FIRST CHARACTER INTERVIEW: ROCCO AND VAMPIRE QUEEN BETSY TAYLOR (COURTESY OF MARYJANICE DAVIDSON)

MEOW!  Today, June 5^th kicks off a new feature: character interviews!  And who better to be  our first  super special guest than that Undead Denizen of the Dark, that luscious Vampire Queen herself, Betsy Taylor! Betsy agreed to stop by and be interviewed by moi in conjunction with the release of her latest adventure today - UNDEAD AND UNSTABLE!

And now…all hail the Queen!

R: Hello, Betsy!

B:  Rocco?  You’ve got 4 legs – and a tail!

R:   Very observant.

B:  They told me you were a Johnny Depp look alike.

R: I believe what the Human said was, I’m a real cool cat.

B:  So she meant that literally, eh?

R:  Ahem. So, tell us…What was your very, very, first thought upon realizing that you were, in fact, undead?

B:  Uh...I don’t know if anybody’s mentioned this, but you’re a cat.  Nobody mentioned it to me, anyway.  I’m finding that kind of surreal.  Nothing against you personally, but I’m not a cat person.  Not even when I had one.  But to answer your weird question, cat, my first thought was:  “What the...?  Oh, BOGUS!”

R:         What advice would you give a newbie vampire?

B:         Run away.  Run far, far away.  Do not stop until the sun incinerates you and you look like the burnt marshmallow in a S’more.  It’ll be much less irritating in the long run, believe me.

R:         Out of all the abilities that came with your new “undead” status, which do you find most useful? Least useful?

B:         Huh.  Nobody’s ever actually asked me that before.  Not bad, cat.  I’d say being eternally hot is pretty great.  That’s my super power: permanent hotness.  As for least useful, do you have three days, cat?  Because just about everything else about being undead both sucks AND blows.  The minute blonde highlights and red lowlights go out of style, I’m screwed. 

R:         You could have had any man you wanted as consort.

B:         I could?  Who says?  It’s possible you’ve got the wrong vampire.

R:         Nope, don’t think so.  Now, what was it about Sinclair that let you know the two of  you were “made for each other”?

B:         Well, he has this endearing habit of putting himself in mortal danger to help me.  He’s been burned to a crisp for me.  A crisp!  He’s killed to save me, and I know he’d also die to save me.  That kind of thing, it grows on you after a while.  No matter how big a strutting asshat the man can be.

R:         Describe your relationship with your sister Laura in one word.

B:         Complicated.  But I bet that applies to a lot of sisters, even if they aren’t Ant-spawn.

R:         Describe your relationship with the ANT in one word.

B:         Over.

R:         Can you tell us what’s ahead for you?  What do you foresee as your greatest challenge in the next year?

B:         Well, I accidentally fixed it so the greatest shoe designer of the 20^th and 21^st centuries doesn’t exist anymore.  I have to find a way to fix the timeline to right a terrible wrong (again) or a way to properly mourn and honor his genius.  Don’t ask me his name, because you won’t know it since the timeline changed.  Also, you’re a cat.  Oh, and my friend Jessica’s pregnant and I should probably start dealing with that.  There’s a chance she might like that baby more than me!  I’m not sure I could handle that.  This is so typical of her, to end up pregnant in a changed timeline without a thought for how it would complicate my life.

R: You seem fixated on the fact I’m a cat.  It has nothing to do with my superb interview skills.

B:  Uh-huh.

R:  Moving along…What perk of being “undead” do you like best?

B:  We’ve been over this, cat.  What, is somebody waving one of those sticks with a feather on it to distract you?

R:         If you could meet any famous vampire from fiction, who would it be and why?

B:         None of them.  Vampires are lame.  I suspected that even before I became one.  After I became one, I had no doubt.

R:         How did becoming a vampire affect your fashion sense? Would you say it heightened or lessened it and why?

B:         Hey, watch it with the offensive questions, cat!  Nothing would ever affect my fashion sense.  Certainly dying wouldn’t.  And since I don’t need as much sleep anymore, that’s more time to research current trends (color blocking) and decide if they’re nifty (pastels are everywhere and, ironically given that they’re pastels, white hot) or lame (orange is the new black? The hell?).

R:         What would you change about Sinclair, if you could?

B:         You haven’t allocated enough time in this interview for me to cover that one, cat.  But it’s not personal.  There’s not a reporter (four-legged or otherwise) on the planet who could.

R:         What would Sinclair change about you?

B:         Bwaaaaah-hah-hah!  That’s an awesome question.  I’m vain, but not that vain...my husband would change all sorts of things about me if he could. I’m sure Sink Lair’s got a list and, like a hot Santa, he’s checked it twice.  Possibly thrice.

R:         What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done, post-vampire?

B:         Well, there was the serial killer I caught.  Well.  I had help.  And my sister killed him.  I just sort of wrung my hands in the corner and cried along with the victim until it was all over.  That’s courageous and cool, right?  And the time travel thing.  That was crazy.  Especially if “crazy” is another way of saying “awful and weird”.  Maybe...becoming a big sister/mom for my half-bro, BabyJon?  Although I didn’t really do that.  It happened to me.  Uh...jeez, I’ve gotten up to all sorts of nuttiness since coming back from the dead...I’m gonna have to give this more thought...

R:         What do you have to say about MaryJanice writing your story? Do you feel she’s portrayed you accurately? Would you change anything?

B:         What the hell are you talking about, cat?  What’s a MaryJanice?  God, what a lame name.  MaryJANICE?  She can’t separate those like a normal person?  What, MaryAnne was too conventional?  And a capital J?  How too, too cute.  By which I mean lame.

R:         What do you want to say to the legions of fans out there waiting patiently  to read about you in Undead and Unstable?

B:         I’ve been eyebrow-deep in a real shitstorm for the last several months, but after recent events I think it’s all gonna work out okay.

            I have to believe it, is the thing.

            Later, cat.

R:  And later to you too, Queen!

Many thanks to Queen Betsy for visiting me and allowing me to interview her today (and to MaryJanice, she of the Lame Name, for letting her!).  The Queen has gotten MaryJanice to agree that one lucky reader can win a copy of UNDEAD AND UNSTABLE!  Here’s how!

Leave a comment below with your email address.  For extra entries, you can:

Friend moi, ROCCO, on Facebook (if you haven’t already!)

Friend the HUMAN on FB

Friend MaryJanice on FB

Follow moi on Twitter @RoccoBlogger

Follow MJ on Twitter

Tweet or FB about this interview and giveaway!

Be sure to list all you’ve done in the post so we can give you the extra entries. Tweeting or FB’ing about this interview and giveaway gets you 3 – count ‘em 3 – extra entries!

Contest open to US residents only. Closes midnight, June 10th, winner announced on June 11! Winners chosen at random using random.org.

What are you waiting for??????????????????????Get goin!


 

Still to come:  Interviews with Geoff Rodkey, KariLee Townsend, Tate Halloway, Carrie Vaughn and…in JULY…our next character interview…RICHARD CASTLE. Plus our big KNTR fundraiser on Ebay!  You could win either a prize basket of CASTLE goodies or a basket of autographed books from some of your favorite authors, including Carrie Vaughn and MJ Davidson! Keep watching this blog for more details!

Ma-Row!

ROCCO

INCREDIBLE BLOGGING CAT