RYDS Tour Stop - Interview with Jaz Primo

Welcome to Day 3 of the Romancing Your Dark-Side (RYDS) tour set of author interviews here on Reviews and Interviews. The tour itself is Aug 5 - Oct 31, and here's the full schedule. I'm hosting all 7 authors here this week.

Today's guest is Jaz Primo to talk about A Bloody London Sunset (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 2).

And at the end of the week, there will be a Virtual Gift Basket Giveaway for one commenter - Ebooks upon Ebooks, swag, and other goodies. So make sure to leave a comment today and each day this week!

Jaz, please tell us about your current release.
A Bloody London Sunset is the second novel in the urban fantasy Sunset Vampire Series. The story continues the love story between the vampire Katrina and her human mate, Caleb. A global vampire conspiracy begins to unravel around them while nearly-forgotten childhood memories begin to resurface in Caleb's mind that threaten the foundation of his and Katrina's relationship. One of the central vampire characters in the series, Paige, plays a much larger role in this novel. Readers also get to learn more about the mysterious vampire, Alton.

What inspired you to write this book?
The elements in this novel were already fully developed while I was writing the first novel, so I knew that the second novel had to be finished to complete unresolved matters left over from the first novel. I have long since fallen in love with my Sunset Vampire characters, so it took very little inspiration to write about them once they had revealed to me what they were doing next.

What exciting story are you working on next?
Well, I just completed the third Sunset Vampire novel, Summit at Sunset, which is due out this November in eBook and in trade paperback in January 2012. Although I've decided to take some time off from writing to recharge my creative muse, I have the key storylines already defined for three future novels: a historical fantasy, a young adult paranormal romance, and the fourth novel in the Sunset Vampire Series.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I first considered myself a writer as a young boy in elementary school when I would write short stories to entertain my classmates and teachers. However, while I embraced my skills at being a writer, I didn't actually consider myself an author until I had completed my first full-length novel, Sunrise at Sunset, which is the first book in my Sunset Vampire Series.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I would love to be able to write full-time, but at this stage in my career as an author it doesn't even come close to paying the bills. My weekdays are spent in my full-time career as an administrator at a community college near my home. I'm only able to write in my spare time, typically weekends and occasionally free weeknights. Additionally, two nights each week are spent teaching history classes at the community college in the spring and fall semesters, so writing time is definitely catch-as-catch-can.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Well, I'm not entirely certain if this falls into the interesting category, but I rarely write my stories in linear fashion. I write scenes and dialogue that I feel most inspired about at a given moment in the story. Then I splice each section into their proper sequence and eventually write the bridging pieces that seamlessly tie each section together into a fluid novel.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be in the Air Force. I've had a fascination with aircraft since I was a child, and I come from a long line of Air Force members dating all the way back to the 1940s with my grandfather. Grandpa used to take me to the Confederate Air Force air shows where I could watch old World War II-era planes doing acrobatics. Grandpa also used to take me onto the Air Force base where he worked in aircraft hangar areas so that I could see modern military aircraft in various stages of maintenance. Eventually, I served twelve years in the Air Force Reserves working on fighter and bomber aircraft, and I even got to take a back-seat ride in an F-4 Phantom fighter jet on a practice bombing mission. Thankfully, I was able to live out part of my childhood dream.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
One of my favorite quotes is from author Alice Hoffman: "Books may well be the only true magic." I love to hear from readers, as well as get to know them at a personal level, so please hunt me down in Facebook under both Jaz Primo and The Sunset Vampire Series. I also encourage readers to stop by my Primo Vampires blog site and follow me on Twitter @jazprimo.

My Sunset Vampire novels are available in trade paperback and multiple eBook formats on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the Apple iBookstore. Finally, thank you for the opportunity to be interviewed on your blog today. This has been a sincere pleasure!

Thank you so much for visiting this week as part of the blog tour.

Remember, at the end of the week, there will be a Virtual Gift Basket Giveaway for one commenter - Ebooks upon Ebooks, swag, and other goodies. So make sure to leave a comment today and each day this week!