Paranormal Comedy
Date Published: September 28, 2018
Publisher: ZB Publications
Laurence Roch might be the worst vampire in Seattle. He adores peppermint mochas. He follows the Seahawks and Mariners religiously. He never wears black or sleeps in a coffin. However, coffin or not, a vampire needs a safe place to rest their head, or they will go insane.
After his mortal love died, Laurence found himself alone and without a home. With the booming tech industry, the city’s population keeps growing. The hunting is good, but the affordable real estate is hard to find.
How long would you say it takes you to write a book?
Depends on the book. My first comic, Faminelands: The Carp’s Eye, took me nine months. I wrote and illustrated each issue of Out For Souls and Cookies in 5 – 6 weeks each between projects. For my written works, Other Systems took me 18 months, The Light Side of the Moon took me three years. The Martlet was originally a single (looong) novel which I rewrote several times until I got the bright idea to break up the episodes into novellas. So far that project has taken me seven years! Each novella takes me about four months as there is a stong outline with the original novel.
Thanks for having me.
Interview with Elizabeth
Guizzetti
Thank you so much
for having me, Nancy
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Immortal House?
The protagonist, Laurence Roch, is a 200-year-old vampire who is looking for a house in Seattle, 2018. He’s a fairly successful middle-class artist and wants to remain in the city. He’s been saving since the 1960’s since vampires struggle to get traditional mortgages. Obviously, he doesn’t want big windows or southern exposure, but he’s willing to invest in a fixer upper. As you can imagine, he requires night-time viewings.
He has the assistance of Sarah Martin, a licensed Relator. She thinks Laurence is a strange client and when she is honest with herself, he sets her on edge.
He also needs help from Norma May Rollins, a younger vampire, who cleans up all kinds of messes for the Seattle’s supernatural community.
The antagonist is the city of Seattle, its rising population and horrendous housing market. The book shows realistic pricing for 2018. Laurence visits many of the Seattle neighborhoods which are still within his budget. I sought out real listings when I wrote this book.
What was the hardest scene from Immortal House to write?
I struggle with something in every book I have written. While some books it was a specific scene, but in Immortal House the most difficult issue dealt with its balance. Laurence is a vampire. How much his history should I put in? How much bloodsucking? How many scenes with Seattle’s vampire community?
These parts aren’t funny as the rest of the book. I wanted to be respectful and not delete the ugly parts of history and yet tell the story of an Italian immigrant who worked as a bookkeeper and accidently became a vampire.
To hopefully nail the balance between horror and comedy as well as the slice of life versus paranormal aspects I kept repeating: Immortal House is a story about a vampire buying a house. If the history and vampire scenes didn’t help tell Laurence’s story, they were removed. This is why some periods of Laurence’s life are glossed over and I cut many of the scenes with Laurence and Norma and the other vampires.
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?
I have a few projects planned.
My comic book series Out For Souls & Cookies is now a graphic novel which comes out in December. Out For Souls & Cookies is about two demons who move to Seattle and dress up like dogs, so people will take care of them. This comic has several local fans. I’m just finishing up a few things before I send the graphic novel to the printer.
Then it will be time to return to my epic fantasy novella series Chronicles of the Martlet. In Book Four: The War Ender’s Offering, Alana, Eohan and Roark seek ingredients of a possible cure for the sickness which is sweeping the Realms while Kian and Corwin study the malady. This book should be out by March 2019 as I often do Science Fiction/Fantasy Conventions in the spring.
Once I finish The War Ender’s Offering, I have another vampire project. As I said I cut several vampire scenes from Immortal House. These extra scenes filled out Norma’s history and the history of Seattle’s biggest coven, The Paper Flower Consortium. With this inspiration: I decided to write a few cozy mysteries with Norma as the protagonist. She cleans up all kinds of messes for vampires, werewolves, merfolk among others and I have enough ideas for three separate mysteries. These are yet untitled, but I expect the first one to come out for next Halloween.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Immortal House?
The protagonist, Laurence Roch, is a 200-year-old vampire who is looking for a house in Seattle, 2018. He’s a fairly successful middle-class artist and wants to remain in the city. He’s been saving since the 1960’s since vampires struggle to get traditional mortgages. Obviously, he doesn’t want big windows or southern exposure, but he’s willing to invest in a fixer upper. As you can imagine, he requires night-time viewings.
He has the assistance of Sarah Martin, a licensed Relator. She thinks Laurence is a strange client and when she is honest with herself, he sets her on edge.
He also needs help from Norma May Rollins, a younger vampire, who cleans up all kinds of messes for the Seattle’s supernatural community.
The antagonist is the city of Seattle, its rising population and horrendous housing market. The book shows realistic pricing for 2018. Laurence visits many of the Seattle neighborhoods which are still within his budget. I sought out real listings when I wrote this book.
What was the hardest scene from Immortal House to write?
I struggle with something in every book I have written. While some books it was a specific scene, but in Immortal House the most difficult issue dealt with its balance. Laurence is a vampire. How much his history should I put in? How much bloodsucking? How many scenes with Seattle’s vampire community?
These parts aren’t funny as the rest of the book. I wanted to be respectful and not delete the ugly parts of history and yet tell the story of an Italian immigrant who worked as a bookkeeper and accidently became a vampire.
To hopefully nail the balance between horror and comedy as well as the slice of life versus paranormal aspects I kept repeating: Immortal House is a story about a vampire buying a house. If the history and vampire scenes didn’t help tell Laurence’s story, they were removed. This is why some periods of Laurence’s life are glossed over and I cut many of the scenes with Laurence and Norma and the other vampires.
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?
I have a few projects planned.
My comic book series Out For Souls & Cookies is now a graphic novel which comes out in December. Out For Souls & Cookies is about two demons who move to Seattle and dress up like dogs, so people will take care of them. This comic has several local fans. I’m just finishing up a few things before I send the graphic novel to the printer.
Then it will be time to return to my epic fantasy novella series Chronicles of the Martlet. In Book Four: The War Ender’s Offering, Alana, Eohan and Roark seek ingredients of a possible cure for the sickness which is sweeping the Realms while Kian and Corwin study the malady. This book should be out by March 2019 as I often do Science Fiction/Fantasy Conventions in the spring.
Once I finish The War Ender’s Offering, I have another vampire project. As I said I cut several vampire scenes from Immortal House. These extra scenes filled out Norma’s history and the history of Seattle’s biggest coven, The Paper Flower Consortium. With this inspiration: I decided to write a few cozy mysteries with Norma as the protagonist. She cleans up all kinds of messes for vampires, werewolves, merfolk among others and I have enough ideas for three separate mysteries. These are yet untitled, but I expect the first one to come out for next Halloween.
How long would you say it takes you to write a book?
Depends on the book. My first comic, Faminelands: The Carp’s Eye, took me nine months. I wrote and illustrated each issue of Out For Souls and Cookies in 5 – 6 weeks each between projects. For my written works, Other Systems took me 18 months, The Light Side of the Moon took me three years. The Martlet was originally a single (looong) novel which I rewrote several times until I got the bright idea to break up the episodes into novellas. So far that project has taken me seven years! Each novella takes me about four months as there is a stong outline with the original novel.
Immortal House also took me four months as I started
with a stong idea of what I was doing.
What is your favorite childhood book?
I read a lot of books when a kid, both picture books and chapter books. I read what is now called middlegrade in first grade, because my older brother was in sixth grade at that time and I wanted to read all the books he did. I didn’t have a favorite, but I read a lot Choose-Your-Own Adventure books making sure I got to ALL the options.
If you could spend the day with one of the characters from Immortal House who would it be? Please tell us why you chose this particular character, where you would go and what you would do.
While I am likely to run into Laurence at a local Drink-n-Draw, I’d love to spend a Saturday night with Agata: an ancient vampire who has lived since the fifteenth century and the leader of the Paper Flower Consortium. Saturday Night is their Sabath, so I’d have to attend her public service and fellowship. Then we could take a walk on Alki Beach. I choose her because she is patient and always willing to grow and learn. She settled her coven into Seattle, so she’s pretty progressive for an ancient vampire. We could talk politics and she’d not get upset.
What is your favorite childhood book?
I read a lot of books when a kid, both picture books and chapter books. I read what is now called middlegrade in first grade, because my older brother was in sixth grade at that time and I wanted to read all the books he did. I didn’t have a favorite, but I read a lot Choose-Your-Own Adventure books making sure I got to ALL the options.
If you could spend the day with one of the characters from Immortal House who would it be? Please tell us why you chose this particular character, where you would go and what you would do.
While I am likely to run into Laurence at a local Drink-n-Draw, I’d love to spend a Saturday night with Agata: an ancient vampire who has lived since the fifteenth century and the leader of the Paper Flower Consortium. Saturday Night is their Sabath, so I’d have to attend her public service and fellowship. Then we could take a walk on Alki Beach. I choose her because she is patient and always willing to grow and learn. She settled her coven into Seattle, so she’s pretty progressive for an ancient vampire. We could talk politics and she’d not get upset.
Also Agata doesn’t kill
those she drinks from, so just in case she decides to taste me, I’d survive. J
What made you want to become a writer?
I’ve known I wanted to be an author since I was 12 years old. I loved to read. It was about that time I realized people wrote books as a job rather than just for fun which meant I could do it as a job too. That being said, I was 29 when I wrote my first published work.
What made you want to become a writer?
I’ve known I wanted to be an author since I was 12 years old. I loved to read. It was about that time I realized people wrote books as a job rather than just for fun which meant I could do it as a job too. That being said, I was 29 when I wrote my first published work.
Just for fun
(a Favorite song: Let’s Start a Band by Amy McDonald
(b Favorite book: The Stand by Stephen King
(c Favorite movie: Conan The Barbarian
(d Favorite tv show: Halloween Wars
(e Favorite Food: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
(f Favorite drink: A perfect latte at aproximatly 140 degrees Farenheit. When you pour the perfect shot with perfectly steamed milk, it is smooth and delicate enough there’s no need for syrup. I tend to drink Stumptown or Broadcast at home, but I’d be lying if I pretended I didn’t drink a lot of Starbucks—especially at conventions.
I also like tequila a lot, but not with my latte or peanut butter cups.
(g Favorite website: Youtube. You can learn anything on Youtube.
Thanks so much for visiting with us today!
(a Favorite song: Let’s Start a Band by Amy McDonald
(b Favorite book: The Stand by Stephen King
(c Favorite movie: Conan The Barbarian
(d Favorite tv show: Halloween Wars
(e Favorite Food: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
(f Favorite drink: A perfect latte at aproximatly 140 degrees Farenheit. When you pour the perfect shot with perfectly steamed milk, it is smooth and delicate enough there’s no need for syrup. I tend to drink Stumptown or Broadcast at home, but I’d be lying if I pretended I didn’t drink a lot of Starbucks—especially at conventions.
I also like tequila a lot, but not with my latte or peanut butter cups.
(g Favorite website: Youtube. You can learn anything on Youtube.
Thanks so much for visiting with us today!
Thanks for having me.
About the Author
Much to her chagrin, Elizabeth Guizzetti discovered she was not a cyborg and growing up to be an otter would be impractical, so began writing stories at age twelve.
Three decades later, Guizzetti is an illustrator and author best known for her demon-poodle based comedy, Out for Souls & Cookies. She is also the creator of Faminelands and Lure and collaborated with authors on several projects including A is for Apex and The Prince of Artemis V.
To explore a different aspect of her creativity, she writes science fiction and fantasy. Her debut novel, Other Systems, was a 2015 Finalist for the Canopus Award for excellence in Interstellar Fiction. Her short work has appeared in anthologies such as Wee Folk and The Wise and Beyond the Hedge. Between long projects, she works on a ten-part novella series, The Chronicles of the Martlet, following the life of an elfin assassin turned necromancer just for funsies. Immortal House is her seventh written book.
Guizzetti lives in Seattle with her husband and two dogs. When not writing or illustrating, she loves hiking and birdwatching.
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