1. In the series Vamped, Gina is a total fashionista. If you suddenly became a vampire, would you make sure you were at least a stylish one?
Oh, I would absolutely take vampirism as a mandate to express my inner goth. Right now, I keep it a little on the inside, but I kind of love skull motifs, gothic crosses, Celtic and tribal designs.
2. If you could pick another paranormal character (from the books of one of our fabulous Crossroads tour participants), who do you think Gina would like to “make-over” the most?
Probably Will Killian from Stacey Kade’s excellent The Ghost and the Goth. His co-main character Alona describes him as,"total loser material, skin so pale he practically glowed, and shaggy black hair that hung down in front of his creepy blue eyes. Seriously, they were so pale, they were almost white. And hello, he acted like such a freak, always wearing headphones and pulling the hood of his sweatshirt up, even inside the building." Gina, my heroine would say, “Didn’t anyone ever tell him that the Unabomber look was out? As if it was ever in. I’d totally scrap the hoodies and get him into a nice graphic tee and a pair of jeans strategically ripped, not just battered by wear and tear. You can say “Bite Me” to the world so much more effectively with a message tee or some stylized skulls. They tend to freak out the powers that be, but really, fashion is all about getting noticed.”
3. Can you share with us some tips to being a fashionable vampire?
I’ll let my heroine tell it like it is, as she always does!
Paraphrased from Gina’s Rules for Surviving Your Senior Prom: #1. On the off chance that the fanged and fabulous are fact rather than fiction, it’s always a good idea to have a death plan. It’s kinda like an emergency plan, but, you know, for death. For example, make sure there’s absolutely nothing in your closet you wouldn’t be caught dead in, because it’s a flippin’ guarantee that’s what they’ll dress you in for the viewing. You also may want to leave some kind of instructions behind about not being buried for four days—at which point you’re either risen or beyond caring—because digging yourself out of the ground, not to mention prying open the damned coffin, is hell on your manicure.
#2. Blood is never fashion forward. Chances are as a newly risen vamp, you’re going to be a bit indelicate in your feeding, so you may want to eat first, shop later.
#3. Here’s where it gets dicey. Vamps have no reflection. Yeah, don’t even get me started. No way at all to fix your hair and make-up. Who wants to go through eternity a total shlub? I mean, what a cosmic joke, right? My recommendation: turn your own stylist, start an entourage, whatever it takes.
4. Can you tell us the scoop on Vamped book 2, ReVamped? What is in the future for this series?
In ReVamped, Gina and her boyfriend Bobby are sent undercover to infiltrate a New York high school where some seriously weird stuff is going down. Worse than that, Gina’s new super-secret identity is as goth-girl Geneva Belfry. No color palette to speak of. More chains than a bike rack. And don't even get her started on the shoes. At least she won’t be too worried about blood spatter when kicking the butt of her newest nemesis, who’s decided that the high school makes a perfect playground. The next book in the series will be Fangtastic. I don’t have a publication date yet, but in it, the real vamps and the lifestylers meet, issues between the Feds and the fangs come to a head, and Gina and Bobby have to decide which side they’re on. Fangtabulous will come after that. I’m still plotting this one out and have a trip planned this fall to sink into the setting!
5. What other fashionable stories do you have planned for us readers?
I have werewolf and vampire short stories out in Esther Friesner’s Strip-Mauled and Fangs for the Mammaries anthologies. Next summer, Samhain will also be bringing out my urban fantasy, tentatively titled Bad Blood. It’s for the adult market, and a bit racier than Vamped or ReVamped, but the same kind of fun and fantasy. Tori Karacis, my fledgling private eye with about the strangest family conceivable, is not nearly as fashionable as Gina. In fact, her idea of couture is all black with a splash of color… easy to mix and match, no fuss, no muss. Black pantsuits, running suits, business suits… you get the picture. In LA that makes her a fashion rebel.
Vamped by Lucienne Diver Publisher: Flux (May 1st, 2009) Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback: 340 pages Series: Vamped, book #1 Gina Covello's Perks and Pitfalls
of Vamp Life
1. Hello?! Eternal youth and beauty!
2. Free. Designer. Clothes.
3. My hot new boyfriend Bobby went from chess dud to vamp stud.
4. No reflection! First order of business: turn my own stylist to stop the downward spiral from chic to eek.
5. Vampire vixen Mellisande has taken an interest in my boyfriend, and is now transforming the entire high school into her own personal vampire army. If anyone's going to start their own undead entourage it should be me.
I guess I'll just have to save everyone from fashion disasters and other fates worse than death.
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