Interview with paranormal author, Tony-Paul de Vissage

http://www.tony-paul.com

It is with great pleasure that I introduce Tony-Paul de Vissage, a very talented author of the bloodsucking kind. Thank you so much for joining us today, Tony-Paul. It’s been rumored that a band of vampires abducted you as a youngster. Is this true?

Oui. You see, they were on a flying tour of the South and had heard of the Battle of Bloody Marsh which was the last attempt by the Spanish to invade Georgia in 1742. So everyone was amped to see such a spectacular sight. One or two were actually slavering, if I remember correctly. I’m afraid they were disappointed. They were expecting a stretch of beach loaded with bodies and lots of gore. All they found instead was a little gamin picking up seashells. I thought they were slightly odd-looking tourists (at this point, I believed it when they told me all Romanians had pointy teeth and eyes which turned red when they laughed.) and offered to show them around. I still wonder why my parents didn’t attempt to find me during that time. Perhaps they were glad to be rid of “the kid” for a few months. Anyway, les vampires and I struck up a friendship and since I was the first amiable human they’d met (perhaps because I was too young to be afraid) they saw a way to get some good PR. They offered to pay for my education if I’d become a writer and show them in a better light. That also got my parents off the hook for my tuition, so they agreed to keep mum about the whole thing and let the “bloodsuckers” foot the bill. I think Maman and Papa went to the Orient on what they saved my freshman year.  

Was there a major instance/event that prompted you to begin writing?

I kind of slid into it.  I have a few friends who write and being a bit of a copy-cat, I decided to see if I had what it takes, too.  Also, I’ve a vivid imagination which helped.

What books or authors have most influenced your life and your writing now?

I would think Bram Stoker would be something of an influence on anyone who writes about vampires.  He’s got the basic plot down pat.  Yoy might even say he had the patent on it.  Then, it’s up to the individual writer to put his own spin on things.  I’ve a library of about 500 books (mostly vampire novels) some dating from the early 70s when the change in attitudes toward vampire or, Gothics as they were then called, began.  I don’t know if I’d say other writers have influenced me, but I have read Laurel K. Hamilton, Mario Acevedo, Anne Rice, Charlaine Harris, and Poppy Z. Brite, as well as the more romantic writers like Sherrilyn Kenyon and others, to get their spin on things.  Then I try to be careful not to step into their territory when I write my own.

I know you have a few current projects on the go. We love to hear about them.

I’ve three vampire stories in the works right now.  One is the Second Species series, which chronicles the lives of Marek Strigoi, the vampire Prince’s former assassin and his family; the second is The Nightman, a series of short stories put together to form a novel about Damien la Croix, a nobleman who willingly becomes a vampire to escape falling to the Black Death, and the third is Domingo Leyenda, whose story is told in The Legends of Sleepy Hollow.  “Leyenda” is Spanish for “legend” and Domingo and his sister Liseta live in the surburb of Sleepy Hollow in Orange County, CA, so I hope people catch the pun.  What’s interesting about Domingo is that he’s a Spanish Jew and therefore the usual wards against vampirism don’t work on him.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in writing horror?

Trying not to rehash the same tired theme.  I have a tendency to lean toward the tongue-in-cheek (or should I say fang-in-cheek) when writing, making it quirky, perhaps saying some of the irreverent things people have thought about horror and vampires over the years, such as in “The Best Dentist in Orange County” when I have my vampire Damien wake up with a toothache.  So where does a vampire go for dental work?  Things like that.  Also, I try to make it as believable as possible, though using such an unbelievable theme.  In the Second Species, I’ve worked out reasonable excuses for why my vampires are repelled by sunlight, garlic, and holy objects, and it isn’t for the reasons you would think.  I work on the theory that even a monster has inner thoughts so my villains also get a sufficient amount of introspection.  It doesn’t make them any more likeable and may make the readers hate them more but it at least helps them understand them a little better.

Who is your favorite author, and what is it that strikes you about their work?

In the supernatural category, Jim Butcher is probably at the top.  His Harry Dresden is a many-faceted character, who’s still trying to come to terms with his powers even after quite a number of books.  Harry may be a wizard but he’s also very human in how he reacts to the things that happen around him.  I also like JD Robb’s Eve Dallas series for the unique plots and the dialogue between the characters.

Just for interest sake, how long does it take you to write a book from beginning to end?

If I’m really psyched about a book, I’ve been known to get the first draft done within two weeks.  I think the longest I took was six months because I had to do a lot of research on that one and spent some time waiting for reference books to be available.

For me, the week before a full moon jumpstarts my creative juices and I tend to write and create like a banshee. Do you have any idiosyncrasies that help (or distract) you?

It may be an atavistic thing, but I seem to get more revved-up in the Spring, when the mornings and the evenings are still cool and the days are sunny.  Once that change comes into the air, I always feel a…something…that I don’t experience in winter.

What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

I fortify myself with some liquid refreshment, then sit down at the keyboard and begin.  And when I’ve finished the current chapter, I stop.  Simple procedure, n’est pas?

The world is about to end and you will be the last survivor. You have your choice of three books to keep with you. What would they be?


I’ve often thought about that and really have no idea.  I sit here in my library and look at the books around me and wonder which three I would consider the most important, which would I want to read over and over and over?  The Bible?  I have six copies.  A dictionary?  It would definitely have a lot of variety.  The New Century Classical Handbook or Shakespeare’s Plays?  I honestly have no answer for that and hope I never have to make such a choice.  I can tell you which books I left out when all my worldly possessions went into storage recently:  The Encyclopedia of Gods, The aforementioned Classical Handbook, Dracula Prince of Many faces, The Vampire Gallery, and An Encyclopedia of Fairies.  They’re sitting on my desk right now within easy reach.


What is the best way for readers to contact you? Email, Meyssac, Twister, etc.?


Probably email:  tpvissage@neb.rr.com, or through my website:  http://www.tony-paul.com/


Thank you so much, Tony-Paul. It has been an absolute pleasure having you with us.


Mon plaisir, also.  Merci.