Today, I have the two lovely ladies behind the Crusade series, Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie, here to answer some questions for The Damned Book Tour!
Quick! Describe Damned in 7 words or less!
DEBBIE: World War Three with vampires
NANCY: love, sacrifice, desire, honor, explosions!
What was the experience like writing Damned in comparison to writing Crusade?
DEBBIE: Wow, that’s a really great question! In some ways writing Damned was easier because we had already established the universe and were very comfortable writing all the characters. There’s a lot to be said for momentum when writing a series. Emotionally, though, Damned was a little more difficult to write in some ways because of some of the painful scenes we had to write.
NANCY: I was so happy to return to our world, but then when we got into the very tense, high emotion of the story, it took so much out of me. We had to raise the stakes to high pitch--we’ve taken this story to the top of the highest hill on the rollercoaster. In Vanquished, the survivors will careen all the way to the station.
What do you enjoy most about writing together?
DEBBIE: Calling and bouncing ideas off each other and creating something new or adding a new dimension or plot detail lightning fast and then congratulating each other on being geniuses. :)
NANCY: I just read a chapter I thought I had written and realized Debbie wrote it. It’s so wonderful. And we’re such good friends--I just flew to Florida to spend time with her, and she stayed a few days over after Comic-con here in San Diego. Of course, we partied at Disney, because that’s what we do!
Any favorite teaser quotes for Damned that you can share?
DEBBIE: I know who I am now.
NANCY: Let me die for her, if need be.
Who was your favorite character to write, and why?
DEBBIE: I love writing for Jamie. He isn’t my favorite character, but writing him is just fun.
NANCY: Antonio, because he is a true hero. He’s passionate, sincere, and courageous.
Scenario time: A hungry vampire lurking in the shadows notices you both out walking one night. He moves quickly towards you two, about to make his attack…what do you do next?
DEBBIE: I tell Nancy to run and jab my cross necklace (I often wear one) into his eye. Nancy then finds a funky piece of wood lying on the ground and stabs him in the back through his heart while I keep burning his eye and distracting him.
NANCY: Exactly what Debbie said!
Love the teamwork! What are you two working on now?
DEBBIE and NANCY: Book 3 of Crusade: Vanquished; and Book 2 of Wolf Springs Chronicles: Hotblooded (Book 1: Unleashed comes out in November).
We’re both doing solo work as well, and getting ready to go on tour together.
Thanks so much for the interview!
DEBBIE: Thank you!NANCY: ¡Muchas gracias!
Curious about Damned? Read the first chapter here.
Be sure to check out the rest of The Damned Book Tour stops by clicking on the banner below!
