Interview - Adrian Phoenix

Darque Reviews welcomes Adrian Phoenix…..

Hi Adrian, thanks so much for sharing your time with Darque Reviews, and for giving the readers a chance to get to know you and your work.

AP: Hi Kimberly, thanks for giving me the opportunity to chat with your readers.

A Rush of Wings is your debut novel set to release with Pocket Books on January 8, 2008. Can you tell us a little about it?

AP: You bet! A Rush of Wings is a story of betrayal, shattered beliefs, and blackest secrets as Special Agent Heather Wallace trails a serial-killing sexual sadist to New Orleans. An unexpected twist leads her to Dante, gorgeous, talented – vampire, and the killer's next target. She tumbles into a deadly moonlit world of vampires, fallen angels and hidden experiments in sociopathology.

Caught in a web of deception stretching to the Bureau and beyond, Heather runs a desperate race – against time, against other agents, even against her own deepening feelings – to keep Dante alive, but she can't save him from his own stolen past. Or his destiny.

How did F.B.I. Special Agent Heather Wallace develop into a character for you? How about Dante?

AP: I created both Dante and Heather while gaming (fantasy RPGs), and I became very familiar with them as I played them, and shaped their histories, their families, and their darkest secrets.

Is A Rush of Wings the first book in a series, or is it a single title?

AP: It’s the first in a four-book story arc. Possibly more!

Can you tell us what you’re working on now, and what readers can hope to see in the next year or so?

AP: I’ve finished and turned in the second book, IN THE BLOOD, to my editor at Pocket. It has a release date of January 2009. I’m currently planning/preparing to write books three and four. I’m also working on a four-book dark fantasy story revolving around the poet John Keats and the lamia who saves him from death in Rome at the age of twenty-five. But my main focus at the moment is on Dante and Heather.

Where do you get the inspiration for a story?

AP: Music is a HUGE inspiration – from the music itself, to the lyrics, to individual stanzas, to the sound of the singer’s voice. Nine Inch Nails is my primary source for an emotional soundscape while I write. Others are Muse, Saul Williams, AFI, and movie soundtracks such as The Last Samurai, Batman Begins, Gladiator, Last of the Mohicans, Pirates of the Caribbean – Dead Man’s Chest, in particular – among others.

What is your favorite part of writing? How about the part you dislike most?

AP: My favorite part is when I’m so into the story and the characters that the world around me fades and the words pour from my fingertips and onto the monitor in a white-hot rush and time no longer exists. My least favorite part is probably editing because it takes me out of creative mode, but editing is good. That’s when I get to whittle away the excess and reveal the story’s true shape.

What genre do you enjoy reading? Who are some of your favorite authors?

AP: I love reading so many genres! Fantasy, S/F, paranormal, horror, mystery, historical, you name it, I’ll read it. It’s the characters and the story that matters, not the genre. Some of my favorite authors are Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Caleb Carr, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Barb and JC Hendee, Kris Nelscott, James Ellroy...so many!!

How do you spend your free time?

AP: Hah! Free time! If I’m not writing/revising/editing, then I’m reading or going to movies. I also exercise – hiking, weights, yoga, belly dancing. I started belly dancing classes five years ago and really enjoy it.

What’s the best piece of advice that you can give to the aspiring writers out there?

AP: Write. Write every single day. Persistence and consistency pay off, so carve writing time into your day. I write in the evenings after work and on the weekends. And read like mad. You learn about story, craft, plotting, and characterization with each book you read – you learn what works and what doesn’t. Write. Write. Write. Network with other writers.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with readers before we go?

AP: Follow your dreams. Never give up no matter what anyone tells you. Want it enough to work for it and reach! You’ll make your dreams come true.

Thank you for joining us Adrian. Congratulations and the best of luck with A Rush of Wings! Hope to see more from you soon.

AP: Thanks for having me, Kimberly, and thanks to your readers, too!

Kimberly Swan, Darque Reviews

You can visit Ms. Phoenix at her website, here:
http://adrianphoenix.com/

Her MySpace Blog here:
http://www.myspace.com/adriannikolasphoenix