Interview with Rachel Vincent

Author of STRAY, ROGUE, PRIDE and PREY, Rachel Vincent tackles a series providing intrigue and a new take on all things paranormal. Forget the vampires and werewolves, say hello to the banshees. As Harlequin Teen’s debut series, Soul Screamers follows Kaylee Cavanaugh and her discovery of not being human, why she sees strange shadows and why she can’t control her throat-tearing urge to scream.

Rachel, welcome, and thanks for giving me some of your time! I love that your books focus on things not the norm, like werecats and banshees. What nudged you to start writing Kaylee’s story?

Hi, and thanks!

Um... I knew I wanted to try YA, and that I didn't wan to write about vampires, werewolves, or witches. So I did some research, looking for an aspect of fantasy that hadn't already been thoroughly explored in urban fantasy, and I settled on bean sidhes because I'd never seen another bean sidhe main character, and there was infinite unexplored potential in the folklore I read.

Kaylee herself came along once I figured out what my interpretation of a bean sidhe's wail would be.

So far, you have three books in the Soul Screamers series. You started with an e-book this summer, releasing through Harlequin online, MY SOUL TO LOSE, and then followed up with MY SOUL TO TAKE in print a month later. The upcoming book, MY SOUL TO SAVE, releases this December. Did you already have the series written (for such a quick turn around time)?

Actually, I'm now contracted for five Soul Screamers novels! My agent sold two more of them in October. ;-) But the first three sold based on just the first manuscript. Fortunately, I write fairly quickly, and the third manuscript has been done for more than a year now. After the new year, I'll be starting the fourth.

How is it working with the new imprint, Harlequin Teen?

It's great, so far! There was a lot of excitement about the new line, and some of the stuff that's happened has been crazy! The cover for My Soul to Take was on the front page of USA Today back in July, and just last week they showed it briefly on 20/20, as part of a story on "real life vampires." Which is hilarous, because my books aren't about vampires, but exposure is exposure, right? And the new imprint certainly seems to be getting attention. ;-)

Can we expect to see MY SOUL TO LOSE in print anytime soon?

Not to my knowledge. MSTLose was intended as a free prequel/teaser, and the only way to make it free is to make it online. But I'm not going to swear it'll never happen. ;-)

You also have book 5 of your Shifters series releasing in March of next year, SHIFT. Following Faythe, a werecat, and her journey to accept who she is and all the trouble that comes with being what she is. The Shifters series is fresh, original, with a character I can easily relate to (well, aside from being a she-cat and all). Tell me, Rachel, how do you manage your time to be so productive with your projects?

I honestly have no idea. ;-) I work all the time. That's all there is to it.

Do you have a “writing routine” or are you flexible and just write whenever?

I'm flexible, in the sense that some days, like today, I have to run errands and handle internet maintenance instead of writing/editing. But those days are very seldom. I typically work from nine in the morning (after breakfast and house cat care) until somewhere between 9pm and midnight, with breaks for lunch, dinner, and laundry/dishes. My husband does most of the cooking, thank goodness. But I work very long hours, and work can include online promo/networking (I'm on Blogger, LJ, My Space, Facebook, Twitter, and my discussion group), editing, writing a rough draft, answering interview questions, writing synopses, working on cover copy, or reading books for potential quotes. If it involves publishing, I consider it work. Fortunately, I like my job. ;-)

Want to know more about Rachel and her projects? Visit her blog here, or check out her website. Pick a series (or both) to begin obsessing over, and get ready for the new releases coming out. Rachel, thanks again for stopping by!