Chocolate Chunky Munkie: Author Interview & Giveaway: Lisa Shafer

Confessions of an Average Half-Vampire by Lisa Shafer

Released: February 4th 2012
Publisher:Create Space
Series: Yes #1
Format: E-book
Source: From author for review purposes
Find At: Goodreads |Amazon UK | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
Author Site: Lisa Shafer

Goodreads Synopsis:

Lurking in the nuclei of a few rare human cells is an as-yet unstudied gene. It is a gene that makes the inheritor crave mammal blood and faint in bright sunlight. It is a gene that prevents the bearer from appearing normally in digital or mirror images.
It’s a gene that makes life heck if you’re in junior high and trying to fit in.

Eric Wright is a half-vampire with a problem. Several problems, actually. He can’t tell bloodlust from his rollercoaster adolescent hormones. The cutest girl in first period English wants him to become a vegetarian. And the assistant principal suspends him when he refuses to explain why his skin appears translucent in a school security video.

Then Eric’s non-vampire mom, who’s definitely not telling everything she knows, takes him with her on a business trip. To Scotland, where it never stays sunny for very long. The perfect hang out for a vampire. Or several. If only Eric can find one to talk to before he makes any more stupid mistakes....

You can see my review HERE

I'm really excited to have author Lisa Shafer drop by Chocolate Chunky Munkie and answer some questions for me.

Author Interview:

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Here's my official Amazon author page description: Lisa Shafer is a Utah native and a writer of young adult fiction. Her current novels and WsIP all contain elements of the paranormal or urban fantasy, but someday she hopes to branch out into steampunk as well. As she has spent so many years teaching puberty-ridden adolescents, she tends to prefer first person POV in order to use teens' perspectives on the world. Or, possibly, she never really grew up and tends to see the world that way naturally. When she is not grading her students' papers, reading, or writing, Ms. Shafer enjoys traveling. Her bad habits include staying up way too late at night to read and eating way too much chocolate.

Or, if you want the LONG version, here's the link to my ABOUT ME page on my blog: http://lisashafer.blogspot.com/p/about-lisa-shafer.html

What inspired you to want to become a writer?
I've always loved telling stories. I daydreamed a lot as a child and made up fantastic worlds for my dolls and stuffed animals. I created imaginary friends and told my real friends stories about them -- and my friends started copying me, so I knew I was onto something with that. :) My first success as a writer came in 6th grade (the last year of elementary school, age 11), when I won a class contest for writing a story. We'd had to use a certain list of vocabulary words (vial, crimson -- those two were on the list), and the teacher read my story out loud. I can still recall how cool I felt when the other kids laughed at all the right moments. That story, of course, was about a vampire.

Please tell us in one sentence only, why we should read your book.
You should read my book if you would enjoy a humorous take on a vampire who's stressing out about being a teenager AND bloodlusting at the same time. What sparked the idea for your novel? In the autumn of 2003, I was teaching a group of 9th graders (ages 14-15, the 3rd year of secondary school) about reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself, herself, etc.), using the idea of a mirror to convey that such pronouns reflect themselves. I was joking with them to get them to remember better, and I happened to tease a boy named Eric about only half-showing up in a mirror because of his odd sunburn on only one hand (He'd been golfing with a glove on one hand.). And the idea of that boy's being a half-vampire popped into my head. I told the class, and they laughed at the idea -- and the book was born. That class gave me other ideas over the first few weeks. The real Eric simply told me one day, "I want telekinesis." And I worked that into the plot. Also, the kids knew I'd been studying in Scotland (I did my MSc at the University of Edinburgh.), so they wanted the fictional Eric to go there, as it does have a great climate for vampires.

Your favorite authors?
Oh my. You DO realize I'm an English teacher, right? Okay, I'll try to narrow it down. Shakespeare is my number one favorite ever. Period. Other writers I adore are Mark Twain, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker (of course!), JRR Tolkien, and Jane Austen. Now, authors I love who are still LIVING include: JK Rowling (who is awesome!!), Ian Rankin (I own every single Rebus book), Steve Hockensmith, Alan Bradley, and Connie Willis.

If you could go to dinner with one of your characters who would it be and why?
I think I'd like to sit in on the pizza dinner Eric shares with Alasdair, Patrick, Sharon, and his mom. That would be a fun place to be. :)

And a PS: Anyone interested can find me on my blog: http://lisashafer.blogspot.com/ on goodreads, on twitter, and on Pinterest (links on my blog). My book is available in paperback and e-book on all the Amazon sites, and I have two more books coming out within the next few months.

Thank you Lisa for taking time to answer my questions, some great answers :)

GIVEAWAY:

Lisa has kindly offered to supply the prizes for this giveaway. One winner will get a paperback copy of Confessions of a Teenage Half-Vampire, this will open to US, Canada & UK. Two winners will also be able to win an e-book copy of the book, this is open to Everyone.