INTERVIEW WITH TIM O'ROURKE AUTHOR OF VAMPIRE SHIFT - KIERA HUDSON SERIES & CHARACTER INTERVIEW WITH THE RAGGED COVE COPPERS - MURPHY, POTTER AND LUKE

I would like to welcome TIM O’ROURKE author of 'VAMPIRE SHIFT' , to Novels On The Run and thank him for taking the time to answer some questions for my interview and for writing such a unique take on vampires. I highly recommend ‘Vampire Shift’, it is full of twists and turns and some great characters and a brilliant spin on the vampire genre that I found very refreshing. (Review of Vampire Shift here)

For an added treat I will be driving over to The Ragged Cove Police Station straight from my interview with Tim to have a chat to Sergeant Murphy, Constable Sean Potter and the handsome Constable Luke Bishop.


Constable Kiera Hudson has told me some interesting things about those boys , so I thought you all might like to meet them on a more personal level..... this is all of course for you guys.....not for me at all....* wink*

INTERVIEW WITH TIM O'ROURKE

Congratulations Tim on ‘Vampire Shift’, your first book in ‘The Kiera Hudson Trilogy’ I absolutely love the cover, very striking. Woo hoot, it has just been released in paperback format, well done.


Michelle:  Where were you Tim, and what were you doing when you first had the idea for this book? I like asking this question as you never know what answer you will get from an author for what inspired the idea and what they were doing at the time.


Tim:  I was writing another book at the time called the ‘Rugged Shore’ and just like ‘Vampire Shift’ the lead was a young female police officer. But for the last few months my wife Lynda had been on at me to write a Vampire novel. She reads a lot of them - I’ve read a few but not many. My reasons for not wanting to write one were simple - I thought it had been done so many times before. I didn’t know if I could bring anything new to the genre. I was about 40,000 words in on the ‘Rugged Shore’ and there were bits I loved and bits I wasn’t so sure about. And with Lynda taking every available moment to remind me that I should really write a vampire novel - I put ‘The Rugged Shore’ aside. Like I’ve said, there were parts of the book that I really loved - like the lead character, although her name was Samantha Brook, and I thought by tweaking her character a bit, I could take her with me to ’Vampire Shift.’ I liked the setting that I’d created in ‘The Rugged Shore’ so I took that too and changed the name to the Ragged Cove. And that was about it - that’s all I had. So I sat down with the blank page just staring up at me and the first line I wrote was… My name is Kiera Hudson. And that was it. I wrote the next line and the next and blindly followed Kiera into the Ragged Cove. I wrote the book in 15 days and have never had so much fun writing a book.


Michelle:  You have already written a couple books in the Black Hill Farm series, which I will be reading soon and ‘Zachary Black & the Doorways To Endra’. Will you be continuing with these books or do you have some other works in progress apart from The Kiera Hudson Trilogy?


Tim:  The Black Hill Farm books are all done. There were only ever going to be two books in the series. The first being told from Ben McCloud’s POV and the second from Andrea Black’s POV. The Zachary Black book is part of a trilogy and the second is written in note form, but I need to find the time to write it up. I do have another series about a character called ‘Jack Darker’. There will be five books in the series and the first three are written and ready to go, but I won’t be publishing them until 2012. The first book is entitled ‘The Freedom Raven’, the second ‘The Celestial Sphere’ and the third, ‘The Mechanical Twins’. I want to complete the Kiera Hudson Trilogy and am currently working on the second book in the series which is entitled ‘Vampire Wake.’ I’m planning to have this out by mid-August this year. I then plan on getting the third and final Kiera Hudson book out by November and I think that will be my lot for 2011. I will then gradually release the first three ‘Jack Darker’ books and while that’s happening, I’ll be busy in the background finishing the ‘Zachary Black Trilogy.’ Although (and this is a bit of a spoiler) - I’ll probably come back to Kiera Hudson once a year and publish a book about her. Just stand alone novels in which she has to investigate some supernatural happening or crime. I’m already jotting down a few ideas - I already know that Murphy, Potter or Luke will go with her on these mysteries but I don’t want to tell you which of them it is - not yet anyway. They’ll be like X-Files but Kiera will use her unique ability of seeing to help solve the crimes.


Michelle:  Which of The Ragged Cove coppers are you most like...ha!! this could be very telling...lol!!!


Tim:  I’m probably a bit like all three of them in a way. Most of my friends say that I’m so laid back I’m almost horizontal - and Murphy’s like that. Luke is dependable and has a really caring side, and I like to think I have those qualities too. As for Potter - it pains me to say this but we both smoke. I know, I know - its disgusting and I should give up. I’m not a wise guy like Potter, although I do often think up something flippant to say, but my nature is too soft to let me say it. I wouldn’t ever want to think that I’d hurt anyone’s feelings - not even in joke. Although I think them, Potter is brash enough to say what he is thinking, even if it hurts some one else’s feelings.


Michelle:   I have been quite taken by Potter...ssshhhh!! don’t tell him. Will we ever get a Potter POV in any of your Kiera Hudson Trilogy? I think it would be rather interesting knowing what he is actually thinking.... * waggles eyebrows*


Tim:  Without giving too much away, you will learn what Potter’s true feelings for Kiera are. Part of this comes out in the second book and carries through to the third. Although I know what happens, I can’t say who Kiera ends up with. All I can say is that not all is as it first appears and if you’ve read any of my other books like ‘Black Hill Farm’ you’ll know that nothing in my characters or books are as they first seem to appear. There are several surprises to come - and each of the main characters have a surprise in store for one another. This will cause all of them at some point a lot of pain and turmoil as they learn about each others secrets. The first book was really the set-up novel to introduce the characters to the readers, the settings and to pose some questions that would follow through to the following books i.e. what really did happen to Kiera‘s mother. The second book is a lot more intense and darker as we explore further their characters, their motivations and secrets.


Michelle :   I have read that I am not the only one who had their original thoughts changed for the better when it comes to Potter, he kind of stood out by the end of the book. Should Luke be worried about Potter when it comes to the only female constable at the station? I doubt the carpet slipper wearing Murphy would be any competition.


Tim:  Don’t underestimate Murphy - he’s only forty-five and very fit. One lady told me that while reading the book she pictured him to look like Daniel Craig! Roger Moore didn’t start playing Bond until he was forty-six and he had no problems getting the girls.

Michelle:  Ooo Daniel Craig, well that's a nice image of Sergeant Murphy, I shall go with that when reading your sequel, smoking a pipe and wearing carpet slippers....I likey:D

Tim:  If I didn’t know better, Luke should be worried about Potter - but Luke has something about him and Potter should be careful - bit of a spoiler there - but I wont say anymore about it. Potter is cocky and ultra confident - he has a real take it or leave it attitude. But deep down there is more to him. He’ll hate me telling you this but he does have a sensitive side and finds it hard to show his feelings as easily as Luke does. Perhaps he’s been hurt before and a lot of it is an act. I’ll have to ask him.


Michelle:   Do you do anything special to celebrate the release of your books or is it business as usual?


Tim:  I always plan to do something special. But it never happens. It’s not that I’m not excited when I put a new book out there - but I’m happy if I’m with my wife and children, so I usually celebrate with them by cooking something nice for dinner and flaking out in front of the T.V. together. The best part for me is getting feedback from people that enjoyed the book. Getting people to forget about their everyday worries and go on an adventure with my characters, to some place else - that’s what makes writing worthwhile. I always say to Lynda, ‘now the books finished, I’m going to take a break for a few weeks, catch up on my reading and just chill out.’ But she looks at me and says ‘yeah right!’ And she is right, because within a day or two, I’m back in front of the laptop and at it all over again.


Michelle:   Would you please be able to give me an exclusive teaser from your sequel ‘Vampire Wake’, I am rather bouncy for this book. I hear it’s releasing around August some time.

Tim:  A lot of people ask me why was Kiera bleeding from the eye on the front cover of ‘Vampire Shift’. It was linked to the fact that she had the ability to see things. By the end of the book, it was obvious that she could see more than what was just in front of her. This comes out more in the second book. Kiera does start to bleed from her eye and there is a reason for this -but I don’t want to give that away right now. Since the end of ‘Vampire Shift’ and the beginning of ‘Vampire Wake’ six months have passed and Kiera has heard nothing from Murphy, Potter or Luke. She is currently suspended from the police force as there are some questions about her mental state because of the reports she filed on her return from the Ragged Cove. To keep herself busy she has been solving problems for people in her home town of Havensfield. Nothing major, missing pets, jewellery and persons - that sort of thing. But then she is visited by a mysterious woman who presents her with a rather unusual problem and Kiera can’t help but investigate and in doing so, she is led into a world of intrigue and danger and is reunited with some old friends!
I hope that is enough of a teaser for you!

Michelle:  Thankyou Tim, that was awesome, I'm looking forward to your sequel,  'Vampire Wake' even more now, I feel suitably teased. Thankyou for taking the time out for a nice chat with me.

I’m now going to leave you with a link to Paranormal Wastelands blog where Tim has some behind the scenes of how he gets his ‘mojo’ for his characters, quite extraordinary!!! Oh and a big round of applause for his son , Tom....have a look ...you will see why:D Behind the scenes with Tim O'Rourke


While you are all doing that I am going to hop in my super dooper fast car , turn the radio up and blaze a trail over to The Ragged Cove as I have an appointment with the boys down at the clink.....errr....Tim if you want you can come with or wait here for me, I won’t be long......I'll be back before you can say , 'easy tiger'.


.......Thumps the radio... Kiera was right... just as I enter The Ragged Cove district, there goes my music...should have bought a cd with me..note to self.


Crap does it have to be raining....I’m feeling a tad nervous....deep breath, time to open the door and say G’day or stay out here and get soaked...why do nerves always make me babble..... please no babbling....

‘Can I help you?’


Oh crikey, it’s the slipper wearing, pipe smoking Sergeant Murphy, the rule breaker…..


....screech of tyres.....door slam....

Michelle :  See, I told you guys I would be back before you could say , 'easy tiger'. Well that was a lot of fun, those boys kept me on my toes...although I think Potter had other ideas....* scratches head*...HA! .  Here are my questions to Murphy, Potter and Luke as promised.

INTERVIEW
WITH THE RAGGED COVE COPPERS
MURPHY, POTTER & LUKE

Michelle: Luke has called you , ‘an old fart’. Sergeant Murphy, how do you feel about this?

Murphy:  Me and the boy Luke go back many years more than you could believe - I think at least 70 at the last count. **Sucking thoughtfully on his pipe** Am I allowed to say that? Isn’t that one of those…what do you call ‘em? Potter help me out here will ya?

Potter: Spoilers.

Murphy: Yeah..that’s ‘em. Spoilers. Oh well, I’ve said it now and this here Michelle has already scribbled it down. **Sucks on pipe** What was the question again?

Michelle:  Luke has called you , ‘an old fart’, how do you feel about this?

Murphy:  Like I said, we go back years. The boy is like a son to me. He doesn’t mean anything by it. What’s important is - he knows I’m in charge around here.

Michelle:  I can see you like to be comfortable whilst on the job - I look down at carpet slippers and jeans and look up at the pipe hanging from his mouth, then up at the sign , “It is against the law to smoke anywhere on these premises” , Kiera did warn me – You appear to give rules a wide berth, why is that?

Murphy: **leans over and takes down the no smoking sign** Rules are there to be broken aren’t they? If people didn’t break the rules then I’d be out of a job. **Blows smoke from his pipe** Anyhow, a man my age needs his comforts. It isn’t easy working the vampire shift constantly. It takes it’s toll on ya in the end. My slippers help me to relax - in the quiet periods.

Michelle:  Constable Potter, I hear you have been trained in Forensics *cough , splutter* and you have a penchant for smoking on the job. Would you ever consider going all Kojak and sucking a chuppa chup, or is it more because it annoys a certain someone?

Potter:  **Smiles and winks** Listen sweet-cheeks, I’m trained in forensics - don’t believe everything that Hudson tells you. Just because I’m not crawling around in the dirt every five minutes like that chick from ‘Murder She Wrote’, don’t mean I don’t do a proper job. As for the smokes, well it’s like the Sarge says, it isn’t easy staying awake all night - a guy needs his stimulants.

Sweet-cheeks, ha!...I'm not going to smile, he called me sweet cheeks....

Michelle: * clears throat* I have been told you have a way with words, to expect some smart mouth, do you think that is a fair assumption?

Potter:  **Smiles** You have been talking to Hudson, haven’t you? You girls can’t help yourselves. **winks** But hey, it’s nice to know that I was the topic of your conversation. Look as for the smart mouth stuff, I just tell it as it is. The problem with Hudson is that she’s so god-damn serious the whole time. She needs to lighten-up. I kept telling her to take it easy-tiger, but would she listen?

Michelle: If you were taking a lady on a date, a nice date...where would you take her?

Potter: Straight back to mine probably. **Grins**. I’m not big on all that wining and dining stuff. I’d put on some Manilow CD’s and turn out the lights. Do you like Manilow sweet-cheeks?

Eeeeep!

Michelle: Luke, can you tell me something about yourself that nobody else knows....I won’t tell anybody except for the blog.

Luke: As a boy I was orphaned. My parents were killed above ground.

Michelle: I’m really sorry to hear that. What happened to your parents?

Potter: Be careful of this one -she’s a cunning-tiger, she’s after another spoiler!

Michelle : * gives Potter innocent look*

Luke: I can’t say. I’m sorry.

Michelle: I heard that egg gave away a lot about your social life. What did you ‘see’ when you first laid eyes on Kiera?

Luke: Obviously I was first struck by her beauty…

Potter: **Rolling his eyes** Give me a break!

Luke: Seriously Michelle - take no notice of the ape in the corner **smiles at Potter** Kiera is a beautiful woman. But it’s not just her looks, she is a beautiful person.

Potter: Oh please.

Luke: Seriously. Kiera is no dummy. She’s smart, has an answer for everything but deep down she has this really gentle side. She’s been through a lot especially losing her dad and then after what happened to her mum.

Michelle: So what did really happen to her mum?

Potter: **Laughing** There you go again. Take it easy tiger. You’ve got all the spoilers your gonna get from this interview.

Michelle: A girl can only ask. Well thank you for your time all of you and thanks for answering my questions , it's been fun.

Potter: Hey don’t you just go disappearing out of here back to your blog with that cute little accent of yours. You never answered my question sweet-cheeks.

Michelle: *blushing*  What question was that?

Potter: Do you like Barry Manilow? I’ve got all of his CD’s back at my place **Winks**

Michelle: * beetroot red face * I think this is where I start babbling....

Michelle