THE WILDCLAW L.A. BANKS INTERVIEW
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Interviewer: Charlie Athanas

L.A. Banks

On research for the books:

"I found myself caught up in this whole thing with quantum physics and black holes and I never thought I would go there in a so-called vampire novel. But, you know, when you have people materializing and dematerializing and walking through walls you have to have some kind of basis for explaining it other than, 'Oh well, it was a ghost.'"

On killing a major character:

"There was a character who was so dead, I mean, he was out of here! (laughter) He was in the process of being killed in sunlight, you know, the old fashioned way. And I just loved that character. I could not kill him. And I said, “Hmm…” And I was kind of slowing around and I got this call at the end and my editor said, “Don’t kill him! You think you can do one more book? C’mon, this guy… look at the numbers!” And I had no idea I was going to actually save him."

On her new book, Bad Blood:

"I have a new werewolf series with Crimson Moon Novels that is dropping April of this year and the first book in that series is called, Bad Blood."

CHARLIE: Hi, I would like to welcome everybody to WildClaw’s BLOOD RADIO and today we have Leslie Banks, the recipient of the 2008 Essence Storyteller of the Year Award and author of over 30 novels in various genres. So, good morning, Leslie.

LESLIE: Good morning. How are you?

C: Very good. We would like to talk about your twelve novel The Vampire Huntress series from St. Martin’s Press, which started with the book, Minion, and is now on book ten with The Darkness. How would you describe this series to the new reader?

L: Wow, it is really kind of like an epic saga. One book to the other flows as though you are watching or reading a mini series and it’s really a battle between good versus evil in the real classic sense. You have a person who has been chosen to be the slayer, so to speak, and a whole lot of Guardians, but these guys are like the misfits of society. The dregs, so to speak, the throw away people that just didn’t fit in and then they find out the reason they didn’t fit in is because each one of them has a psychic power that made them kind of weird when they were growing up. Or in other social scenarios, but they’re suppose to guard her. And together they do what vampire slayers and hunters do. That’s really the basis of it, but it sort of tracks toward the Armageddon and the End of Days scene. So there’s this ticking clock that everyone is up against. That’s really what it’s about.

C: Well, are you excited that you’re on book ten of a twelve book series?

L: Oh, I have mixed emotions. I’m excited that it lasted this long and that there was so much enthusiasm around the series, because it was suppose to be a one or two book deal that wound up just going on and on. So that part is exciting, but there’s separation anxiety. You know, I love these characters. Every book puts me closer to the end and it’s like, wow.

C: I grew up in New Orleans where the supernatural is very much a part of the fabric of the city, but I understand that Philadelphia played a role in the creation of this series. So, do you want to talk about that?

L: Sure, sure. I think that one of the things is that Philadelphia is so old and we forget that the birthplace of the nation started over here on the East Coast. So you have these old, old, old alleys, and these old tiny passageways, and Masonic Temples and all kinds of things like that. That’s really the fabric of it. So, it comes from some of the real ancient, well, ancient from the perspective of the United States, mind you.

C: Right. Looking at your website, I understand that the crime in the streets and every day news sparked this series.

L: Oh, yeah. I mean truth is stranger than fiction. Some of this stuff I couldn’t make up. As I cruise the news sites and, you know what I mean, not just the local news, but world news events and then start matching them up to the predictions of Nostradamus and any of the pundits from back in the day. You see what I’m saying? Well, yeah, they said it would be an earthquake and a tsunami and a this and a that and fire would fall from the sky and we’ve got an asteroid on its way in a collision path! All this kind of stuff. It’s not always hard to make this stuff synch up, ‘cause sometimes it gets kind of scary, you know?

C: Yeah. I mean you know you’re onto something when you’re writing, when you’re a little scared in the room.

L: Yup, yup. When you scare yourself. Ha! That’s the thing, you know, you go, “Oh boy, okay.” (laughter)

C: Well, that’s a good sign. One of the things you’ve done is develop an extensive mythos series that is a really rich mix of history, science, religion, and the supernatural. One of the things I’m curious to know is what has been your richest source of ideas from a research standpoint?

L: Well, from a research standpoint this series probably has taken me deeper as a writer, stretched me as a writer more than anything, because you have to research weapons; you have to research old, old arcane aspects of occult, religion; some things of science. Like I found myself caught up in this whole thing with quantum physics and black holes and I never thought I would go there in a so-called vampire novel. But, you know, when you have people materializing and dematerializing and walking through walls you have to have some kind of basis for explaining it other than, “Oh well, it was a ghost.” You know? (laughter all around)

C: Yeah, it’s seems these days you really do have to shore up your fantasy worlds with some pretty hardcore science.

L: Yeah, you do. You really do. Yeah, it’s like the people who watch Trek, I mean, they could probably do quantum physics, some of those folks. (laughter) So, you have to be accurate for your reader, especially with history and the religious aspects. When I sit down I have the Torah, the Kabala, the Koran, the Bible. I mean, I have all that stuff open at the same time, you know, trying to say, “Okay, well, this archangel correlates to this one, correlates to what they said in the Old Testament in this book and you know you can’t be wrong with that stuff, ‘cause people will call you on it and rightfully so.

C: Right. Well, interesting that you were going to start with two books and to actually get a twelve novel story arc and all the stories tying up. So, my question is, I guess it’s grown organically, ‘cause you wouldn’t have known what the big end game is earlier on, would you, since you were starting with two books?

L: Oh, no. I mean this has been the greatest case of making it up as you go along. (laughter all around) I wish I could say that I had this grand strategy, but no, in my mind I was going to do two books and the two books were going to be the end of the story and once I got this saga out, but the people who came to it, they were like so excited and the publisher kept saying. “You think you can do one more?” And the reason we kept only adding one or two more books at a time is because I said, “Look, I don’t want to commit to a big, long contract on this.” Because if I run out of juice and run out of steam somewhere in the middle of the contract I’m not going to just write junk. You don’t want to cheat your reader. So as long as I have it, I’ll keep writing it is what I told them. We went to twelve. Actually, when we got about to the contract on book nine, I said, “I can do three more and then I’m going to call it quits.” Because I had three more at that point in my head.

C: Ah, okay. So what has been your biggest surprise from the story standpoint that you had no idea you would come up with? I mean, I understand the quantum physics, but was there any sort of big shock as you wrote it where you said, “I had no idea I was going here.”

L: Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Like right around book four, I don’t want to do a spoiler, but there was a character who was so dead, I mean, he was out of here! (laughter) He was in the process of being killed in sunlight, you know, the old fashioned way. And I just loved that character. I could not kill him. And I said, “Hmm…” And I was kind of slowing around and I got this call at the end and my editor said, “Don’t kill him! You think you can do one more book? C’mon, this guy… look at the numbers!” And I had no idea I was going to actually save him.

C: Well, you do know that’s what happened to Sherlock Holmes? That halfway through, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed him off in a very famous scene at the top of these falls with Moriarty and he was so popular that they insisted they bring him back. But he was deader than a doornail, but…

L: Yes, yes! I mean, I think it happens and it’s the most wonderful… that’s when you really know as a writer if your mojo is working, if it works on you. If you don’t know that this character is going to take a turn and truth be told, that character from that book on, the fourth book in the series, is the one that would always do the surprise spin on me and do something. Because if you’re writing to the truth of what that character’s personality is you can’t make it fit in a neat, clean little box, you know? You look at the scene and say, “He or she would not do that.” Don’t lie. Tell the truth. And then that makes you deconstruct all the things you were going to do and you’re like, “Ah, damn.” (laughter all around) And now I really got to figure this out and that’s what also sends you to more research, because sometimes the place the character goes leads to this particular character. Oh my goodness. He gets into corners that I need to sometimes go to science or physics or some kind ancient occult something to go figure how to get him out of it. If I’m going to keep him alive! (laughter all around)

C: Or kill him again!

L: Yeah! Oh, I’ve killed him a couple of times. (laughter)

C: That’s pretty funny. Well, here’s a question that relates to some of the WildClaw fans. Do you have any literary influences from the world of horror and paranormal fiction that sort of affect or inspire your work?

L: Sure, I think more from sci-fi. Octavia Butler opened the door for me, I mean; I was just, “Wow!” Where her mind would go just…that mind kind of a thing. Wow. From that standpoint, I love Steven Barnes’ work. And I really, of course, like Ludlum, some classic stuff there. Tananarive Due, more on the chic, softer paranormal. She’s kind of like the velvet glove. But oddly enough, I’m more of a movie buff and so there are just classic flicks that you go, “Oh, I love that scene where…!” You know, Aliens, where the guy says, “Game over, man!” I love that! I live for that scene. (laughter all around)

C: Bill Paxton. Quite the actor.

L: Yes.

C: Let’s see, what else is coming up soon here? What can we look forward to besides the new book? What comes after the book, The Darkness?

L: Let’s see, in July, The Shadows, which is book eleven, comes out. And then, drum roll, we drop the twelfth and final book in the end of January ’09. Between that, I guess because separation anxiety was getting to me I started working on werewolves.

C: Okay. Werewolves!?

L: (laughter) Yeah, yeah. I have a new werewolf series with Crimson Moon Novels that is dropping April of this year and the first book in that series is called, Bad Blood. So, Bad Blood will come out in-between.

C: Great.

L: So that’s what we’re doing. We’re kind of like interweaving. We’re doing a vampire book and then we’ll drop a werewolf book, then we’ll drop a vampire book and in October we’ll drop the next werewolf book. I’m kind of crazy right now. (laughter)

C: I can imagine. (laughter)

L: So you have to forgive me. (laughter)

C: I can imagine, ‘cause you also write in other genres, not just the horror part.

L: Yeah, every now and then I’ll get the bug and I have to do a crime or a little bit of romance and relationship stuff, but I kind of always find my way back to paranormal, which probably says a lot about my personality. (laughter)

C: I think it does. (laughter) Well, I guess the last thing is that I understand that you’re going to be going to the big San Diego Comic-Con this year in July.

L: Oh, yeah. I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be at The Devil’s Candy Store booth signing with their artists there and I’m just real hyped about that, because that’s just huge and fun and crazy. Just days and days of eye-candy.

C: Well, this has been great talking to you. You’re really fun. So, hopefully we’ll hear from you again soon and we’d like to thank you for talking to WildClaw’s BLOOD RADIO.

L: Oh, thank you so much and you have a great day.

 

 

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