MY INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR A.D. WAYNE

Mrs. Blackwood, Book #1 from Lord Impaler Series

What was the inspiration behind this story?

A.D. Wayne: The inspiration behind Mrs. Blackwood was to show how your life can flip upside down with only one event. The inspiration was basically me refusing to believe that life can be this grey and wanting to add some colors.
Tell us about your main character?

A.D. Wayne: My main character is Coralie Bellefleur, an author and historian, who knows self-defense and knows how to protect herself but maybe not against vampires. She faces the one creature she’s been writing about and can’t believe them to be real. Yet, she has to cope with reality and accept their existence as well as the fact that she is married to someone she doesn’t know.
Which is your favorite minor character and why?

A.D. Wayne: I would say I had fun having people wonder about Ryan. He is so kind to Coralie and protective of her that it does have people wonder what his true intentions are. Ryan was a fun character to work with and I can’t say much without giving away spoilers since he is quite important despite being a minor character.

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What is your favorite personality trait of your main character?

A.D. Wayne: Her sense of justice. The moment Coralie realizes that balance is shifted and that someone is after the rightful heir, her husband, she decides to investigate and re-establish fairness in the house. She might be dealing with a lot of strange situations at once, but she is still true to herself and fight for what is right.
What is your favorite personality trait of your bad guy/girl?

A.D. Wayne: His greed. Greed is something that can have you go beyond any right and wrong to obtain what you want. It is something that can have one change from a good-hearted person to a villain. Especially when you feel you were wronged, greed will become the one thing you hold onto to push you further. So, his greed had me play with his mind the way no other traits could.
Tell us something funny about one of your characters.

A.D. Wayne: At first, Coralie refuses to believe vampires exist when she first encounters them. She thinks they are role-players for live action role play games. She even thinks of them as “lifestylers” and tries to beat them up only to slowly realize they were real or quite strong for nerds.

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I’m inviting your main character to dinner. What should I make?

A.D. Wayne: Bloodletting? Kidding, they either feed off one another or drink VitaL. Sadly, they can’t really ingest much more than that. However, in small quantity, I think they wouldn’t say no to homemade waffles with blood syrup. O_O
Were you surprised by the behavior of any of your characters or the direction of your plot at any point while writing?

A.D. Wayne: Yes, at first, I wasn’t expecting to tie Mrs. Blackwood to my Lord Impaler series. However, it did feel right to do so by introducing his name and giving a back story to Mr. Blackwood. It required me to rework part of the stories and I won’t lie, it gave me a headache. However, it was worth the pain. It is a nice introduction.
Please share a few favorite lines or one paragraph.

A.D. Wayne: Coralie stepped back, took off her headphones and she widened her stance, lowering her body, ready to defend herself for the first time in her life. Confident in her skills, taking four people down should be doable for someone as strong as her, she tried to convince herself. Fangs? Those people are vampire wannabes. I thought I was in Raleigh, not Transylvania! This should be very easy, she thought. “You are new here, aren’t you, little bloodbag?” One of the men said eyeing her. “Bloodbag?” Coralie repeated in a monotone voice, showing her annoyance to the quartet. “Oh, but what have we here? A quicklife that thinks she’s at the top of the food chain!” One said while circling her with a noticeably light footstep as he looked into her eyes. “Quicklife? Seriously, you guys need to get a life outside this roleplay you’re doing.” Coralie replied as she turned her back on them, but not without paying attention to their every sound; they were incredibly quiet, which was disconcerting.

How long did it take you to write this book?

A.D. Wayne: It took me about two weeks to write the novel. The inspiration came to me quite fast and it was like I couldn’t type fast enough. I am gifted with a very creative mind and so, once my outline of the novel is done, I can jump in and mostly likely can’t be stopped.
If your book was made into a movie, who would you like to play the lead characters?

A.D. Wayne: Coralie Bellefleur was entirely inspired by the country signer, Miranda Lambert. I don’t know if she can act, but she was the only inspiration for my main character.
How did you come up with the title?

A.D. Wayne: The title was given to me by my editor at the time, Tara M. Clapper. She went through the novel, read my first title and was like, “I think you should just call it, Mrs. Blackwood.” I thought it was genius and kept it.
Tell us about your cover art and how it pertains to your story.

A.D. Wayne: This is the second edition of Mrs. Blackwood. The first cover had an arm wrapped around a tree as it is more about suspense than romance. With a graphic design background, I wanted something more simplistic and something that represents Coralie throughout the entire story. When I found the picture of the eye, it was easy, I was sold. It shows all the stages Coralie goes through in one glimpse.

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Of all the books out there, why should readers choose this one? (What makes your book stand out from the rest?)

A.D. Wayne: Nobody is reinventing the wheel. Mrs. Blackwood contains parts of my favorite paranormal shows such as, True Blood and Justice League Dark. It portrays what I enjoy about the subject and research. So, if people are looking for a paranormal comic book turned into a novel? That’s the story for you! It has suspense, horror, gore, and passion of all kinds.
Is there an underlying theme in your book? If so, tell us about it and why/if it’s important to you.

A.D. Wayne: Hatred is one thing I am firm about, I want to end it and fight it. I want it to vanish and disappear. So, it is always portrayed in my novels through many levels. From racism to sexism and breed. I go far into it and bring the worst out of people for readers to feel how hatred can be ugly and turn people from kind to monsters.
Fiction can often provide powerful life lessons. What message do you hope readers get from your book?

A.D. Wayne: It’s not because there are no proof, that it can’t be real. While I’m not saying vampires exist, I’m trying to show people that life can be more than what we see if we stop for a while and listen.