Countdown to New Year's Bash with Michele Drier!! ~Interview & Giveaway~

Hopefully everyone has had a great Christmas!! Here at PNRP... we are continuing our week long celebration to 2012!!  This is Day 3 of our week long celebration, Make sure you visit the previous day for some great Author Interviews & Giveaways!! Today I have the pleasure of interviewing author Michele Drier!!

Tell us a little about yourself Michele!

Wow, I’m probably one of the original dweebs! In high school I was the only girl in my physics class and I started college as a chemistry major. But pretty much, I was always living some story in my head, so my science career got dumped by Organic Chemistry. I think my biggest problem was that I’m interested in too many things and can’t just settle on one to the exclusion of all others!

For those who have not had the pleasure of reading your book SNAP: The World Unfolds, can you tell us a little about it?

Hmmm, I think Maxie Gwenoch, the protagonist in the SNAP books, would be a good alter-ego. She is a focused, career-driven, high-achiever who gets thrown a curve when she discovers that the jet-set celeb international media company she goes to work for is owned by a vampire family. And then, because she’s SO good at what she does, a rival family of vampires tries to kidnap her. All of this is set against a growing attraction to one of the vampire clan’s leaders. There’s suspense, there’s attraction, there’s Maxie getting used to the incredible luxe life she’s fallen into, with travel and a Hungarian castle thrown in. Oh, and demons!

Did you always know you wanted to be an Author?

I don’t know about “always”, but I’ve toyed with novels since I was a writer at the San Jose Mercury-News, many, many moons ago. I had a couple of fits and starts, but didn’t really sit down to write in earnest until about 6 or 7 years ago.

In your book SNAP is a major company that deals with fashion, tv, celeb gossip etc. but is run by vampires. How did you come up with this concept?

I’m really not sure. I spent some time on the way-far-away fringes of fashion and celebs during my time at daily newspapers, but the only time I came close was giving my daughter a subscription to Elle when she was in college. When someone suggested that I write a vampire novel I was stumped. I don’t like violence and gore, so I read some Sookie Stackhouse and discovered a universe of different vampires. And I guess I kind of put together a couple of ideas that seemed polar opposites to see if they’d work.. It’s kind of like the way I cook...a little of this and a little of that.

What can we expect in book 2, SNAP: New Talent?

Well, I don’t want to give spoilers, but there’ll be more of Maxie, Jean-Louis and the Kandesky vamps, with an added dash of an expansion of the SNAP empire into Central and Eastern Europe—the countries and areas that used to be part of the Soviet sphere. If anybody has money in this day and age, it’s the Russian oligarchs, and this is a realm of money that the SNAP vamps just can’t ignore.

What are 3 words you would use to describe Maxie?

Decisive, gutsy, pragmatic

Any new projects up on the horizon??

Probably more than I can complete. There are a few of the SNAP series planned, I’m toying with the idea of a couple of back-story novellas about the Kandesky vampires, and then there’s the completely different Amy Hobbes series.

I also read that you have a newspaper series called Edited for Death. Can you tell a little about it and how you got it started?

This is the Amy Hobbes stories, and it’s actually the first book I wrote. These are traditional mysteries set at a daily newspaper (write what you know, right?). Amy, and her cops reporter, Clarice, run across an odd murder in every book, but they also handle the stories of regular, run-of-the-mill murders in their small city. And each of the “regular” murders is one that we covered during my stint at dailies.

Who has been your best or favorite character to write and why?

That’s a hard question. My main characters are all career women who are successful. I really like strong women, but I think that every time a woman gets into a relationship, she gives up some of herself to make it work. I think I like Maxie best because her burgeoning relationship is way beyond anything she’s ever experienced...and her new life is what she’d only dreamt about. It’s fun writing what I think Maxie’s reactions would be when the corporate jet picks her up or she’s going to Paris to shop. Let your imaginations run!

A la twitter style.. using only 140 characters, describe SNAP: The World Unfolds!!

Different take on vampires when Maxie Gwenoch helps uber-rich Kandesky vamps corner celeb gossip, and falls for one in the process.

Who is your favorite Paranormal Romance Author? Any specific books or series?

I like Charlaine Harris, not only the Sookie ones but the earlier ones as well. I also like Jim Butcher, though he’s more paranormal thriller (well, he is having an affair with the reporter) and Karen Moning’s Fever series. I started out as a mystery writer, so I’m coming to paranormal romance late.

And because we are hosting this Party for you...What is you favorite drink or food to have at a Party?!?!

Bull’s Blood!

That sounds like something I would try at a Halloween Party!! LOL Thank you so much Michele for taking the time to bring us this interview! Now for the GIVEAWAY!!! One winner will recieve an ebook copy of Michele's novel SNAP: The World Unfolds!! All you have to do is fill out the rafflecopter form below and leave a comment!!! Only 5 Days left of 2011!

SNAP:The World Unfolds can be found at AMAZON, BN, SMASHWORDS

You can find Michele on her WEBSITE, FACEBOOK, & TWITTER

You can find my review for SNAP!! HERE

a Rafflecopter giveaway