Book Spotlight and Interview with Nicky Peacock

Today, we're spotlighting a book and we also had an interview with the author. She entertained us with thoughts on the horror genre industry and some of her answers were a bit... ahem... surprising.

Title: Bad Blood

Author: Nicky Peacock

Publisher: Noble Romance Publishing, LLC -- Noble Young Adult, LLC

Genre: Young Adult, Horror, Paranormal.

Theme & Special Content: Zombies, Vampires, Violence, England, post-apocalyptic

Release Date: May 2013

ISBN#: 9781605923482

Length of book: 170 pages – print     119 pages - eBook

Heat rating: n/a

Purchase & Excerpt Link: https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/458

1.      Us:  Since the vampire classic Dracula, how do you think it has evolved into the vampire fiction we've had lately?

Nicky: I think vampires have really lost their scare factor. They’re more romantic leads than monsters now. When you look at the old legends of vampires, these beings were really frightening – I remember watching the movie of Stephen King’s ‘Salem’s Lot’ when I was a kid and wearing a cross for five years after! Now, people specifically go online seeking out vampire interaction – if vampires are really real, they’ve done a great job in making us humans sympathetic to them now... don’t you think?

2.     Us: Which do you think would be more successful in the horror genre: zombies or vampires?

Nicky: In horror, I’d say zombies, decaying hands down. With the movie version of ‘World War Z’ coming out later this year and HBO’s ‘The Walking Dead’ getting some of its best rating ever, I think that zombies are eclipsing vampires. Now, when it comes to paranormal romance, I think vampires will always win this battle – they’re sexy; and ‘Warm Bodies’ aside you don’t get many zombie love interests.

3.      Us: Who or what inspires you to write horror?

Nicky: I think that the responsibility for my horror addiction rests squarely with my family. My parents were very liberal and let me and my older brother watch horror movies and read horror novels from a very early age. We have a family legend ghost story too, that they use to tell us. The paranormal has always fascinated me and as a writer, there are so many possibilities with the horror genre – there are really no limits.

4.      Us: How have you been influenced by vampires and zombies?

Nicky: There have been some amazing vampire characters through the years – I loved Anne Rice’s ‘Interview with a Vampire’ and I remember reading the book for the first time when I was at college. Zombies are probably the only thing I’m kind of scared of myself. You only have to Google ‘Zombie ants’ to see that we are just one mad scientist away from a zombie uprising – let’s just hope that, if the undead crap hits the fan, there are some ‘Bad Blood’ style vampires around to save us!

5.   Us: If you were caught in a zombie apocalypse, what would you do to survive?

Nicky: I’m kind of lazy! So probably not as much as you’d think! It’s kind of a running joke with my family and friends, but I actually do have a Plan Z for if zombies invade Britain. All my loved ones know where to meet, what to pick up on the way and I’ve chosen a local building that has really high walls and lots of food (It’s a garden centre – not sure you call them this in the US though)

6.     Us:What made you decide to write horror instead of other genres such as contemporary?

Nicky: I’ve tried to write other genres in the past, but I just get bored with them and if the writer is getting bored, then the reader wouldn’t be far behind! I find horror excites me to write and hopefully that comes through to the reader too. Bad Blood is action packed because I hate those types of horrors that take half the book before you see something even remotely exciting happen. I wanted my characters to lurch from one problem to another to keep it as real as I could in an unreal environment.

7.      Us:What do you think makes the horror genre successful, especially in the YA industry?

Nicky: Everybody loves a good scare! It’s why we ride roller-coasters. When it comes to YA, I think it gives teens a taste of the adult world – although I don’t hold back in Bad Blood – it’s as violent and gory as it would have been if it were aimed at the adult market. As an author I don’t believe in censoring that side for YA – if there is a supernatural edge then it makes it unreal anyway, so takes the edge off the violence.

8.   Us: Is it important to have some romance in the book when it's horror?

Nicky: I believe so. There has to more to a horror than blood and guts, something for the reader to cheer for. The romance in Bad Blood is quite complicated, as the main character, Britannia has been in love with a man for centuries who, in her head, she’s created this whole day-dream like life with. Day dreams are dangerous when it comes to love – dream men have no faults. And she is in for a very tough lesson when a man turns up she believes is his reincarnation.

9    Us: Do you think horror should be publicised more? 

Nicky: With the amount of movies and books in the genre, I think it’s doing better than ever. If, 20 years ago, you told someone that you like horror they’d think you were a bit weird and perhaps even worry about you! Now it’s almost a natural genre to love, and there are sooooo many subgenres that are really coming into their own, such as: Steampunk, Dark Fantasy and paranormal romance.

1       Us: If you had a chance to be a vampire or zombie character in a book, who would it be and why?

      Nicky: As I write first person from Britannia’s point of view, it would have to be her. As her creator and voice I’m so close to her already. I’d love to be a vampire, although I’d need to read all the small print before totally committing!