Exploring Vampire Lore and Love with Author Lana Campbell – Interview

 Today we have author Lana Campbell with us. She’s the author of the Forever and a Night series. Check out what she has to say about her work, inspirations, and more.

Lana Campbell is the author of the vampire series Forever and a Night. She lives in Avoca, AR with her oldest daughter, Jessica, husband Bobby and the ruler of the roost, cat Felix. Her passion is writing paranormal romance. Currently, she is working on book five in her vampire series.

How long have you been writing for? When did you realize you wanted to become a published author?
It was back in 1994. I’d been an avid romance reader all my life and decided I wanted to try my hand at writing. I didn’t get serious about it until 2014. I published my first book, book one in my Forever and a Night series on 26 April 2016.

What’s your writing process like? Do you sit down and write for hours at length, a little bit whenever you have time, or something different?
I write when it’s the most quiet. When no one is around. It’s usually early in the morning or early afternoon when I get off work.

Tell us a bit about Forever and a Night. What kind of readers will it appeal to?
Forever and a Night is a sweet romance, yet it’s packed with a good deal of action. The underlying theme of this book is the heroine’s, Mia, spirituality which has a direct impact on the process of the unraveling of the love affair between Mia and Nathan. Nathan is a vampire who was turned long ago by an evil feral vampire, Isabella Ravini. She left him when he was a very young man to figure out how to be a vampire who isn’t evil and deranged.

Through time Nathan amasses a fortune and comes to term with his lot in life as a vampire. At the point the story starts, Isabella is after Nathan once again, this time for his money. He tries to hide from her in New Orleans where he meets sous chef, Mia Peebles. She’s the embodiment of everything he’s ever wanted in a woman. She’s beautiful, sexy, sweet and very moral. She doesn’t know when she meets Nathan that he’s a vampire. He hides this fact from her because he’s been very naughty, feeding from her without her knowledge or permission.

Guilt gets the better of him though as love blooms between the pair. When he eventually tells Mia the truth, she freaks out and wants nothing to do with Nathan ever again. You think it’s over for them at that point, but hardly. Evil Isabella shows up soon after Mia learns the truth and rips her throat out. Nathan changes Mia into a vampire to save her life. Now Mia hates Nathan even more, not just for his duplicity but for making a life altering decision that has turned her into what she believes is a spawn of hell. But with knowledge comes forgiveness and Nathan learns through Mia’s staunch beliefs as a Christian that eternal love and true forgiveness is possible.

Here’s the official blurb:

Nathan Davenport is being stalked by Isabella Ravini, the feral vampire who stole his human life over a hundred and sixty years ago. She made him her fledging, a slave for her dark, evil purposes—hunting humans. After a few years she released him, and Nathan reluctantly learned to accept the cursed life she’d foisted upon him. Over time he amassed a great fortune, which today has made him famous worldwide. Isabella decides she wants to be a part of this world of fame and fortune Nathan created for himself. She’s determined to marry him, and love has nothing to do with it. His money is her primary target, and the fame and prestige attached to being the wife of one of the richest men in the world wouldn’t be so bad either. In an effort to evade her until he can figure out how to stop her, he hides at a safe house he owns in New Orleans. One Saturday evening in NOLA, he decides to have dinner in the city. He chooses a quiet little Italian bistro, never imagining this night will change his life forever. The human woman who delivers his order isn’t a server, but the restaurant’s sous chef, a beautiful ethnic woman possessing the most delicious blood scent he’s ever encountered.

The moment Mia Peebles arrives at his table with his plate, tasting her becomes an obsession. Mia wants nothing to do with him because of Nathan’s reputation as a playboy. So Nathan enchants her, feeds from her, but his lusts for her blood and body play havoc with his thinking. Nathan finds a way to bring her into his life as his personal chef and quickly falls in love with her. The trouble is Mia has no idea he’s a vampire because during the enchanting episodes, Nathan blocked her memories of those sensual encounters. How will Nathan tell her the truth without losing her and keep Isabella from finding him? Or worst yet, will Isabella discover how much Mia has come to mean to him?

As a writer, do you create an outline and stick to it or do you prefer going where an idea takes you?
I have a mental outline, but I do prefer to write seeing where my characters will take me. They haven’t let me down yet.

What’s the hardest thing for you about writing?
Getting over a temporary writer’s block. If I’m not writing I feel guilty, but I’ve learned that sometimes I just have to back away for awhile. Eventually, it all comes to me, but I can’t force it. That just doesn’t work.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with new authors?
Develop a passion for writing and don’t make excuses for why you can’t write. Make the time. That’s the only way to become a published writer

Any opinions about self and traditional publishing?
If I could be traditionally published I would always choose that over self-publishing.

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You can connect with author Lana Campbell through Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter. You can also check out Lana Campbell’s Amazon Author Page to purchase her published books.

Have you read works by Lana Campbell? What did you think of them? Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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