An Interview with E.F. Watkins
Author of Dance With the Dragon
Conducted by Cindy L. Speer 

New Jersey writer E.F. Watkins has always wanted to be a writer…but it wasn’t until she read Dracula in college that she became hooked on horror.  The friend who lent her that paperback did us all a favor…I recently read her first book, Dance With the Dragon, and loved her take on vampires.  This award-winning author also has a fabulous webpage…http://www.efwatkins.com/, which has the coolest splash page, ever.   

Cindy: What is it that drew you to vampires? What inspired you to mix religion with vampirism?  

E.F. Watkins:  I’ve been interested in vampire stories ever since I read Dracula for the first time as a college freshman. As a mythological monster, the vampire has so many facets--there’s the primitive symbolism of blood as representing the life force, there’s the idea of immortality, there’s the ability to read and control other people’s minds. I think that’s why writers and filmmakers keep finding new ways to “revive” vampires in various types of scenarios. I’m far from the first to associate vampirism and religion--Stoker certainly did that! But my villain is only using his religious cult as a front. He wants power, and followers. He’s able to confuse people by offering them “eternal life,” which sounds like a religious concept! 

Cindy: Your bio mentions some other novels...what happened to them? What was your first published work?  

E.F. Watkins:  Dance With the Dragon is my fist published novel. I have written several others, though, which I hope to have published now. Amber Quill Press has already given me a contract for a second book, a romantic mystery called Ride a Dance Horse, and one of the few I’ve written with no supernatural elements! That’s coming out in April 2004. I’ve just sent AQP a third book for their consideration. It’s more in the vein of DD--it’s a woman-in-jeopardy thriller with a touch of science fiction.  

Cindy:  What is your next project? Will we see the characters from Dance With The Dragon again?  

E.F. Watkins:  I’m currently polishing and updating another novel that I like to call a “horror-glitz,” about an actor who rises to the top by supernatural--and violent--methods. I’m reading it (a chapter at a time) to the folks at my weekly writer’s workshop, because they’re great at spotting inconsistencies or slow spots that I might miss. I’ve also finished a draft of another straight mystery. When I first wrote DD, I thought of doing a sequel, but I’m not so sure now. The most natural thing for my hero Renascut to take on after the vampire cult would be international terrorism, but that’s a difficult subject to deal with right now. Not only is it sensitive, but it’s being exploited by a lot of books, movies and TV shows. So it would be hard to think of something fresh. If I ever do…I may try it.  

Cindy:  What is the hardest part about writing? What is the easiest?  

E.F. Watkins:  The hardest part for me may be maintaining the suspense. I come from a daily-journalism background, where I was trained to make everything crystal-clear to the reader and to put all the important information up front. When I came home at night and started on my novels, I had to forget all of those rules! Early in my career, I revealed too much too early in the book. Now that I no longer write newspaper stories, I think I’m getting over that habit. 

The easiest part is when I come to the computer really enthusiastic about a scene that I’ve already envisioned clearly in my mind. It tends to just flow and not need a lot of rewriting. That’s the greatest high. A few of those moments tend to sustain you through the months that it takes to finish a book.  

Cindy:  If Hollywood made a movie of your book, who would be the leads? 

E.F. Watkins:  That’s tough. Some of the people who inspired me would no longer be the right ages to play the characters. I can’t think of too many actors around right now who’d be the perfect type for the hero, Armand Renascut, although a good actor can certainly adapt. Of redheaded actresses in their 30s today, Julianne Moore might work for Renascut’s partner, Kat--that’s a key role, and she’d have to be athletic enough to do tae kwon do. The villain, Stephen Farkas, is kind of a James Spader type, but since the character looks to be in his late 20s, it would have to be a handsome, blond newcomer. I like Spader for that kind of role, because he looks so clean-cut and he plays such nasty villains.   

Cindy:  When did you realize that you had no choice but to write? How did you learn your technique? When did you realize you’d found your voice?  

E.F. Watkins:  I started thinking of myself as a writer as soon as I could print! I used to fold 8 ½-11 sheets of paper in half, draw cover illustrations and start “books.” I used to tell everyone I was going to write books and draw the illustrations. (I didn’t realize adult books don’t have a lot of illustrations.) I guess I finally realized I had no choice after decades of rejections, when it occurred to me that if I never got published I’d keep writing books, anyway. (Soon after that, I got my contract with AQP.) When I look at my early novels, although they have more problems, I’m surprised that my style hasn’t changed a whole lot. I just fell into my “voice,” but I’ve had to work at technique. For me, that’s meant building more suspense and writing sharper action scenes. I’m not an extremely artistic, poetic writer, which is okay, I guess, because I like books that move along. I appreciate beautiful or clever images in other people’s writing, but I figure if I get off one of those every couple of chapters, I’m doing well. 

Cindy:  What advice do you have for unpublished writers?  

E.F. Watkins:  It’s very hard to get published, now that so many houses are owned by just a few conglomerates. Not many publishing houses even deal with fiction, and an even smaller percentage of those may deal in the genre you’re writing. For me, the answer was to go to a smaller house such as AQP. One of my problems was my tendency to cross genres--to blend horror and thriller, or  “woman’s fiction” with sci-fi. The online, POD publishers don’t mind that kind of thing as much. They’re not concerned about where to put your book on the shelf in Barnes & Noble. And although everyone tells you to get an agent, sometimes that’s harder than getting a publisher. Agents are very concerned about whether they can sell your work. A smaller publisher might be more willing to take a chance on you. 

Cindy:   If you’re not writing, what are we likely to find you doing? 

E.F. Watkins:  Aside from promoting my books and going to writer’s meetings? I usually turn to nature for a change of pace. I have two young cats who are great company, I garden in warmer weather, and I ride horseback once a week at a nearby stable. (I had my own horse for a couple of years, but had to retire her when she developed health problems.) I live near a big reservation in northern NJ, and I like to walk there, visit the botanical gardens and two historic houses. I love old stuff, both Victorian and from the Deco area. The latter is a lot more affordable, so I collect furniture, fabrics, clothes and objects from the 1930s-40s. And of course, I read like a maniac. I’m working my way through all of Barbara Michaels’ paranormal mysteries, because I’d like to do a series along that line, myself. 

Cindy:  How do you find time to write? What is your best method for breaking through distractions?  

E.F. Watkins:  In theory, finding time to write isn’t a problem, because I’m freelancing these days and I don’t have a family. But in reality, daily stuff still eats up your time. I also write nonfiction for money, and those projects tend to have deadlines, whereas my fiction usually doesn’t. And lately, book promotion has taken up a lot of my time. So I’m back where I was when I worked full-time--writing fiction ends up being my “treat” at the end of the day when the other stuff is done. I just have to make sure it doesn’t get put off indefinitely. I do find working on my fiction for a couple of hours after dinner, when I’m not likely to be getting or making “business” phone calls, is the best routine. The only problem is that my friends start to think I’m anti-social, because that’s when they want to call me. Sometimes I’m impatient to get off the phone and get back to the computer. 

Cindy:  If an extremely good looking vampire came up to you and offered your eternal life, would you be just a tiny bit tempted?  

E.F. Watkins:  Oh, probably. If I weren’t, I probably couldn’t identify with my vampire characters. But I’d be put off by the drawbacks. That’s one way in which I think horror fiction can be a positive thing. Horror writers, and readers, can fantasize about having eternal life, or power over people, or the chance to have revenge on their enemies…but we’re also forced to think about the long-term consequences. In the end, that can really keep you on the straight-and-narrow!