Interview with Angie Fox

I’d like to welcome our guest today, Angie Fox. It’s a pleasure having you come visit us at Much Cheaper Than Therapy, where chocolate is plentiful and advice is free. So grab some chocolate and a lounge chair. Your therapy session has begun.

I understand you have a new release out called The Last of the Demon Slayers. Can you tell us a little bit about your fabulous new book?

Sure. The Last of the Demon Slayers is about Lizzie Brown, a thirty-something single girl who would just like to have one normal date. Instead, she gets a towering inferno with a message: her long-lost dad is a fallen angel in danger of becoming a demon. Not good. Especially since she’s a demon slayer.

The Last of the Demon Slayers is a very interesting title. How did you arrive at that name?

Lizzie is one of the last of her kind. So while she’s riding across the country with her biker witch friends, trying to save her dad, she’s also solving the mystery of who has been murdering all of the demon slayers. She’s got to save the slayer race before she’s the only one left.

What made you decide to write in this genre?

Anything is possible in with paranormal romance. In this book alone, I have a magical speakeasy hidden underneath an abandoned biker bar, a cross-country journey over fairy paths and an unconventional visit to purgatory. As long as the story and the characters are compelling, there are literally no limits to what you can do with paranormals.

What are your favorite paranormal research books or sites, and why?

Luckily, I didn’t have to count on a lot of websites to research this book. Instead, when I needed information for the Harley riding witches, I talked to real bikers – some of whom really are practicing witches.

I tried to research fairy paths, but everything I found was focused on what the entrances are supposed to look like. So I ended up deciding for myself how the paths worked and how the entrances in Lizzie’s world operate (not only in pastoral cow fields, but also behind Las Vegas billboards – who knew, right?). It’s about taking reality and twisting it to make a book unexpected and fun.

Which character did you like writing about the most, and why?

You know what? It has to be Neil, who is this minor character that surprised me. He’s an old hippie who offers to shelter Lizzie and the biker witches when they reach California. Only Neil also happens to be an old flame of Lizzie’s grandmother.

Neil is this great, interesting, admittedly quirky guy. He’s really sweet, which makes it a lot of fun when Lizzie takes an instant dislike to the man. She doesn’t want to think of her grandma having a flirty, romantic past, or that Neil is more than happy to take up where he and Grandma left off. It was so much fun to drive Lizzie crazy with this romantic subplot.

Over-arching drama and intensity are great, but to me, little character interactions like this can really make a book. And they’re such a kick to write.

Tell us about how you develop your characters. Do you create character sheets, do interviews, that sort of thing? How does your research and/or world affect your character development?

I don’t create character sheets. I typically find that what the characters have to tell me on the page is much more interesting than anything I could plan ahead of time. Besides, Grandma likes to stretch the truth, Pirate gets off topic too easily and Ant Eater probably wouldn’t even show up to an interview – just to spite me.

How do you go about building your world if you use one? Do you use maps, charts or drawings?

I don’t use anything official. I just go by what amuses me as a writer. I figure if I’m having a good time exploring a world, my readers will too.

Do you have any authors that inspired you?

Well I skipped class for a week in college in order to read Anne Rice’s entire vampire series back-to-back. My roommates called it, “Lestat Fever.”

I can lose myself completely in Katie MacAlister’s Dark Ones series, Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series, Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse series, Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody series and basically anything by MaryJanice Davidson. When I’m captured by a book like that, it makes me want to turn around try to create that same kind of magic.

What do you feel is the most effective promotion you have done for your book?

I think the best thing I’ve done (and can do, really) is to give my very best to every book I write. That way, readers who like my particular mix of humor and drama will hopefully want to read more.

What do we have to look forward next?

I have a novella coming out in August in the So I Married a Demon Slayer anthology. It takes place in Las Vegas and is the story of Shiloh, a very sweet half-succubus (she really is trying to be evil) who wakes up naked and married to Damien the demon slayer.

I’m also working on a new series for St. Martin’s press, tentatively titled The Monster MASH. It’s about a group of quirky otherworldly surgeons who treat the “monsters” in a supernatural MASH unit.

Thanks, Angie!

To celebrate her book release, Angie is offering a free copy of The Last of the Demon Slayers to one lucky commenter on today's blog. Just take the What’s Your Biker Witch Weapon of Choice? quiz. Post your answer in the comments section and you’re entered to win! http://quiz.angiefox.com/biker-witch-weapon/index.php

(please check the blog Monday night to see if you won. Chances of winning determined by the number of entries.)

Bio:

Angie Fox is the New York Times bestselling author of several books about vampires, werewolves and things that go bump in the night. She claims that researching her stories can be just as much fun as writing them. In the name of fact-finding, Angie has ridden with Harley biker gangs, explored the tunnels underneath Hoover Dam and found an interesting recipe for Mamma Coalpot’s Southern Skunk Surprise (she’s still trying to get her courage up to try it).

Angie earned a Journalism degree from the University of Missouri. She worked in television news and then in advertising before beginning her career as an author.

Visit Angie at www.angiefox.com. You’ll find freebies galore and answers to burning questions, like What is Your Biker Witch name?

Check out author’s website at www.angiefox.com.

Buy at http://www.amazon.com/Last-Demon-Slayers-Angie-Fox/dp/1453888942/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1297037882&sr=8-9