Author Interview: Lauren Grimley

Published September 27, 2012 | By Theresa

Unforeseen

by Lauren Grimley

Alex was quite sure that “gifted” was a term which delusional parents applied to their strictly average children, that vampires were gorgeous dead guys in her eighth-grade girls’ novels, and “Seers” was a middle schooler’s misspelling of a department store famous for power tools. Teachers, however, don’t know everything, and it’s Alex’s turn to be educated.

Hoping just to clear her mind, Alex Crocker leaves work for a late night run across the small city of Bristol, Massachusetts. Instead she is dragged violently into a feud she never would have known existed. She quickly learns she’s being hunted for possessing a gift she never wanted, one that could kill her or provide her the power she’ll need to protect herself and those she cares for.

Despite her desire to maintain her independence, Alex quickly becomes tied to the Rectinatti vampires through bonds of friendship, loyalty, and most surprisingly, love. These bonds, coupled with the new knowledge that she is in grave danger are enough to make her want to stay, but it’s learning what is really at stake that drives her to fight.

Teaser:

Alex was sure gifted was a term delusional parents applied to their strictly average children, vampires were gorgeous dead guys in her eighth-grade girls’ novels, and Seers was a middle schooler’s misspelling of a department store known for power tools. Teachers, however, don’t know everything–-it’s Alex’s turn to be educated.

Running alone the night before school ends, Alex is violently attacked. She quickly learns she’s sought after for possessing a gift she never wanted, one that could kill her or provide the power she’ll need to protect herself and those she cares for. Hunted for her gift and haunted by her dreams, Alex is driven to fight, even if it means allying herself with those just as deadly as her enemies.

Describe your book in a tweet (140 characters or less).

Pint-sized human, Alex Crocker, tries to fight off a coven of vampires with her emotions while simultaneously managing to fall in love.

I guess it’s obvious I’m still learning to tweet, huh?

What part of the writing process is the easiest/hardest for you?

For Unforeseen, the first draft was definitely the easiest. I was writing for fun without worrying about how it would be perceived and the ideas were flowing so fast that I wrote the entire first draft in about two months. Rewriting and revising it into something publishable was not such an easy and quick task. Nailing the opening scene was and still is the hardest part of writing for me. There’s a lot of pressure knowing that you have about two pages to catch the attention of an agent, publisher, and eventually the reader.

Who is your favorite character (that you’ve written)?

I like to read and create characters with contradictions, so Sage and Rocky are at the top of my list. Sage comes to mind first because I love a fictional bad boy. He’s fun to write and hopefully to read because he’s scathing and surly and loves to give my MC Alex a hard time. His tone is very clear to me, so I can usually write his dialogue and thoughts without any trouble and I love developing his backstory. He gets most of the good one-liners in the series, but also gives Alex some of the best and most honest advice.

That said, I have a soft spot for Rocky. At only twenty-five, he’s the youngest of the male vampires and the closest in age to Alex. His lack of experience and position in the coven mirrors hers, so he quickly becomes a good friend to her at a time when she needs one most. Rocky might look like a menacing thug, but he’s a teddy bear at heart–a teddy bear with fangs, but still sweet.

Is there anything you’re working on now?

Unveiled, the second book in the series is with the publisher, so hopefully I’ll soon be doing the final revisions of that. For now though I’m writing book three and working on a related piece that’ll likely be novella length. It’s a compilation of loosely tied together short stories which each tell a tale of one of the other couples from the series. It stemmed from a scene I hated to cut from book three and is allowing me to explore some backstories that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to work into the books. I’m a backstory junkie, so I’m having a great time writing it.

Of all the little things and simple pleasures in life, which one do you enjoy most of all?

I’m easy to please so long as I’m near the ocean. Give me a stretch of beach and a bit of sun and I’m a happy woman. Of course, I’ve never said no to anything chocolate either.

Is there anything that you believe you still need to accomplish in your career for you – and you alone – to feel truly successful?

I’d love to be able to write full-time. As much as I love teaching, being able to write for a living would make me feel like I was a ‘real’ writer. It’s both a dream and a goal.

If you won the lottery tomorrow, what are the first three things you think you would do or buy?

I’d buy a house near the beach with a room to write overlooking the water, quit my job to write full-time, and hire a house cleaner. Never having to vacuum again would be almost as good as smelling the saltwater while luxuriating in hours of writing time!

If you could change the ending to any book that you have ever read, what book would it be?

The Harry Potter series, not because I wasn’t happy with the ending J. K. Rowling wrote, but because I never wanted it to end. The Harry Potter books were the first fantasy books I ever read and enjoyed. Without them I may never have become a fan of the genre and an author of my own fantasy novel.

If you could bring back any tradition that seems to have faded into the past, what tradition would you bring back?

Arranged marriages. Finding a decent date is harder than finding a publisher for your first novel…Okay, so I’m kidding about the arranged marriages, but not the dating bit!

Fun Stuff:

Coffee or tea? Coffee in the am, tea in the pm
Paper book or ebook? ebook, though I never thought I’d like them
Summer or winter? summer, bring on the beach
Werewolves or vampires? I guess I’d be in trouble if I said werewolf at this point. Let’s stick with vampire.
Morning person or night owl? Morning overall, but night owl as far as my writing goes.
Pantser or plotter? Pantser.
Pepsi or Coke? Coke, diet.
Dogs or cats? Cats. Even my evil one is less scary than a dog.

Favorites:

Drink: red Zin
Food: pizza
Movie: The Goonies
TV show: Once Upon a Time or NCIS
Book: The Harry Potter series, particularly book 5
Late night snack: anything with cheese or chocolate
Writing tools: green gel pens, spiral notebook
Sport: rugby, football, karate – anything with contact
Vacation destination: a warm beach
Music: alternative, preferably with a strong female vocalist
Place to read: in front of a fire
Place to write: any place quiet
Way to relax: sunbathing

Author Bio:

Lauren Grimley lives in central Massachusetts where she grew up, but her heart is on the beaches of Cape Cod where she spends as much of her time as possible. After graduating from Boston University she became a middle school English teacher. She has her seventh graders to thank for starting her on this path; it was they who convinced a rather skeptical new teacher vampire stories were worth reading. She now spends her time writing them when she should be correcting papers. If she finds free time beyond these activities, she’s likely to spend it on a beach with a book and bottle of wine close by.

Links to learn more about Lauren and her projects: website / Blog / Twitter @legrimley / Facebook