Today I have the pleasure in introducing you to K.C. Blake, the author of the self published novel, Vampire Rules. Born and raised in California, she began writing when she was twelve.  She is an urban fantasy, YA author who writes about ghosts, vampires, witches, monsters, and more. Please help me welcome, K.C., to my blog.

Description from Goodreads:   They don't call him Jackpot for nothing.

Jack has always beat the odds... at least until now. When he was attacked by a werewolf, vampires saved him. When he got tired of living the vampire life, another werewolf attack freed him, making him human again. Now Jack just wants to live a normal life, but what's normal about a hunter girlfriend, a brother who wants to stake him to be on the safe side, and a head werewolf building an army to rule the world?

Jack gets caught between his old friends and new, hunters and vampires. He wants to stay loyal to both, wants to protect everyone. Unfortunately, both sides are determined to kill the other. In the end, he'll have to make a choice.



Welcome and thank you for stopping by my blog, K.C.. Vampires Rule is a story about a boy named Jack who is a vampire, but would do anything to be human again. He gets his wish but it is an ill opportune time when his enemies are more powerful than ever. Can you tell us what inspired to write this story and how you became a writer? 

A few years ago, I was one of those obsessed with vampire books, couldn't get enough.  Then I started wondering what would happen if one of them got a second chance to live his life as a mortal.  Would his family welcome him back?  How would he deal with life and death situations?  How would he deal without powers?  And so on and so on.
   I've been writing since I was twelve.  I took some creative writing classes, read a lot of books, found and lost an agent, and finally got published with Harlequin.

I know that you had a hard time with Harlequin and ultimately decided to self-publish Vampire Rules. There are many stories of vampires who long to get their humanity back yet at the same time they love their new found abilities, but Jack seems different. What makes Jack want to leave all that behind and simply be a human?

Jack's head is stuck in the past.  No matter how hard he tries, he can't get over the loss of his family.  His vampire friends don't get it.  They embraced their new identities long ago, but Jack is different.  He loved his old life too much to simply walk away.  That's why he returns once a year to check in on his former home and to visit his grave.

  Jack's reasoning makes sense. It must be hard outliving those you love and watching them die. I love a strong female character and a charming loveable villain to hate. Can you tell us about them?

Sure.  Silver is 'the' werewolf hunter.  It's true what they say: only Silver can kill werewolves.  She is a kick-butt girl, strong and opinionated, the perfect match for Jack.  Her dream is to leave hunting behind and go to college, become a lawyer, but she can't do that as long as a single werewolf draws breath.
Jersey is my favorite villain out of all the bad guys I've written over the years.  He's charismatic, smart, dangerous, and walks around with an amused glint in his eyes.  Humans are fun to watch, especially when they have no clue what he really is.  Jersey teaches English at the high school.  It's the perfect job for him, considering he's had over a few thousand years to read.  I also love it that he has a style all his own, wearing black with a hint of color at all times.

You had mentioned on your blog that you had this story for quite some time, but when you finished reading Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight you decided to pick it up again. What drew you to Meyer’s story and did you change your story or characters at all after reading her book?

I don't know what it is about Twilight, but it inspired me to return to Vampires Rule after shelving it for over a year.  The story did change a bit because it was originally going to be straight-up horror Stephen King style.  I have always loved YA, but I didn't consider writing it until I finished reading Twilight.

Even though Twilight does get a lot of flack, I know it has rekindled people's passion to read and write. Who is your favorite vampire, either in books, TV, or movies?

This is a hard question.  I loved Angel and Spike from the Buffy series, but I would have to say that right now my favorite vampire is Damon from Vampire Diaries.  Everyone loves that tortured yet evil guy who strives to be good for the love of a special girl but just can't help backsliding and killing time and time again.
   
I've been a Spike fan since he first appeared in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and I'm definitely Team Damon on Vampire Diaries. Now that we know your favorite vampires, who would you rather be: a vampire, a hunter, or a werewolf? Why?

A hunter.  Unless everyone I know is also immortal, I wouldn't enjoy outliving them.  Plus I don't want fleas, and I hate the taste of blood.

  Ooh, good answer! I'm always curious about what people are reading. What is on your to be read pile?

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare.  I keep meaning to pick me up a copy, but I don't have much time to read these days.
   
I really hope you get around to reading City of Fallen Angels and enjoy it as much as I did.  Do you have any specific requirements for your to write? 


Just peace and quiet.  I enjoy listening to music sometimes while I write, but mostly I like to write when I'm alone.  I do a lot of pacing.  For some reason I have to pace in order to think, so I'll write a little.   Then I'll get up and pace until a good line comes to me.  I'll write and pace and write and you get the picture.

Do you listen to music when you write? If so, do you have a playlist that you can share with us?

I listen to different songs for different books.  Certain songs conjure certain scenes for me.  In fact, just yesterday I was listening to Heart sing All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You, and I could picture the scene in an upcoming book that will be pretty cool. 
   I have a new series starting either later this year or early next.  The first book is called Crushed, and I listened to Lady In Red by Simply Red again and again during the sexy red dress dance scene.
   
I tend to remember specific books and/or specific scenes when I hear a particular song and it doesn't necessarily have to be on the book's playlist. It's very cool that you can picture scenes just by listening to music. Besides writing, what do you like to do? What are your hobbies and interests?

With a full-time job, housework, church activities, and writing I don't have much free time, but I enjoy cooking new recipes, scrap booking, and traveling to new places.

Thank you again, K.C., for taking the time to introducing yourself to my readers and to your writing. I had a great time chatting with you.

Thank you for the great interview.  Vampires Rule is available at Smashwords, Amazon, and will be at other online retailers soon.  I hope you will all visit my blog soon.