Interviews
An Interview with Laurell K. Hamilton
The Mother of All Vampire Hunters herself, Laurell K. Hamilton, answered a few questions for Barnes & Noble.com about her wildly successful Anita Blake series and her prolific writing group, the Alternate Historians.
Paul Goat Allen: One of the many things I love about your Anita Blake novels are her sarcastic and irreverent one-liners, spoken and unspoken. They're absolutely priceless! How much fun is it to write these books, and how similar is your sense of humor to Anita's?
Laurell K. Hamilton: It's a lot of fun to write Anita. She gets to say all the things we don't dare, at least silently in her own head. Give me two hours and some paper, and I'm as witty as Anita, on the fly not so much. My sense of humor seems to migrate closer to hers during the writing of a book. It takes about six weeks for the Anita-isms to fade from both my mind and conversation.
PGA: Another noteworthy quality about the Anita Blake novels is the density of plot. Cerulean Sins is no different; there's so much going on simultaneously. How difficult is it to weave plot lines so thick?
LKH: Difficult, sometimes. On the books that are more pure mystery, I just need a plot outline and a mystery outline, or really clue outline. On the books that are more romance- or relationship-involved, I need a plot outline, a mystery outline, a relationship arc outline, and sometimes an overview outline to see how the three interact. It can get quite complex. My outlines are not point by point, but more rambling discussions at first, then the rambling is trimmed down to something closer to a traditional outline, but truly I never do anything very traditional in an outliney sense. But since it works for me, I don't worry about it.
PGA: I can't think of another author or series of books that has so effortlessly crossed genres -- fantasy, horror, mystery, romance, mainstream fiction -- and has such a diverse fan base. Why do you think your Anita Blake novels have become so wildly popular -- with both men and women?
LKH: Search me. I sat down to write what I wanted to read and was lucky enough to find that a lot of other people wanted to read the same thing. I think part of it is the fact that I mix genres. I hear over and over again: I never read horror, but I read you. I never read romance, but I read you. I never read mysteries, but I read you. I never read vampire books, but I read you. So it seems the genre mixing is part of the appeal. Beyond that, the fans, men and women, tell me it's the characters. They love the characters.
PGA: You've acknowledged your writing group, the Alternate Historians (which includes authors Deborah Millitello, Marella Sands, Sharon Shinn, and Mark Sumner, among others) in several novels. How important is the group in your writing process?
LKH: Early on they were essential. My writing group didn't make me a better writer at first; they made me a better editor of my own work. I believe that editing your own words is a skill harder to learn, and harder to keep sharp, then the writing. As a writing group, we have one of the most prolific track records that I'm aware of. Between our little group, we have sold over 40 novels, uncounted short stories (mainly because I've lost count), and no other group that I'm aware of began with nothing sold and has that track record. You will not be able to trace the 40 books using the names listed; some members of the group, not me, have written under various pseudonyms. We all have our different areas of expertise. Between us all, we have degrees in anthropology, biology, computer technology, geology, literature of various kinds, history, and that's just the official degrees that I can bring to mind. We then go out to our areas of hobby, or just things we've picked up, sometimes through research, sometimes not. Genealogy, herbs, ancient medicine, folklore, mythology, fisheries, archaeology, physics, caves, scuba diving, and the list could go on. When one of us has a particular research question, we often find that someone else in the group knows the answer or can recommend a book or article. I've always felt privileged to be a part of the Alternate Historians, and that has not changed.
PGA: Ever dressed up as a vampire (or vampire hunter) for Halloween? What was your most memorable Halloween costume?
LKH: Once, because I already owned a black velvet skirt outfit and didn't have to buy anything. Most memorable Halloween costume? Hmm. Perhaps the year that my entire family did their first theme costumes. My daughter was Tinker Bell, I was Wendy, and my husband was Peter Pan. He wore green tights in an area of the Midwest where that doesn't go over all that well. Brave man. Last year we all did characters from the J. K. Rowling books.
PGA: Can you give your fans a hint as to what the 12th book in the Anita Blake series will be about?
LKH: No hinting. I'm really bad at hinting. I always give too much away. Sorry.
