About the Author
I love to read. If I had to choose between only ever being able to read or watch tv again as my entertainment, I'd choose reading with only a slight hesitation. The idea for Call of the Vampire came to me from my subscription to A Word a Day. The word that day was "Aurorean" - of or belonging to the dawn - and I thought, "What a lovely name Aurora is for a vampire." But then I thought, "No, Aurora is the name of the girl the vampire loves." Call of the Vampire pretty much wrote itself after that.
My Interview
I got to interview the wonderful and talented Gayla Twist! author of Broom With a View.
Gayla Twist has a unique style of writing that captures your interest right away. She also knows a thing or two about how to spin romance and suspense together, I was so intrigued by her characters and the storyline that I read it in one straight sitting.
Don't miss out on your chance to read this amazing story!
Q: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what made you delve into the world of fiction?
GT: I’ve always loved making up stories, even as a little girl. Before I could write, I would tell my mom my stories and have her type them up for me. (Those early stories mostly revolved around candy.) When I was a teen and in my twenties, I would always be making up stories, but not writing them down. Or at least not completing a story that I’d started. Now I do and it’s a lot more satisfying. lol
Besides my own work, I also do franchise writing and create dialog for video games.
Q: Can you please tell us a little about your book Broom with a View and what inspired you write it?
GT:The comic book creator Ted Naifeh and I were out with some friends at an apple orchard. He was saying he wanted to do a twist on a classic piece of literature and was thinking about Room with a View, but didn’t know what to do with it. I misheard him and thought he’d said Broom with a View. We started joking about it and the story evolved from there. At first we thought we wanted to stick closely to the original tale, but the more we brainstormed, the further away we got until Broom with a View is now only inspired by Room with a View rather than based on it. It has the same heart, but an entirely different body.
We did a solid outline and started co-writing, but then Ted had to focus on some illustrating for a Batman project, so I forged ahead alone. Broom with a View is the result.
Q: Can you tell us about your writing process? Which comes first? The character's story or the idea for the novel?
GT:Broom with a View is really an exception to how I usually write. I usually have an idea and then create a character to function within that idea. Once the character takes on a personality of her (or his) own then I know more about what is going to happen in the story.
Q: Why a book about Witches? Do you or someone you know live the ways of the craft?
GT:I wish I knew someone! What an interesting friend to have. Witches are just cool and fun characters for a story, in my opinion.
LOL...well you do now! I have been a Wiccan for the last 13 years. I have always been interested in all things of the occult but started to delve into it more when I was 22.
Q: Who doesn't love a great Vampire Love Story! What made you decide to throw Witches and Vampires together?
GT:I think we started out with all witches, but then realized we needed more dynamic tension. … Does that sound right? I can’t quite remember ~ But once we thought of it, we went, “Oh! That’s it.”
Q: Did you get outside help for the research for your book from other Witches to help make the book more authentic?
GT:Broom with a View is a very lighthearted story with lots of fun and fanciful magic. We did some very light research, but nothing in depth because the world we created is so fictionalized. It might be fun in the future to do a more reality based story. What a cool excuse to get to do a lot of focused research.
Q: How did you come up with the name Broom With A View?
GT:I misunderstood Ted over waaay too much cider and caramel apples.
Q: As a Witch I know that real spells have rules and certain spells can't be cast, however in the fictional world anything can happen and if you were a Witch from a story what kind of spell would you cast?
GT:I actually wish for magic powers all the time. I’m afraid I’d be a bit of a manners police, though. Don’t clean up after your dog? Motorcycle way too loud? Cutting in line? Rude behavior in general? I’d solve it all with a flick of my wand.
That sounds like fun I would join right in! I too have a prob with these things, I would also want to eliminate all the suffering, sick, and starving children out there.
Q: Which part of this story was your favourite and least favourite to write?
GT:I really enjoyed weaving humor into the story. Because it’s set in late Victorian England, it was fun to write rather dry, low level humor.
I was really intimidated to write the battle scenes and thought Ted would handle those, but he got so ridiculously busy that I decided I’d give them a try. Once I waded into it, I very much enjoyed writing them, but I had to pump myself up first.
Q: What are you working on at the moment / next?
GT:I am completing the third book in The Vanderlind Castle series ~ Fate of the Vampire. I believe it will launch in mid-February.
Ted is nailed to his desk illustrating a new title for Oni Press. (I’m not sure if it’s been announced yet so I don’t want to let the cat out of the bag.)
Q: What kind of tips would you pass on to make the journey easier for other writers?
GT:Be disciplined with yourself. Assign yourself a weekly word count and make it happen. If I don’t hit my words by the weekend, I keep on writing.
Q: Thank you so much for the interview, Gayla. Would you like to tell my readers where they can find you on the web?
GT:Thank you! It’s been fun.
You can find my work here: http://www.amazon.com/Gayla-Twist/e/B00CCMJHOE/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
Blog: http://gaylatwist.blogspot.com/
Twitter: @GaylaTwist
FaceBook: www.facebook.com/GaylaTwist
The Giveaway
To See Our Spotlight & Review with Gayla Twist go HERE
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