GUEST INTERVIEW WITH JODIE PIERCE!

So today, I'm with Jodie Pierce, a supernatural/paranormal author who I've been lucky enough to meet via WLC! Otherwise known as World Literary Cafe! 
Today, she's going to chat about her latest book...
Hey, Jodie! What's your latest book about?
In this police paranormal thriller, people start turning up dead all over town completely drained of blood. Are the murders random or whom/what is the common link? Does a vampire have civil rights in a human court of law? When the lead Detective is placed under surveillance, how close will she get to the new man and how much does she really know about him? How much does she even know about her own life? The two work together to bring down the murderer, uncover her past and maybe even make a future together for themselves. What twists, turns and surprises will they find along their way?

What inspired you to write Crime Bites and So Do I? 
I've always been fascinated with vampires and it came to me in a dream to write a police/paranormal/thriller. I did some police research and loved it. Then, in an FB group, someone posted a question: What would it be like to put a paranormal creature on trial in our justice system? This lead me to think and think about it so I included it into my story and then added some twists. Hubby also came up with some of the ideas in the book too...he's my muse AND my Prince Charming!
Where does your inspiration come from? 
Most times, I dream up stories or hubby comes up with a general concept and I just start writing the story and it develops from there.
Do you fall in love with your characters? Or do you rage at them and argue? 
All of the above. Most of my characters have personal traits or traits from those I know and love so I absolutely love them all...some more than others. While writing, I often feel a dialogue between them and myself in my head which sometimes causes arguments. I sometimes feel psycho while writing...LOL!
Do you find that social networking and marketing your books gets in the way of your writing and the creative process in general? Absolutely! When I got my first book traditionally published, they failed to tell me that I had to do all my own PR and marketing. Needless to say, I learned quickly how to do that along with a great deal of help from so many other great Authors. Consequently, I have a blog dedicated to Authors to help them get their books out there and host tours for several book tour companies. I used to volunteer for a review company and just kept finding that I spent all my time reading instead of promoting or doing my own writing and had to stop...reluctantly. I still do a lot of reading but now I can do it on my own time frame. I help out a lot of Authors and this often keeps me from writing. Fortunately, in the past 10 years I've written so many short stories that I can take them, expand, edit and still manage to publish my own works. After I was traditionally published and made so little money for all the work I did, I started self-publishing which just in the first year I made more money. I've also started my own small publishing company where I can help other Authors but that also takes a lot of my time. I co-manage an FB writer's group in which we publish 2 books a year where all proceeds go to charity as voted on by the members. I'm responsible for all the editing, publishing, promoting, etc for those as well so I'm pretty busy. The down side is, my health is not always very good and I never know how I'm going to feel from day to day so that adds a challenge for myself. However, I enjoy it all, wouldn't change a thing and if I don't have several projects going on at once I feel lost.
Why do you write? 
I've always had just a creative imagination. I was an only child and always had to amuse myself. I was always making up stories for my dolls and then when I got to high school, I had a fantastic English teacher who encouraged me to write short stories and she'd help me after school. So I did. It was the typical teenage romance garbage and they will never see the light of day...LOL! However, during my freshman year in college, I started reading Anne Rice and Christine Feehan books and decided to turn my stories from the romance garbage to the precious vampires that I had loved since I was a child. This started my writing career. I've found, that if I go so long without writing, I get depressed, crabby and just off balance so it's almost a NEED to write for me...plus I love it :) And the genres you're renowned for, why those in particular? 
Like I said, I've always had a fascination with vampires. I remember as a child, hot summer nights, I'd sleep with little clothes but always wrapped my sheet around my neck so the vampires couldn't get me. After reading Anne Rice, I realized I should take my love for them and put it to good use. The stories became more and more easy to write. Then I read a Christine Feehan book and realized I could still write about vampires and the sexual fantasies I'd never been able to speak about in my house. You didn't talk about sex in my house. I came home in 3rd grade and asked my mom what 69 was. After her embarrassment and horror, she just drew me a picture in red ink and left the rest for me to figure out for myself. Later in life, I learned my parents hadn't had sex since I'd been born. So as you can see, I didn't know much about sex except what I learned in school so writing about it was just another way for me to explore a world I knew so little about. Once I started, I really liked it and even learned I was bi-sexual. I had a girlfriend for awhile (between marriages) and learned a lot from her. She was the inspiration for my book, Once Sanguist, Twice Bi, a paranormal/lesbian erotic story. She and I haven't spoken since 2009 so she doesn't even know and I didn't dedicate it to her by name so...Oh well.
Thanks for stopping by, Jodie and thanks for your honesty!! It's truly appreciated!To buy Crime Bites and So Do I... here are the links! 

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