Author interview with Susannah Sandlin

Last week I posted reviews for all three books in the “Penton Legacy Series” as part of Susannah Sandlin’s blog tour.  If you missed hearing about these action-packed paranormal romance novels, you can see them and other information including excerpts from the books here.  Today I have an interview for you all with Ms. Sandlin.  As always, it’s fun and worth reading to get to know more about this author.

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INTERVIEW:

*Note- my responses to Susannah’s answers are in italics.

Tell us something dark about yourself.

I come across as pretty laid back in a public setting, but I’m really a seething mass of neuroses with the focus of a pit bull. This seems to shock some people, and I can’t imagine why!

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Having good focus can be really important for an author!

You are on a deserted island and can only choose one beverage to have besides water.  What would it be?

Diet Coke. And you might as well give me the Aspartame-filled poison kind since I probably won’t last long on the island anyway. Heat…mosquitoes…insanity…there are so many ways to go. Wait. I think there’s a book in there somewhere. Maybe a series.

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There are worse places you could be than deserted islands, but I do think stories that are set on islands are fun.  Maybe you could develop that further!

If you had to choose between a bullwhip, cat o’ nine tails, or a crop, which would you pick?

Am I on the giving end or the receiving end, and how angry am I? If I’m on the receiving end, maybe a nice little crop. On the giving end, if I’m playing, I’ll just make a lot of noise with the bullwhip for sound effects. If I’m serious, give me the cat o’nine and move out of my way *raises eyebrow at boss*.

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Go get ’em, girl!

What mythical creature would you be and why?

I’ve been rather fond of the hippogriff since the Harry Potter books introduced me to them. Hooves and wings both…what’s not to like. And fierce!

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Oh, nice choice 🙂

What first inspired you to write your series?

The story idea for Penton came from catching the H1N1 virus before the vaccine became available, which made me think about what might happen if a vaccine for a pandemic changed human blood chemistry and vampires couldn’t feed freely. (Apparently, this is what comes from a feverish state.) I’d also been wanting to write an action-intensive paranormal romance where the external plot held its weight with the romance. Usually one or the other dominates, but I come out of an urban fantasy background so the external story is important to me.

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That is definitely one of the things I liked about your books is the nice blend of action and romance.  Never any dull moments!

How long does it usually take to research/write them?

It depends on the book, and what kind of deadlines I’m working under. Redemption took a lot longer than the later books in the series because I was still feeling my way through the worldbuilding, creating the town of Penton, and developing my initial set of major characters.  Redemption took about a year, start to finish, although I did walk away from it a few times to get perspective. Absolution and Omega were written faster, because they were written to contract and most of the basic worldbuilding had already been done.

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The world-building can certainly be the most tedious part, but you certainly have a unique town and way of life set up for Penton.

Give one unique fact about your series that makes it different from the others in its genre.

The vampires find themselves at the bottom of the food chain instead of at the top. This does not make them happy.

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I’d imagine not!

When do you plan to release the next book in the series?

I plan to release a fourth book, focusing on the character named Cage (who was first introduced in Absolution), in late summer.

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Oooh, I’ll have to grab that one.  I really liked Cage and would love to see him get his own romance!

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Thanks to Susannah for joining me here today for the interview.  I really enjoyed getting to know the author behind the series.  For everyone else, don’t forget to check out the information on her and her books below and in the other post.  If you enjoy PNR, this is one series you don’t want to miss!

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About the Author:

Susannah Sandlin is the author of paranormal romance set in the Deep South, where there are always things that go bump in the night. A journalist by day, Susannah grew up in Alabama reading the gothic novels of Susan Howatch and the horror fantasy of Stephen King. (Um…it is fantasy, right?) The combination of Howatch and King probably explains a lot. Currently a resident of Auburn, Alabama, Susannah has also lived in Illinois, Texas, California, and Louisiana.

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Note- clicking on these covers will take you to their purchase pages on Amazon.

 

~ by Suzie on April 25, 2013.