Hey Everyone!
I'me very honored of having two authors Im such a fan of here this week. Today I have Rob Thurman here answering some of my questions and giving aways 4 books in an awesome giveaway to celebrate the release of the 5th Book in The Cal Leandros Series, Roadkill, coming out March 2nd!
You can check out my review of The Cal Leandros Series HERE!
Besides Cal's series, Rob also writes The Trickster Series and has a standalone novel coming out in June, 2010 called Chimera.
Giveaway details at the bottom, enjoy the interview!
- When did you first start writing?
The easier question may be when in my life didn’t I write… probably from birth to the age of ten, but that’s just a guesstimate.
- Why writing Urban Fantasy?
Because it combines two of my favorite things…monsters and cursing. The two just go together like peanut butter and jelly, don’t they?
Favorites:
- Favorite Paranormal themed movie?
Ghostbusters is one of my all time favorites—an oldy but a hilarious movie. How can you not love a bad guy who sends a giant marshmallow to destroy New York? You’ve never seen ass kicked until you’ve seen a giant marshmallow man do it. The Prophecy is brilliant because who can resist Christopher Walken, even when he’s not demanding more cowbells? Not to mention, Viggo Mortensen almost made me piss my pants—no special effects, yet the most terrifying Satan I’ve ever seen. And The Gift because it not only has a great story, it also stars Keanu Reeves and he can actually *act*, so it must be a film from a parallel universe or he was possessed by the ghost of an actual actor. If that’s not paranormal, I don’t know what is. And Snatch, although it’s not paranormal, it’s where Cal learned to love a Desert Eagle .50, plus Brad Pitt takes a crap behind a car—if that’s not horror movie material, I don’t know what is.
- Favorite Paranormal themed TV show?
In the day, it was Buffy the Vampire Slayer although I liked everyone *except* Buffy on the show. Great fights, excellent snarking, fantastic plots, dark humor. All you vamp series out there, Buffy did it first and in most cases did it better. Now my favorites are probably Being Human, Torchwood (it had a demon once, that counts) and, of course, Supernatural. I find it funny that so many people say my books are so similar to Supernatural, when, in reality, it should be just the reverse. I wrote Nightlife years beforeSupernatural ever aired, but I can’t deny the similarities, especially with the brotherly bonds, the high levels of sarcasm, and Sam’s developing “dark side”—although Cal had his dark side from day one. I guess this just proves that great minds do think alike (and that Supernatural should hire me to do a novelization.)
Favorite Paranormal themed book? I think The Stand by Stephen King is a phenomenal book. It has it all… horror, action, characters you really come to care about (although he killed off my favorite. Bastard!). At its heart i, it’s a very simple good vs evil story, but King managed to make it so much deeper and complex than just that. The Talisman by King and Peter Straub is brilliant as well. A coming of age story with an alternate world, this world (which in some cases can be worse than the alternate one), werewolves, and a plot that grabs you by the throat and won’t let go.
Favorite Author? Well, obviously, Stephen King, but I’ve also always been fond of Roger Zelazny (for, of course, The Chronicles of Amber—old school there. If you haven’t read it, you’re not a true fantasy fan), Robert Crais’s Elvis Cole Detective Novels, Stephen Brust (The Jhereg series), Tanya Huff’s early work (because I haven’t had time to read her later work…deadlines are killing me!) and a thousand others that wouldn’t fit here.
- Favorite one of your books?
Nightlife definitely, because it was the beginning of Cal and Niko. There have been books in the series that followed that were better written as I grew as a writer, but another reason I’ll always like Nightlife best is that I was able to write the book I’d always been looking for—all the best bits you search out in books: the battles, the snarky dialogue, the danger, the dread and relief. I wanted all the holy shit! moments—so I did my best to make Nightlife one big holy shit! moment, the entire thing. Madhouse, if I were subjective, is probably the best so far in the series. It has a villain that will scare the absolute shit out of you.
Chimera, which is due out in June this year, is hands-down my favorite book, next to Nightlife, that I’ve ever written. When I wrote Nightlife, it was originally rejected by every publisher out there. I then decided to try my hand at a Dean Koontz style novel with the feel of his older stuff like Lightning and Watchers. I still wanted to explore the relationship between brothers but with a different twist than what Cal and Niko have. Stefan and Michael haven’t seen each other in ten years and Chimera is about the struggle of the two developing that brotherly bond instead of it already being there—as with Cal and Niko. Also it has genetically engineered monsters, lots of guns, and plenty of sarcasm, who doesn’t love that?
Fortunately, while Chimera was making the rounds, Nightlife did sell. Once I had that series firmly under my belt, and my second series The Trickster Novels published, I decided to have my agent offer up Chimera to Penguin Putnam once more, and this time they took it. It will be coming out in the Sci-Fi section, but I don’t want my regular UF readers to be put off by that categorization. There are no aliens or spaceships, it’s no different really from UF except all the monsters in the book are human…some with a little genetic manipulation thrown in, but still human. It’s not set in the future. Don’t freak. If you like Cal and Niko, Chimera will definitely be right up your alley.
- Favorite of your own characters?
Cal would be the easy answer, but actually it’s probably Robin Goodfellow in the Cal Leandros Novels because his self-assuredness (but with a hidden vulnerability under that ego) and, yes, arrogance are such a great contradiction to Cal, plus he has the best comebacks and one-liners of any of my characters. Zeke is probably my favorite in Trick of the Light and its follow up because, given his background, he has no inhibitions. I mean, wouldn’t it be great to be able to walk into a room and say exactly what you feel or think and not have to filter it? Zeke has such an innocence about him, even when he’s talking shit and beating the crap out of the bad guys, that it’s hard not to love him.
Another of my favorites, who plays a major role in Roadkill, is Catcher. Readers will hopefully remember him and his cousin, Rafferty, from Nightlife. I’ve wanted to bring them back for a while now and Roadkill finally offered me a chance to tell their story. The thing I love about Catcher is that, despite being trapped in wolf form, he’s a very normal guy. It’s kind of ironic that, for being the least human appearing of the characters in the book, he’s the most human at heart. You can’t not love the guy. It’s impossible not to. He’s your best buddy, wing-man, the guy who has your back, and the practical joker all rolled into one. About a quarter to a third of Roadkill is from Catcher’s POV, and I think readers will really be drawn into Catcher and Rafferty’s story that interweaves tightly with Cal and Niko’s story. There are a lot of parallels between these two families and what they will do for the people they love.
- You write the Trickster series, and the Cal Leandros series. Would you describe both for us in your own words?
You know, I really hate this question because it would be like asking someone to sum up their children in a few sentences. But here goes…
The Cal Leandros Novels is about Cal Leandros, who is half Auphe and half human. Auphe are the creatures that were the origin of elf mythology, if elves weren’t the prissy debutantes of high fantasy who happened to be good with bows and arrows, but instead are deranged, hideous and unabashedly murderous monsters that could take down a T-Rex with their claws and razor sharp teeth. In Nightlife, he and his older half-brother Niko are on the run from Cal’s darker side of the family and find themselves in New York City dealing with various other monsters that live unnoticed by most normal humans in the city. The monsters all have a twist from a lot of UF out there… the werewolves they meet early on, the Kin are basically a werewolf mafia, there’s boggles eating muggers in Central Park, and a troll under the bridge (which sounds cute from the fairy tale. Trust me, not cute. One of the more insane and evil monsters I’ve come up with. I think the best description was from a review by Barnes and Noble reviewer Paul Goat Allen that said it was the lovechild of HP Lovecraft and Lenny Bruce. But along the way, the brothers, who have had only each other for most of their lives, slowly let in a few friends… Rob Goodfellow a car salesman puck who will do anything and anyone and Promise, a vampire socialite who’s buried five very wealthy and very happy elderly husbands. From there, the series takes off and they’ve dealt with The Kin, faced down Sawney Beane (a cannibalistic horror from 1400s Scotland) , a jungle god, and the whole time being chased by the Auphe. Over the series, Cal’s had to deal with his Auphe side becoming stronger and struggle to control it. In Roadkill, you’ll get to see him struggle with that even more while they track down an anti-healer who is set on destroying the world with the worst diseases you could imagine.
I’m not sure what to say about Trick of the Light, as I don’t want to ruin it for those who haven’t ever read the book. But I can say that Trixa is a kick ass demon hunter in Las Vegas who runs a bar with Leo, and took in two teen boys, Zeke and Griffin, a telepath and an empath, who were eventually recruited by Eden House when they grew up, an organization that is devoted to serving Heaven by destroying demons here on Earth. The four of them find themselves in a race to find the Light, a relic that could sway the balance of power between Heaven and Hell, and could help Trixa on a more personal level… she could finally find the demon who killed her brother years before. If you haven’t read it, all I can say is the end will knock your socks off. Don’t peek, you’ll ruin the entire book if you do.
- Any plans for more books in both series?
Honestly, that’s up to the readers. I’m contracted to write up to Book 7 for Cal and Book 2 for Trixa (The Grimrose Path September 2010.) Beyond that, it’s up to the publisher to offer to buy more, and that offer is all contingent on my sales numbers. I would love to keep writing them, as I think there are plenty of stories left to tell for both of the series and plenty of ass left to kick. So, if the fans want to keep reading them, then they need to keep buying the books and spreading the word. And I can’t stress enough that they have to *buy* the books. Unfortunately, publishing is a business and they measure your success, not by how many people have read the books and how many times, but how many books sell. So, if someone is borrowing the book from their best friend and love it, then I’m very happy to hear it, but it does me no good on my sales numbers and can actually hurt the chances of another book coming out. I would love to be able to write just for the hell of it and give everyone out there free access to my work, but A) my publisher wouldn’t make money off of me and they would stop printing the books, and B) my dogs would get hungry and eventually eat me.
People think writers have it made, but nine out of ten writers have day jobs to keep them alive, because you earn less than 50 cents a book. Seems impossible, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s all too frigging true. You don’t buy, I can’t afford food, and the publisher drops my ass which equals no more Cal. And Cal likes existing—well, considering what I do to him, most of the time anyway.
Do you have any advice or tip to those like me that want to become a published author someday? Abandon hope all ye who enter here. J Seriously, just as I said above, you have to remember that publishing is a business and it’s all based on selling your books. That means *your* book, your baby that you slaved over and poured your heart and soul into from page one, suddenly becomes *their *book that they want you to change to fit what they believe will be more marketable. That may mean a 12 year old character is aged up to 17 y/o to be a love interest for the main character, even though you had no desire to write romance into the book. Or it may mean that a character disappears from the book completely, or that scene you thought was hilarious is deemed extraneous and doesn’t move the story along so it gets chopped from the book. Bottom line: grow a thick skin and buy a lot of tissue and find a strong shoulder to cry on because chances are you’ll need it. And have a great day job to fall back on…because eating is crucial.
- Anything you would like to say to your fans out there?
Without you I am nothing. And I mean that in all sincerity. When I get a fan letter or email or someone is excited about a release date on my LJ, it makes me all kinds of happy. Cal fans are some of the fiercest most loyal bunch of fans out there and I truly appreciate all the help you give when I rally you for an early release date and to spread the word to the masses. Word of mouth is some of the best publicity I can get and you guys are great for that, so thanks to you all.
That being said, don’t forget to buy Roadkill the week of its release (March 2-6) and drag all your family, friends, and strangers you meet in line at McDonalds to your nearest *bookstore* (online sales don’t count toward rankings for some strange reason) and buy a copy. And if it isn’t out, or it is sold out, find the first employee you see and demand that they find it in the back or order more. For those who do, and send me a photo of the receipt and you giddy with anticipation of sitting down and reading Roadkill, I have a special prize… I’ll send you chapter 1 of Cal six that I am currently writing. All the details are on my LJ here: http://robgoodfella.
The easier question may be when in my life didn’t I write… probably from birth to the age of ten, but that’s just a guesstimate.
- Why writing Urban Fantasy?
Because it combines two of my favorite things…monsters and cursing. The two just go together like peanut butter and jelly, don’t they?
Favorites:
- Favorite Paranormal themed movie?
Ghostbusters is one of my all time favorites—an oldy but a hilarious movie. How can you not love a bad guy who sends a giant marshmallow to destroy New York? You’ve never seen ass kicked until you’ve seen a giant marshmallow man do it. The Prophecy is brilliant because who can resist Christopher Walken, even when he’s not demanding more cowbells? Not to mention, Viggo Mortensen almost made me piss my pants—no special effects, yet the most terrifying Satan I’ve ever seen. And The Gift because it not only has a great story, it also stars Keanu Reeves and he can actually *act*, so it must be a film from a parallel universe or he was possessed by the ghost of an actual actor. If that’s not paranormal, I don’t know what is. And Snatch, although it’s not paranormal, it’s where Cal learned to love a Desert Eagle .50, plus Brad Pitt takes a crap behind a car—if that’s not horror movie material, I don’t know what is.
- Favorite Paranormal themed TV show?
In the day, it was Buffy the Vampire Slayer although I liked everyone *except* Buffy on the show. Great fights, excellent snarking, fantastic plots, dark humor. All you vamp series out there, Buffy did it first and in most cases did it better. Now my favorites are probably Being Human, Torchwood (it had a demon once, that counts) and, of course, Supernatural. I find it funny that so many people say my books are so similar to Supernatural, when, in reality, it should be just the reverse. I wrote Nightlife years beforeSupernatural ever aired, but I can’t deny the similarities, especially with the brotherly bonds, the high levels of sarcasm, and Sam’s developing “dark side”—although Cal had his dark side from day one. I guess this just proves that great minds do think alike (and that Supernatural should hire me to do a novelization.)
Favorite Paranormal themed book? I think The Stand by Stephen King is a phenomenal book. It has it all… horror, action, characters you really come to care about (although he killed off my favorite. Bastard!). At its heart i, it’s a very simple good vs evil story, but King managed to make it so much deeper and complex than just that. The Talisman by King and Peter Straub is brilliant as well. A coming of age story with an alternate world, this world (which in some cases can be worse than the alternate one), werewolves, and a plot that grabs you by the throat and won’t let go.
Favorite Author? Well, obviously, Stephen King, but I’ve also always been fond of Roger Zelazny (for, of course, The Chronicles of Amber—old school there. If you haven’t read it, you’re not a true fantasy fan), Robert Crais’s Elvis Cole Detective Novels, Stephen Brust (The Jhereg series), Tanya Huff’s early work (because I haven’t had time to read her later work…deadlines are killing me!) and a thousand others that wouldn’t fit here.
- Favorite one of your books?
Nightlife definitely, because it was the beginning of Cal and Niko. There have been books in the series that followed that were better written as I grew as a writer, but another reason I’ll always like Nightlife best is that I was able to write the book I’d always been looking for—all the best bits you search out in books: the battles, the snarky dialogue, the danger, the dread and relief. I wanted all the holy shit! moments—so I did my best to make Nightlife one big holy shit! moment, the entire thing. Madhouse, if I were subjective, is probably the best so far in the series. It has a villain that will scare the absolute shit out of you.
Chimera, which is due out in June this year, is hands-down my favorite book, next to Nightlife, that I’ve ever written. When I wrote Nightlife, it was originally rejected by every publisher out there. I then decided to try my hand at a Dean Koontz style novel with the feel of his older stuff like Lightning and Watchers. I still wanted to explore the relationship between brothers but with a different twist than what Cal and Niko have. Stefan and Michael haven’t seen each other in ten years and Chimera is about the struggle of the two developing that brotherly bond instead of it already being there—as with Cal and Niko. Also it has genetically engineered monsters, lots of guns, and plenty of sarcasm, who doesn’t love that?
Fortunately, while Chimera was making the rounds, Nightlife did sell. Once I had that series firmly under my belt, and my second series The Trickster Novels published, I decided to have my agent offer up Chimera to Penguin Putnam once more, and this time they took it. It will be coming out in the Sci-Fi section, but I don’t want my regular UF readers to be put off by that categorization. There are no aliens or spaceships, it’s no different really from UF except all the monsters in the book are human…some with a little genetic manipulation thrown in, but still human. It’s not set in the future. Don’t freak. If you like Cal and Niko, Chimera will definitely be right up your alley.
- Favorite of your own characters?
Cal would be the easy answer, but actually it’s probably Robin Goodfellow in the Cal Leandros Novels because his self-assuredness (but with a hidden vulnerability under that ego) and, yes, arrogance are such a great contradiction to Cal, plus he has the best comebacks and one-liners of any of my characters. Zeke is probably my favorite in Trick of the Light and its follow up because, given his background, he has no inhibitions. I mean, wouldn’t it be great to be able to walk into a room and say exactly what you feel or think and not have to filter it? Zeke has such an innocence about him, even when he’s talking shit and beating the crap out of the bad guys, that it’s hard not to love him.
Another of my favorites, who plays a major role in Roadkill, is Catcher. Readers will hopefully remember him and his cousin, Rafferty, from Nightlife. I’ve wanted to bring them back for a while now and Roadkill finally offered me a chance to tell their story. The thing I love about Catcher is that, despite being trapped in wolf form, he’s a very normal guy. It’s kind of ironic that, for being the least human appearing of the characters in the book, he’s the most human at heart. You can’t not love the guy. It’s impossible not to. He’s your best buddy, wing-man, the guy who has your back, and the practical joker all rolled into one. About a quarter to a third of Roadkill is from Catcher’s POV, and I think readers will really be drawn into Catcher and Rafferty’s story that interweaves tightly with Cal and Niko’s story. There are a lot of parallels between these two families and what they will do for the people they love.
- You write the Trickster series, and the Cal Leandros series. Would you describe both for us in your own words?
You know, I really hate this question because it would be like asking someone to sum up their children in a few sentences. But here goes…
The Cal Leandros Novels is about Cal Leandros, who is half Auphe and half human. Auphe are the creatures that were the origin of elf mythology, if elves weren’t the prissy debutantes of high fantasy who happened to be good with bows and arrows, but instead are deranged, hideous and unabashedly murderous monsters that could take down a T-Rex with their claws and razor sharp teeth. In Nightlife, he and his older half-brother Niko are on the run from Cal’s darker side of the family and find themselves in New York City dealing with various other monsters that live unnoticed by most normal humans in the city. The monsters all have a twist from a lot of UF out there… the werewolves they meet early on, the Kin are basically a werewolf mafia, there’s boggles eating muggers in Central Park, and a troll under the bridge (which sounds cute from the fairy tale. Trust me, not cute. One of the more insane and evil monsters I’ve come up with. I think the best description was from a review by Barnes and Noble reviewer Paul Goat Allen that said it was the lovechild of HP Lovecraft and Lenny Bruce. But along the way, the brothers, who have had only each other for most of their lives, slowly let in a few friends… Rob Goodfellow a car salesman puck who will do anything and anyone and Promise, a vampire socialite who’s buried five very wealthy and very happy elderly husbands. From there, the series takes off and they’ve dealt with The Kin, faced down Sawney Beane (a cannibalistic horror from 1400s Scotland) , a jungle god, and the whole time being chased by the Auphe. Over the series, Cal’s had to deal with his Auphe side becoming stronger and struggle to control it. In Roadkill, you’ll get to see him struggle with that even more while they track down an anti-healer who is set on destroying the world with the worst diseases you could imagine.
I’m not sure what to say about Trick of the Light, as I don’t want to ruin it for those who haven’t ever read the book. But I can say that Trixa is a kick ass demon hunter in Las Vegas who runs a bar with Leo, and took in two teen boys, Zeke and Griffin, a telepath and an empath, who were eventually recruited by Eden House when they grew up, an organization that is devoted to serving Heaven by destroying demons here on Earth. The four of them find themselves in a race to find the Light, a relic that could sway the balance of power between Heaven and Hell, and could help Trixa on a more personal level… she could finally find the demon who killed her brother years before. If you haven’t read it, all I can say is the end will knock your socks off. Don’t peek, you’ll ruin the entire book if you do.
- Any plans for more books in both series?
Honestly, that’s up to the readers. I’m contracted to write up to Book 7 for Cal and Book 2 for Trixa (The Grimrose Path September 2010.) Beyond that, it’s up to the publisher to offer to buy more, and that offer is all contingent on my sales numbers. I would love to keep writing them, as I think there are plenty of stories left to tell for both of the series and plenty of ass left to kick. So, if the fans want to keep reading them, then they need to keep buying the books and spreading the word. And I can’t stress enough that they have to *buy* the books. Unfortunately, publishing is a business and they measure your success, not by how many people have read the books and how many times, but how many books sell. So, if someone is borrowing the book from their best friend and love it, then I’m very happy to hear it, but it does me no good on my sales numbers and can actually hurt the chances of another book coming out. I would love to be able to write just for the hell of it and give everyone out there free access to my work, but A) my publisher wouldn’t make money off of me and they would stop printing the books, and B) my dogs would get hungry and eventually eat me.
People think writers have it made, but nine out of ten writers have day jobs to keep them alive, because you earn less than 50 cents a book. Seems impossible, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s all too frigging true. You don’t buy, I can’t afford food, and the publisher drops my ass which equals no more Cal. And Cal likes existing—well, considering what I do to him, most of the time anyway.
Do you have any advice or tip to those like me that want to become a published author someday? Abandon hope all ye who enter here. J Seriously, just as I said above, you have to remember that publishing is a business and it’s all based on selling your books. That means *your* book, your baby that you slaved over and poured your heart and soul into from page one, suddenly becomes *their *book that they want you to change to fit what they believe will be more marketable. That may mean a 12 year old character is aged up to 17 y/o to be a love interest for the main character, even though you had no desire to write romance into the book. Or it may mean that a character disappears from the book completely, or that scene you thought was hilarious is deemed extraneous and doesn’t move the story along so it gets chopped from the book. Bottom line: grow a thick skin and buy a lot of tissue and find a strong shoulder to cry on because chances are you’ll need it. And have a great day job to fall back on…because eating is crucial.
- Anything you would like to say to your fans out there?
Without you I am nothing. And I mean that in all sincerity. When I get a fan letter or email or someone is excited about a release date on my LJ, it makes me all kinds of happy. Cal fans are some of the fiercest most loyal bunch of fans out there and I truly appreciate all the help you give when I rally you for an early release date and to spread the word to the masses. Word of mouth is some of the best publicity I can get and you guys are great for that, so thanks to you all.
That being said, don’t forget to buy Roadkill the week of its release (March 2-6) and drag all your family, friends, and strangers you meet in line at McDonalds to your nearest *bookstore* (online sales don’t count toward rankings for some strange reason) and buy a copy. And if it isn’t out, or it is sold out, find the first employee you see and demand that they find it in the back or order more. For those who do, and send me a photo of the receipt and you giddy with anticipation of sitting down and reading Roadkill, I have a special prize… I’ll send you chapter 1 of Cal six that I am currently writing. All the details are on my LJ here: http://robgoodfella.
Thanks so much for stopping by Rob! =)
Now on to the Giveaway!
Rob is giving away 2 signed copies of Deathwish, Book #4 in The Cal Leandros Series and 2 signed copies of A Trick of Light, Book #1 in The Trickster Series.
There will be 4 winners and this giveaway is International!
To Enter:
- Comment on This post about anything talked about on interview.
- Leave a way to contact you (if you don't feel comfortable leaving your email, you can send it to me at larissa@larissaslife.com)
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This Giveaway will run until March 11th!
Good Luck!
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Thanks for tuning in and I'll see you soon!
xoxo,
