Hello again, and welcome back to Monday!
Funny how we keep meeing, here, isn't it?
Today, let's start things off with Claudia Blood!
Claudia Blood’s love of epic fantasies led her from life as a research scientist right into that of an award-winning author. With works such as the Relic trilogy, Merged series, and the Supernatural Detective Agency, Claudia Blood’s work cover a wide range of genres and themes that have captivated many.
Juggling her roles as a wife, mom, and pet-wrangler doesn’t leave much free time, but what time Claudia has is filled to the brim with creating sci-fi and fantasy novels set in some worlds that are slightly familiar and some that are totally unique and new. Taking inspiration from all kinds of media, from Dungeons & Dragons to the Dresden Files as well as Alan Dean Foster and so much more, Claudia Blood crafts stories that entice readers and keep them wondering what will happen next.
Today Claudia Blood is working on a new series called Renegades Rising. To keep up to date with all of Claudia Bloods’ sci-fi and fantasy novel adventures feel free to sign up for Claudia Blood’s Newsletter by sending in your email through my contact page!
How to reach her:
Star Trek or Star Wars?
Star Wars (Although I like both) I recently saw all the Star Wars movies in movie chronological order at a local planetarium with my kids.
Firefly – gone too soon or overrated?
Gone too soon.
Coffee, tea, or cacao?
Tea! Iced if possible.
Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
Mostly dreams. Day or nighttime dreams. I get a scene in my head and if it is intriguing enough I try to figure out what happened.
The relic trilogy started from a jungle dream where an 80’s aerobic instructor popped out of an alien machine found in ruins.
The first book in the Merged series came from a scene where a man walked past the security screening at work one morning with an odd crowd of his co-workers and was declared no longer human.
The supernatural detective agency’s first book was inspired from a scene where the wrong man was tied to the bed.
What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?
Anywhere I can fit it. Most of my days are chaotic.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I’m not sure if it is interesting, but I tend to be a flashlight method writer. It’s like navigating in the darkness with a flashlight. I have a vague idea where the story is going and I use the flashlight to find the next point. In all the books I end up coming for air and making sure my plot points make sense.
Where do you get your information or ideas for your books?
Once I have a concept there are things I need to research. Google is my friend. Like in the current book I want to have a Pangolin. Like a giant subterranean one. So I read everything I can about the pangolin and then do some research on what happens to animals if they end up going to live in caves. I look up what sort of ecosystem might survive and if it could support a creature that large. At this point I am not sure if I will have a scene with a pangolin acting like the boulder chasing Indian Jones, or if I will find some other creature or idea to fit in the slot I have in mind. If nothing else, it's fun!
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I play D&D with hubby and friends…and sometimes with the kiddos.
We make Halloween treats. I love candy eyeballs and making and decorating monster cake balls.
I’m a reader.
I spend a lot of time shuttling kids to places.
How many books have you written? Which is your favorite?
I’ve published seven books. My favorite rotates based on my mood, but right now it is At the Cabin. It's a supernatural suspense with demons, hitmen, arsonists, a dog rescuer, ex-FBI, and doppelgangers.
What is the first book that made you cry?
I can’t remember if it was ‘ogre ogre’ or ‘nor crystal tears’.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
It depends. There are times where my fist is raised to the universe and I bemoan the fact that I have the urge to write. Things would be so much simpler if I didn’t. And then the story catches me or a scene does and it's magical.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
If something I am working on doesn’t line up to my subconscious master plan, suddenly I have read 10 books and have a cleaner house without me realizing I was avoiding writing. I have to recognize the symptoms and then make myself consciously solve the problem. It’s quite annoying.
What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?
I’m going to answer it differently. I had an ex who hated my cat. I ended up writing a flash fiction from the cat’s POV that changed his mind about the cat. There were buds after that. It just proved how affected a person can be by a writer.
How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have?
I have the next book in the merged series, the next book in the supernatural detective agency series, and a separate fantasy book that may or may not get merged into the merged series. I have hundreds of partway started stuff or scenelets.
This is the writer’s version of ADHD.
What is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything?
42!!!!
What do you have coming next?
I am in the middle of the Renegades Rising Series. It’s a series of interrelated novellas that all lead to a book with a working title of Hostile Takeover. It’s a lot of fun with time travel, assassins, cyborgs, cavern adapted pangolins, prison moon, and much more.
