Interview With... Carmilla Voiez
To all who are reading this,
Join me on this insightful journey as I meet Vamptasy Publishing author, Carmilla Voiez and learn about her horror and erotica series, The Starblood Trilogy.
---
Name: Carmilla Voiez
Age: 41
Living in: Aberdeen
Hi Carmilla, thanks for joining me! So what are three interesting facts about yourself that you'd like to share with the readers?
1. I used to own a Gothic clothing company before becoming a full-time writer - www.dracinabox.com. There are still quite a few photos of me there.
2.My elder daughter is named Lydia, after the character in Beetlejuice.
3. The character Satori is very closely based on my husband who also practised magic.
What made you want to be a writer?
I wanted to be a writer or a foreign correspondent when I was growing up, but I had no talent for languages. life got in the way for a while and I became quite the career woman. after kids, I went back to uni and studied creative writing and all those wonderful and terrifying feelings of sharing myself on a page came flooding back. I was hooked again.
What motivates you to write?
I write because I need to get the characters out of my head. Sometimes being a writer is akin to mental illness. It's more comfortable allowing them to share their stories externally.
Do you have a particular writing process?
I have a process as a back up. I will sit in front of my laptop and type until I get something I want to use, armed of course with a few pints of coffee and a packet of cigarettes. When I need to write a highly emotional scene, I write it by hand in a notebook and transcribe it to Word later. If I am stuck for ideas, I'll take a shower or go for a walk in the woods. Sometimes, though, I am so inspired and the story just gushes out of my fingers. It can happen anytime but most often as I'm drifting off to sleep, so I always keep a notepad beside my bed. Those are the best times, when it feels as though the story is telling itself.
How do you handle the deadly problem that is writer's block?
I find that water and/or movement are the most effective cures for mine. So I either take a shower or go for a walk through the woods near my home. If I'm writing non-fiction, running is the best to work through my ideas.
What is a piece of writing advice that you will always remember?
Neil Gaiman's advice for when life kicks you in the teeth - "Make good art!" My own advice is possibly more down to Earth - keep writing. For me, it really doesn't matter how scrappy a first draft might be. For me, the beauty is in the edit.
What is the most influential book you have ever read and why do you think so?
Stephen King's On Writing is the best guide for authors I have read. Robert Newman's The Fountain at the Centre of the World has a profound affect on my outlook and shopping habits. For my writing style, I would say that books by Clive Barker, Iain Banks and Haruki Murakami were very influential. I also have a penchant for tragic heroines which I blame on Wuthering Heights, Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary and Tender is the Night.
Have you derived inspiration from your home or anywhere you have visited?
Yes. I often write about the city in which I grew up, Bristol. I also write about York and the Cairngorms. I find some places leave a mark on you which never fades. Those are the sort of places I find inspirational.
Your first major publication is Starblood, the first in the Starblood Trilogy. Have you had any publications prior to this?
I had a poem published in a Goth fanzine when I was a teenager. Does that count?
What is the Starblood Trilogy all about? It certainly sounds interesting!
It's about many things, but mainly it's a journey through female rage. the plot is about a group of Goths, one of whom is a pretty powerful magician but due to emotional issues, he fucks up and brings the demon Lilith into his bedroom. The first book is about the magician Satori trying to send Lilith back and his ex-girlfriend Star, who is seduced by the demon with tragic consequences. Books two and three have the same characters but different problems to solve. Psychonaut (book two) has been called "a fairytale of inner wastelands" by one critic. Black Sun (book three) is about dealing with consequences of earlier actions. Basically every mistake Star and Satori make in the first two books come back to kick their asses. The series is horror, but also has explicitly erotic content.
What drove you to write horror and erotica?
I think sex and horror are closely linked in the creative imagination. They are certainly linked (admittedly in rather clichéd ways) in horror cinema. Starblood looks at the beautiful sides of sex, but it does so without pulling any punches.
What attracted you to the Gothic subculture and do you feel as if it has influenced how and what you write?
I've been a Goth since I was 17. If I'm honest I suspect it was because I was a misfit, not conventionally attractive, introverted, and I love horror. I've been part of the scene for many years. I've watched a lot of wonderful bands perform, collected a lot of records and CDs. I have this silly little DJ channel on blip.fm and I designed and sold Goth clothing for a living for many years. Pretty much 24/7 Goffik.
We understand that you're writing the Starblood Trilogy (Starblood recently won an award) and you also have small erotic eBooks. What does the future hold for you as a writer?
Yes, I won HFA's Horror Author of the Year 2013 for my debut novel, Starblood. I have an erotic short story on Kindle and one in an upcoming anthology called Fetish Fairytales, which I believe is due to be published next month some time. I'm finishing the third book in the Starblood Trilogy at the moment. Well, doing the edits, trying to get it as perfect as humanly possible. After that, I have a couple of horror projects which I'll write and submit to Vamptasy and a long-term novel writing project, which when complete, I will try again to procure an agent and hit the big five!
Thank you for such a fantastic interview, Carmilla!
Be sure to check out Starblood on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. You can also find Carmilla here:
https://www.facebook.com/Author.Carmilla.Voiez?fref=ts
http://carmillavoiez.wix.com/carmillavoiez
http://carmilla-voiez.tumblr.com/
Twitter: @CarmillaVoiez
---
Yours, with eternal ink,
Zoe
---
Currently reading: White Lightning by Ann Cleeves
Join me on this insightful journey as I meet Vamptasy Publishing author, Carmilla Voiez and learn about her horror and erotica series, The Starblood Trilogy.
---Name: Carmilla Voiez
Age: 41
Living in: Aberdeen
Hi Carmilla, thanks for joining me! So what are three interesting facts about yourself that you'd like to share with the readers?
1. I used to own a Gothic clothing company before becoming a full-time writer - www.dracinabox.com. There are still quite a few photos of me there.
2.My elder daughter is named Lydia, after the character in Beetlejuice.
3. The character Satori is very closely based on my husband who also practised magic.
What made you want to be a writer?
I wanted to be a writer or a foreign correspondent when I was growing up, but I had no talent for languages. life got in the way for a while and I became quite the career woman. after kids, I went back to uni and studied creative writing and all those wonderful and terrifying feelings of sharing myself on a page came flooding back. I was hooked again.
What motivates you to write?
I write because I need to get the characters out of my head. Sometimes being a writer is akin to mental illness. It's more comfortable allowing them to share their stories externally.
Do you have a particular writing process?
I have a process as a back up. I will sit in front of my laptop and type until I get something I want to use, armed of course with a few pints of coffee and a packet of cigarettes. When I need to write a highly emotional scene, I write it by hand in a notebook and transcribe it to Word later. If I am stuck for ideas, I'll take a shower or go for a walk in the woods. Sometimes, though, I am so inspired and the story just gushes out of my fingers. It can happen anytime but most often as I'm drifting off to sleep, so I always keep a notepad beside my bed. Those are the best times, when it feels as though the story is telling itself.
How do you handle the deadly problem that is writer's block?
I find that water and/or movement are the most effective cures for mine. So I either take a shower or go for a walk through the woods near my home. If I'm writing non-fiction, running is the best to work through my ideas.
What is a piece of writing advice that you will always remember?
Neil Gaiman's advice for when life kicks you in the teeth - "Make good art!" My own advice is possibly more down to Earth - keep writing. For me, it really doesn't matter how scrappy a first draft might be. For me, the beauty is in the edit.
What is the most influential book you have ever read and why do you think so?
Stephen King's On Writing is the best guide for authors I have read. Robert Newman's The Fountain at the Centre of the World has a profound affect on my outlook and shopping habits. For my writing style, I would say that books by Clive Barker, Iain Banks and Haruki Murakami were very influential. I also have a penchant for tragic heroines which I blame on Wuthering Heights, Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary and Tender is the Night.
Have you derived inspiration from your home or anywhere you have visited?
Yes. I often write about the city in which I grew up, Bristol. I also write about York and the Cairngorms. I find some places leave a mark on you which never fades. Those are the sort of places I find inspirational.
Your first major publication is Starblood, the first in the Starblood Trilogy. Have you had any publications prior to this?I had a poem published in a Goth fanzine when I was a teenager. Does that count?
What is the Starblood Trilogy all about? It certainly sounds interesting!
It's about many things, but mainly it's a journey through female rage. the plot is about a group of Goths, one of whom is a pretty powerful magician but due to emotional issues, he fucks up and brings the demon Lilith into his bedroom. The first book is about the magician Satori trying to send Lilith back and his ex-girlfriend Star, who is seduced by the demon with tragic consequences. Books two and three have the same characters but different problems to solve. Psychonaut (book two) has been called "a fairytale of inner wastelands" by one critic. Black Sun (book three) is about dealing with consequences of earlier actions. Basically every mistake Star and Satori make in the first two books come back to kick their asses. The series is horror, but also has explicitly erotic content.
What drove you to write horror and erotica?
I think sex and horror are closely linked in the creative imagination. They are certainly linked (admittedly in rather clichéd ways) in horror cinema. Starblood looks at the beautiful sides of sex, but it does so without pulling any punches.
What attracted you to the Gothic subculture and do you feel as if it has influenced how and what you write?
I've been a Goth since I was 17. If I'm honest I suspect it was because I was a misfit, not conventionally attractive, introverted, and I love horror. I've been part of the scene for many years. I've watched a lot of wonderful bands perform, collected a lot of records and CDs. I have this silly little DJ channel on blip.fm and I designed and sold Goth clothing for a living for many years. Pretty much 24/7 Goffik.
We understand that you're writing the Starblood Trilogy (Starblood recently won an award) and you also have small erotic eBooks. What does the future hold for you as a writer?
Yes, I won HFA's Horror Author of the Year 2013 for my debut novel, Starblood. I have an erotic short story on Kindle and one in an upcoming anthology called Fetish Fairytales, which I believe is due to be published next month some time. I'm finishing the third book in the Starblood Trilogy at the moment. Well, doing the edits, trying to get it as perfect as humanly possible. After that, I have a couple of horror projects which I'll write and submit to Vamptasy and a long-term novel writing project, which when complete, I will try again to procure an agent and hit the big five!Thank you for such a fantastic interview, Carmilla!
Be sure to check out Starblood on Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com. You can also find Carmilla here:
https://www.facebook.com/Author.Carmilla.Voiez?fref=ts
http://carmillavoiez.wix.com/carmillavoiez
http://carmilla-voiez.tumblr.com/
Twitter: @CarmillaVoiez
---
Yours, with eternal ink,
Zoe
---
Currently reading: White Lightning by Ann Cleeves
No comments have been added yet.
