Q and A With Marta Acosta - Book Giveaway Too!

Hello there Readers!  Marta Acosta, the author of the Casa Dracula series, and Nancy's Theory of Style, is visiting with us today.  Feel free to ask her a question in the comments, or simply leave her some fan love.  A lucky commenter will winner's choice in winning one of the first 3 books from the Casa Dracula series!  Be sure to check back on September 29, 2010 to see who the winner was!

Hi Marta!  It's always a pleasure to visit with you, thanks so much for joining us today for this Q and A. 

Thanks for having me here!  Darque Reviews is one of the first paranormal/urban fantasy review blogs I discovered, and it’s still required reading for me.

DR:  Saying goodbye to Milagro is tough for us fans who have really grown to love her.  I can only imagine how difficult it is for you.  What will you miss most about Milagro?

I’ll miss her optimism and happy-go-lucky nature.  She may grumble and snark, but she’s generally so cheerful no matter what she’s suffered.  I love that about her.  I’d want to hang out with her and hear her loony ideas.  I want to go hear a band with her and read the crazy horror stories she writes.  Many times when I was writing, I’d have to stop myself and think, “No, that’s how a normal person reacts.  How would Milagro react?”  She finds the good side of things.

DR:  You did an amazing job of answering questions and wrapping things up in Milagro's world.  How did you know it was time to end the Casa Dracula series? 

I wrote the first book, Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, as a stand-alone.   I never expected to write a series, or even to stay in the same genre.  When my editor asked for another, I thought, “How in the heck do I say anything else?”  These additional books have been both a challenge and a treat for me, because I was always discovering more that I wanted to say.  Milagro’s quasi-friend Thomas Cook tells her, “You’re a happy ending sort of girl,” so I wanted to give her a wildly happy ending for this part of her life.

I think the temptation of writers and publishers is to keep going forever with a series and to churn them out so fast that the books rapidly decline in quality.  I didn’t want to do that to Milagro.  I wanted her to go out at her strongest. 

However, if any publisher asked for a few books about Milagro’s adventures with her fabulous husband, I think I could manage that!  You know, a little like Nick and Nora of The Thin Man – parties, danger, clever banter, mayhem. 

DR:  With the Casa Dracula series coming to a close, we're all curious about your future plans.  Can you share what you're working on now, and/or what we might see in the upcoming year?

My next big project is working on my young adult gothic, The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove, with my editor at Tor Books.  This book will come out in 2012.

Next year, one of my stories will be published in The Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance.  I’ve never written romance before, so I hope readers like it.  I was researching romance websites to find out how graphic sex scenes were supposed to be!  I settled on “really sensual, but no clinical details.”

My other big project is a gritty, sordid adult gothic that takes place both in the present and in the 1850s.  I don’t want to give out any more yet, except to say that it’s a very dark tale and one I’ve been wanting to write for years.

DR:  One book that fans can expect to see in print is The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove.  What can you tell us about it?

Thanks for mentioning it!  I love this story of a foster girl who is accepted into the elite Birch Grove Academy for Girls.  Jane is quiet and watchful, but determined to make a better life for herself and she believes she can do that through excelling at school.  She works really hard to achieve a security that most kids take for granted.

Jane is finally able to escape her dangerous neighborhood and miserable foster home for a place that’s not only attractive, but safe.  Or so she thinks.  Even though Jane is stunned by being at a school which offers her so much academically as well as living quarters and spending money, she wonders why she’s been brought there.  She discovers that the headmistress has secrets – but so does Jane.

DR:  Just for fun...What one guilty pleasure do you wish you could give up?  Why?  (a T.V. show, a snack food, a drink, etc)

I have a love-hate-hate relationship with reality shows, like Project Runway, even though I know they’re heavily scripted and edited.  I’d love to turn them off and do something productive, like going through all my filing.  Also, can Michael Kors please wear something besides the same black jacket, black t-shirt and black pants? 

DR:  Is there anything else you'd like to share with us before you go?

Just that I hope that readers will pick up my Casa Dracula series and follow the adventures of smart, sexy, quirky Milagro.  These are romantic comedies, so while you won’t find a brooding alpha male who solves all the problems, you will find a lot of laughs, eccentric characters who will entertain you, and heroine who grows and matures, while still retaining her sense of fun.  The comment I get most from fans is “I want Milagro as my friend,” and I think new readers will feel the same way.

Where to find Marta:

Marta's website:  http://www.martaacosta.com/

Marta's Journal:  http://www.martaacosta.com/journal/

Vampire Wire:    http://www.vampirewire.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for spending some time at Darque Reviews, and thank you to the readers for making Marta feel welcome!

Kimberly, thanks so much for having me here!

Kimberly Swan, Darque Reviews