A Chat with Deborah LeBlanc (and the Last Blog)

It was almost a year ago that Wicked Writers began. I remember it vividly because I missed putting my blog up on time on the second day of our existence and C.J. was not shy in letting me know it (for the record, this is where that inside joke about her ripping my arms off and beating me to death with them came from).

Now, on the eve of our move away from WordPress over to Blogger, it looks like I’ll finally have the last word for a change.

So, I’ve decided that I’ll give some free advertising and in a subject I’m usually against – supporting vampires and werewolves as objects of affection. We all know – since I’ve been beating a certain dead horse – that my science fiction and horror writing skews to the “old school” where the vampires bite the dust in numbers reminiscent of the Battle of Verdun. Still, I have been known to make room in my coldest of hearts for a few exceptions.

Deborah LeBlanc is one of those exceptions. The author of such novels as Water Witch, A House Divided, Grave Intent and Family Inheritance is back with a new novel – The Wolven – just

Deborah LeBlanc

released Nov. 23.

The synopsis alone should get tongues wagging:

Someone—or something—is systematically murdering
the members of Danyon Stone’s werewolf pack.

As Alpha, he knows that finding and punishing the
murderous entity is his responsibility, and he’s not
about to rest until he sees justice done. But to stop
the slayings he has to accept help from the most
unlikely source—a wickedly sensual mortal woman.
Mystic-shop owner Shauna MacDonald has a special
interest in the recent string of otherworldly deaths.
As the Keeper of the werewolves, it’s her duty to
guard and protect the packs. Working by Danyon’s
side to stop an unknown killer—and trying to deny
the potency of their illicit attraction—poses a threat
to her heart unlike any she’s ever known, and if she
becomes the killer’s next target, it could be the death
of her.…
The Keepers: Three extraordinary sisters born to
balance the duty that is their birthright with the
yearnings of their hearts…

With something as scorching as this, I had to get the licensed death investigator and active member of two paranormal investigative teams back in for another interview:

* * * * * * * * * *

G: Good afternoon, Deborah, thank you for joining us. First up, I’ve read how you, Alexandra Sokoloff and Heather Graham (not the actress) started “The Keepers” series. How successful has it been for all of you?

D: Well, The Wolven (was) officially released on November 23^rd, but so far the pre-release reviews have been wonderful. And, of course, Heather and Alex have received wonderful feedback on The Keepers and The Shifters. Both did a terrific job with their books.

G: What exactly was involved in starting The Keepers series?

D: Nocturne first approached Heather to headline a trilogy and asked her to recruit two friends she wanted to work with.  As we all know, Heather crosses her paranormal romance with very classic traditional mystery/suspense/crime plots, and I believe that’s a big reason she came to Alex and me – all three of us write cross-genre and we love the darker mystery/thriller elements.

We decided immediately we wanted to write three sisters, and we sat down and brainstormed a story.  It went fabulously, except when we discovered that even though Nocturne had initially said, “Anything you guys want to write is fine,” in reality that translated to “contemporary setting with vampires and/or werewolves.”

So it was back to the drawing board, and in a short time, The Keepers was born.

G: How did you come up with The Wolven as part of the series?

D: Wolven were to be a specific breed of werewolves, sexier in my opinion, but they, too, were born from that brainstorming session.

G: Who was the inspiration for Shauna MacDonald? (I ask because we writers love to include ourselves in our characters or so I’ve been told repeatedly)

D: I have three daughters, so it was easy to fit a personality to Shauna, who is the youngest MacDonald sister, and have her interaction with her siblings ring true. All I had to do was pay attention to my kids!

G: So far, I see just three books in the series. Are there any plans for more or will this be it? If so, will you continue with Shauna et al or add a completely new book?

D: As far as I know, that’s it for The Keepers, but I am coming out with my own trilogy next year. It’s called the Grimoire Trilogy, and the heroines are master witches, and the heroes are part vampire/part human. Together they create whirlwind adventures that are hot-hot-hot!

G: Will any other writers join The Keepers or your other efforts (Pen to Press, Writers for New Orleans, etc.)?

D: Pen to Press Writers Retreat is for serious, aspiring writers. We don’t match up writers to projects, but we do try to match up writers with agents and/or editors.

G: How has it been with Harlequin’s Nocturne series?

D: Everyone at Harlequin is so wonderful to work with! I feel truly blessed to be part of their paranormal romance family.

G: For other writers hoping to get into the – no doubt – crowded market of paranormal romance, what would you recommend that they do?

D: Write the best story possible and NEVER give up!

G: On a different note, do you think America has forgotten about its commitment to rebuild New Orleans? Are you satisfied with what is being done and what has been done?

D: I don’t think America has forgotten about New Orleans, but I feel the government sure has. If they were that concerned about our city, there would be mile-high levees surrounding it now. Instead, we’ve thrown mega bucks at failing lending institutions that mismanaged their money in the first place. Arggghhh!

G: Well, thank you very much for joining us today, Deborah and good luck with The Wolven.

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And that will do it for us, folks. Be sure to check Amazon.com and your local book stores for The Wolven.

We thank you for reading us on WordPress and we look forward to seeing you over our new site on Blogger.com tomorrow (Dec. 1).