Sunday, January 20, 2013

FIRST LOVE BLOG HOP Author Scott Prussing: An Interesting Take on Vampires


Scott Prussing, Author
The Blue Fire Saga Series

Author Scott Prussing writes about vampires in new and different ways. As one reviewer says, he has “an interesting take on vampires.” Prussing has published five novels in The Blue Fire Saga series about a college freshman—whose mother was bitten by a one-fanged vampire—and her vampire hunter boyfriend. He has also produced an adults only companion piece to The Blue Fire Saga and a collection of short story “prequels” about the origins of some popular Blue Fire Saga characters.

But there is more to Purssing than his vampires. He has also written mystery/suspense novels, a fantasy/adventure novel, and a teen romance based on the hit songs of Taylor Swift. And—I know you’ll find this even more unbelievable than vampires –he doesn’t own a cell phone.

Don’t miss the excerpt following his interview.

Click the link at the end of this article to check out the FIRST LOVE BLOG HOP and learn about other participating authors and how to win a Kindle and many more prizes.


Q: Why vampires? 

Scott Prussing: I hate to admit it, but here’s the truth. A friend of mine’s husband, who is an avid reader, read my unpublished mystery/suspense novel Unturned Stones and loved it. He knows how hard it is to get anything published and said offhandedly: “Write something with vampires in it. Anything with vampires sells.” I thought: I could do that. So I wrote BREATHLESS.

I decided to make it a “Twilight type” book that was not really like Twilight, if that makes any sense. So I just started thinking about what I could do differently, but still appeal to that huge audience. Instead of making vampires the lead characters, I made them the catalyst for much of the action. I also made them a bit more traditional. I invented supernatural vampire hunters I call volkaanes and created one-fanged vampires, who are crippled versions of the real thing. I gave my heroine some definite strengths and weaknesses, and made sure I had an engrossing storyline with several subplots. I think I succeeded pretty well, because there are now four sequels to BREATHLESS, with plans for a fifth.

Q: How do you help readers believe the world and characters you create?

Scott Prussing: I set my Blue Fire Saga series in a real town in Connecticut that I’m familiar with, but fitting supernatural characters into a real world, modern day setting is not easy. I work hard at trying to make sure everything is logical. The last thing I want is a reader thinking “that doesn’t make sense.”

As for characters, I give each of them definite strengths and weaknesses, to make them seem more real. I also try to give each of them at least one special “thing” that makes them unique and readers can identify with. One example would be my main character Leesa’s limp.

Q: I am really looking forward to reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and the Vampires and Zombies. How important is humor to all of your fiction?

Scott Prussing: Humor is very important. I love finding little “witticisms” or jokes in books I read, so I try to use as much of that as I can in my stories. I like to say that in addition to romance and mystery, my books have lots of warm humor in them.

Q: How do you make us care about your characters? Why do we like your heroes? Why do we hate your villains?

Scott Prussing: Part of the answer to this can be found in one of the above questions – people care about my characters because I try to make them as real as possible. In addition to definite strengths and weaknesses, I try to make each of them different. I also put them in situations that lead the reader to like or hate the character. I remember one reader writing in a review about “a vengeful female vampire I just wanted to drive a stake into!” I think we can safely say that the reader hated that character.

 Q: Why are you a writer?  When did you first know that you wanted to be a writer?

Scott Prussing: I like telling stories and bringing some fun into people’s lives. I also like being my own boss—and being in control of my time and schedule. I don’t know that there was one moment when I knew I wanted to be a writer. I started and stopped doing this several times over the years.

Q: Do you write purely for entertainment? Or do you incorporate messages to your readers?

Scott Prussing: Ninety-nine percent entertainment. Every now and then, a life lesson creeps in.  

Q:  Tell us something about yourself.

Scott Prussing: The following list should provide many insights into me as a person.
1. I have never owned a cell phone (or a lap top computer, for that matter).
2. I eat the same breakfast every day (bran flakes with raisins, non-fat milk).
3. I have never taken anything to the dry cleaners.
4. I’ve driven across the country eight different times, taking four different routes.
5. I LOVE Cheez-its (and cheesecake, too, though the two bear no relation).
6. I walk or ride my bike by the ocean or bay almost every morning.
7. I have never driven through the Drive-Thru lane at a fast food restaurant.
8. I have had only two cups of coffee in my life – both to stay awake when driving. I had to add 4 sugars and 4 creamers to stomach the stuff.
9. I have never taken a writing class. In college, I took only one semester of required freshman English, and I actually avoided any classes where I would have had to write papers, like history, sociology or political science.
10. My all-time favorite books are Lord of the Rings and The Fountainhead, but I don’t really like anything else that Tolkien or Ayn Rand wrote.


Readers can stalk Scott Prussing at:
Facebook: 

Twitter: @BreathlessBook

Author Bio

Scott Prussing was born in New Jersey, but was smart enough to move to beautiful San Diego as soon as he received his Master's degree in psychology from Yale University. In addition to the five Blue Fire Saga books, Scott is the author of BLUE FIRE HEAT, an adults only companion piece to the Blue Fire Saga, and BLUE FIRE BEGINNINGS, a collection of short story “prequels” about the origins of some popular Blue Fire characters. He also wrote the mystery/suspense novels Unturned Stones and Tangled Webs, the fantasy/adventure novel Dreams of the Last Born, and the teen romance Mine: A Love Story, whose plot is based on the hit songs of Taylor Swift.

Besides writing, Scott enjoys riding his bicycle near the beach, going to the movies, reading books of all sorts, hiking, and golf. He remains one of the few people in the United States without a cell phone.



Books in THE BLUE FIRE SAGA Series


BREATHLESS is the first book in The Blue Fire Saga, a modern fantasy romance series in the mold of Twilight and Vampire Diaries, but filled with enough new ideas to excite even the most devoted fans. College freshman Leesa Nyland has been fascinated by vampires since she was three years old. That’s when her mom started acting weird, refusing to go outside during the day and insisting the sunlight hurt her skin because she had been bitten by a one-fanged vampire.


DEATHLESS continues the story begun in BREATHLESS. After surviving the harrowing events chronicled in BREATHLESS, Leesa Nyland hopes she’s done dealing with all things supernatural. All she wants to do now is enjoy college life—and to figure out how to kiss her vampire hunter boyfriend without his magical fire burning her to a crisp. She doesn’t think that’s too much to ask.








Book 3 of The Blue Fire Sage, HELPLESS is filled with the same passion, humor, suspense and supernatural danger as BREATHLESS and DEATHLESS









Book 4 of The Blue Fire Saga, FEARLESS continues the story of college freshman Leesa Nyland and her supernatural vampire hunter boyfriend Rave. Now if she can just stay alive long enough to learn how to control some special powers she never knew she possessed, and if the dead will just stay dead…







Book 5 of The Blue Fire Saga, HEARTLESS continues the story of Leesa and Rave, along with Dominic and Cali and other favorite Blue Fire Saga characters. HEARTLESS also introduces a new kind of supernatural enemy — xenorians.


Excerpt:

          Leesa hadn’t planned to unload on Cali—it just seemed to happen. She held back only about Rave’s being a volkaane, for it was not her place to reveal his secret. She felt better having let it all out, but now that she had finished, she worried how Cali would react. Cali probably thought she was crazy. Leesa shifted her gaze away from Cali’s face and stared instead into the flickering red glass candle jar on the table.
          “Wow,” Cali said, putting down a half-eaten slice of pizza and leaning back against the cushioned booth. “And here I thought I was the strange one in this relationship. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me sooner.”
          Leesa took a bite of her pizza. It was barely warm, but still tasted great—confession worked up an appetite. “I was afraid you’d think I was crazy. ‘My mom was bitten by a one-fanged vampire’ or ‘by the way, I think I met a vampire at the frat party tonight’ isn’t the best way to start off a friendship.”
          Cali laughed. “Are you kidding? I would have been so into that. It’s the coolest story I ever heard.” Her expression turned serious. “Except for the part about your brother. What are you going to do?”
          Leesa was so relieved Cali was taking her story seriously. “I don’t know. I need to talk to Stefan, but I don’t know how to find him.”
          “Kinda like Rave, huh? Vampires probably don’t use cell phones, either.” Cali sipped her soda, then looked back at Leesa. “So this Stefan guy is really a vampire, huh?”
          Leesa nodded. “He all but admitted it. And there’s other stuff that points to it, too.” She couldn’t tell Cali about seeing his fangs without telling her about the fight with Rave she had stopped, which she was most definitely not about to do.
          “And he hasn’t tried to, you know, bite your neck or anything?”
          “Ha! No, he’s always been nice. A bit strange, for sure, but nice.”
          Cali grinned. “Of course he’s a bit strange—he’s a freaking vampire!”



 Purchase Links


DEATHLESS 
     Amazon 

HELPLESS 
     Amazon

FEARLESS 
      Amazon 
     Barnes and Noble   

HEARTLESS
     Amazon

BLUE FIRE HEAT
     Amazon  

BLUE FIRE BEGINNINGS
     Amazon
     Barnes and Noble

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7 comments:

  1. Popped over from the WLC Blog Follow program on the World Literary Cafe! Great to connect! Great to see your postings!

    ReplyDelete
  2. "anything with vampires sell" - hmm! LOL and zombies, it seems. Popped over from the WLC Blog Follow program on the World Literary Cafe - I prefer writing about dogs, though.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Popped over from the WLC Blog Follow program on the World Literary Cafe! Great to connect!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Popped over from the WLC Blog Follow program on the World Literary Cafe! Great to connect!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have to love someone who has never had a cell phone. I found this great blog through the WLC Blog Follows on the World Literary Cafe! Great to connect!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello back from WLC. Looks like that giveaway might work something like what Paul and I envisioned for an author coop. Will have to check it out. As for vampires, not interested unless it's funny or very different from the usual. Or if the characters really pulled me in...

    ReplyDelete
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