here on my blog during her tour for her Blood and Light
series.
- Who is Rue Volley, really?
That is a loaded question. I am first and foremost a lover and supporter of all art in all forms. I enjoy quiet evenings as opposed to loud but occasionally I like to go out. I am also a workaholic, suffer from OCD (but quite honestly I sometimes see that as a blessing in disguise). I am driven not only to succeed but to help others do the same. I am a huge supporter of animal rights and gay rights. I believe that everyone should be respected for their opinion but also believe that some confuse opinion with fact. Lol I believe that if you don’t have something nice to say about someone elses work you should probably practice some grace and not try to discourage them from creating. Art is a subjective thing and people have choices, if you chose to read or watch something, it was on you not the creator of it. I am also a musician, I play violin and guitar and I played in a band for 12 years touring the states. Other things that I love to do? Well, I have a photography business and I love to make things, be it clothing or furniture. I guess I am a little bit of everything by trade.
- Where did you get your inspiration from for the Blood and Light series?
Blood & Light came out of the blue on me. I turned 40 and didn’t accept it very well. I have always had a deep love for the vampire genre and I did not set out to write 6 full on novels in the series but as I wrote I found that the books allowed me to share everything in my life from past experiences and even things that I was dealing with as I wrote them. I dumped everything that I felt, including grieving for my biological father (who I lost to a sudden heart attack as I wrote book one). As the story progressed I found that I felt better letting the characters deal with all the past and present demons in my life, so by reading this series you really are invited into my life, all the people who I love dearly and how I feel about everything. It is a conceptual piece of work as the main character “Rue” deals with crazy situations and everything in between and as you read each book you will notice a change in the writing to reflect her as she matures. Each book is a full year in her life. She is the writer and it is as if you live the story with her.
- Do you ever have problems with writers block? If so how do you get through it?
I am blessed not to have suffered from that, but I am driven and commited to writing the story and because it is me and contains a lot of truth I never found it difficult to keep moving forward. I wrote the first 5 books, 350 pages a piece, in 11 months and I know that is not normal by any standard…but neither am I. lol
- Smoke and Mirrors is the second book in the series, how many more books are you planning to add to the series?
I have 5 completed and I am working on book 6 now. I really have no idea how many books will be created in this series, it all depends on where the story takes me.
- While working on a story, do you write directly onto the computer or are there notebooks and plot ideas jotted down in various places?
I write everything on my laptop minus the first two chapters of book one that I wrote in a journal, before I purchased my first laptop back in March of 2010.
- What do you do when you’re not writing/editing or thinking about writing/ editing?
I do a lot of photography, not only shooting for clients but I shoot all the characters in my series and have been for the last year and a half. I designed the covers for the series and the clothing used, so I guess I make a lot of clothes too.
- If you had one piece of advice for all those writers sitting out there procrastinating about making that step to get that first book published, what would it be?
Just do it. Do not be afraid to share your work…regardless of some critics. The truth is you are only here once and why not do everything that makes you happy? My theory is I want to leave this earth exhausted, knowing that I did everything I could to succeed and help others do the same. Make the time, whether it’s in the morning before you go to work, on a lunch break or in the evenings. If you really want it, you will find a way to fit it into your routine.
- Tell us about the Blood and Light series in a paragraph or less.
Blood & Light is about the journey of one girl by the name of Rue Volley. She is a recorder of time, not a writer. These books are written by her and you find out later on in the series how important the books themselves are. The story starts out already in progress and you find out that Rue is dealing with the absence of her Mother (Grace) who has been committed to Rolling River Asylum , after she mysteriously stopped talking to anyone. William (Rue’s Father) has also been absent as he spends all of his time with her Mother hoping for a change in her condition. This leaves Rue with her only sibling “Kai” who is not mature enough to step into the role of parenting. Kai convinces Rue that she should attend a party with him (as she tends to spend more time in the library than with people) and she reluctantly agrees, it is at this party that the first paranormal strangeness occurs and then the story takes a turn and you realize that it is not what you expected it to be. Rue is actually a vampire, as is her family and with this new change in her life comes many crazy adventures and new adventures as well as love and epic battle scenes. This story is based on vampires, but they feed mainly on energy (the Chakra) specifically…so they each have a color that swirls on their skin in different situations and they can also see the colors in the air around them to track each other and food. I also mixed in a lot of alchemy, ghosts, demons and angels and each book adds new elements to the overall story. Anyone who wants to read snippets of the backstory can visit ruevolley.moonfruit.com.
- What is your favourite scene in the series so far? Why that one?
I have many, but I think the scene in the library when vampires start to materialize through the mirrors (as my vampires are able to portal through them) is one of my favourite scenes. There is nothing better than reading that battle scene and visualizing it to me. Just to think of looking up and seeing an entire ceiling of mirrors waving like water and then seeing feet coming through and them dropping one by one with katana’s in hand, all dressed in battle gear really gets me going. lol
Thanks so much for taking the time to be here today.
Enter into the world of 16 year old Rue Volley...who up until one fateful night at a party, thought she was "normal" or as "normal" as she could be. But "normal" does not include being a vampire...a truth about herself that she will soon discover.Rue Volley lives in the quiet little town of Calvary, Minnesota...nestled in the thick woods lining the great lakes. Rue, along with her brother Kai have lived an otherwise calm life up until their Mother was commited into Rolling River Asylum, after she mysteriously stopped speaking to anyone. Rue is convinced by her brother to attend a party on her birthday and after she experiences something that she cannot explain, she and everyone in her world is thrown into madness. Join Rue on this epic journey, 6 books in all, as she struggles with grief, love, humor, old crushes, new found infatuations, hot boys AND vampires, lots and lots of them.
This first book in the series starts you on a journey that you will find hard to ignore and once you start reading you will be hooked...or perhaps bitten.
Book two in the Blood & Light Vampire series takes Rue, our teenage vampire, even deeper into the rabbit hole that has become her life. This book introduces a deeper look into the vampire city of “Valon” that all vampires derive from…taking a darker turn as you are invited into their world and their lack of compassion for the human race, and even in some cases, a total disregard for their own kind. As the story twists and turns you are also introduced to two new vampires, that of a sister/brother team by the names of “Jonah & Lily” who run a travelling carnival, luring unsuspecting humans into their lair, not only to seduce….but to feed upon.
Rue faces many dangers in this addition, not only from her own kind…but this new vampire breed…that of the rogues, who serve no one but themselves and their own desires. Rue also struggles with her want to be “normal” as she comes to terms with the fact that she is indeed a vampire of great importance, and as she navigates her way through this she is also coming to realize that Joshua Barrington has seduced her and perhaps stolen her heart. Please join us as you find yourself sucked deeper into an epic story in the life of one girl, who although she has good intention, may indeed be her own worst enemy. Book two is more graphic in nature…with language, sexual situations and violence. Sure to make you laugh, cry…and realize that sometimes you find yourself standing at the corner of WTF and OMG.
There are six books in the series, currently books 1 and 2 are available for sale at www.vamptasypublishing.co.uk
About Rue Volley:
Rue Volley lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with her two pugs "Momo" & "Oshi" and her fantastic and supportive husband, Von. She attended Catholic Schools her entire life and ended up playing in an alternative rock band at the age of 18. She played music, specifically guitar, violin and handled vocals for the band, up until 2004, then she met her now husband, Von, and moved from Ohio to Indiana and started to work in retail management.
She spent the next 6 years running clothing stores and then she started to write, producing the 6 book vampire series in a little under 11 months. She released the first book, "Blood & Light", on authorhouse in 2010, which is a self publishing company, and within 6 months sold over 2000 copies of the first installment, she was then noticed and picked up by Vamptasy Publishing in the UK and now the entire series will be available through Vamptasy. Rue splits her time between writing and photography now and plans on continuing the series, possibly for 2 more installments. She is also working on a new series, about a teenage witch, and plans to release this series sometime in 2012 through Vamptasy too. Rue is completely dedicated to her art and to her fans...and believes that if you think you can do something, it is as good as done.
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