Ink Motions with Aurelia Evans

Bio:

Aurelia T. Evans is an up-and-coming erotica author with a penchant for horror and the supernatural.

She's the twisted mind behind the werewolf/shifter Sanctuary trilogy, demonic circus series Arcanium (publication starts April 2015), and spiritual gothic/urban fantasy series Meridian (publication TBD). She's also had short stories featured in various erotic anthologies.

Aurelia presently lives in Dallas, Texas (although she doesn't ride horses or wear hats). She loves cats and enjoys baking as much as she dislikes cooking. She's a walker, not a runner, and she writes outside as often as possible.

 

Links:

Bloodbound serial novel page

Blog

Facebook

 

Interview

 

How do you get an idea for your novel?

 

In Bloodbound’s case, it’s been eighteen years in the making. I read an abridged version of Dracula when I was in third grade and fell in love with vampires then and there and forevermore. A few years after that, I snagged onto an idea for a vampire novel that was along the lines of ‘kidnap a human to become a vampire bride.’ Apparently, I’ve been into abduction fantasies for a long time, and I can’t blame romance novels for that.

 

Understandably, my first efforts weren’t very good. To my credit, I kept trying—from ten years old to twenty-eight. I’m hoping I finally got it right, although I suspect the spirit might live on in another story in the future. It seems to be one I’m happy with.

 

What is your writing style? Do you just sit down and write?

 

I’m definitely a pantser, but my poor memory and the increasing number of projects on my plate have necessitated a little bit of plotting. I do a basic, almost stream-of-consciousness outline. Any more than that, and I lose the urge to create.

 

I’m also not one of those people who can hop from scene to scene as the spirit moves them. I have to write from beginning to end. Period. It means I can’t skip the less exciting scenes, which is honestly more impetus to get them written.

 

How many novels have you written, including all works in progress you are currently working on?

 

Geez, do you have a few hours while I count? I presently have two novels published, nine novels already written that are slated to be published in the next two years, and four unpublished novels in a different genre (three of which are epic in length and subject). That’s not counting fanfiction or abandoned works.

 

I like to write, and I had a lot of time to do so last year when I was too sick to work a more structured job.

 

What is your favorite plot line type?

 

I’ve found that I do my best work when I’m writing variations on the Beauty and the Beast story (there’s that abduction theme again). Sometimes the variation is very loose, of course, but it’s a trope that seems to speak very strongly to me. I love a good monster for a romantic interest.

 

Is there any advice you can offer to anyone who would like to write?

 

I have two big things that I advocate for every writer, no matter what kind they are.

 

One, make time to write and commit to it. An idea and the early stages of writing are exciting and seductive, but writing is work. It’s fulfilling work, but there will be less exciting times, slow times, times when you’re writing something that doesn’t inspire you. Bridge scenes, I call them. Necessary, but not the kind of scenes that spark your writerly imagination. But I swear, the reader won’t be able to tell.

 

The middle is where most new writers start abandoning their manuscripts. Now, sometimes, that’s because they realize the story isn’t working, which isn’t uncommon for a new writer finding their voice and figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

 

I’m guessing, however, that boredom and the slog of unglamorous writing contributes to many a book abandonment. I advise new writers not to chase the early high of an idea and expect it to last the whole novel. It won’t. We color a pretty picture of muses and inspiration as the only way to write, but sometimes you’re going to have to write without it. That is, if you want to finish. Instead, write for the more subdued but far more satisfying high of finishing a novel.

 

Second, always have integrity. Your plot and your characters are the most important thing. Not your audience. Not your marketability. Not your appropriateness. Not how many people are going to like you (and man, that’s a hard one to live by). Be true to your story and to your characters, and you’ll write right every time. It’s a good compass to use.

 

What is a good villain?

 

I’m a bad person to ask. Too often, the ones who would be villains in other novels are love interests in mine. And the truth is, there are about as many different types of villains as there are heroes.

 

The best thing you can do to make a good villain is to empathize with him. It was Tom Hiddleston (the amazing villain Loki, from the Marvel movie universe) who said, “Every villain is a hero in his own mind.” Don’t make villains evil (even if they are). Make their actions rational and reasonable within the world they believe they live in.

 

Many of my villains aren’t human. I’ve got werewolves (the Sanctuary series), vampires (Bloodbound), and demons (Arcanium and Meridian). They tend to follow an ethical framework that a human might view as villainous, but they view as practical—a framework many humans use in their treatment of the rest of the animal kingdom, honestly. And I say that as an omnivore.

 

In Bloodbound, my vampires follow a religion that gives them guidelines for how to live. Dominion is a religion very much like Christianity, and the main love interest and his partner are Dominion priests. From the vampiric perspective—and they make a fine (albeit fictional) argument—Christianity is the humanized version of the real truth Dominion possesses. Dominion permits the enslavement and death of humans under a specific set of circumstances—none of which humans would think were very nice, since it’s humans who suffer for it.

 

The Bloodbound vampires believe they’re doing the right thing. Is it the right thing? To fictional characters, all that matters is whose side the main character happens to take and whether they believe in it. From there, you don’t need a moustache-twirling villain, necessarily. Just an antagonist. Sometimes, the antagonist would be a hero in another person’s story.

 



 

Blurb for Blood Lost (Bloodbound Book 1):

 

Bloodstains on her clothing and bloodlust between the sheets, she’s never been more lost…and that’s why he chooses her.

 

As if wandering the streets in bloody clothes after losing her memory isn’t bad enough, Julia’s been kidnapped by vampires, then presented to Nathan, high priest of Dominion.

 

Nathan’s not interested in a bleeder, perfectly content with fellow priest Lucas as his companion, lover, and willing servant. However, when Lucas offers her to him, Julia’s endearing confusion and lack of fear intrigue him.

 

With nowhere else to go without her memories, Julia accepts his offer and embarks on a sensual but deadly journey into the world of Dominion and its arrogant, esoteric elite…as well as the darkness of her own desires and the mystery of her past.

 

 

I would usually put an excerpt here. But rather than an excerpt, why not try the whole first book in the vampire serial Bloodbound, Blood Lost, absolutely FREE? (links to be provided when it’s live)

 

 

 

Bloodbound Release Schedule:

Blood Lost (Book 1) – February 14 (FREE!)

Bleeder’s Ball (Book 2) – February 28

Blood Pool (Book 3) – March 14

Blood on the Moon (Book 4) – March 28

Bleeding Heart (Book 5) – April 11

Bloodbound, the Complete Serial Novel – May 9

 

 Buy Links: 

Smashwords (FREE, recommended)
Amazon US (not yet free)
Amazon UK (not free)
Amazon Canada (not free)
Barnes & Noble (FREE, recommended)
All Romance Ebooks (FREE, recommended)
iTunes (FREE)
Goodreads