BookWenches

Interviewed by Teagan 

Welcome to Elizabeth Miette. BookWenches recently reviewed Elizabeth’s vampire romance, The Brotherhood: To Slay or to Lay from Ravenous Romance. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I am excited to delve into the mind of the author behind the story.

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When you started writing The Brotherhood: To Slay or to Lay, did you already know how the story would progress, or was it a write as you go?

I had some of the general outline written to refer to, but little side stories and ideas would crop up and I would have to pursue them. The story does not always want to go where we tell it to go. It is a fluid creature, not one that is fond of being directed or bottled up. 
 

The idea of vampires living amongst us is a popular theme right now. You have taken that a step further and created a very unique world. Where or how did you come  up with the premise for that world?

My female lead, Alexandra Russell is the boldest and bravest parts of myself, so part of my world is part of hers. I tried to stay fairly generic with the city, although I did mention Detroit a few times. (I am originally from there.) The world is not so unreal that it could not be your own street or your own town. Alexandra encounters her first vampire in a nightclub, a place where a vampire would fit right in and no one would probably notice at all.

I am sure that you have heard this a million times, that your book is reminiscent of Buffy, how does that make you feel and are you a Buffy fan?

Ironically, I rarely watch television at all, but I did see enough of Buffy (the series) that I would say I liked it. I really liked how she was a student, struggling to finish assignments or maintain grades and then would take off, slay a few vampires and then come back like nothing ever happened. Everything was just so tongue in cheek. I really love that play of real on unreal. Is Alex the grown up version of Buffy, not necessarily, but the comparison is not a bad one. There are worse things that the book and characters could be called, after all!

Have you always wanted to be a writer, or is this something that has come about recently?

I have always wanted to be a writer. I told a story recently about writing a romance novel in my teen years. I was not comfortable with the sexual aspects of life yet, let alone able to write about them, and my male lead was based on the bad guy on my mom’s favorite soap opera. Oh, what a miserable piece of crud that was! But, I worked diligently on that book- sweating in the garage with a clunker typewriter that had a mind of its own and the dog snorting at my feet. 
 

Do you write when you can, or do you set aside a specific time to write?  

I tried to set aside time, specifically to write. I even gave myself a goal of blah many pages. That did not work at all! Writing has to be done when you feel it. I write freelance to earn a living - that I have to force myself to do sometimes, but it is different when you are writing keyword rich articles as opposed to creative writing. There is an entirely different feeling and flow to how the words come to me. Sometimes I can sit down to write and suddenly look up to find it is hours later. I may have typos that need to be corrected ( my poor fingers cannot keep up with my brain sometimes) but, the work is there. It’s like dreaming with my fingers. I don’t know how else to explain it. 
 

Do you garner your inspiration for writing from anywhere in particular?  

I wrote when I was very little, maybe first or second grade. My mom thought I was practically a genius and read my story to everyone! I was hooked. I wanted to write stories for everyone, all of the time. I have set characters in my head most of the time. My Beau is the basis for the Slayer, and I stayed very true to the real him and he knows it. I have a former lover who gets the part of deceptive characters, usually those that might end up dead in some gruesome way. I always tell everyone to be nice, you never know when I will write you into a book and then kill you off! 
 

If you could pen a book with another author, alive or dead, would it be? Why?  

I want to name off so many, but I know that we would not actually be able to write. I don’t know that I would be very good with a collaborative effort. 
 

Could you please tell your fans about any upcoming work that we can look forward to?  

I have sent in my synopsis for the second in the Brotherhood series, which is tentatively titled With This Ring, I Thee Slay. I would love to get that finished up and out. I also have several other story ideas that are in the planning stages. I  will also be submitting a book proposal for a nonfiction book as well. 
 

Please tell us how we can find you on the internet. 

I finally got a website! It is not the greatest thing in the world, but it works. That is http://www.amienogrady.com/  I can also be reached via email: amie@amienogrady.com or anogrady@yahoo.com

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 What a great interview! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us. I want to add that I love the name of your upcoming Brotherhood book! (just my .02)

Good luck in all your endeavors and I can’t wait to read more of your wonderful work.