• …
  • About
  • Vampire Month Alumni
  • World Book Night

Lurking Musings

~ Musings of a newly published writer

Lurking Musings

Tag Archives: Blood Ties

[Vampire Month] Angela Lockwood interview

03 Thursday Mar 2016

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings, Vampire Month

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Aidan Turner, Angela Lockwood, Blood Ties, Cameron Blair, Côte d’Azur, Interviews, Language in the Blood, Netherlands, PG Wodehouse, South of France, Vampire Cat, Vampires


YesterdayYesterday you were introduced to Angela and her books. Here we get a deeper insight into her as we subject her to the gruelling Vampire Month interview…vampire cat

1) What is the earliest memory you have of writing? What did you write about?

Unfortunately, my earliest memories of writing weren’t good ones. I remember getting very excited about writing a short story in primary school and then getting it back covered in red pen corrections. I was eventually diagnosed with mild dyslexia. It took me a long time to start writing again, but with my husband’s encouragement, a computer that spellchecks and a great editor, I’m once again enjoying writing. I’m still a little bitter about the lack of encouragement by my teachers who must have spotted that I enjoyed reading and writing.

2) When did you decide to become a professional writer? Why did you take this step?

I’m not a professional writer. I would like to be, but at the moment I have to work to pay the bills.

3) What would you consider to be your greatest strength as a writer? What about your greatest weakness? How do you overcome this weakness?

I think I’m a strong story teller with a dark sense of humour. I can see the ridiculousness in all situations and I don’t take life or myself too seriously. I think that not taking myself seriously is also my greatest weakness. I feel uncomfortable about self-promotion. Taking part in Vampire Month is a nice bit of therapy; I’m here promoting my books! I’ve had some great reviews so I know my books are worth reading, so expect to see more of me.

4) Tell us about the place where you live. Have you ever derived any inspiration from your home or from anywhere you have visited?

I’m very lucky to live in the south of France, but unlike a lot of ex-pats I’m not of retirement age. Work is seasonal and in the winter of 2013 I found myself unemployed and very frustrated by an unusually wet January. To stop me from climbing the walls, my husband suggested I write him a horror story. The tale got rather out of hand and grew into a two-book series – Language in the Blood. It’s a comedy about a young Scotsman, Cameron Blair, who goes off to fight in the First World War. Lying wounded on the battlefield, he is discovered by a vampire… with inevitable consequences. The story follows Cameron as he comes to terms with his new ‘life’, from his first days as a hapless vampire in war-torn France to the glamorous modern day setting of the Côte d’Azur. Along the way, he develops a distinctive taste for the finer things in life: jewels, yachts, small dogs and champagne-infused human. I’m Dutch, but lived most of my adult live in Scotland. These places and my current abode are huge inspirations.Slide2

5) Which book, if any, would you consider to be your greatest influence and inspiration? 

It wasn’t a particular book, but I’m a big admirer of PG Wodehouse and his irreverent humour. I hope I created in Cameron Blair a vampire that in some small way captures some of his British wit and eccentricity.

6) What drove you to write about Vampires?

It all started with a friend telling me about the theft of a mirror from the lift in her building. My first thoughts were: it’s obviously a vampire setting a trap for his victim; he removes the mirror to avoid early detection. I used it as the scene that forms the turning point in the first book. Also my husband wanted me to write a zombie story, but we all know that vampires are way more interesting.

 

7) What do you think is the attraction for Vampire fiction? Why is it such a popular topic?

For a writer, it is a great genre as it gives you an enormous freedom to take the character anywhere you want. Readers enjoy being taken to a different world which can be dangerous, sexy, frightening or in my case amusing. The genre takes us away from our everyday lives and personalities. I think vampires appeal to our darker side.

 

8) In a fight between all the greatest Vampires of fiction, who do you think would come out on top?

I think Dracula. Bram Stoker’s masterpiece has been reworked so often for good reasons. Dracula is the daddy of them all.

 

9) What about in some other contest such as sexiness or dress sense? Who would win that one?

If I say anything other than Cameron here, he will come and bite me. He prides himself on his dress sense and sexual attractiveness. But I must say I’ve had a bit of a soft spot for Aidan Turner who played the vampire in Being Human.Slide1

 

10) How well do you think one of your characters would fare against the winner(s) of the above?

Again I have to declare Cameron the winner otherwise I’ll be in trouble. He and Aidan do share their dark, Celtic good looks.

 

11) Tell us the basic premise behind your latest novel.

Not about a vampire I’m afraid. My cat, Clicquot, is my main inspiration at the moment, but to be honest he is as much a hindrance as a muse. Despite his best efforts, I’m putting the final touches to my third book, a romantic novel for cat lovers called Conversations with Tom.

You can learn more about Angela on the links below. Next up is her guest post…

Blog: http://languageintheblood.blogspot.fr/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CruftsloverAkaCameronBlair/?ref=hl

Twitter: @LitBCameronB

Webpage: http://www.cruftslover.adzl.com/

[Vampire Month] Angela Lockwood

02 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings, Vampire Month

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Angela Lockwood, Blood Ties, Edinburgh, First World War, Netherlands, Vampire, Vampire Cat


Meet Angela Lockwood, our first Vampire month victim for this year. She will be interviewed in the next post and will provide a guest post later in the week.

Here you can find details of all Angela’s publications and her bio and other links.

Slide1Language in the Blood 

Until the outbreak of the First World War, young Cameron Blair would have liked nothing better than to stay in Edinburgh and marry his childhood sweetheart. As the call to arms goes out, Cameron and his pals sign up to fight for their country. They are soon delivered into the nightmare of war, and there Cameron more than meets his maker. The story follows Cameron as he comes to terms with his new ‘life’, from his first days as a hapless vampire in war-torn France to the glamorous modern day setting of the Côte d’Azur. Along the way, he develops a distinctive taste for the finer things in life: jewels, yachts, small dogs and champagne-infused human…

 

Language in the Blood is FREE via the following sites:

 

Amazon worldwide: myBook.to/LanguageintheBlood

 

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/583826

 

Nook books: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/language-in-the-blood-angela-lockwood/1122788669?ean=2940152402995

 

Ibooks: https://itunes.apple.com/fr/book/language-in-the-blood/id1048212406?l=en&mt=11

 

Blood Ties (Language in the Blood book 2)

After meeting his maker on the battlefields of the First World War, Cameron Blair has spent almost Slide2a century coming to terms with his new vampire identity. Along with a taste for human blood and lapdogs, he has acquired the linguistic skills of his victims and learned to survive in the shady underbellies of Europe’s great cities. The end of Language in the Blood sees Cameron facing a dilemma when blame for one of his kills gets laid at his best friend George’s feet. Cameron discovers a deeply buried vestige of humanity and surrenders to the French authorities – a decision he soon regrets as it becomes clear they don’t have quite the same heroic role for a vampire agent in mind that his own vivid imagination does. Locked up, his needs denied, misunderstood and plagued by an unhealthy obsession with his friend’s daughter, the bored vampire edges close to insanity. Before long, Cameron starts plotting his escape.

 

Amazon worldwide: http://www.hyperurl.co/u6nkfg

 

The best thing about writing is connecting with other writers who have taken the independent publishing route. Their advice and the shared experiences have been invaluable. Being a member of the Independent Author Support and Discussion group (IADS) has spurred me to write several short stories and I’m proud to be part of several anthologies: Holes, You’re not Alone and (with my friend Elspeth Morrison) Something Short. The last two were published for charity.

 

 

Something Short

Amazon universal link: mybook.to/SomthingShort

 

You’re not Alone

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Youre-Not-Alone-Author-Anthology-ebook/dp/B00Y5RCOOE/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452522591&sr=1-4&keywords=you%27re+not+alone

 

Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Youre-Not-Alone-Author-Anthology-ebook/dp/B00Y5RCOOE/ref=pd_sim_351_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=61soH3zEgEL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_UX300_PJku-sticker-v3%2CTopRight%2C0%2C-44_AC_UL160_SR101%2C160_&refRID=1NF5VEM6HKC4EA2JGBVP

 

Holes

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Holes-Author-Anthology-Angela-Lockwood-ebook/dp/B01633DFPY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1452522406&sr=1-1

 

Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Holes-An-Indie-Author-Anthology-ebook/dp/B01633DFPY/ref=pd_sim_351_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=41TFQ516mQL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR100%2C160_&refRID=1NF5VEM6HKC4EA2JGBVP

 

Amazon author page: Author.to/authorpage

 

Blog: http://languageintheblood.blogspot.fr/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CruftsloverAkaCameronBlair/?ref=hl

Twitter: @LitBCameronB

Webpage: http://www.cruftslover.adzl.com/

 

The Bio

Angela Lockwood-van der Klauw was born in the Netherlands. She learned her trade as a jeweller and gemmologist at the Vakschool Schoonhoven before moving to Edinburgh as an apprentice jeweller. There she met and later married her husband Adam. Angela ran her own jeweller’s shop in Edinburgh for ten years before she and her husband moved to the south of France in 2011. Like her vampire character Cameron, Angela prefers the climate there, but often thinks about the town she left behind and its people. Cameron’s story was born in the spring of 2013, a very wet spring during which Angela found herself climbing the walls, frustrated that she couldn’t go out and have her usual long walks along the seafront. Seeing his wife’s frustration, Adam suggested ‘Why don’t you write a book?’ Angela thought about it for a few days, then switched on her laptop and started writing Language in the Blood. Blood Ties is the second book in the series and Angela has also published a collection of short stories Something Short with her friend, Elspeth Morrison.

 

Twitter Updates

  • #Eastercon Artshow #ConFusion #Eastercon2021 dalascelles.co.uk/2021/03/31/eas… 2 weeks ago
  • Just entered the Man's best friend competition on @PurplePort #photo #competition #PurplePort purpleport.com/competition/vi… #NSFW 2 weeks ago
  • @confusion2021 Yes, I have been waiting for details of this and not seen anything... 3 weeks ago
  • Just entered the Ghostly competition on @PurplePort #photo #competition #PurplePort purpleport.com/competition/vi… 1 month ago
  • Just entered the Black background competition on @PurplePort #photo #competition #PurplePort purpleport.com/competition/vi… 1 month ago
Follow @areteus

Like me on Facebook

Like me on Facebook

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join the Lurkers

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 2,006 other followers

Recent Posts

  • Eastercon Artshow
  • Interview: Gillian Polack
  • Blending the Con
  • The Elementals: Russell A Smith interview.
  • New Year Dog

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy