Tamara Grantham - A Refreshing Take on the Vampire Story

Tamara Grantham is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books and novellas, including the Olive Kennedy: Fairy World MD series, the Shine novellas, and the Twisted Ever After trilogy. Dreamthief, the first book of her Fairy World MD series, won first place for fantasy in INDIEFAB'S Book of the Year Awards, a RONE award for best New Adult Romance of 2016, and is a #1 bestseller on Amazon with over 200 five-star reviews. Tamara has been a featured speaker at numerous writing conferences and has been a panelist at Comic Con Wizard World. Born and raised in Texas, Tamara now lives with her husband and five children in Wichita, Kansas. As our Author of the Day, she tells us all about her book, Never Call Me Vampire.

Please give us a short introduction to what Never Call Me Vampire is about.

It’s about a supposed vampire named Lucian Vidraru. He’s been alive for many than a century as has seen many things. He now lives in a renovated mental hospital where he receives blood transfusions to stay alive. He has a lonely existence, despite being the world’s most famous living vampire.

When Amaya de la Vega enters his life, she opens his eyes to more than his own suffering. While they search for a cure together, they form an unbreakable bond. But there are people in the world who don’t want a cure and will do anything to stop it, including discovering the only way to die.

What inspired you to write about people infected with a vampire virus?

The idea came from wondering how a real vampire would be treated in our world?

Would they live in secret? Or would they be hospitalized and receive blood transfusions to stay conscious? That’s the idea that started the book. I added in a sprinkling of romance and a good mystery, and Never Call Me Vampire was born.

The book contains a lot of secrets - why did you take this approach?

I love reading mysteries and trying to solve them. I wanted to add something that would make readers guess and hopefully be surprised by the ending.

Tell us more about your protagonists. What makes them so special?

Lucian Vidraru is the supposed vampire. He’s been alive for more than a century, and he has a colorful past. There were so many facets to his character, I decided to tell his story in part through snippets of photos, journal entries, magazine articles, etc. Amaya de la Vega is searching for a cure, and her path takes her to Lucian, who she isn’t expecting to fall in love with.

Besides writing, what other secret skills do you have?

I’m a mom to five kids ages 6 to 16, and I’m an excellent bus driver, chef, therapist, housekeeper, and everything that else goes along with being a parent.

Do your characters ever take off on their own tangent, refusing to do what you had planned for them?

I try not to let them. I plot out a detailed outline before starting a book, and I try to stick with the outline.

Please tell us more about the book cover and how it came about.

I wanted a cover that would elicit mystery. I originally envisioned red for the cover, but I think the tones of gray and the shard of light make it more interesting.

Readers say you kept them guessing till the end - how did you pull this off?

I inserted small breadcrumbs throughout the book to keep readers on the trail of solving the mystery. Who is Lucian really? If not a vampire, then what?

Why paranormal fiction? What drew you to the genre?

I’ve always loved reading fantasy and paranormal. I like the escapism of the genre. It allows me to leave this world and envision what else is possible.

When starting on a new book, what is the first thing you do?

Start with an outline. I aim to write an 11-page outline before beginning a book.

Do you have any interesting writing habits? What is an average writing day like for you?

My goal for the past 10 years has been to write 1,000 words, or about 4 pages, every day. I try to write in the mornings, and I’ve learned to write with any distractions thrown at me.

What are you working on right now?

I’m currently writing the sequel to Never Call Me Vampire. The title is Dare to Call Me Vampire.

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

You can find me at www.tamaragrantham.com. You can also connect with me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tamaraclairegrantham, or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/tamaragrantham