Friday, August 26, 2011

An Interview with a Vampire & His Brother

So today I have a very special treat for you all. Patricia Lynne, along with Tommy & Danny from her debut novel, Being Human, have joined me for an interview. If you don't know about the book yet, here's some info from Goodreads:

Being Human

Synopsis:  For Tommy, there is only one thing he needs to do: survive.

Only surviving isn't that easy. The hunt for blood can be tricky when humans know to fear the night. Desire sits on the edge of his mind, urging him to become the monster humans think he is. Vampire Forces, a special branch of police, is determined to turn every vampire to ash. Tommy included.

The only human Tommy can trust is his twin brother. A bond connects them, and with Danny's help, Tommy starts to understand the human world he struggles to survive in. He'll learn what friendships means and feel the sting of betrayal, find that sometimes the worst monsters are very human, and come to understand that family means more than blood.

Tommy just wants to survive and he knows what he needs to do. But with the number of humans that mean more to him than a meal growing, he'll learn there's more to life than simple survival. He'll discover being human doesn't mean being a human


***

The release date is set for 8/30/2011 and to be honest I can't wait to get my hands on a copy. But until then, I give you my interview with Tommy & Danny.



First, I’d like to thank you both, Tommy and Danny, for allowing me to interview you. I know this can’t be easy. Especially for you Tommy.

Tommy stares at Me. Why wouldn’t it be easy?
Dan sighs. Figure of speech lil’ bro.
Tommy: Oh. Why am I doing this again?
Patricia: Because I said so, now answer the questions and behave.
Dan: That means don’t threaten to eat Melanie.
Tommy: I don’t need to feed right now.
Dan shakes his head.


First round of questions is for Tommy:

1)      How old are you?

Tommy looks at Dan. “How old are we?”
Dan: We’re 38 now.

2)      How long have you been a vampire?

Dan: Since he didn’t know the answer to the first one, I’ll answer. He was fifteen when turned.
Tommy: I can do math when I need to.
Dan rolls eyes. You can do anything when you need to.

3)      And do you remember how you were turned?

Tommy: No.
Patricia sighs. Don’t talk too much. Vampires instantly start losing their human memories when turned so how they were turned is the first thing to go.

4)      What were you like when you were human?

Tommy: I don’t know or care.

5)      And how do you feel about humans in general?

Tommy tilts head at Me. Happy? If there weren’t humans I’d permanently die because I couldn’t feed.

6)      Do you still enjoy human activities? Like, I don’t know, going to the movies? Watching sports?

Tommy: No.
Dan: That’s not true. He’ll do something if Jamie (he calls her Sunlight) wants to or my daughter, Mackenzie, says he should. He doesn’t know how to say no.
Tommy: I can say no.
Dan: And that’s why when Mackenzie said she wanted some sour cream and onion chips and there was none in the house, you got money out of Rissa’s purse and went to the store because she said you should.
Tommy: She needs to eat to survive.
Dan: Well, she could have eaten something else then.

7)      What would you say is the best part about being a vampire?

Tommy: Not being human. Humans are not very good at surviving.

8)      And the worst?

Tommy: Nothing
Dan: Oh yeah? What about turning to ash in sunlight? Or how you whine about how hot it is when you do something that gets yourself stuck above ground during the day?
Tommy: I don’t understand what you mean.
Dan: Those things are a threat to your survival.
Tommy: But how are those things the worst part of being a vampire? If I want to survive, I avoid those things so they aren’t a problem. You’re not making any sense.
Dan sighs. Maybe we should skip this question.
Tommy: But I answered it.
Dan: Next question!

9)      What would you say is your biggest flaw? Your greatest weakness?

Tommy glares. I don’t talk about my weaknesses.

10)  And your greatest strength?

Tommy: Surviving.

11)   If you could change one thing in your past, what would it be and why?

Tommy: That’s a stupid question. It’s not possible to change the past and why would I want to change it? That would mean my life would be different and I don’t want that.

12)  If the world were coming to an end and you could only save one person, who would it be and why?

Tommy stares. Why would I only be able to save one person? I’d make sure I could save everyone I love. My brother and his wife, my niece, and Sunlight. If I had any friends, I’d save them too. I wouldn’t need a reason either. I’d save them because I love them. And why is the world ending? That doesn’t make sense. How can it end? Looks at Dan.
Dan: I’m gonna need a drink after this interview.



Now on to Danny:

1)      How would you describe your relationship with your brother before he was a vampire?

Dan: It was a close relationship. At times our parents were tearing us apart. Hell, we shared a bedroom until we were thirteen. I think Dad was a little worried how close we were was unhealthy.

2)      And now?

Dan: It’s just as strong. Only now we feel more. Our emotions, especially. The really strong ones like happiness and anger tend to surge. I can always tell when it’s Tommy’s emotions I’m feeling and not my own. It feel different, tingles through me.

3)      Are you ever afraid of your brother?

Dan: Oh yeah. First time was when he showed up at my dorm after getting his ass kicked by another vampire.
Tommy: I wanted to see you. You weren’t at risk of me killing you. I’d only do that if you were going to die.
Dan shakes his head. Yes, you’ve told me that already. Anyways, he shows up and I get this great idea to see if my blood can heal him and give myself a little cut and rub it on one of his wounds. It didn’t work. Then he gets an even better idea to see what I taste like and bites my thumb. Scared the hell out of me!
Tommy: I had every intention of letting go.
Dan: And then there was the time he stayed in my dorm room during the day. Shows scars on his wrist. Chomped right down on me. I thought I was going to die.
Tommy mumbles: I’m sorry.
Dan pats his back. No worries lil’ bro. You let go and we learned to always get you below ground during the day.

4)      What would you say is the most important part of being human?

Dan: Wow, I’m not sure I can answer that.
Tommy: Why not?
Dan sighs. Because I don’t think there’s any one most important part of being human. It’s a lot of little things that makes me human.

5)      What is your biggest regret?

Dan: As much as I accept Tommy as a vampire, I do always wish I could have stopped his turning. Or at least him killing our parents. Thanks for having us, I enjoyed myself. Elbows Tommy. Say thank you, lil’ bro.
Tommy: Thank you.
Dan sighs. Yup, I need a beer now. Come on lil’ bro, I’m sure Mackenzie is chomping at the bit to know how this went and annoying her mother by not going to bed. Looks at Me. She has school in the morning.


***

To learn more about Patricia Lynne and Being Human please feel free to stalk her. Tell her I sent you.

Twitter: @patricialynne07

9 comments:

Patricia JL said...

Thanks for having me and the boys, Melanie. It was a fun interview to answer despite what Tommy complaining about doing it.

Melanie_McCullough said...

Thanks for stopping by. Oh & tell Tommy thanks for not eating me!

Mandie Baxter said...

Great interview! The boys are hilarious.

Patricia JL said...

Thanks Mandie. I really enjoy letting those two loose.

Katelyn said...

What a fun interview! Character interviews are always my favorite because you get to learn a little about the characters before you even read the book. These two guys are hilarious! I love the relationship that they have!

Patricia JL said...

@Katelyn, I know! I love reading them too. You get to know the character more, see more. Especially once the book is over and you want more.

Rachel Brooks said...

What a fun post! I hope you’re having an awesome weekend!

Also, I’m a new follower—wonderful blog! Stop by my blog and follow me too? :) http://rachelbrookswrites.blogspot.com/

Patricia JL said...

Thanks for reading Rachel.

Melanie_McCullough said...

Thanks everyone for stopping by! I hope you all made sure to buy your copy.

Rachel - thanks! I love new followers. I'm now following your blog as well.