Book Biters: without LJS TVD doesn't exist - Page 12

Yes her strength was great in the books, but her vulnerabilty is very accountable in the show. It makes her, a human, y'kno? I don't find being a human bad, heck I'm one. What I'm saying is the show one is more realistic in a sense. She'll be more relatable? IDK. I'm a very happy character shipper. I like all the characters. Though, all have something that hits a nerve everyone once in a while.

Here are the answers to some questions I've been asked a lot. And to some questions I've only been asked once, but really rather liked.

When is your next book coming out?
At this point, the only thing I'm sure of is that Night World 3 will be out this spring. After that, it will be a race to the finish--I have to finish writing both Shadow Souls (the next installment in the new Vampire Diaries trilogy, which comprises Nightfall, Shadow Souls, and Midnight. While I'm writing Shadow Souls I'll also be finishing the mammoth Strange Fate. Whether Shadow Souls or Strange Fate will come out first, I don't know. It all depends upon my publishers. Shadow Souls is put out by Harper and Strange Fate by Simon & Schuster.

Meanwhile for any Brits who haven't seen Dark Visions, it will be coming out again, but I don't yet have a date. I'll try to keep up with this, and let you know how and when it will be coming out. Dark Visions will also be reissued in the U.S. and it has the loveliest cover ... with, I think Cassie come to visit on the front. Never mind; she doesn't look like Kaitlyn, but she's a thing of beauty.

What about the TV pilot?
What TV pilot? Oh, that one. Sorry. If you haven't heard, Vampire Diaries was optioned by the CW, and the latest I heard they were doing auditions. Erik Fellows was charming enough to write to me to say he would be auditioning for Damon, but it looks as if he'll be breaking teenage hearts elsewhere. Pity. I finally saw a fellow who looked quite like Damon ought to look--and who has nice manners, too. Just Google him to find his bio and some nice pictures.

Can I do anything to help the TV pilot become a series?
Pray? I honestly don't know the answer to this question, and readers are split as to whether they want to see a TV series at all. It's already been established that the storyline will be different, there will be some different characters (oh, Meredith!) and that the innocent Fell's Church that we know will be quite a different place. So some people don't even want to see a pilot, much less the series made into a TV show. Me, I don't have an opinion--I haven't seen it yet. It's quite true that the thought of my characters being involved with drugs or anything like that makes me weep. But I don't know who will be, how they will be, or even if they will be. What I know, I mostly know from readers. And since the death of my mother, I'm a great believer in "take it easy, and with luck, it won't be as bad as our fears would make it."

Is it true that Steve McQueen's grandson/great-grandson will be playing Elena's brother, Jeremy?
I have heard this, yes. I wish I'd given Elena a brother. He could come in very handy.

I can't find a book of yours. What should I do?
If you can read English, then the best place is Amazon. All my books are or will be available from them new in the near future. I recently guided an Australian fan in this direction and she wrote back to say that they deliver to Australia. (Also, they sell used books.) I know that there is an amazon.co.uk (http://www.amazon.co.uk/) and that there is an amazon.ca (Canada) and I would imagine these would be your best bets. After that comes simple googling, which may lead you to eBay or a used book store. Also, you can go up to your local bookstore and simply ask if they can order the book for you. You'd be surprised--quite often they can.

Who does the pictures for your site?
As I said in the Introduction, a famous artist, Jan Sovak, does the pictures for my site. He's incredibly talented, and I'm amazingly lucky to have him render my characters. If you haven't taken a look at the Art Gallery, please do, and you'll see what I mean. I'll be adding more and more of his incredible pictures in the weeks and months to come. Jan has illustrated over 200 books, and I'm really hoping that I can get him to do the covers for mine. He's also a great writer, and is working on a trilogy.

When did you know you wanted to become a writer?
I think I was six. I was in first grade and my teacher got this immortal poem out of me:

I see a bird upon its nest
It has no time to sit and rest
This little bird cannot have fun
Because its work is never done.

That was it. But, seriously, I can't remember any time before I was writing stories in my head. When I finally grew up enough to let them out onto paper, I found that people liked them. But I would have been a writer anyway—even if people had hated them—because it's something involuntary in my brain. It doesn't much like reality, and so it makes up stories to escape.

What's your favorite color?
Aquamarine. Really. The color of the stones, though—clear blue, not blue-green.

Who is your favorite character?
A guy called Sam Vimes, from Terry Pratchett's Diskworld. If you haven't read these books—and start with Night Watch or another of his recent ones—you're really missing something. Or do you mean my favorite from my books? Damon is the most fun to write, which is why I can't resist writing a fifth Vampire Diaries book about him. Ash and Quinn are fun to write, in the same way. Of the heroines, I have a fondness for both the really ditzy, like Bonnie, and Iliana, and the really strong, like Keller, Rashel, Elena, or Hannah. Hardest to write, but most rewarding, are the ones who start out meek and scared and end up leaders, like Cassie in Secret Circle and Sarah in Strange Fate.

Who is your favorite author?
The forenamed Terry Pratchett ties with Frances Hodgson Burnett for her adult books. Out of print, hard to get, Burnett's books like The Shuttle, The Head of the House of Coombe, and many others are always a delight and an escape. FHB was a militant optimist, a quality I'm trying to hang on to.

Do you write your favorite authors fan letters?
Well, no. Terry Pratchett gets quite as many as are good for him; I'm sure. And Frances Hodgson Burnett lived at the turn of the previous century. But I'd like her to know, wherever she is, that someone down here still appreciates her work.

Do you believe in soulmates?
Ah, me. Yes, in a way I do. We all craft our own destinies. Obviously, if you're stuck out in the tundra, and your soulmate lives in Hawaii, you're going to have a harder time finding each other. But enter the Internet. These days it's a lot easier getting in touch with your soulmate—I know several couples who've met on the Web. But on other days I curse the whole idea, because I don't want to give anyone—especially any young women—the idea that they are not complete without a man, or that they need a man in order to be fulfilled or whole. You are you, complete, without half of you missing, all by yourself. If you find a soulmate, then that's wonderful. If you don't, that's still wonderful, if you can be happy, or even make other people happy.

Do you believe in magic?
Oh, yes indeed! Can you look straight at a full harvest moon and think that humans have walked on it—and tell me that's not magic? It's science, too, of course, but that's just a matter of terminology. Can you look at this screen and know that I typed in these words at 7:30 A.M. on a cold, white-skied winter morning and that you're reading exactly the thoughts that were in my head back on that morning—and say it's not magic? Can you believe that the last I heard they'd found a dinosaur mummy with skin and organs preserved, that there may be not four but eleven or more dimensions, or that I can make mushroom risotto in three minutes and think that there's no magic?
Of other kinds of magic the most that I can say is that I don't know. I've had some magical moments in my life, and some uncanny things happen. I've been waiting since I was nine, breathlessly sure that magic was going to happen at any moment, and at any moment I may be right.

What do you like to do for fun?
For pure pleasure there's reading, which of course, is any writer's favorite activity, and movies, and being in the country. There is a little cabin in Inverness, California, surrounded by state park, which I consider my retreat to nature. There are dozens of beaches and routes to hike and a lighthouse, and once I saw a white buck there—on a trail, not a tame one—and followed it until it got dark. I was hoping it was heading for Narnia, but we never quite got there.

I want to be a fiction writer. What should I do?
Write. That's obviously the first step. Even if you don't have anything specific to write, keep a diary. And keep a list of story ideas. I can't emphasize this enough. Any idea for a story, book, poem, screenplay, whatever, even though you're that certain you'll remember it, write it down NOW. You will forget it if you don't. If you do make a note of it. . . ten years from now it may win you a Pulitzer. Join local writing clubs—every town has them and they're a great place to make friends, learn the craft of writing, and get ideas. When you have something written, a story or novel or screenplay, learn how to format it before you send it off. Just google; you'll find tons of references. Also buy the year's current Writer's Guide.

Never, ever pay anyone any money to "write your book/screenplay for you," and only self-publish if you have money to burn. Once you know how to format your work, be very precise and keep rigidly to the requirements. Then go back to the Web or your Writer's Guide or your writing clubs and, unless you're a poet, get an agent. You do not want your work to be in the slush pile (the pile of unsolicited manuscripts). Get a reputable agent, and that means one that doesn't get paid until you sell your book or whatever. Then take a rest until your agent tells you what to do next.

How do I get an agent?
This year's Writer's Guide has lists of them. Talk to other writers. Gird your loins and contact presidents of national writing clubs and ask for recommendations. Call agents and ask for their recommendations of large agencies. Do your research well; you want the best agent you can get. And, no, you can't have mine. :P

How did you get the inspiration for Elena/Nick/Keller/Hannah/Jez/Ash/Cassie/Hellewise?
I don't know. Not the way books on 'How to Write' say to make up a character, I do know that. I can't explain the way any of these characters became real people to me; there was a need for a character to do such-and-such and they all grew in the writing. It's something that happens below the level of my consciousness. I know that's not a very good answer but it's the best I can do. If it helps, I've always tried to do anti-stereotypes, the Homecoming Queen who ends up with only a few true friends, the sheriff who's a woman. I plan to do more multinational characters in the future.

What's your favorite poem?
Too many to list here. Just about everything by Emily Dickinson, my favorite poet. But here are two very diverse poems to show you how changeable I am.

Untitled

If I danced with my feet as I dance in my dreaming
As graceful and gleaming as Death in disguise
Oh, that would be sweet! But then would I hunger
To be ten years younger, or wedded, or wise?
From The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beale

The Human Condition
By Harold Nimarov
In this motel where I was told to wait,
The television screen is stood before
The picture window. Nothing could be more
Use to a man than knowing where he's at.
And I don't know, but pace the day in doubt
Between my looking in and looking out.

Through snow, along the snowy road, cars pass
Going both ways, and pass behind the screen
Where heads of heroes sometimes can be seen,
And sometimes cars, that speed across the glass.
Once I saw world and thought exactly meet,
But only in a picture by Magritte.

A picture of a picture, by Magritte,
Wherein a landscape on an easel stands
Before a window opening on a land-
scape, and the pair of them a perfect fit.
Silent and mad. You know right off, the room
Before that scene was always an empty room.

And that is now the room in which I stand
Waiting, or walk, and sometimes try to sleep.
The day falls into darkness while I keep
The TV going; headlights blaze behind
Its legendary traffic, love and hate,
In this motel where I was told to wait.

Are you going to keep adding new things to this website?
Yes! That's the point, really. This is my playground.

What's your favorite movie?
This one is impossible. There are too many. I adore movies. I can't even begin to give a list, because it would sound like word salad. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The Negotiator. Anything done by Studio Ghibli. Lagaan. The Fifth Element. Anything by Monty Python. Most horror films. Most films spoofed by Mystery Science Theatre 3000. See?

Is it true you don't own a TV?
No, but it is true that it isn't hooked up. I get my news from newspapers and the Web—but since I hate most of the news I get that way, I rely on magazines. Since I don't read many magazines, I get spared much of the news.
I really like books better.

Are you writing anything after Strange Fate?/
What inspired you to write the Night World books?/
Are you going to do more Night World books?
What did inspire me? I don't know. I guess it's because it was the closest thing to a story that I had written only in my head, about bad guys who were really demonic and good guys who were trying to hunt the bad guys down. I kept this story going in my head for years and years and had all sorts of characters in it—but I was just a teenager. I gave up any idea of writing it because the two opposing sides in it were from the Court at the End of the World (an other-dimensional world) and the Darkside (a different other dimensional world). They were sort of like angels and demons—but it wasn't religious. The good guys from Court recruited humans who discovered they had psychic powers—Blindsight, Deafears, Intuition—and asked them to fight the Darksiders. But then George Lucas came out with Star Wars and the Dark Side, and I figured I should give the idea up. Recently, though, I've been toying with it. It's not all that different from the Night World—it's just that both sides are actual places, with lots of intrigue going on in each.
So, to finally answer the question, I may write more Night World—if it's wanted. And I may write about the Darksiders—if it's possible.

How can I get in touch with you?
Write to me at info@ljanesmith.net,
- or -
to my agent, Elizabeth Harding at eharding@cbltd.com.