MaryJanice: Well, let’s see ... I live in Minnesota with my husband and two children. I’m lucky enough to be able to write full-time; before that I worked a series of day jobs, all secretarial in nature (which is how I can write so fast; I type 110 wpm!). When I’m not writing, I’m reading or cooking ... I love both. I also research for my books - for instance, since I’m not into designer shoes, but my character Betsy is, I often go to Macy’s to check out the footgear.

Donna: Have you always wanted to be an author?

MaryJanice: Oh, yes. When I was in junior high, I’d write stories and pass them around to my friends. A friend of mine just read UNDEAD AND UNEMPLOYED and told me, "I can remember being hooked on your stories when I was fourteen!"

Donna: You have written a variety of styles - what has been your favorite?

MaryJanice: Paranormal, definitely. I just love worlds with vampires and witches and werewolves!

Donna: How long does it take you to write a story?

MaryJanice: Depends on the deadline! Usually I can do a single title in two-three months without rushing, and I can do a novella in about three weeks.

Donna: What is the hardest part of writing a story?

MaryJanice: Sometimes it’s easy to get bogged down in the middle. You feel like you’ve been working on that particular book forever and it’ll never be done. The only cure for that is to keep writing.

Donna: Do you work from an outline? Do your characters ever try to take over and rewrite their scenes?

MaryJanice: No, and yes. I rarely work from outlines; I just get an idea for a story, pitch it to one of my editors, and if I get a green light, we’re off to the races. Many, many times a scene doesn’t work out the way I thought because the characters ran away with it.

Donna: Do you ever find your characters in situations that are hard to write them out of?

MaryJanice: Oh, sure, all the time. It’s not even that dramatic; they’ll be at, say, a hotel, and I’ll know the next scene has to take place in another city, or even just across town at a restaurant (or, with my books, at a cemetery). And sometimes I’ll just draw a blank: how do I get these guys from point A to point B, without resorting to clichés? Do vampires ride buses? It can be hard sometimes.

Donna: How did you go about selling your first book? How long did it take?

MaryJanice: Well, I started writing when I was 13, and started submitting when I was in my early twenties (I’m 35 now). I sold my first book, a YA romance, to Hard Shell Word Factory in 1999. That was such a thrill for me. I loved that book (ADVENTURES OF THE TEEN FURIES). And that gave me the confidence to keep submitting. Plus, the people at Hard Shell were really great to work with.

Donna: How did you make the change from e-book to printed books?

MaryJanice: I didn’t really make the change; it was sort of made for me. Cindy Hwang at Berkley had been following my novellas in the Secrets books (Red Sage Publishing). Then she heard that I had an e-book, UNDEAD AND UNWED, and bought it, downloaded it, and read it. She liked it so much she called me and offered me a three book contract. So basically, I kept plugging away, submitting wherever I could, and eventually I built up enough of a body of work so that a New York editor became interested.

Donna: Will all of your e-books eventually be offered in print?

MaryJanice: I hope so! Brava is buying the print rights for some of them, and Hard Shell, for example, has both of my e-books available in paperback. So I’m hoping eventually they will all be in paperback.

Donna: Your books are really HOT. How does it feel to have someone in your family read them?

MaryJanice: It’s not a problem. My family is incredibly supportive. My mom and sister are big fans.

Donna: Were you at all worried about writing the UNDEAD series with so many current vampire books?

MaryJanice: That’s kind of like asking a science fiction writer, "Were you worried about writing a book about space travel, with all the other books on space travel out there?" You write what pleases you. And with luck, it pleases others, too. In my case, I just wrote what I wanted to read. I didn’t think about the other vampire books out there, just that it would be fun to have a vampire heroine who was a secretary - and a shoe fetishist.

Donna: Were you surprised by your success?

MaryJanice: Amazed. Shocked. Stunned. Yep.

Donna: Where did the idea of Betsy's character come from?

MaryJanice: She’s an amalgam of me and a few other mouthy friends of mine. *g* I just liked the idea of a regular person having all these incredible things happen to her. I mean, I always thought it was weird that when vampires rose, they, like, ran away from their old lives. Heck, if it was me, the first thing I’d do is tell my mom I was okay. So a lot of the scenes in these books are a result of, "Well, what would a regular person do?"

Donna: I just have to ask, with so many possible death scenarios, why an Aztec?

MaryJanice: I love ‘em! I’ve wanted one for years. And you have to admit, it’s distinctive. Plus, it’s a little classier than being run over by, say, a Volkswagon Bug.

Donna: Do you share Betsy's passion for shoes?

MaryJanice: Nope. I’m a Payless Shoes gal ... buy one pair, get the second pair half off. I can’t fathom spending four hundred bucks for a pair of shoes. Seriously. It’s totally beyond me.

Donna: While everyone else can see that Eric is in love with Betsy, why doesn't she see it too?

MaryJanice: Isn’t that the way it is, sometimes? How many times have you seen something so obvious about a friend, and she just can’t see it herself? I don’t think that’s unusual at all. I’ve noticed many, many times someone doesn’t have a clue that a guy really cares for her. Don’t worry, she’ll see it soon. Probably too late, but that’s the way things go sometimes.

Donna: When will Betsy realize that she loves Eric?

MaryJanice: Book three, UNDEAD AND UNAPPRECIATED. But, like I said, she may very well come to the realization too late.

Donna: Eric is such a strong and sensual hero - is he based on anyone real?

MaryJanice: Partially my husband, because he’s got the same gift of stinging sarcasm that Eric does. But mostly he’s his own person.

Donna: With our favorite secondary "human" characters, are you tempted to "turn" them so they can stay with Betsy forever?

MaryJanice: You never know. I mean, Betsy and Eric live in a violent world and, by association, so do their friends. Anything might happen to Marc or Jessica. You just ... never know. There’s a reason most vampires let their families and friends think they remain dead, why they never get in contact with them, why, in fact, they’re avoided entirely. It’s dangerous to be friends with a vampire, and worse, to be related to one.

Donna: How many UNDEAD stories will there be?

MaryJanice: I’m contracted for five books, but I’ll write as many as I can! I love visiting the Betsyverse.

Donna: Can you give us any hints about future stories?

MaryJanice: Sure ... Betsy’s stepmother is pregnant, and it comes out that Betsy also has an adult half sister. Oh, and the villain in the third book is the devil. As in, THE devil. So that should be interesting. Oh, and there will be two weddings. And Betsy reads the Book of the Dead and, as she has been warned, turns totally evil. As in, throws away shoes evil. Hurts her friends evil. It won’t be a pretty sight. There’s lots coming up.

Donna: Your next book, DERIK'S BANE, will be about a werewolf. Can you tell us more about this series?

MaryJanice: Sure ... The Wyndham Werewolves are a pack of about 300,000 werewolves world-wide. Their headquarters is Cape Cod, Massachusetts. One man runs the entire pack (Michael Wyndham), but there are several pack leaders of smaller circles within the pack (they’re like cabinet members). Most humans don’t have a clue they exist; they look exactly like us, except they’re much stronger and faster. I actually got my start with werewolves in the Secrets books: "Love’s Prisoner" (Secrets 6) and "Jared’s Wolf" (Secrets 8).

Donna: You have also written books for teens, with one about diabetes. What was your inspiration for these?

MaryJanice: My cousin grew up with diabetes, and a good friend of mine has also been dealing with it for several years. I had never read a book where the hero or heroine had diabetes, so I was inspired to write one.

Donna: What is the funniest thing that has happened related to your writing?

MaryJanice: That I, the original Payless Shoes girl, was tromping through Macy’s, looking at expensive shoes and being snubbed by saleswomen. Then I went to Cinnabon and gobbled down a pound of sweetrolls. The things I do for my art ...

Donna: What kind of books do you read for pleasure? Who are some of your favorite authors?

MaryJanice: Laurell K. Hamilton, Christine Feehan, Lori Foster, Catherine Coulter (still does the best historicals, IMO), Andrew Vacchs (noir crime), Ann Rule (true crime), Carl Hiaason (hysterically funny books set in Florida), Jerry Spinelli (terrific YA), and all the writers of the Star Trek novels. Also Ina Garten, Martha Stewart, and Rachel Ray (cook books). Really, I’m pretty eclectic. I like to read everything.

Donna: What has been your favorite question or comment by your fans?

MaryJanice: Well, a young lady had gone through a miscarriage, then picked up my books to see if she could smile again. The book was UNDEAD AND UNWED, and she did a *lot* of smiling, and then wrote me about it. Talk about a pick me up for *me*.

Donna: What is your least favorite question from fans?

MaryJanice: I really can’t think of any. I’m always happy to hear from a fan.

Donna: How does the Internet affect you as an author?

MaryJanice: Oh, it makes everything soooooo easy. Research, communication, reaching out to readers ... honestly, I don’t know how they did this fifty years ago. To give you an example, I was invited to do a book signing at Uncle Hugo’s bookstore in Minneapolis. Then Laurell K. Hamilton, who was already scheduled for that show, e-mailed me to ask if I wanted to join her at the signing. Would I?????? This was all by e-mail, mind you. Then I looked up the bookstore on the Web, found out where it was located, got directions ... all this, without my butt once leaving the seat of my chair. Then I e-mailed, oh, hmm, EVERYONE I KNEW. And that’s just one example.

Donna: What are some of your favorite Web sites and discussion boards?

MaryJanice: I’m addicted to Laurie Likes Books (www.likesbooks.com). They’re my favorite - I check that site every day. They’re passionate about books and don’t take fools lightly. Some have found that out to their sorrow, thus the ongoing controversy, but it’s really Fangirls (don’t EVER say anything bad about my FAVORITE authors EVER) vs. Normal People (Didn’t like that book? Huh. That’s weird. I did. Oh, well.). Sometimes it’s ugly, sometimes it’s supportive, and always, always it’s good reading. Which is, as we know, the spice of life.

I also like Lori Foster’s discussion board - GREAT group of people there. And Laurell K. Hamilton’s discussion board. VERY opinionated people not afraid to pull a punch ... you gotta love people so passionate about a universe that doesn’t exist (hmm, I could get punched just admitting such a thing). And RBL, of course!

Donna: How can we as readers help to promote new authors?

MaryJanice: Talk ‘em up! You don’t even have to buy their books; just tell your friends about a great new writer. Word of mouth is priceless, and doesn’t cost a thing. My book club meets once a week and if I start a sentence with, "I started a book after supper and was awake with it until 4:00 a.m.," I’ve got their undivided attention and they want to know who wrote it. Or I bring a book I loved to the club and it starts making the rounds (in fact, those bums haven’t given me back ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY, dammit).

Donna: Do you have any advice for the aspiring authors here at RBL?

MaryJanice: Don’t stop. Ever. EVER EVER. Keep writing. Every page you do is better than the last. Every book is better than the last book. And so it goes. You start out writing for yourself, and when you finish, other people want to read what you wrote for yourself. That’s the goal, to stay true to yourself and write, write, write.

Donna: Anything else you would like to say?

MaryJanice: Yeah, I’m spittin’ cotton, here. I need to get a glass of milk. Later, gators.