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by: Tammie King
Date: 1/20010
Hello Vicki,
Thanks for joining me today on Night Owl Romance.
Tammie King of NOR: To get us started can you please start by telling us a little about what you are working on or have coming out?
Vicki Hopkins: The Price of Innocence, my debut novel, was
released November of 2009.
Currently, I am working on a sequel to The Price of Innocence, entitled The
Price of Deception. I'm also penning a Phantom of the Opera spin-off novel,
which will be my biggest challenge.
Tammie King of NOR: Could you please tell us a little about yourself?
Vicki Hopkins: In real life I'm a paralegal by day. When I'm
not working, I'm writing.
I merely dabbled at writing until January of 2008, but have always known it was
something I loved. For my birthday, a group of friends at work encouraged me
with gifts of writer magazines and books and said go for it! Frankly, it touched
my heart deeply, and I finally ventured out into the public eye on the Internet
writing articles and blogs that proved to be successful.
Eventually, I took a fiction writing course and started my first fiction novel
in June of 2008. It was a struggle to finish, but finally it's available for
sale and reader comments so far are very positive.
Tammie King of NOR: If you could be one of the characters from this book – Who would you be? And why?
Vicki Hopkins: No doubt my protagonist, Suzette. She is very
innocent, dependent, and on a journey toward maturity. If I had one word to
describe her personality, it would be naive. She sometimes appears like a victim
in life, but her experiences are the things that will eventually mature her into
a woman who can stand on her own.
When I reflect back on my own innocence and lack of experience in life during
her age, I can see the consequences of my own foolish decisions. Experience does
bring maturity - there's no doubt about it.
Tammie King of NOR: Who or what influenced you when you wrote this book? Did you have a CD, Songs, environment, etc?
Vicki Hopkins: The greatest influence were my friends that kept
encouraging me. As a debut author, you go through so many doubts regarding your
abilities to achieve your goal. Without friends constantly reaffirming my
writing abilities, I probably would have thrown in the towel and given up
completely.
Tammie King of NOR: Can you please give us a sneak peek into the book?
Vicki Hopkins: It is the tender story of Suzette Camille
Rousseau, a young woman in late 19th century Paris, who makes a difficult
journey from innocence to maturity. After losing a sheltered life with her
father, Suzette is thrown into the harsh reality of poverty, struggling as a
homeless woman on the streets of Paris. In order to survive, she faces difficult
choices that offer little hope of redemption.
Her journey takes her from the charities of St. Vincent de Paul, to a local
laundry house where she toils endlessly in filth and squalor. To her surprise,
one of her customers is the Chabanais, the most famous brothel in France that
only caters to aristocrats.
Like a fly drawn to a spider's web, the mistress of the brothel entices Suzette
into a world of opulence, comfort, and beauty, but there is a price to pay—her
innocence.
Succumbing to a life of prostitution, she meets a handsome English Lord who
saves her from the unthinkable. When he spirits her off to another country, her
past follows. A man, who refuses to forget his promise, relentlessly pursues
Suzette intent on regaining her heart. He only wishes for one thing—to give her
love and a life of respectability.
Tammie King of NOR: Please tell us what you have planned next?
Vicki Hopkins: My goal is that The Price of Innocence will be
the first in a series of three novels. The next is The Price of Deception. As
you read the epilogue to the first novel, I can only say that not all you read
is necessarily truth. It sets the stage for The Price of Deception, which are
the consequences of the characters' lies to one another.
It is my hope to release The Price of Deception early fall of 2010 and the last
in the series, The Price of Love, the following year.
Tammie King of NOR: What kind of research did you do for this book? Did you enjoy the research process?
Vicki Hopkins: Research took months! I really wanted to make
the historical background as accurate as possible. I purchased books regarding
Paris history, researched burial practices, wash houses, legalized prostitution,
and the Chabanais brothel that really existed. It was fascinating!
It gave me an understanding of the struggle of the poor on the streets of Paris
and the lives that most women chose in order to survive. Prostitution was big
business in France and strictly regulated by the government. Women were
card-carrying prostitutes. and at one point over 30,000 women were registered in
Paris alone.
Tammie King of NOR: What would you like to tell your readers?
Vicki Hopkins: My book is more accurately described as
historical fiction, with elements of romance. I wrote it specifically for the
purpose of carrying it to book two, so keep that in mind when you dab your eyes
with tissue while reading the epilogue. Not all is as it appears! Otherwise, if
I told you the truth, there would be no deception!
Tammie King of NOR: Do you belong to a critique group? If so, how does this help or hinder you?
Vicki Hopkins: I do not belong to a critique group. I did,
however, take three copies of my manuscript before publication and passed it
around to various readers for feedback. My goal is to please readers, and when I
found that it did, I was content with the end result.
Tammie King of NOR: Can you please give us a sneak peek at any of your upcoming books?
Vicki Hopkins: I am also an avid Phantom of the Opera fan and
very active in the Phantom community. Fans are insatiable to say the least, and
there are many Phantom spin-off novels for sale. I have already started my own
novel entitled, The Phantom of Valletta. It will be quite different, and my hope
is to surprise the socks off my readers!
Tammie King of NOR: Is there anything else you would like to share with readers?
Vicki Hopkins: I am also an avid blogger. My first blog -
Lessons From the Phantom of the Opera - currently has over 46,000 hits from 106
countries. My readers begged me to put it into print form, which I did in May of
2009. I self-published the posts into a personal journal for Phantom fans to use
in understanding the story on a deeper level. The books deals with the
characters, emotions, symbols, and events of the story from Gaston Leroux's
original work to Andrew Lloyd Webber's famous stage version..
In addition, my active involvement in the Phantom community led to my own
Internet radio show on BlogTalkRadio called All Things Phantom. We've been
broadcasting for six months, and over 6,000 listeners have downloaded our show
for listening.
On another note, I write a blog for singles entitled Just One Single. It's a
frank blog for those never married, divorced, or widowed that are struggling
with single life.
Tammie King of NOR: What would be the best way for readers contact you? Do you have a website? Email address? MySpace site? Blog? Message Board? Group?
Vicki Hopkins: You may contact me at
vicki@vickihopkins.com
Tammie King of NOR: When did you first decide to submit your work? Please, tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?
Vicki Hopkins: My friends are my biggest encouragers. The Price
of Innocence is self-published, but I am actively sending it to traditional
houses. I've already received from extremely positive feedback from editors.
However, in the meantime I'm thoroughly enjoying what readers think of it in
reviews!
Tammie King of NOR: What was your first published work and when was it published?
Vicki Hopkins: Lessons From the Phantom of the Opera - May 2009
Tammie King of NOR: What is the best and worst advice you have ever received?
Vicki Hopkins: No doubt this will be an odd answer, but a
truthful one on my part. I can only say the best advice I ever received is don't
compare yourself to other authors. The worst advice I've ever received is to
read the work other authors to learn.
I know that sounds bizarre in itself, but one huge lesson I've learned in this
journey of writing is that you cannot compare yourself to others. Each of us are
unique in our styles and storytelling talents. I find when I read what other
successful authors have penned, it brings self-doubts to my own work and causes
stumbling blocks.
Tammie King of NOR: Do you outline your books or just start writing?
Vicki Hopkins: The Price of Innocence was birthed in my mind
almost overnight and I just wrote it. During the journey, however, it took a few
different directions.
The Price of Deception is outlined, but I'm finding already I'm making changes
as I go along. Inspiration seems to come at the tips of my fingers while I'm
writing the story.
Tammie King of NOR: Who is your perfect hero? And why?
Vicki Hopkins: If we're talking romance here, it's a man who
loves unconditionally. You'll find in my work that some of my characters do so
automatically and that it is part of their personality. They know what true love
is.
On the other hand, other characters learn what it means to love unconditionally
during the story. It's a journey I take them through to teach them the meaning
of sacrifice and acceptance.
Tammie King of NOR: Is there a genre of book you would like to write but haven't yet?
Vicki Hopkins: Contemporary romance. I have a few ideas
floating around in the imaginary section of my brain I'd like to pen some day.
Vicki Hopkins "Penning Heartfelt Emotional Journeys"
Tammie King of NOR: Thank you for this opportunity!
Interviewed by: Tammie King
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