Marta Acosta - Interview and Contest

A huge welcome to one of my favorite writers Marta Acosta author of the acclaimed Casa Dracula series. On Tuesday, September 28,  Haunted Honeymoon, the fourth and last book, will be available.  It is a terrific wrap-up for the series, but I can't help feeling a bit sad. I will miss the often funny, always fascinating characters Marta has created.

Recently Marta took time for an interview with PVN.

[see contest details at the end of the post]

PVN: Marta, thank you for being here!

PVN: Haunted Honeymoon is the last in the Casa Dracula series. Do you feel relieved? Elated? Sad? Any or none of the above?

MARTA: When I finished writing the last sentence of the book, I was shocked to find myself crying.  It’s been a great ride taking her through adventures and love, and she’s always kept her optimism and good nature.  However, I’m elated that I gave Milagro the ending she’s earned and deserves.

At the end of the book, Oswald tells Milagro, “I wouldn’t have missed a second of it, I wouldn’t have missed you, for anything in the world.”  That’s how I feel, too.

PVN:  For readers not acquainted with the series would you mind given some background, especially what sets your vampires apart from the more common garden variety?

MARTA: My vamps have a genetic condition that causes a craving for blood, photosensitivity, an ability to heal rapidly from injuries, and an extended lifespan.  They’re very family-oriented, quite career driven, and pretty snobby because vampires would be snobby, wouldn’t they?

Their snobbery adds to the fun with Milagro, who attended a Fancy University (F.U.), but can’t pay her rent.  They’re tasteful and her favorite color is “leopard print.” They savor fine animal blood blends and she enjoys dancing on tables at dive bars. They use an agency for proper vampire matchmaking and she habitually flirts with any “fabulous man” around.   They have serious professions and she writes loony political horrors and is convinced that someday her talent will be recognized.

PVN:  Through all her trials and tribulations Milagro has kept her sense of humor. Tell us how you see her and how she has changed over the course of the series?

MARTA: Milagro’s humor is what’s allowed her to keep her sanity after criminal childhood neglect.  She desperately wants family and love.  That’s what the vampires offer her, and Happy Hour at Casa Dracula is about Milagro finding a home with them. 

In Midnight Brunch, Milagro finally begins to accept that she’s not like others.  She’s not a born-vampire, but she’s far from normal.  She also has to adjust to a secondary infection that saves her life and makes her stronger than most born-vampires.

In The Bride of Casa Dracula, Milagro and her vampire fiancé Oswald are squabbling a lot over the wedding.  While compromise is essential for a happy relationship, where do you draw the line?  Milagro’s got to decide how much she’s willing to change for others and she has to battle new enemies, as well as deal with her attraction to an ex-lover, the dangerous and enigmatic Ian Ducharme.

Haunted Honeymoon has Milagro still missing her ex-fiance, Oswald, while carrying on a torrid affair with Ian.  She’s filled with regret for all the mistakes she’s made and she longs for a chance to do things over again.  When she suffers trauma and hits her head, she loses her memory and forgets her whole history with the vampires.  Can she do things right this time?  Milagro finally comes into herself as a woman and a vampire.  She also knows who she truly loves.

PVN: Throughout the series Milagro shows a love and knowledge of gardening. Why is that important to her character? Do you have a fondness for it as well?

MARTA: Milagro’s fondest memories are of the years she spent with her grandmother, who had a vegetable garden.  Her father is a landscaper, but he likes rigidly controlled borders and lawns, so perhaps Milagro’s reacting against that with her boisterous gardens. So gardening represents her grandmother’s love as well as her own individuality; it’s nurture and nature.

PVN:  Will we see Milagro, Ian, or any of the other wonderful characters of the Casa Dracula world in future novels or short stories?

MARTA: Milagro has some fun scenes with her best friend from F.U., Nancy Carrington-Chambers, in Nancy’s Theory of Style, written under my pen-name Grace Coopersmith.   Ian shows up in my young adult novel, The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove, which will be published by Tor in 2012.

I can see Milagro and her husband as a glamorous couple solving mysteries, flirting, and partying.  I don’t’ know if I’ll ever write that story, though, because I’ve got other ones I’d like to finish.

PVN:  Since Mil's friend Nancy now has the starring role in her own wonderful book - Nancy's Theory of Style [read review] - would you care to tell us about her recent adventure?

MARTA: Finicky, rich girl Nancy takes a “marriage sabbatical” from her boring husband and leaves the tacky McMansion he built.  She returns to her chic apartment in posh Pacific Heights and hires a gorgeous gay British assistant to help her with her event planning business.  She thinks he’s the perfect man and they’re trying to reinvent San Francisco’s most important and most boring fundraiser when Nancy’s irresponsible cousin abandon’s her four-year-old at Nancy’s. 

It’s all quite a challenge for a control-freak like Nancy, and she has to decide what – and who – is really important to her.

PVN:  You have written a lovely YA story The Shadow Girl of Birch Grove set in the same universe as the Casa Dracula books. Where is it now in the publishing pipeline?

MARTA: Thanks for asking about The Shadow Girl !  I’ll be getting my notes from my editor next month and then I’ll be working on improving the story and characters.  Booksellers now want to see books far in advance of publication, and I’m not quite sure when in 2012 it will be released.

PVN:  So, let’s say HBO or Showtime wants to make a series based on the Casa Dracula novels. Who would play some of the characters - Milagro, Ian, Edna, Oswald, etc?

MARTA: Oh, these impossible questions!  I “cast” actors in my video book trailers, but they are not how I see the characters in my imagination.  That said, I’d love someone like Holland Taylor to play Edna.  She’s the queen of a snarky line, sexy, and smart. 

The Casa Dracula books state that Milagro has a look that’s frequently seen:  she’s a pretty, curvy Latina of average height with brown eyes and black hair and she dresses in a lively, sexy way.  I often see girls on the street and think, that’s Milagro!


 Holland Taylor


PVN:  What other writing projects can we expect from you?

MARTA: I’m working on two novels.  One is a romantic comedy set in San Francisco about a couple of losers who make a decision to do anything and everything to improve their lives.  That’s the comedy so naturally mayhem ensues.

The gothic is a more ambitious work, at least in terms of research, that is set in the 1990s and the 1850s.  The actions in modern times are replicating the actions of the past, which a grand and murderous scheme to steal a fortune. 

PVN:  I love your blog Vampire Wire. My favorite feature is Gratuitous Video of the Day. Where did the idea come from and what is your criteria for choosing said video(s)? Any favorites?

MARTA: I spend way too much time on Vampire Wire, which I started as a way to promote my books.  I read the phrase “gratuitous video” somewhere and got the idea.  The video must be entertaining and the music can’t suck.  Or, if the music sucks, it’s got to be wretchedly awful.  I especially like horrible Euro-disco.

A video has a great chance of being selected if it’s set to Tom Jones’s “Sex Bomb” and has vampires.

Fans of “Supernatural” have made some great videos. They pick terrific songs and have the editing skills to turn out exciting three-minute videos. Some terrible movies are great for video tributes, and one of my favorites is “Dracula 2000” starring Gerard Butler. 

PVN:  Why did you start the Naked David Boreanaz Club, and what are some of the perks of membership?

MARTA: As much as I want to take credit for Naked David Boreanaz, I can’t.  I interviewed Amanda Ashby on my blog once and she said that if you mention Naked David Boreanaz in a post that your site visits will skyrocket. That’s how it all got started. If you Google “naked David Boreanaz” in quotes, Vampire Wire is the top result. I’m both proud and humbled.

PVN:  Where can readers find or contact you?

MARTA: I’m all over the place, although I check in at Vampire Wire most often.

Marta Acosta website with my author blog:  www.martaacosta.com.
Facebook
Marta AcostaTwitter (which I pretty much ignore)
Marta Acosta Fans on Facebook: 
Vampire Wire
Vampire Wire Twitter
Grace Coopersmith website (which I totally ignore)

And I’m always happy to get emails from readers at Marta AT martaacosta DOT com.

Patricia, thanks so much for having me here on your site!  Yours is one of the first vampire fiction sites I discovered and it’s still a “must read” for me!

PVN: Thank you for the kind words, Marta, and for this interview and contest!

CONTEST

To enter make one comment on any subject mentioned in Marta's Interview.

The winner may choose any one book in the Casa Dracula series.

Contest is limited to residents of US and Canada.

Contest ends October 28, 2010.

Nancy's Theory of Style - Book Review

Many of you may know Marta Acosta as the author of the fabulous Casa Dracula series. Recently she branched away from the paranormal to write a wry, witty, romance about Nancy Carrington-Chambers, a fastidious socialite with a heart of gold.

Nancy's Theory of Style
by Grace Coopersmith (aka Marta Acosta)
Pocket, May 18, 2010

Recently wed Nancy is furious with her husband over his revised plans of the house they built. It is huge and hideous. Worse she has to share it with hubby Todd who no longer seemed a suave prince charming, but more like an uncouth barbarian. Nancy has spent her entire life doing things right - went to the right schools, befriended the right people, read the right books, joined the right clubs, and married the right man, or so she thought at the time.

The bloom is off the rose it appears. One day it occurs to her that she need not stay in the house from hell a moment longer. She has access to a lovely apartment in San Francisco. What a perfect place to be young, beautiful, rich and owner of a new event planning business whimsically named Froth. The separation from Todd is only temporary she tells herself and him. Meanwhile she will concentrate her time on building the business and meeting friends for lunch.

For starters Nancy needs an assistant, one who notices small details and thinks as creatively as she does. She finds him! Derek, her new assistant, is everything she has ever dreamed of - handsome, well-spoken, British and gay. Like Nancy he has an enviable sense of fashion. Could life be any better than this?

Our heroine is not as superficial as she first seems. One of her closest pals is PG, a geeky, awkward fellow with no "connections" to the upper class, her best friend Mil has a very down to earth approach to life and doesn't mince words with anyone. As we get to know Nancy's "prominent" family we realize that throughout her life Nancy has graciously put up with a lot of crap. Her mother is usually zonked out on some substance, but Nancy's response is love and tenderness. Then there is cousin Birdie, a beautiful woman who spends her time running around the globe with whichever sexy artist currently strikes her fancy. Birdie's preschool daughter can be a drag on such a high spirited life style, so one day she stops by and asks Nancy to watch little Eugenia for an hour. Birdie doesn't return.

Now, much to her horror, Nancy has a child to care for, although she is quite careful never to let Eugenia know of her reluctance. Gradually Nancy's playful and nurturing side emerges with the little one around. Surprisingly Derek takes to Eugenia as well.

There are plenty of quirky characters and humorous situations in the humorous, charming novel. All interact to give Nancy the lessons she needs to get beyond her need for perfection and control. Once you get to know her, Nancy is quite endearing.