Inside The Mind Of A Living Dead Girl: Part One
An interview with Tamsin Silver, author of The Betrayal, A Living Dead Girl Novel
At New York Comic Con 2008 I was traversing the many stalls and tables down Artists’ Alley when I came across Georges Jeanty; the artist for Joss Whedon’s glorious comic book series of Buffy The Vampire Slayer; and all-round nicest guy I have the pleasure to chat to at length once a year. He was chatting to a bubbly but refreshingly sarcastic woman with short black hair and a great sense of style. As I waited for a small sketch of Willow to be emblazoned on my copy of Jeanty’s sketchbook, I got chatting to Tamsin Silver; a woman I have since become good friends with via Twitter and e-mails.
Tamsin was, at the time, an aspiring author working on a young adult fiction series of books about vampires, werewolves and witches. We had a lot to talk about. Since that day I have watched as her books and career have grown in front of her and she is now a published author. The Betrayal, A Living Dead Girl Novel was released through Eirelander Publishing on October 14th, 2011 and at NYCC 2011, I met up with her in person for the first time in what seemed like an age, for a long overdue chat.
So why don’t we start with a little bit about how Living Dead Girl started out?
Sure. About 10 years ago, or more, I started writing. I really wanted to write a story about a kick-a** female character. This was way before Buffy The Vampire Slayer even existed... so, I started writing, because I thought we needed some female kick-a** characters; and I was like what would be a really strong, powerful female in the fantasy world? And I was like - a witch, who can do a lot of things, who’s special; and so what I did was I started writing this love story... that’s actually how it started off, because I started writing this book in my late 20s so it was going to be a vampire love story.
A vampire and witch were in love... I didn’t really know where it was going to go and then I stopped writing it after a while and I got busy doing theatre and finally I decided “Right, I really need to finish this!” So I started re-writing it a bit in my 30s and all of a sudden I realised this isn’t a love story and that the person I thought she was supposed to get with is not who she ends up with! Then I was like, wait a minute - and my characters kind of took over and the book ended up being very political in some ways: very moral like doing the right thing - what’s black, what's white? The fact that the tag line talks about how the line between good and evil is sometimes blurred and I think that’s true in real life. I think that everybody always has a very definite sense of what their moral background is and what they’ve been raised with and I think everybody, as they grow up (especially in their 20s) - they really have to question where they stand on issues. I mean; do they stand where their parents told them to stand? Or do they stand somewhere else? And so that’s kind of what this story is about except in a fantasy situation.
You know how when you watch the Lord Of The Ring movies? And you think it’s all about good and evil and this damned ring? And you get to the very last movie and all of a sudden you go “Holy s**t! It’s about friendship! It’s about Frodo and Sam and it’s about that friendship” and you’re like “Oh, wow!” Well that’s what I wanted. I really want this to be a story about these three friends. They were human friends and all of a sudden, everything happens and they’re in this world of magical creatures and they’re like, “Oh s**t! There’s a war coming. What are we going to do? Are we going to stand or are we not?” Y’know? So it’s kind of about these three friends and how they get separated and where they end up and there are some love-life situations in there too... but I think overall the entire series stems from the idea that in your 20s, your life changes drastically. You start having to make decisions for yourself. You start having to know who you are and I think that is more what I wanted to play with is: what do you believe in? What do you stand for? How do you make that decision?
Who would you say is your favourite character to write in the series?
I have this wonderful flaming male character and he ended up gay because he is gay. Not because, “Oh well I need a gay character”. I just started writing him and all of a sudden I was like ‘Oh, he’s gay... Okay - cool’. His original character name was Alex and it had to get changed through publishing so his name is now Grayson. So I would say it would be a toss up between writing for Grayson or for Sean. Sean is my leading male in the story.
Atlanta is my leading girl and she is great; I like writing her; but she’s very dark. She’s the one we follow and we follow her down the rabbit hole; and she goes into really bad places. In the third book I write, she is so messed up it’s like writing someone who is not actually, really there; so I had to write an entire book with my lead female not really mentally present. So... she goes through a lot of c**p. It’s kinda like, we deal with the idea of drug abuse... I mean, we touch on all of this stuff.
Did you find you needed to do a lot of research for the subject matter in this book or did a lot of it come naturally?
I work in theatre so I’ve done a lot of research, because I’ve done some shows that deal with drug addiction and dealt with other things like prostitution and all those... all those fun things [Laughs]. Um... so most of my research dealt with the background of the world because I found a way (and this is going to p*** off the Church), I found a way to take all four factions of the werewolves, the shape-shifters, the vampires, etc... and I found a way to tie them to the Bible... I’m in so much trouble with the church! [Laughs] I was raised in the church so this why I have a pen name. So... a lot of the research came with that and it also came with figuring out exactly about the city because it takes place in Boston and I’ve only been to Boston a few times. The sections that take place here in New York are easy.
What inspired you to write in Boston?
The Salem Witch Trials. I have an addiction to the Salem Witch Trials. I directed The Crucible when I was teaching high school and ever since I did so much research on that; I was just really fascinated and in love with the whole concept. So the idea is that the witches never really left. That they’ve always been in Salem. So it takes place in Salem and around Boston.
There’s a really strong understanding of Pagan and Wiccan beliefs in the book, where would you say that inspiration came from?
Um, I toyed around with... well, like everyone does when they’re younger... people try to figure out which religion they kind of belong to and I was really fascinated and I really interested in Wicca. Their choices... I mean - you’re Wiccan! You’ll understand this - they’re so loving, giving and accepting in that religion and in that culture and I love that! I was raised Baptist and you can’t get much different than that.
But, I really thought - and it came down to this: vampires are fiction (by the way, they’re fiction. yes. fiction [Laughs]) and so are werewolves and shape-shifters, but... Witches. Wicca is real! People are true to that and they love what they are and I really thought - when people read the book - I don’t want this to be wrong! It’s not like they can go “Oh, you made that up about vampires! You’re wrong! They don’t do this!” Because they’re fiction. But when it comes to Wicca, I had to get it right. So I bought The Witches’ Bible Complete, The Witch Encyclopaedia, I bought all kinds of stuff. This wonderful girl in the UK gave me this really huge book of spells. So I really wanted it right.
We ended up having to cut one of the big inductions into the Coven, so I’ll be posting that as a freebie on my website.
And you’re doing that with a lot of content and chapters aren’t you?
Yes. Anything that I had to pull is going to end up on the website for free. What I’ll do is: I’ll be like, “Okay! When I reach this many Twitter followers we’ll throw up a free thing on the website”.
You seem to really embrace the social networking side of things. How do you think that has affected your writing?
I think it’s given me a sense of community. I joined NaNoWriMo last year (because some wonderful girl with blue hair told me what it was) and I made friends with girls here in NY in the writing group; and then they invited me to join their actual writing team, and I think that that’s been a big help. They’re all on Twitter and so, even though I was on Twitter under my pen name, I really hadn’t been embracing it. But once they were all on it with me... it’s a great support team. Everybody on Twitter.
And now, I’ll tell you this: if something happens in the world it’s on Twitter first! It hits Twitter before Facebook; before it hits the news. When we had the earthquake here in NY, it hit Twitter before it hit CNN! Juliet Grames, who was my first editor, taught me how to write a query; and she was the one who said “You have to start a Twitter for this you need a blog!” But I think in the end - I mean I don’t have many followers yet - but I think that will be beneficial, because if people really enjoy the book and they want to follow the world I’ve created then they’re give the chance to have a personal relationship with the writer.
I talk to Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices) on Twitter and it’s the same with a couple of other writers so it gives you a sense of community and you don’t feel like you can’t talk to these writers. That you can’t learn from them... in the same way, there was a wonderful fantasy agent who has been kind enough to (through Twitter) offer to answer questions through e-mail with me and she’s been wonderful! I never would have gotten that help if it hadn’t been for Twitter, so I think I’ve got a lot of support and I think I’ve got a lot of ideas and help through that.
Inside The Mind Of A Living Dead Girl: Part Two
Tamsin Silver’s book The Betrayal, A Living Dead Girl Novel is available now to buy as an E-Book through Eirelander Publishing for $6.99 (that's approximately £4.50). It is also available through Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble’s Nook Book and Book Strand.
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