Women Who Rock Wednesday: Lucienne Diver!

My girlfriend from the Girlfriends Cyber Circuit, Lucienne Diver has a new book out, FANGTASTIC, her latest in the VAMPED series. She most definitely rocks and here is what proves it, she created a music video for the VAMPED series!

Pretty cool, huh? And since she is so awesome, I figured a Women Who Rock Wednesday interview was in order. Let's meet Lucienne, shall we?

Q: Please tell us what your new book is about and what inspired you to write it.

Lucienne: My heroine, Gina Covello would rather be working on her manicure than missions for the Feds’ paranormal unit to which she’s been recruited. That changes when a group of killer kids takes out a family in the sunshine state and disappearances begin to plague the lifestylers who only play at the kind of existence led by my fanged fashionista. She and her crew are sent undercover into the vampire clubs…which turn out to be run by real vampires. While Gina’s BFF Marcy hangs with the steampunk-styled Burgess Brigade which spawned the killer kids, Gina herself is supposed to get in good with the fanged fiends behind the scenes, even to the point of playing double-agent, offering to hand over her powerful boyfriend Bobby. Her playacting threatens to become a bit too real when she discovers things about her spy handlers that make her wonder whether she’s truly on the right side of the battle between Feds and fangs.

I think I was inspired by a real case that happened years ago in Florida, where a teenager who thought he was a vampire (or at least told people as much) led the killing of a former girlfriend’s parents. It was really creepy, and it stuck with me. Luckily, they were caught, and the ringleader became the youngest person on death row.

Q: If there was a soundtrack for your book what are five songs that would be on it and how do they relate the story?

Lucienne: Definitely “No Reflection,” from my Vamped series music video! (You can also view it and download the MP3 for free on my website.)

Raise Your Glass by Pink because it’s a club type song, and part of Fangtastic is set in the vampire club of Tampa, FL (a variation of which actually exists) and partly because we’re all wrong in all the right ways, aren’t we?

Psycho by Puddle of Mudd because the killer kids in Fangtastic resemble these remarks.

Slide by the Goo Goo Dolls because of the video and because this is the way Bobby feels about Gina

Last I’m going to go with a video and song I found on YouTube because they would totally have played this at The Tower. It’s labeled Vampire Kisses Music Video 2: The Coffin Club

Q: Who were some of your inspirations to become a writer or the inspirations that keep you writing? Feel free to include other authors, teachers, parents, or people in other creative fields, whoever is an inspiration to you!

Lucienne: My fifth grade teacher, Mr. Hart, is the one who got me writing. He had us do free writing assignments on a regular basis. He’d assign a topic or opening sentence, and until time was up, our pens were not allowed to stop moving. They were wonderful exercises, and I caught the writing bug right then and there. Other authors inspire me with the greatness or frustrate me because I know I’ll never achieve it, but it all started with Mr. Hart.

Q: Even though music plays in so heavily into my storytelling, I rarely can actually listen to it while I'm writing. Can you? How does music fit into your writing process?

Lucienne: No, I’d find myself listening to the music rather than the voices in my head. Music does play into my writing process, though. I find I can’t really know my hero or heroine until I know what they’d listen to. I think it’s very telling, what music speaks to a person and why.

Q: What is next for you? What are you working on now?

Lucienne: I’ve turned in the fourth novel in the Vamped series, Fangtabulous, which will be out in January 2013. I’m now working on Crazy in the Blood, which is the sequel to Bad Blood, the first novel in my Latter-Day Olympians urban fantasy series in which Tori Karacis, a private investigator, finds out that her family tales are true and that the Greek gods do still walk the earth (Apollo as a film star, Hephaestus as a special effects artist, the enchantress Circe is now a high powered Hollywood agent, etc.). Her family line may even trace back to the myths and legends. Unlike her gorgon ancestress, she can’t quite turn men to stone, but as for stopping them in their tracks….

Q: I have two questions that I always ask my Women Who Rock, the first is a two-parter. What was the first album you bought and the first concert you attended? Be honest, we don't judge, we like to see the roots of our women who rock!

Lucienne: I think the first concert I ever attended might have been the Christian rock artist Michael W. Smith when I was a teenager. Either that or it was Melissa Ethridge opening for Sting. I loved both shows. Also, while Sting was the big draw at the second concert, and I do love him, Melissa Ethridge really hit it out of the park. To this day she’s one of my favorite artists.

Q: Tell us about your biggest rock star moment, perhaps it's a moment of real success in your career, a time when you met someone super cool and had that Wayne's World "I'm not worthy" moment, or just a time where you felt like you got the rock star treatment. I get a huge variety of answers for the questions, so it's pretty much whatever "rock star moment" means to you!

Lucienne: Oh, this one is a no-brainer. It happened at Dragon*Con last year when I checked my voicemail messages as I came off a panel and heard from my boothmates in the dealers’ room that a fan had been waiting for me for forty-five minutes and that I should hurry back. I was so flattered that anyone would wait so long to see me that I did rush back, and my fan was absolutely lovely! (Hi, Chey!)

Today's Contest:

After hearing more about it, I'm guessing you want FANGTASTIC and you are in luck! Lucienne is offering up a a signed copy of it and this contest is open to international entries!

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment. However you can gain additional entries:

+1 for tweeting or posting on facebook about this interview
+1 for tweeting or posting about FANGTASTIC
+5 for blogging about FANGTASTIC

Note your additional entries in your comment as well as giving me an email address or some way to contact you if you win. I will email the winner a week from today.