An Interview with: Susan Sizemore

Monday, October 25, 1999

BA: Do you feel there is a central element to most of your books, say a similarity in approach, or do you go for a new method and style with every book?

SS: I write in several genres, so the focus of each book tends to be different, but I seem to come back to a theme of people taking responsibility for their actions in most of my stories. I believe that when you screw up (and everyone makes mistakes) you should fix it. Stylistically, I like to inject humor into my stories. I like to think that my stories are serious, but that the reader might not notice for a while because they're amused by the dialogue. I hope.

BA: I understand that you have a new book just out in time for the Halloween season, what can you tell us about it?

SS: LAWS OF THE BLOOD: THE HUNT is a perfect book to be released in time for Halloween, as it's a vampire novel. The first of a series of urban dark fantasy books that feature "Enforcers", these are vampire cops whose job it is to police the vampire community -- from within and without. Instead of a series with continuing characters, the books will all take place in different cities and feature a different enforcer as main character in each book. The books will center on the very strict Laws that govern the vampire community. These laws have become harder to enforce and to live under as times change. The first book, The Hunt, takes place in Los Angeles and the enforcer is Selim. He has to deal with organizing a Hunt (taking of human life is strictly regulated), with problems he and his human lover are having, with vampires who are planning revolt -- and some vampire screenwriter has written a script telling his life story. He needs to track down the script before the world learns the truth about vampires.

BA: What book by another author is your favorite all time read?

SS: There are two books I go back to over and over -- comfort food for the brain when I have the flu or I'm stressed out. These books are very different. One is Gene Stratton Porter's A GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST. It was written in 1909 and has been the favorite book of every woman in my family for generations, passed down from mother to daughter. It is all about this "plucky, true blue" farm girl who pays her way through high school by selling butterflies and moths -- a total sentimental tearjerker, and I'm proud to admit to loving this book. The second book that I could read any time is Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's GOOD OMENS. Wonderful urban fantasy, great theology, incredibly funny, wonderfully serious. A great book.

BA: What book that you have written is your favorite? Is this the book you enjoyed writing the most?

SS: My favorite of my books is a time travel novel called THE AUTUMN LORD. I like to think that whatever book I'm currently writing is always my best, but THE AUTUMN LORD holds a very special place in my heart. The book I enjoyed writing most -- probably, GATES OF HELL which is a science fiction book I'm currently almost finished with. Gates is a project that was started twelve years ago. I keep going back to it, polishing, refining, and finally finishing! I love the characters and plot and the universe. Will be glad to finally have it out of my head, though!

BA: Who do you feel has most influenced your work as an author?

SS: A friend who gave some of my Star Trek fan stories to a fanzine editor, and that fanzine editor who wrote and asked if she could publish those stories. The revelation that some total stranger might be interested in reading my work was the greatest rush of my life. Then there's my critique group who has influenced me to get better for the last nine years. And my grandmother who was the first writer I knew. And there's the high school English teacher who said, you have talent, do something with it. And there's someone I loathe who said, "Sizemore never finishes anything." Every time I'm in the sagging middle of a book, those words of encouragement gets me through to the end one more time.

BA: Is this person the main reason you are writing now, or is there another major reason?

SS: The main reason I write is because I cannot not write. I've always written, and I will always write. With luck, people will continue to want to read what I write. Even if they don't, I'll still be writing.

BA: Where do you get your inspiration for the characters you write about?

SS: All over the place. I suppose there's a little bit of me in every character -- but once a character is thrown into the world of the story the character always develops in ways I hadn't foreseen. I consider some of the characters in my head to be permanent residents -- people I know who demand that their lives be told. Then there are the transients. They show up, tell me their story, and move out. Sometimes I hear from them again, sometimes their kids move in for a while, but mostly we stay distant friends.

BA: Where do you see yourself going from here? Are you planning on going off into any new directions with your writing?

SS: I'm always planning on going in new directions. I would love to write a lot more fantasy and science fiction. I'd like to write a hugely bestselling contemporary suspense novel. I haven't written any historical mysteries yet, and that would be fun. I want to write a book set in ancient Egypt. I read in all genres, and would love to write in all of them as well.

BA: What do you see as the most challenging problem or opportunity facing authors today?

SS: The way the business of publishing is changing. Lots of problems and opportunities are being created. Paper publishing markets are shrinking, electronic publishing is growing. Small presses are taking advantage of the changing technology of publishing. Lots of stuff going on, both good and ill. If writers wants to get and stay published, it's our job to go looking for the places where our work can be published.

BA: What one piece of advice would you offer to aspiring authors?

SS: Finish the damn book. I do not say this facetiously. So many people start books, so many more say they are going to start books, but the real accomplishment is finishing the book, then going on and finishing the next and the next. It's the only way to learn --and it's certainly the only way to sell.

BA: What do you like most about writing as a career choice?

SS: I get to stay home and work. I can take my work anywhere.

BA: Do you feel that there is one common denominator with fans of your work, or do you feel that they have little in common?

SS: Since I write in several different genres I hope that what my readers have in common is an interest in reading more than one sort of book, and like books that cross genres, as many of mine do. Also, I hope that my readers are open to different mediums and types of publishers -- as I have books out with huge paper publishers like Ace and Avon and Silhouette, electronic books with Dreams Unlimited and Starlight Writers Publications, and will soon have a science fiction book with a small print publisher, Speculation Press.

BA: If you had to synopsize your work for a potential reader, what would you say about it?

SS: All my work, or just LAWS OF THE BLOOD: THE HUNT? In general, my stories are fast-paced and funny, with a edge of danger and adventure. Also sexy. In specific, The Hunt is about a man -- okay, he's a vampire -- who is trying to keep his world from spinning out of control, because if he doesn't succeed the people he loves and the culture he's sworn to protect are going to be destroyed.

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