EJ: When did you begin writing?
Dana: I began writing as an academic—I started my professional life as an archaeologist. I started writing fiction after a site looter pulled a gun on my friend and me while we were working on a site in Maine. Later, I told a friend about the incident and she said "you need to write this down!" Suddenly, bam! I needed to write a novel. That led to crime fiction, which eventually led to UF.
EJ: What brought you to the paranormal genre?
Dana: Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner invited me to write a story about werewolves at the holidays for their anthology Wolfsbane and Mistletoe. Realizing I could create my own world, with its own rules, I came up with the Fangborn: a race of werewolves, vampires, and oracles secretly dedicated to protecting humanity. More Fangborn short stories followed, and now Seven Kinds of Hell!
EJ: If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?
Dana: I think some kind of spell-caster. There's an element of research and study that appeals to me, and a wide range of powers could come from that talent. Some of my favorite characters in TV and movies and books cast spells!
EJ: Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.
Dana: Seven Kinds of Hell features a different twist on the supernatural creature: the vampires, werewolves, and oracles are secret superheroes, dedicated to protecting humanity. Werewolves aren't bound by the moon, and vampires chemically alter blood to heal, not feed. They're born, not bitten, and trained within the Family. Zoe Miller, the protagonist of Seven Kinds of Hell, doesn't know she's a werewolf, so she has to use her archaeological training and her street smarts to help discover her supernatural powers,
EJ: If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?
Dana: I really think my protagonist Zoe resembles Mary Elizabeth Winstead (in "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World") and I think Ray Stevenson may make an excellent version of my bad guy. Will, her first love, needs a younger Matt Damon—maybe Lucas Till or James McAvoy, from X-Men First Class? Hugh Jackman and Benedict Cumberbatch can have any other parts they want. Helen Mirren, too.
Seven Kinds of Hell (Fangborn #1) by Dana Cameron.
Archaeologist Zoe Miller has been running from a haunting secret her whole life. But when her cousin is abducted by a vicious Russian kidnapper, Zoe is left with only one option: to reveal herself. Unknown to even her closest friends, Zoe is not entirely human. She's a werewolf and a daughter of the Fangborn, a secretive race of werewolves, vampires, and oracles embroiled in an ancient war against evil. To rescue her cousin, Zoe will be forced to renew family ties and pit her own supernatural abilities against the dark and nefarious foe. The hunt brings Zoe to the edge of her limits, and with the fate of humanity and the Fangborn in the balance, life will be decided by an artifact of world-ending power.
Thank you Dana for joining us here today at From the Shadows!
To learn more about Dana Cameron and her books, please visit her website.
Now this is my kind of read. I love the cover. Wow, that is definitely something you don't hear everyday. It is amazing you took such an experience and turned it into a book. Charlaine Harris is a great influence. I love the sounds of this book. Thank you so much for this great interview. It was a great read.
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