So, I'm very pleased to share with you all my interview with Laurie Faria Stolarz, the author of Blue is for Nightmares, Deadly Little Lies, Bleed, and Project 17. She was such a joy to interview and I am so thankful that she agreed! Well, here it is!

Romantic Scholar: First of all, would you mind giving us a brief summary of Deadly Little Lies?

Laurie Faria Stolarz: Last fall, sixteen-year-old Camelia fell for Ben, a new boy at school who had a very mysterious gift – psychometry, the ability to sense the future through touch. But just as Camelia and Ben's romance began to heat up, he abruptly left town. Brokenhearted, Camelia has spent the last few months studying everything she can about psychometry and experiencing strange brushes with premonition. Camelia wonders if Ben's abilities have somehow been transferred to her.

Ben returns to school, but he remains aloof, and Camelia can't get close enough to share her secret with him. Camelia makes the painful decision to let him go and move on. Adam, the hot new guy at Knead, seems good for her in ways Ben wasn't. But when Camelia and Adam start dating, a surprising love triangle results. A chilling sequence of events uncovers secrets from Ben’s past – and Adam's. Someone is lying, and it's up to Camelia to figure out who – before it's too late.


View the Book Trailer for Deadly Little Secret: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fzMpVMy2fQ

RS: What inspired you to write the TOUCH series?

LFS: I wanted to write a story where the main character has to struggle with the idea of falling in love with someone who could potentially be dangerous. I tinkered with this concept in the first three books of my Blue is for Nightmares Series [(Blue is for Nightmares (Llewellyn 2003), White is for Magic (Llewellyn 2004), and Silver is for Secrets (Llewellyn 2005), as well as in Bleed (Hyperion 2006)]. In Bleed, in particular, there’s a young male character who was convicted for the murder of his girlfriend. His next relationship consists of pen pal letters he exchanges with a young girl while he’s in prison. Without giving too much away, the relationship is briefly pursued once he is released, but I wanted to bring this concept to another level.


Additionally, I wanted to continue experimenting with the supernatural (which I also use in my Blue is for Nightmares Series as well as in Project 17), showing how we all have our own inner senses and intuition, and how with work we can tap into those senses and make them stronger.

I started researching different types of supernatural powers and discovered the power of psychometry (the ability to sense things through touch). The concept fascinated me, and so I wanted to bring it out in a character, showing how sometimes even the most extraordinary powers can also be a curse.

Lastly, I wanted to apply these concepts to be part of a series. I love the idea of growing a main character over the course of several books.

RS: Do you have any favorite characters?

LFS: I love Annie Wilkes from Stephen King’s Misery. Chillingly well written.

RS: Is there a certain message within the TOUCH series you would like your readers to know?

LFS: Yes, people need to trust and listen to their instincts. There are several messages embedded in all of my books, and whichever messages makes sense and/or speak to the reader is great.

RS: You also have another book that has recently come out, the fifth installment to your Blue is for Nightmares series, Black is for Beginnings. Could you tell us a little about that?

LFS: The BLUE IS FOR NIGHTMARES series that put a spell on more than half a million readers continues – in graphic novel format! Prophetic nightmares. Near-brushes with death. Killers pursuing her and her friends. Stacey Brown knows that being a hereditary witch isn’t all it's cracked up to be.

All she really wants to do is work things out with Jacob and figure out what to do with the rest of her life. But before Stacey and Jacob can have a future, they must face their pasts. BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS reveals the never-before-seen backstory - and what lies ahead - for the young, spellcasting lovers.

BLACK continues the harrowing adventures of Stacey and Jacob in the wake of Jacob's brush with death. Ever since he lost his memory, Jacob hasn't been able to remember Stacey - his own soul mate. He leaves Massachusetts, returning to his childhood home in Colorado, hoping to jog his memory. What he remembers is Kira, his ex-girlfriend. As Jacob works to piece together his past, will there be room for Stacey in his future?

RS: What made you decide to publish it in the form of a graphic novel?

LFS: I wanted to try something different. The arcs of the first four books are similar in many respects, and so I wanted to give the series a creative spin. I felt the series was finished at four books, but readers kept asking me for a fifth. When my editor approached me with the idea of writing a graphic novel, I was very intrigued, because it gave me the opportunity to not only try something new, but to really picture the book as a movie. I have a background in screenwriting and wrote BLACK IS FOR BEGINNINGS in screenplay format, adding in ideas for illustrations and sidebars. It was an absolute thrill to write, and to have the opportunity to work with an illustrator for these characters and situations I’d created.

RS: Can we look to see any more from your Blue is for Nightmares series?

LFS: Possibly ;) We’ll see.

RS: What first inspired you to write?

LFS: I’ve been writing since before I could even hold a pen. As a small child, I was constantly telling stories to whomever would listen to me. When I’d exhausted my family with my endless babbling, I’d go out and tell my tales to the neighborhood kids – passing the stories off as truth. I’d tell of going into the meadows at night and wrestling with a mountain lion or the time I found a boa constrictor in my mom’s garden and had to grapple for my life, winding the snake from around my neck just in the knick of time. Telling stories is just something I’ve always done. I used to write plays and scripts for my Barbie dolls and make people watch the performances. My love of creating stories continued into school when I’d have to write a paragraph or short essay about what I did during Christmas vacation or summer break. I never thought my own life was exciting enough, so I was forever inventing stories.

People along the way, including some teachers, would tell me that I should pursue writing as a career but, at the time, it wasn’t a possibility. I ended up going to business school, following in my older brothers’ footsteps. It wasn’t until after I got my B.S. in marketing that I pursued my graduate degree in creative writing. I’m thankful for my marketing degree now, however, because it really helps me with my books.

RS: Do you like to have any food or drinks when you write?

LFS: I love dark, black coffee.

RS: How much time do you usually spend writing in one sitting?

Romantic Scholar To start, would you mind giving a brief summary of Sea Change?

Aimee Friedman Miranda Merchant, sixteen and levelheaded, is spending the summer on a small, mist-shrouded island off the coast of Georgia. The island's history is full of legend and lore, particularly regarding people who come from the sea and live on land as humans. Miranda dismisses these legends as the stuff of fairy-tales...until she meets Leo. A green-eyed, handsome, mysterious local boy, Leo challenges everything Miranda thinks she knows about boys, love, friendship...and reality.


RS What inspired you to write such a different genre from your other books?

AF I'd had the idea for Sea Change for a long time. I love The Little Mermaid story, and I love the movie "Splash," and I'd always wanted to write a story where the roles were reversed: it's the boy who comes from the sea and the girl who is the human in love with him. So this idea was percolating while I wrote some of my other books, and then, when all the YA supernatural romance novels started to explode, my editor felt it was the right time for me to publish my "merman" story. It was fun and challenging and exciting to depart a little bit from the very realistic YA fiction I'd been writing.


RS Miranda is such an independent and unique character. Is she based off of you or someone you know?

AF In many ways, Miranda is like me, but also a much more rational, logical, calm version of me! Like Miranda, I went to the Bronx High School of Science, but I was never that great at science--I always preferred English, writing, history, languages. And unlike Miranda, I tended--and still tend--to be a little on the dramatic side. I gave Miranda all the "steady" qualities I often wish I had...but then of course all those qualities get turned upside down when she falls in love.


RS Do you find it easy to come up with your characters and storylines?

AF I almost always have lots of different, half-formed, little snippets and seeds of ideas brewing in my head, and it's just a matter of sitting down and tethering those ideas to a real narrative. Sometimes it's just a line or a phrase that I'd like to follow into a larger story, sometimes it's a "what-if?" scenario, sometimes it's a character. Often my characters are inspired by someone I've known or met at some point in my life, but the character I write is never quite like that real-life person. Like the little seedling ideas, the character inspirations are just jumping-off points. The process can be rich and rewarding, but it's certainly never easy.


RS Do you have any favorite characters?

AF In SEA CHANGE, I'd have to say my favorite character (aside from Miranda and Leo, of course) is Isadora. Though we never meet her, she's such a strong presence in the story that she's almost like a ghost. And of course there's her own romantic history, her fabulous clothes, her fierce spirit. I'd love to write a story just about Isadora herself..


RS Can we look forward to seeing a sequel to this story?

AF I do have a sequel in mind, but I'm working on something new right now, so I haven't had a chance to work on it. But stay tuned!


RS What inspired you to write?

AF I've written every since I can remember--probably ever since I COULD write. It's simply my favorite thing to do, the one thing in life I can't imagine NOT doing. I think I'm a born daydreamer, so writing, in many ways, is like daydreaming on paper. Only a little bit harder.


RS Do you have any favorite authors?

AF So many! My tastes are very varied, too. I love Charlotte Bronte, Meg Cabot, Michael Chabon, Emily Giffin, Tracy Chevalier...and on and on.


RS Are you looking forward to any upcoming releases?

AF SEA CHANGE will be out in paperback in June 2010--be on the look-out!


RS Are you working on anything new right now?

AF Yes, I'm working on something for younger readers, which has been a refreshing change of direction for me. I love to mix up the kind of writing I do to keep myself creatively energized!


RS Where is your favorite place to write?

AF A small cafe right near my house that has the best vanilla iced lattes, muffins, comfy seats, and--most importantly--lots of people around me, also working on their laptops. I pretty much need to be around other people who are being productive in order to be productive myself.


RS Do you like to listen to music while you write? If so, what do you like to listen to?