires. It's a genetic thing. Kind of like the X-Men.
KITTY:Your omnibus, Crave the Night : I Burn for You, I Thirst for You, I Hunger for You (Paperback) is out and on the shelves. This is a compilation of your tres successful Pocket vampire books, right? Fabulous idea! How'd it come about?
SUSAN: I love how this came about – because I didn’t have to do anything. I just got a call from my editor one day telling me that the powers that be at Pocket had decided to do the omnibus of the three books. I thanked her profusely, and gratefully sent off a batch of vampire shaped cookies to the Pocket office.
KITTY: In your mythology vampires identify mortals as their soul mates, which is extremely sexy in an uber-alpha sort of way. Want to take us through a quick tour of the couples involved in the omnibus?
SUSAN: The couple in the first (Burn) book is Alec and Domini. He’s a Delta Force operator and she’s a professional bodyguard. He’s a Clan Prime, which means he’s all noble and heroic and a protector of humanity. Okay, so I “cast” my books and my image of them is of Viggo Mortenson and Liv Tyler. He’s a vampire developing a bad reaction to the drugs my vamps use to hang out in the daylight. It’s a bad time to meet his soul mate, as he’s on the edge of turning feral.
The next couple (Thirst) is Marcus Cage and Josephine Elliot. Marcus is a Family Prime, which means that he’s from a vampire culture that tries to blend into the mortal world. She’s a pilot that’s survived a plane crash and is physically and psychically scarred. He’s escaped from a facility that’s doing nasty testing on vampires to learn the secret of immortality. She’s on a camping trip in the desert trying to get her head together. Since he’s starving and in bad shape, he captures her and keeps her hostage while on the run. They fix each other and fall in love and stuff. This is my Vin Diesel and Rhada Mitchell book.
The next vampire hero (Hunger) is also Clan. Colin works as a SWAT sniper. His human love interest is Mia Luchese, and she’s from a family of (retired) vampire hunters. She has no idea the cop she had a brief affair with is a vampire – until after he saves her from being attacked by another vampire. Imagine her annoyance. Colin is an experiment in writing about a relatively young vampire (he’s only in his early thirties) finding his bondmate decades before this normally happens – and he doesn’t like it a bit. I see the characters as Colin Farrell and Jordana Brewster
The next book (Master of Darkness) will feature one of the villains from Hunger as the hero. Laurent is a Tribe Prime, which means he’s from the vampire culture that gives vampires a bad name – bloodsucking fiends, and all that. I described this guy as looking like “Legolas gone bad” in Hunger, but as I was writing the book he kept looking more and more like Josh Holloway from “Lost” to me, and the heroine, a professional vampire hunter, looks like Claudia Black.
Currently working on a Sean Bean-alike Prime hero, and it’s back to the Family culture for this one.
KITTY: Sean Bean, one of my favorite fantasies! Which is your favorite-- na- na nahhh-- no panzying out. Favorite! NOW-- and why.
SUSAN: So, you’re asking me to pick a favorite child? That’s a terrible thing to do! But, okay, I’m deeply in love with Marcus Cage. For one thing, he’s a great cook.
KITTY: You also have success as a historical romance author and fantasy auteur (tell James she's not the only one who can use ten penny words!) do you EVER sleep? What are you working on now?
SUSAN: James, she can use ten penny words. Though, of course, when I see the word auteur I think of Martin Scorsese – and in my next life I really want to direct. I sleep way too much lately. That’s one of the reasons I’m behind on two books! I’m currently working on the fifth Vampire Prime book, which I’m told is going to be called Primal Heat. Which I think is a hot title.
KITTY: Huh? ( voice muffled) An auteur is a director? Crap. Don’t make me look bad here, Sizemore. (muffling removed)
What's your process? I mean-- I get up in the morning, pull off whatever I fell asleep in, stumble into the kitchen, shock the old bones into 1st gear with a Trifecta Cuban and a liter of Redbull and look up CHEAP-O flights on the internet to see how far I can get on 117.62. Then I get dressed.
SUSAN: Surprisingly similar process, except that I’ve gone decaf, and I check Travelocity.
KITTY: What's out next and when?
SUSAN: Scandalous Miranda. Real soon now. Technically it’s a December book, but barnsandnoble.com says it’s shipping in late November. It’s an historical romance. Also, a short story in a DAW fantasy anthology Time After Time is out next month. And Master of Darkness is out February next year.
KITTY: Time to play “Answer the Idiocy” – and yes, I’m sure it’s not just “idiot.” Here goes:
You're a car. What model?
SUSAN: ’71 Dodge Challenger. Oh, the backseat memories…
KITTY: Finally, you're heading.... north or south?
SUSAN: “South, they always go south.” To quote one of my favorite stories.
(sound of ice clinking in glass)
So, Brockway made you a bat. Huh. I thought I was the only bat. Yeah, I'm miffed. Have you noticed how she never includes me in that little in-group on the side? Like she' so--What? Oh. Right. It is running. Thanks.
"I screw dead people!"
Sorry, I HAD to say it. But tell me, Susan—what is the deal with the undead? Why do we find them so sexy? I mean I've bedded some stiffs---
(raucous laughter ending in a coughing fit)
Oh, God. Oh, stop! Ah. Okay. Okay. Really, Susan, what’s up with that? Dish, girl!
SUSAN: I do not screw dead people! No necrophilia in my vampire universe! The Primes are born vampires. It's a genetic thing. Kind of like the X-Men.
KITTY:Your omnibus, Crave the Night : I Burn for You, I Thirst for You, I Hunger for You (Paperback) is out and on the shelves. This is a compilation of your tres successful Pocket vampire books, right? Fabulous idea! How'd it come about?
SUSAN: I love how this came about – because I didn’t have to do anything. I just got a call from my editor one day telling me that the powers that be at Pocket had decided to do the omnibus of the three books. I thanked her profusely, and gratefully sent off a batch of vampire shaped cookies to the Pocket office.
KITTY: In your mythology vampires identify mortals as their soul mates, which is extremely sexy in an uber-alpha sort of way. Want to take us through a quick tour of the couples involved in the omnibus?
SUSAN: The couple in the first (Burn) book is Alec and Domini. He’s a Delta Force operator and she’s a professional bodyguard. He’s a Clan Prime, which means he’s all noble and heroic and a protector of humanity. Okay, so I “cast” my books and my image of them is of Viggo Mortenson and Liv Tyler. He’s a vampire developing a bad reaction to the drugs my vamps use to hang out in the daylight. It’s a bad time to meet his soul mate, as he’s on the edge of turning feral.
The next couple (Thirst) is Marcus Cage and Josephine Elliot. Marcus is a Family Prime, which means that he’s from a vampire culture that tries to blend into the mortal world. She’s a pilot that’s survived a plane crash and is physically and psychically scarred. He’s escaped from a facility that’s doing nasty testing on vampires to learn the secret of immortality. She’s on a camping trip in the desert trying to get her head together. Since he’s starving and in bad shape, he captures her and keeps her hostage while on the run. They fix each other and fall in love and stuff. This is my Vin Diesel and Rhada Mitchell book.
The next vampire hero (Hunger) is also Clan. Colin works as a SWAT sniper. His human love interest is Mia Luchese, and she’s from a family of (retired) vampire hunters. She has no idea the cop she had a brief affair with is a vampire – until after he saves her from being attacked by another vampire. Imagine her annoyance. Colin is an experiment in writing about a relatively young vampire (he’s only in his early thirties) finding his bondmate decades before this normally happens – and he doesn’t like it a bit. I see the characters as Colin Farrell and Jordana Brewster
The next book (Master of Darkness) will feature one of the villains from Hunger as the hero. Laurent is a Tribe Prime, which means he’s from the vampire culture that gives vampires a bad name – bloodsucking fiends, and all that. I described this guy as looking like “Legolas gone bad” in Hunger, but as I was writing the book he kept looking more and more like Josh Holloway from “Lost” to me, and the heroine, a professional vampire hunter, looks like Claudia Black.
Currently working on a Sean Bean-alike Prime hero, and it’s back to the Family culture for this one.
KITTY: Sean Bean, one of my favorite fantasies! Which is your favorite-- na- na nahhh-- no panzying out. Favorite! NOW-- and why.
SUSAN: So, you’re asking me to pick a favorite child? That’s a terrible thing to do! But, okay, I’m deeply in love with Marcus Cage. For one thing, he’s a great cook.
KITTY: You also have success as a historical romance author and fantasy auteur (tell James she's not the only one who can use ten penny words!) do you EVER sleep? What are you working on now?
SUSAN: James, she can use ten penny words. Though, of course, when I see the word auteur I think of Martin Scorsese – and in my next life I really want to direct. I sleep way too much lately. That’s one of the reasons I’m behind on two books! I’m currently working on the fifth Vampire Prime book, which I’m told is going to be called Primal Heat. Which I think is a hot title.
KITTY: Huh? ( voice muffled) An auteur is a director? Crap. Don’t make me look bad here, Sizemore. (muffling removed)
What's your process? I mean-- I get up in the morning, pull off whatever I fell asleep in, stumble into the kitchen, shock the old bones into 1st gear with a Trifecta Cuban and a liter of Redbull and look up CHEAP-O flights on the internet to see how far I can get on 117.62. Then I get dressed.
SUSAN: Surprisingly similar process, except that I’ve gone decaf, and I check Travelocity.
KITTY: What's out next and when?
SUSAN: Scandalous Miranda. Real soon now. Technically it’s a December book, but barnsandnoble.com says it’s shipping in late November. It’s an historical romance. Also, a short story in a DAW fantasy anthology Time After Time is out next month. And Master of Darkness is out February next year.
KITTY: Time to play “Answer the Idiocy” – and yes, I’m sure it’s not just “idiot.” Here goes:
You're a car. What model?
SUSAN: ’71 Dodge Challenger. Oh, the backseat memories…
KITTY: Finally, you're heading.... north or south?
SUSAN: “South, they always go south.” To quote one of my favorite stories.
Connie Brockway, 3:07 PM
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