Interview with Rhonda Parrish

We welcome Rhonda Parrish.. Welcome Rhonda! Thanks for allow us to interview you.

EP: Your new book is Sister Margaret. The title and that it’s a paranormal vampire story is a really intriguing mix. Can you tell us about it?

RP: Sister Margaret is about a vampire hunter and a half-incubus swordsman who are hired by a priestess to take care of an undead pimp. In retrospect it may not have been a good choice for me to call the priestesses in the fictional world this story is set in 'sister' because for lots of people that word conjures up images of Catholic nuns. My priestesses are just as dedicated, but to a completely different God J

EP: I love the fantasy feel of this story. It reminds me of something out of Dungeons & Dragons. Did your interest in World of Warcraft (gaming) influence you?

RP: I think you hit the nail on the head with the Dungeons and Dragons reference, actually. I used to play…a lot. I think that probably influenced this story more than my World of Warcraft addiction. To me, D&D is grittier than Warcraft, and that was sort of the feeling I was going for with Sister Margaret.

It was also directly influenced by Sin City. I wrote it shortly after watching the movie for the first time and in my mind Michael's voice is most definitely that of Bruce Willis.

EP: When I first saw this book had a heat rating of only one flame, I wondered how the heck it could involve a vampiric pimp. After reading the story, I can see why. Did you make a conscious decision to keep the sex subtle?

RP: That's a great question J I didn't make a conscious decision to keep the sex subtle, mostly because I didn't need to. The sex is really a periphery thing to the rest of the story, so it was easy to keep it subtle. LOL Man, that sounds really contradictory considering the description I gave earlier, but it's really true. This story deals a fair bit with prostitutes and the like, but it addresses their humanity more than their profession I think.

EP: Will we be seeing more stories about Sister Margaret or Michael? What about the barbarian, Bayne?

RP: I have written a novel which is sort of a sequel to Sister Margaret (backwards as that may seem) which I'm currently looking for representation for. Margaret herself doesn't make an appearance in it, but Michael and Bayne both do along with Bayne's sister Colby and Xavier; a mutated man with a sentient shadow.

I've also got a novel-in-stories about Bayne, Colby and Xavier finished. So yes, there is definitely a lot more in store for several of these characters. I loved them far too much to stop writing about them at the conclusion of Sister Margaret.

EP: What is it about vampires which fascinates you?

RP: I don't know, exactly. It may be their versatility. They can be incredibly sensual velvety creatures or cold undead monsters – or both.

EP: Some people say vampires are overdone. I disagree. What’s your take on it? You hint about werewolves in this book, what about them?

RP: I don't think vampires are overdone, but I do think it's important that your story have more going for it than just the face it has vampires in it. Werewolves too. I adore a well-written vampire or werewolf story, but I don’t want to read the same one over and over again with different titles. I don't imagine anyone does.

EP: Tell us a bit about Rhonda. Besides online gaming, what else are you into?

RP: World of Warcraft sucks up the majority of my leisure time, there is no question LOL In addition to that, however, I also read a ridiculous amount, quilt, cross stitch, garden, volunteer in a grade two classroom and am pursuing a BA. My goal is to get it sometime before I turn 40. I –may- manage that LOL

EP: What types of books do you like to read? Who’s influenced you most?

RP: I read a large variety of books, across a number of genres. My current favorite authors are Peter S. Beagle and Neil Gaiman. I adore them. Their prose has such a lyrical feel to it. Love love love J

EP: Where can we find you online? Webpage? Blogs?

RP: I keep a blog/webpage at http://www.rhondaparrish.com/ , plus I'm the editor of Niteblade Magazine (http://www.niteblade.com/) and thus blog there. I am also on Facebook and Good Reads.

EP: Is there anything you’d like to add?

RP: Not at all. Thank you so much for the interview and the wonderful thought-provoking questions. I think I'm going to spend the rest of the week trying to determine what writers have directly influenced my writing. That one may puzzle me for a while. Thank you!

Thanks again for joining us, Rhonda. Here’s more information on Rhonda’s book, Sister Margaret.

Sister Margaret
by Rhonda Parrish
http://www.eternalpress.ca/sistermargaret.html
Fantasy/Paranormal/Vampire
$2.50
Heat rating: 1 flame
eBook ISBN: 978-1-926647-63-0
Print ISBN: 978-1-926647-71-5

Blurb:

Michael has always felt bad about the way he treated his friend Charmaine when they were younger, even going so far as to blame himself for her becoming a prostitute. Now she's a priestess to Rakkir, the god of secrets and lies, and he is given a chance to make up for mistakes of the past when she calls him to deal with a problem for her. A vampire problem. But the more involved Michael gets, the more he realizes Charmaine may not be telling him the whole story…and she may have changed even more than he suspected.

Excerpt:

Xaphan had a lot of minions—a lot. They swarmed on Bayne like flies on shit, a living wave of fists and feet, all determined to bring him down. None of them reached him. His face, contorted by battle fury, looked every bit like a demon, all trace of humanity erased. He moved the
sword as though it were an extension of himself, each movement calculated to destroy as many of his foes as possible. Within minutes, the roar of battle subsided to the whimpering of wounded and Bayne’s once white hair was stained pink with blood. An occasional cut ripped through his shirt; one or two even managed to draw blood. But in less than ten minutes, he’d reduced the vampire’s army to a pile of mangled corpses and unidentified gore.

I entered as he replaced his sword in the scabbard strapped across his back, careful to watch my step lest I slip on the blood and goo and find myself covered in things I’d rather not contemplate. From a far corner, buried in shadows that mortal eyes couldn’t hope to penetrate, the
distinct sound of feminine sobs could be heard. The leech had hostages after all. Good thing I’d decided against the fireball.