Rachel and Daniel broke every rule in the Hunter book.
Don’t turn humans into Hunters. Daniel did that when he saved
Rachel from becoming a vampire bride.
Don’t travel beyond your assigned area. Assigned area?
They’ve traveled half-way around the world in search for Vlad, the vampire
boss.
Report all hunting activity to the Hunters’ High Council.
There’s a Hunters’ High Council?
Don’t tell humans about the existence of paranormal beings.
Ooopsy, they kinda let that one slip.
Don’t resist arrest and escape from your death sentence.
Well, about that… If they’re to go down, they’re taking Vlad with them,
especially since he screwed up both their lives.
The Council has a valid reason to want their heads, but
Rachel and Daniel have more pressing matters to worry about. Like the screechy
voices inside Rachel’s head which sing of death and destruction and the creepy
Banshee who predicts the coming of a Hunter – vampire war. A war which Daniel
and Rachel must trigger to save their race from extinction.
And Rachel seriously doubts that a head-on battle between the
vampires and the Hunters will be their ticket out of the death sentence.
Where to buy:
Thanks for visiting us today, Stefanie!
Lovely to be here, Chantel! Nice
place you’ve got J
Haha - thanks, I cleaned up for you and everything!
First off, tell us a little about your book, Hunters. I’ve caught the vampire craze
along with the rest of the world. However, I’m gathering the hunters aren’t
quite human, but also aren’t vampires?
I wrote Hunters to be a fun, fast
read. Before starting it, I worked on an YA series I’m still struggling with,
so I poured all the nonsense I had in me inside this baby. There is silliness
all throughout, but the plot itself is pretty serious stuff. Well, most of the
time.
What I wanted was a book in which
vampires would go back to being the bad guys. When’s the last time you’ve read
and of that? So I’ve made up Hunters.
They’re mostly still human – with the pumping blood, ability to reproduce and
the fact that they die if you shoot them in the head… or any other deadly
place. Fortunately, vampires don’t use modern weapons – but have some vampire
venom in there as well (from mucked up vampire transformation) and it’s this
venom that makes them strong and fast like the vampires, give them some other
super powers vampires don’t have (like a psychic link). Unfortunately, it also
gives them a sensitivity to sunlight and a thirst for blood once a month.
I am totally in love with the whole vampire romance type
stuff going around (think True Blood
with sexy Eric Northman, not Twilight). I understand your characters are a bit
different. Have you ever been in love with or had the hots for one of your
characters? Who and why?
In my world, vampires don’t love –
so there’s no vampire romance. There is however hunter romance. Even if they
have no trouble having relationships with humans, Hunters are weary of it. That
could be because they’re potentially immortal. Who would want to see a loved
one die?
My characters are a mess! Well, at
least they were in the first draft. Ms. Whiny Pants and Mr. Aloof Jerk. Now,
they’re a bit better (at least I hope so). What I did try was to make them
equal. Rachel (the heroine) is kick-ass on her own. Daniel (the hero) is more
kick-ass than her (stronger too), but he doesn’t do the whole overprotective
thing with her. Probably because he knows she’d scream her lungs out at him. So
they’re partners in the true sense of the word. And I love that about them.
Hmm… I can’t say I’ve ever had the
hots for one of my characters, and that’s because, with my paranormal leads, I
kinda know they’re not real. In my YA series, though there are hotties there
(and 5 of them), I always kinda feel they’re out of my league, lol. Yeah, sad I
know.
Do I get moments when I swoon over
the word document? Well, yes, because they have moments of utter brilliance. I
did kinda get a small crush on the hero of my latest project, and UF. He’s so
self-sacrificing and fair, it just broke my heart. He was so much fun to write.
Ms. Whiny Pants and Mr. Aloof Jerk, huh? Well, that’s what
the revision floor is for. They do sound
interesting though! And, yeah, moments of writing brilliance get us all going. I have a feeling humor is a very important aspect of what
you do. Your blog posts crack me up and even your book blurb made me laugh. Is
this something you work hard at or are you one of those lucky people who are
naturally funny?
Wow, that’s a huge compliment.
Thanks. I love to make people laugh! Yes, humor is very important to me,
because I can’t stand things that take themselves too seriously.
I’m a pretty cynical person and love
sarcasm. It sorta comes with the territory, since you can’t really survive in
my country without a sense of humor. You’d go nuts. So I’ve perfected the art
of poking fun at everything, including myself. Well, especially myself.
I won’t lie, I do work at it (there
can be a very thin line between funny and offensive – and I’m one of the awful
people who finds racism and discrimination funny – because I don’t take it
seriously. I think it’s silly that people don’t realize that everyone’s the
same), but most of it is me J
I understand what you mean about everyone being the same so racism and discrimination shouldn’t happen. Unfortunately, some people don’t see the world that way. I’ve seen a lot
of hatred first hand, and some people take that kind of thing too far. At heart, I'm a softy - I wish for world peace! And I'm probably a little too serious J
Ah, world peace. Who wouldn’t want that? I guess it would be easier if people took themselves a little less seriously. ;)
Well, and humor is so subjective. I’m always surprised when I try to write something funny and
a critique partner tells me it actually is - :D I’m not so great at the whole
humor bit.
Everyone’s sense of humor is
different. So I always think you’ll find people there who believe that what you
write is funny. Just like I’m sure there are tons of people out there my humor
is lost on. But that’s life for you.
When did you start writing?
When I was nine or ten. Which is
pretty funny. English is not my first language, so you can only imagine what my
spelling was like. It was so much fun. I had these little notebooks, and I drew
pictures to go along with the story. Of course, I couldn’t draw to save my
life. Still can’t. Wish I could, though.
That’s when I started writing the YA
series I’m still working on.
I think you do better
with your English skills than many American’s I talk to J myself included. I’m
always amazed by people who speak more than one language. I took French for two
years… I can count to ten, but that’s about it.
I took French for seven years - not sure I could count to ten, but I can say, I’m hungry, I need the bathroom and ask where stuff is J Fortunately, I actually understand the language if spoken to. Even if I can’t say almost anything back. I speak Spanish and German waaaay better ;)
Wow! Talk about multi-talented. Three fluent languages? Plus, being able to say "I need the bathroom" is probably a lot more useful than counting - LOL. You're amazing.
So, tell us where the inspiration for your books comes from.
I have no idea. It can be a book, a
dream or a song. I usually imagine a certain situation and wonder if it would
be worth to turn it into a novel. If the answer is yes, and the idea sticks
with me, I go for it. If not, I try to insert it into something I’m already
writing. Sometimes a simple conversation with unaware people could give me an
awesome idea.
What do you love about writing? What do you hate?
I love writing – the characters
especially. I’m not very big on setting and description, but I love plot
resolution, character evolution and dialogue.
I can’t say I really hate something,
but I’m not very fond of editing and querying. Though the editing is imperative
since it actually transforms your story, I wish someone else could do the
querying for me so I could just write.
Ah - Revision Hell! LOL That’s my least favorite part too. I
skipped the querying, going self-pub, but I can imagine what a headache that
process must be.
What’s next for you? More books in the works?
I’m currently working on editing a
huge 100k word Urban Fantasy, and get it ready to query in a month or so (I
hope). It’s called Saving Grace and
it has Angels and Demons is it. But, as usual, not what you’d expect – no human
main characters in there. I like my MCs equal ;) This is my main focus now.
I’m also brainstorming about another
series involving a Dream realm with many creatures in it.
Anything else you’d like to talk about?
If you get me started, I won’t shut
up J
LOL - then I’ll just ask another question. Can you give us
your favorite one-liner from Hunters?
Well, that depends. I haven’t read
the thing in a while (I’ve proofed it so many times, I couldn’t stand reading
it again for a long, long time). There might be some better lines in there, but
I’ve always enjoyed this piece of brilliance.
I told you
this one’s not right in the head. I just show her my killer weapons and all she
wants to do is jump my bones. (Daniel on his
fiancée)
J
Yep, that one’s great! Thanks so much for visiting with us, Stefanie. I
wish you great success in your writing. And I’m really looking forward to
reading Hunters.
Thanks for having me. And I’m very
looking forward to you reading Hunters
as well. Okay, I’ll shut up now. :p
 |
| Stefanie J. Pristavu |
To get in touch with Stefanie, find out what she is doing, or read her hilarious blog, follow her at:
Thanks to everyone who stopped by and visited with Stefanie and I today. Have a great week!
eeeChantelfff
A Message From Co-author, Doug Dillon 
