The SAM SCHOOLER interview: Music, vampires, fandom, & more

Today I’m thrilled to welcome debut author Sam Schooler to the blog. Sam contributed a story called “Scented” to MASKS OFF TOO!, a brand-new anthology of eight diverse tales featuring vampires and masquerade balls. She’s a Cincinnati native, a proud fandom geek like me, and an all-around nifty person (and those who know me know that I don’t use the word “nifty” lightly).

Welcome, Sam! Can you tell me a little bit about how the MASKS OFF TOO! anthology came together, and how you got involved?

Well, MASKS OFF!, the first in this line, was published last year and featured stories about shapeshifters. As far as I can see from zipping around the internets, it did decently well, so Torquere decided to produce a second volume, this one focused on vampires. The vampire theme is, of course, waaay popular nowadays, thanks to Twilight, and has become its own niche market worth catering to.

Around the middle of last year, I decided that my goal was to have a publishing contract signed by the time I was twenty, and because my writing roots are so heavily tangled with fanfiction, I knew that erotic fiction was what I wanted to do with my writing career.

I started researching publishers with open submission calls, aware that I needed a foothold to get into the industry. I’d had some prior experience with Torquere (simply because it’s a prominent publisher that often works with first-time authors), so when I saw its vampire call, which had a December 1st deadline, I made writing a piece for it my NaNo 2012 project. I was contacted in early January with good news. :3

And now two months later it’s out in the world. That’s so awesome. So your contribution to the anthology, SCENTED, follows a detective named Ben and his former lover Felix as they track down a vampiric serial killer. I think I get the overall appeal of vampires in general, but can you tell us on a more personal level why you love writing about them?

I have this thing.

I have yet to find a name for it, so I’ve dubbed it the “one-man wolf” trope. I love reading and writing about characters who are capable (physically or mentally) of enormous amounts of violence, but there is one person that has a violence-free, affection-flavored pass. In SCENTED, Felix isn’t an outright malicious or violent person, but there is a ruthlessness to him, and he isn’t a particularly nice person – except to Ben. A significant amount of vampire fiction that I’ve come across features this kind of relationship: the vamp could turn and rip a random dude’s arm off without a second thought, but they have a soft spot for one person.

Also, I like the biting. Yes, yes I do.

Nothing wrong with biting; nothing at all. Okay, so I HAVE to ask you this, since I feel like a total goofball whenever I try to write a sex scene: how do you get in that zone and let go of your inhibitions enough to bring an erotic scene to life with confidence? Do you have to do anything in particular to warm up, like dimming the lights and pouring a giant glass of wine?

It took a while! As I mentioned earlier, I come from the land of fandom – a heritage you and I share. I’ve been writing erotic fiction since I was thirteen. I remember being very embarrassed about it when I started. I actually remember being embarrassed about writing a scene where a character was lying back between another’s legs while they were in the bath together. I’ve come a long way since then, but it’s just that: time. It’s been seven years, and your (weather-beaten, shamed) inhibitions go away after a while.

For me, getting used to writing sex scenes was significantly helped by how open fandom is about erotica. I mean, where else can you write someone porn for their birthday and flash it around publically? And then get intelligent, appreciative comments about it?

I also met my fiancée Alex through fandom, and we originally hooked up to be roleplaying partners. Writing sex scenes with another person erodes plenty of the awkwardness of typing the filthier things. There’s even a certain daring to it, when you get comfortable enough. Who can write the dirtiest detail? Who can write the most erotic post? Who remembers the lube? WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE?

When I write a sex scene, I can be pretty much anywhere. A coffee shop, the living room, my room, the university library, at work. . .It doesn’t matter to me. I’m not picky, and I don’t have to get myself in the mood, per se. If I’m writing a super hot-and-heavy scene (or a public sex scene; I’m not sure why), I have to have music on. My default sex-writing song is “Grounds for Divorce” by Elbow. Hnngh.

(Quick tip: I think it helps to read a lot. If you’re planning on writing erotica, read it. Seeing how others phrase things and structure scenes will give a budding erotica writer confidence. Don’t be afraid to play a little copycat until you get into your own rhythm!)

(*puts “Grounds for Divorce” on new playlist, just in case*) I saw in one of your blog posts that the character of Felix was inspired by a gif of Lisbeth Salander from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Do you often draw inspiration from actors? And when you write, do you ever picture that actor performing your dialogue?

ALL THE TIME ALWAYS. I don’t every time cast my characters, but when I do, it’s hardcore. I’m a visual person, so seeing a particular tic in an actor onscreen is enough to inspire an entire character. On the flipside from Felix, my ideal actor for Ben is Karl Urban, and I drew some of Ben’s gestures and physical oddities from Urban’s portrayal of Leonard McCoy. Sometimes I can hear actors speaking my dialogue so vividly that I’d swear I was watching a movie of my own writing.

So. . .you are me, basically. What about music—do you listen to it while you write, or is it a distraction? What songs remind you most of Felix and Ben?

Most of the time, I need to listen to music to block out whatever else may be going on around me. I don’t care if people are walking around, but I am easily distracted by conversation. I listen to movie scores – Gladiator‘s in particular – and Explosions in the Sky and Florence + the Machine. A couple years ago, I dropped $60 on those big-ass Skullcandy noise-cancelling headphones. So worth it.

As for Ben and Felix. . .Hmm. (I mistakenly deleted my soundtrack for SCENTED; I’m flying blind here.) For their relationship summary, I’m gonna go with “Strangeness and Charm” by Florence + the Machine. I listened to the Wolf’s Rain score on repeat while writing SCENTED, too, and the tone of the piece was influenced by that score.

If you could create the perfect writing environment for yourself, what would it look, smell, and sound like?

It would look exactly like this.

Ideally, it would also be out of my bedroom, since the brain designates certain areas for certain things, and trying to work in the room where you sleep is not conducive to work in the least. As soon as I’m able to finish university and move, this dream will come true.

As for smell. . .New books, fresh-cut grass, and campfire.

Fresh-cut grass = one of my favorite smells ever. One of my characters is always smelling of fresh-cut grass; I’ve gotta watch that. Okay, one last question: Since MASKS OFF TOO! prominently features masquerade balls, I have to ask – when did you last attend a party in costume, and who/what were you dressed as?

Freshman year of high school (six years ago). I’M REALLY BORING. I’m not a huge partier at all.

I went as Erik from The Phantom of the Opera.

Hee! I am sorely tempted to ask for photos, but I don’t routinely embarrass fellow writers. Thanks for stopping by the blog today, Sam. Congrats again on the book, and best of luck with your work-in-progress!

MASKS OFF TOO! just released yesterday from Torquere Press; go here to add it to your TBR list. And do pay a visit Sam’s lovely website, where she just put up an in-depth post on her upcoming twisted fairy tale, WAY OUT IN THE WATER. (It features mer-people, guys. NEED I SAY MORE.)