While weeding out old blog drafts, I found this lurking around in an email folder.
It's a Q&A with my daughter Sarah Stegall from 2011 before we published the first BryonySeries book.
Some quick back story: Sarah and I had been on the "outs" for a number of years, up until 2010 when she requested a copy of the first manuscript to read. My niece was the first to read it (by request) after I shared the news with my family one holiday that I'd written a book and a had contract with a small press. My niece loved it so much, she gave it to my sister to read, who passed it to my mother who passed it to my father.
When Sarah asked to see it, I couldn't pack a copy off fast enough. That, I felt, was the real test of the story's strength. She's the reason for my first website, this blog, the CD, the Facebook page (she did all the posting once upon a time) the Twitter account (she started all of the above projects), the chapter headings art on all of the books (they were her idea), and the driving force behind cookbook submissions and organizing Vamp Fest, the release party for the first book, which raised nearly $1,400 for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.
She's helped with copy editing, cover design, finding a replacement artist when another became ill and had to bow out, deciding I should write a children's series based on Bertrand the Mouse, and probably had her hand in more components that my brain isn't remembering right now.
In turn, the skills she learned helping me out long distance (she lives in North Carolina) gave her the foundation for the management job she has today. It was a marvelous partnership.
The Q and A below perfectly captures her enthusiasm for the project, both as a reader and a collaborator. For people who have not read the book or the series, she sums up the enchantment perfectly.
I originally ran all twenty questions in four installments. I offer it here in its entirety today. Enjoy!
1) Do you normally read vampire stories?
Not normally, although I did read the Twilight series twice and I'm working my way through the Anita Blake series (the main character, Anita, is a vampire slayer, zombie riser, and in a major conflict between Master of the City [head vampire] and the next in line head werewolf).
2) So why did you request a copy of Bryony, followed by Visage and Staked?
Simply because I love to hate. I was assuming it would be cheap writing and was surprised by how well I liked the manuscripts. Then I wanted to read the whole story. I hate being left in limbo.
3) What was your reaction the first time you read it?
Denise has no idea what she created and how perfect the story is for today's crowd.
4) You had just finished Twilight around the time you read Bryony? Is not Bryony just another Twilight?
Absolutely not! Other than the fact Bryony has vampires in it, it's not a sappy love story. It's more like the ultimate plot, deceptively intertwined between characters and books.
5) I have heard you read all three books at least three times. Why?
The first read was to get through them, the second time to catch all the things I missed the first round, and the third was to actually enjoy the books as they are meant to be. I guess every read I learn a different aspect I missed previously.
6) Why did you become involved in the Bryony cookbook project?
I wanted to be involved in something good. I love to cook and I'm always recipe hunting, so I figured I would be a positive force behind the project.
7) Why is the cookbook a good idea?
The BryonySeries mentions food quite a bit and some of the dishes are rather entertaining. I felt readers like myself would want to try and recreate these dishes themselves.
8) Is the Bryony cookbook just another collection of recipes?
In some ways yes, but overall not really. How many cookbooks floating around your kitchen feature eclectic recipes from the Victorian Era and the 70's?
9) What made you take the initiative in designing the Bryony Facebook page?
It started as a gift; I created it on Mother's Day, 2010, but ultimately I was already thinking big. I wanted to have my hands dirty in all things Bryony.
10) What elements did you add as you developed the page?
I themed it out so readers could expect their favorite posts, pictures, songs, and so forth. I try to keep posts different and funny so readers don't lose interest.
11) How did you wind up with the Bryony website?
When I created the FB page, I was disappointed because we didn't have a coinciding website to further direct readers. As a reader, when I become interested in a series, I check out all that the series has to offer online. Where was the website? Where was the blog? Ugh, so frustrating.
12) Why was creating the Bryony website important to you?
It meant I nabbed the project from someone I'm not fond of, but more importantly, I felt I was contributing to getting projects accomplished. In my head I was crossing off my own checklist and I was racking up new experiences left and right. We needed a website and I was eager to learn how to make one.
13) What will people find on the website?
Mass information involving the team behind the book, additional links directing readers to other sites, interactive pages where they can submit their own short stories, view unique pictures, eventually listen to the theme song and purchase related merchandise, and possibly be able to play different types of games.
14) Why are those elements there?
To draw readers into the world Denise has created with the BryonySeries and to immerse themselves in all things Bryony. We want readers to be able to get their fill. I don't want anyone left hanging.
15) What else do you hope to add?
Anything that is demanded. Our site features a guest book where comments and questions can be left. Oh, and games. I have all these nifty ideas for games and nobody that knows how to design them.
16) Last fall, when the author was hospitalized, you did some guest posting on the Bryony blog. What did you write about?
Coffee, dreams, DNA, updates, a short story, a funny story from the eyes of my three-year-old, and an interview.
17) How did you come up with ideas?
I wasn't entirely sure what the rhythm was behind the blog so I tried to keep in theme with Bryony, without it actually being Bryony. Everything I posted was indirectly related to vampires or the book.
18) What group of readers might enjoy Bryony?
I don't think it can be pinned down to just one age bracket or just one type of reader. Bryony offers a little for everyone. My 75-year-old grandpa read it (loved it) and my twenty and thirty something friends have been hounding me for my copy of the manuscript.
19) Why will they enjoy it?
It's an exciting, thrilling, story. Some elements are left up to the reader to weigh in on, while other parts leave you reading twice as fast to get to what you think is going to happen, only to find out it's cleverly deceptive and the story changes. For the main character, Melissa, she is back and forth between 1975 and the Victorian Era. Readers can look forward to their favorite time era depending on what interests them. Also, food and music are nicely intertwined throughout Bryony.
20) Tell us about James Onohan and his contribution to the overall project. Why made you seek out and persuade this composer to join the Bryony team?
James is my greatest mistake (for the book, I never make mistakes in real life). While researching out of date music, I stumbled across a song of his on Youtube. He composes all his music and the song I was hearing sounded like it ran off the pages of the book, straight into my ears. His sound mimicked exactly what we were missing. I immediately emailed him and after a brief correspondence, he agreed to jump on board. Currently he is composing the book's theme song, (a huge part of the series) and working on ten new compositions for a CD to go along with Bryony.
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