Merrick (Vampire Chronicles Series #7) [NOOK Book]

Interviews & Essays

A Fan's Interview with Anne Rice
Question 1: Jeff Korn asks, What areas of classical mythology are you most interested in, and how do you go about incorporating them into a new novel?

Anne Rice: Well, the answer is that I'm fascinated by almost any mythology that I can get my hands on, but I guess Greek and Roman mythology really enchants me. And I don't know that I've consciously incorporated mythology into my novels—I did explore very deeply Egyptian lore when I created the characters of Akasha and Akeel, the eldest of the vampires. But I'm usually working on my own mythology, my own realm of created characters. But again, I'm in love with all sorts of mythology, and obviously stories in mythology inspire my though I may not be conscious of it.

Question 2: David Melinkoff asks, What literary works do you believe most influenced your novels?

Anne Rice: That is a very difficult question to answer, because I read so widely and so much—even for a non-reader. I think the Brontë sisters—Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, two books that I read before I ever wrote Interview with the Vampire—I think they had a terrific influence on me. I recently reread both of those books and I loved them, and I think they continue to have an influence on me. I am in love with Emily Brontë's Heathcliff—I absolutely adore him. But I did a lot of reading when I was in college. I read Virginia Woolf, and Hemingway, and Shakespeare, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories, and I read some very pure horror fiction from England that I really loved—in particular, J. Sheridan LeFanu's Carmilla, a vampire story that was written in the 1870s and is a very wonderfully sensuous vampire story . I think it's influenced many movies. And I also read the stories of Algernon Blackwood, a very distinguished Englishman—I believe before he died he was reading ghost stories on BBC radio. And I also read the stories of M.R. James, a very distinguished English gentleman. And I loved all that fiction—I absolutely loved it. So everything went into the mix. I'm definitely more influenced by European writers than I am by American writers, there's no doubt about that. I lean toward English writers. And for Merrick the novel that's going to be published in October of 2000, I read a lot of Conan Doyle to get the British voice that David needs to tell that story.

Question 3: Steven Wedel asks, Your attitude toward Christianity seemed pretty dim in your early Vampire books, almost as if you were saying God doesn't exist. However, in your more recent books—especially Memnoch the Devil—that view seems to have changed. Has your outlook on religion changed?

Anne Rice: Well the answer to that is I'm always looking, and I'm always asking questions. I mean, if you go all the way back to Interview with the Vampire, which was published in 1976, the vampires are really talking a lot about God and the Devil. Louis's quest—my tragic hero Louis—his quest is to find the oldest vampire in the world, and to find out if that vampire knows anything about God and the Devil. The answer was, of course, rather tragic in Interview with the Vampire, but I go on asking, I go on seeking answers. Now in Memnoch the Devil, which happens by the way to be my favorite of all The Vampire Chronicles, we don't know really whether Memnoch told the truth to Lestat or not—it's left as a mystery, and that's very deliberate. I'm going to keep on asking these questions, I'm going to keep on dealing with the supernatural in a lot of ways, and I can't get very far away from Christianity, I can't get very far away from the angels and the saints. I work them in always, in some way. In Merrick, Merrick's voodoo incorporates Catholic saints and statues of the virgin—it's in my blood, all of this, and there's no pun intended there.

Question 4: Christina Canali asks, After hearing of the time you were transported in a coffin in a horse-drawn carriage across New Orleans, I was wondering what plans, in any, you might have for your own funeral when your time comes. I'm fascinated to know!

Anne Rice: Well, my own funeral! All I know is that I'd like to be laid out in a coffin in my own house, right here where I live. I would like my coffin to be put in the double parlor, and I would like all the flowers that are brought to the funeral to be white. And that's about it. If I could then be transported to the nearby cemetery, Lafayette #1, that would be wonderful—that's the cemetery where all my fictional Mayfairs are buried, but I don't actually own a plot or a grave in Lafayette #1, so I don't know how far that hearse is going to have to carry me. It may be to someplace out in the suburbs—the rest is unknown. Of course I would want the most joyous music at my funeral—I'd love people to sing a hymn called "I Am the Bread of Life", but after that hymn is sung, then it can be Dixieland bands, all the way. And merriment. And lots of wine served, certainly.

Question 5: P. Wayne Hill asks, With all the talent in your famil—-your husband being an artist and poet, your son a published novelis—-is living in your house different from any other American household? Do the three of you ever sit around and share ideas? I would love to be at the dinner table with the three of you and listen to the conversation.

Anne Rice: You know, I don't know if our conversation is all that exciting. We do talk about what we are doing to each other. We do, I don't know—kind of report to each other what we're doing. And at this point of course I am so proud of my son Christopher. I am so proud of his novel A Density of Souls—I thought it was really, absolutely wonderful. If I didn't think it was wonderful I just wouldn't mention it, so I can assure you I'm telling the truth. I was just blown away that he could write something at the age of twenty-one that was so intense and so good. But many times our conversation is just about family matters, just trivial things: where are we going to go out to dinner? What's the food like? When are we going to have a family reunion? What's going on with my mother-in-law? What's happening with our cousins? It can be very mundane, very ordinary.

Question 6: Kathy asks: How does the beautiful artwork for your book covers come about? Are you involved in choosing them?

Anne Rice: Well, it's a pleasure to answer this question. The artwork on the book covers is chosen by my editor Victoria Wilson. Victoria Wilson has been my editor for twenty-five years. She has a knack for coming up with absolutely beautiful artwork. She just has a real intuition where that's concerned. She finds exactly the right thing. I think that the readers of the books very much appreciate the artwork that she chooses. I've loved it. I've been excited about every cover that Victoria has ever created. And I'm very glad that I'm at a publishing house that allows Victoria to have a free hand with that and to choose what she thinks is good.

Question 7: Julie Schronk asks: I've read: Rice fans identify with the Vampires because we feel like outsiders. Do you see yourself as an outsider after all these years of your writing and your fantastic success?

Anne Rice: First of all, thank you for referring to my success as fantastic. Yes, I feel like an outsider, and I always will feel like one. I've always felt that I wasn't a member of any particular group. And I think that writers in particular as they gain success feel like outsiders because writers don't come together in real groups. You can look at the New York Times Bestseller List and you can be pretty sure that the writers on that list don't know each other very well. Maybe two or three know each other, but it isn't like we all go to a party every weekend and we talk about our experience as best selling authors. That doesn't happen. I also think that process by which you become a writer is a pretty lonely one. We don't have a group apprenticeship like a violinist might training for an orchestra, or a ballet student might being in a company that does ballets. We don't have any of that. We write on our own time, we write when we can. There may be writing groups where people meet but its occasional. You really do it all at your own computer or your own typewriter by yourself.

Question 8: Sari Philipps asks: Thank you for all your wonderful stories. Do you personally visit the places you write about, such as Brazil or England or Paris? Or do you just extensively research. I love reading about all the places visited by the Vampires and Witches in your books, every location just seems so alive and I feel like I'm really there too.

Anne Rice: I do visit most of the places that I write about. I have been to Brazil and I have been not only in Rio de Janeiro but also in the Amazon, and I really loved it. I wrote about it with great passion afterward in the book Violin. And I have been to England and to Paris. I love both places. In England I went to Glastonbury and I visited the supposed tomb of King Arthur. I also went to Canterbury because I wanted to see the cathedral there. I went to Stonehenge of course. I wish I had spent more time in England. I really do. I've been to Paris more than once, I'm not sure if it's three times or twice. The Paris that I describe in my books is something of course that I have to envision because it is the Paris of the eighteenth century, but when Lestat goes to Paris now, and he sees things, those are the things that I saw. Some of the places I've written about I have not been. I have not been to India yet, and I hope to go to India, I want very much to do it, and so there's some research involved when I describe those places. In Merrick, for example, I describe the Guatemalan jungle. I haven't been there. But as I've said, I've been to the Amazon and I've been to the rainforest in the middle of the city of Rio, and that prepared me very much I think to write about that Safari in Merrick. By the way, I hope that safari was a lot of fun for readers. It was fun for me.

Question 9:Deborah asks: What is the most difficult novel you have had to write to date?

Anne Rice: The most difficult novel I have had to write in terms of just getting it done was The Vampire Lestat. That's the second one in the Chronicles. It took a year to write. I had a very difficult time with it. Right up to a little over halfway through. Then, when the character of Marius entered the novel, I wrote the last 300 pages in eleven days. So I really felt terrific about that. But that novel was very hard. Now, there's another way of looking at this question. The most painful novel for me to write was probably the novel Violin, which involved a ghost named Stefan and a heroine named Triana. And was about the supernatural and also about music. All of the novels involve some kind of pain and some kind of special difficulty. But I think those were the two most difficult.

Question 10: Mary Arnold asks: The atmosphere and history of wonderful New Orleans imbues your work and setting. It feels so essential to the story of the Mayfair witches. Do you feel any of it could unfold in any other location?

Anne Rice: Well, I am not sure. The Mayfair witches really were born to be in New Orleans. And I do love New Orleans with my whole soul. And I wrote The Witching Hour, Lasher, and Taltos, the three novels in that trilogy right in the house in New Orleans. It's in this house that the Mayfair witches live. This house on Chestnut and First Street is the home of the Mayfair witches, and people know that. And I don't mind people knowing that at all. This house is a character in the novel. The setting of Merrick had to be New Orleans, and I feel that Merrick is a very special New Orleans character.

Question 11: Joey McGee asks, Do you research the "dark" history of New Orleans for your books, and if so, have you thought about writing a historical/non-fiction book about the topic (of voodoo, witchcraft, and so on in New Orleans)?

Anne Rice: I really don't want to write non-fiction. I think that fiction is my vocation. It's my vocation to make narratives and stories and other people can research voodoo and witchcraft and can do it very, very well. For me the novel is the thing. And in Merrick, I was able to get pretty deep into voodoo and I enjoyed that very much. I had to research it and that I enjoyed that research.

Question 12: Becky asks, I've noticed that the characters in your novels often believe in God, but seem to be angry with him. I've heard that this is a reflection of your own attitude. What is your relationship with God, if you believe in him, and what is the background for your feelings? How much of your characters' attitudes toward religion reflects your own? As a corollary to this question: How do you feel about readers trying to use your novels to figure out what you are thinking? Is it possible, as a writer, to have your novels read without you as a person also being "read"?

Anne Rice: I think it's normal for people reading my novels to try to figure out what I think. I'm proud that I've created a body of work that's quite large—maybe twenty books—and I don't mind people trying to figure out what I think. Probably the answer to your question is I don't really know what I think. When I'm writing, I move on instinct, I go for spontaneity—how should I put that—I do what comes spontaneously and when my characters comes alive, they really do take over. And they do ask questions and they do things that surprise me. So maybe I discover my feelings in my novels and maybe I don't. I don't think that I'm particularly interested in God; that doesn't ring true to me. And I don't think my characters are interested, either. I think the vampire Lestat, my alter ego, my wonderful other self, does raise his fist at God and he does a lot of foot stamping. He is a very angry character, in many respects, but I'm not sure I feel this way. I really don't know the answer. I'm in the midst of this complex body of work and I'm too close to it to really see what my attitude is. I certainly can't get away from writing about God, that's obvious. Religious questions come up in everything I write.

Question 13: H. Ash Kent asks, As an author of gothic and mystical novels, how do you feel about people blaming "gothic" culture (i.e. books, movies, music and clothing) for the increase in teen suicide and school shootings?

Anne Rice: Well, first off, I didn't know that people were blaming gothic culture for the increase in teen suicides and school shootings and I hope that there isn't a real connection. I have thousands of young readers who love to dress up in Goth clothes and they love to buy their clothes in antique shops and they love to look beautiful and they love to feel romantic and as far as I know, they have no interest in literal violence. Certainly not violence to themselves and certainly not anything like school shootings. I mean, I think the Goth movement all over America is much more of a…a romantic movement. I mean, many Americans can be so similar and pretty materialistic and can be, in many places, very, very sterile. And I think Goth kids want to capture something…some kind of romance. As I said, the ones that I see are romantics and are not, in any way, literally violent. They're not into anything that would be horrible to themselves or others.

Question 14:Josh Ritter asks, Did you originally intend that Lestat would become the life-force he has become in the Vampire series, or did he do that on his own, as it were?

Anne Rice: Well, you're absolutely right; he did that on his own, he really did. When I wrote Interview with a Vampire, I was focusing on Louis, the tragic Louis, and Louis's dilemma and Lestat took shape really in the corner of my eye. And at the end of the novel, I had to face the fact that Lestat was a vivid and compelling character. Now, I did know at the end of the novel that I would like to tell the story from Lestat's point of view, I thought that would be interesting. But eight years passed before I decided to do a sequel. And I didn't want to focus on Louis, I wanted to focus on Lestat. Why that was, I'm not sure. I felt by that time that I was no longer Louis, I was Lestat. But The Vampire Lestat wasn't just a sequel. I mean, it was great big long story all about Lestat's life that really only encapsulated a small portion where he reiterated the story of Interview with a Vampire. But he definitely took over; he took on very strong life. He began to dominate my work and I loved it. He is the only character that I've really created who really stalks me. I mean, he would not leave me alone. I tried to put him to rest, so to speak, but it doesn't work.

Question 15: Mercedes Lawry asks, Have you ever come upon something in your research that truly frightened you--and if so, what?

Anne Rice: Sometimes I've been reading actual accounts of hauntings: books where people have been interviewed who've seen a ghost or felt a ghost's presence or something strange has happened in their house. Those books sometimes scare me. They actually scare me. If I'm reading late at night, and I come upon something like that, a really gripping and seemingly authentic account, I'll get scared. I don't want to be alone while I'm reading that. But, most of the time in my research, I'm just absolutely delighted to be reading history, whether it's the history of ancient Sumer or Egypt, Italy or the Romans or the Etruscans, or anything. Nothing jumps out at me, or frightens me, in my research, except those questions of real hauntings.

Question 16: John Burch asks, Are there any plans to revisit Mona Mayfair or her daughter, Morrigan, in a future book?

Anne Rice: At this time I don't know if I can revisit Mona Mayfair. I don't know if I can visit Morgan. At one time I did plan to deal with Morgan right away in a book that was going to be called Morgan. But it didn't work, and the more that time passes the more I feel that the Witching Hour Trilogy—The Witching Hour, Lasher, Taltos—that's complete. That's really complete in its own way, and I'm not sure that I want to meddle with that. I'm not sure that I want to open that up again. I may do it though. I kind of know what happens in my head. I know what happened with Morgan, so maybe at some point I will be compelled to go back to it. I also have a great love for the Mayfair Family, and Mona was one of my favorite characters. I would really, really love to be with Mona again. She was spunky, she was intelligent, she was precocious. She was sexually very brave. She was loving, and I thought extremely and inherently interesting. That's what she seemed to me when I was writing about her. She took me over. She won me to her side, and I loved Mona, so maybe I will come back to Mona.

Question 17: David Suttles asks, As a Southerner, I have been pleased to read about some of my personal favorite areas of this region. Is there any place in the South you have not written about that you would like to chronicle in a future novel?

Anne Rice: This question I really appreciate because right now I'm working on a novel that's going to be set more in the state of Mississippi and more in the swamplands. I really want to deal with the southern swamps in a way that I haven't dealt with before. It won't be published, though, this novel, until about 2002. But it will be one of The Vampire Chronicles and Lestat will be in it, but I want to get into the rural south. New Orleans is kind of a dream all unto itself, but I'd like to get into the rural south and what it's like, in particular to live near and around the swamps.

Question 18: Pat Humphrey asks, Do you ever use your dreamlife scenarios for any plots in your novels?
,br> Anne Rice: Actually, I don't. My novels are kind of dreams of their own, and I don't carry over either my dream world or my dreams into my novels. My novels have their own lives. I do have, by the way, a very complex dream world, or at least I did until recently: a dream world full of characters who are engaged in all kinds of interesting activities. That dream world developed in me when I was a very small child and was very active right up until my adult life, until about ten years ago. And then it began to die, and I'm not sure why that is. But occasionally, even now, I find myself slipping into my dream world and following some of my dream characters. But they never escape from my dream world to enter into my novels. It just doesn't happen. As I said, the novels are dreams unto themselves.

Question 19: Ellen Parodi asks, You've written several screenplays adapting your novels to film. Is there any one character you would not want to see portrayed on the screen by a mere mortal? In other words, who do you feel would be impossible to cast?

Anne Rice: I don't think anybody is impossible to cast. I would love to see almost every character I've created portrayed in some way effectively and beautifully on screen. I really would. There is no question about that. I have books right now that I would love to see made into a mini-series, or even long series—twenty-two episodes, or twenty-five episodes. I am so sensitive myself to motion pictures and to television that I couldn't help but delight in seeing that. Right after writing Interview with the Vampire, way back in 1973 or 1974, when I was just finished with the first draft of the manuscript, I wanted to see it on the screen. I started imagining the French actor, Alain Delon playing Lily. Of course, Alain Delon is gone now, and we got Brad Pitt, and Brad Pitt did a wonderful job in the movie of Interview with the Vampire. He really captured Louis's beauty and Louis's misery. That was a thrilling thing for me. I love the movie Interview with the Vampire so much that I actually can't watch it. I've watched it three or four times and it's so wrenching for me, it's so emotional, that I don't think I can do it again. It's too close to what I'd written. They had based that movie on my script, and they were very, very faithful to most of the elements that I really wanted. Neil Jordan, the director, actually went to the book and he put back into the movie things from the book that I hadn't written into the script. I was honored by that, and I appreciated that keenly.

Question 20: JW asks, I've always wanted to know if it is difficult to remember specific events and details of a characters life after a few novels. With so many books it must be extremely annoying to keep track of everything you've revealed so far. Does someone have to check to make sure that what was said in one book meshes with the story in another? Do you keep or check a fact/bio sheet on the characters as you write?

Anne Rice: This question is right on because I am beginning to have real problems recalling what characters have done in novels. There isn't anyone keeping track that I know of, except me, so I go back and I re-read the novels. For example, I've just completed a novel called, Blood and Gold, the story of Marius, and it will be published in 2001. I had to read The Queen of the Damned over again before I could write that novel. I had to go back and check everything that I had written about Marius, and I had to make sure that I go the details exactly right, that I didn't make some very stupid mistake. Because my memory isn't what it used to be, there's no question. I used to have such a good memory that people would be amazed at what I could remember, and it's not what it used to be. My concentration, however, is great, and I wonder sometimes if there isn't a trade-off: that your concentration improves as your memory begins to fail a little. But in answer to your question again, I check everything. I go back, I re-read, I check.

I also had to re-read a lot of The Vampire Armand to prepare for Blood and Gold. That was a very interesting experience for me because a lot of it I didn't remember writing. But I am exceedingly proud of The Vampire Armand. I'm proud of books for different reasons, and with The Vampire Armand I'm not only proud of the story, but I'm proud of the language. I really let my language go to a florid extreme in Armand, and I love that. Merrick is written in a very different style. David Talbot is really an English gentleman and he doesn't write with the same wealth of adjectives that I used in The Vampire Armand.