Conversation with Author Dorlana Vann

Hello Dorlana, dear sister of mine! I'm very happy and proud to have the opportunity to chat with you as an author here on Author Spotlight.


Please, please tell all about your first book that's being published by Tease Tarot (as part of the Dark Tarot line), called Jaclyn's Ghost ~

The story is a fun blend of the paranormal, mystery and humor. Jaclyn Jade is a ghost who must find out the reason she didn’t make it into Heaven or she will be sent back to Hell, or worse, she could stay in limbo forever. While trying to uncover the mystery of her murder, she also goes through a journey of self-discovery. There’s a spirited romantic undertone between her and a Logan, a ghost who has lived in her apartment for the last 80 years. They’re at odds because she is a New York fashion model with a modern and worldly attitude and he still looks at women and life from a 1920’s perspective. And they also team up with a timid psychic who can speak to the dead.


I have to say that I am absolutely in LOVE with your Supernatural Fairy Tales. How did all of that come about?
I wrote my first fairy tale inspired short story, Phone Calls and Dwarfs, 15 years ago. Next, I wrote “The Guard” without thinking about pairing it with the first one. But when I wrote “Cyber Stock,” I could see the developing pattern, and soon the two other stories followed. Now I have 13 fairy tale inspired short stories and 14 poems.





What people may not realize is that your updated Fairy Tales are not children's stories, but rather grown up "modernized" tales with a touch of the Supernatural. The thing I find truly fascinating is how you leave clues throughout each story so that the reader can piece it all together to discover which Fairy Tale the story is about. What inspired this bit of genius?

I think it might be just a bit of self indulgence; I like to have fun with the stories. Until I reach that smile point, where I *think* I’ve wrote something clever or funny, I’m just not happy. One of my favorite hidden reference stories is CYBER STOCK (Jack and the Beanstalk). It has the words fe fi fo fum and all the things Jack brought back from the beanstalk, among other things, hidden through out.

There are also some very amusing stories "behind the scenes" so to speak as to how some of your Fairy Tales came about. Can you please elaborate and tell us what happened to spark some of these amazing tales?

When I was thinking up the story of Silverweed Muffins, my mother was reminiscing about her father. She was telling me how he was really superstitious and had told her about when he was a little boy and his mom told him not to shoo the black birds away that were on their front porch because it meant death. The next day, his mother died. True story. And also, around the same time in his childhood, he said he saw the devil running through the woods, pitchfork and all. There were many other stories of my grandfather, but at the time these two incidents gave me the mood for Silverweed Muffins.

Phone Calls and Dwarfs was inspired by an incident that happened when me and my family were living in an apartment. My neighbor came down to visit from the upstairs apartment for the first time. I really did have a phone that rang in the bedroom and the phone's ringer in the living room didn’t work. So, I had to listen hard for the low ring of the bedroom phone. After my neighbor went home, I became really amused at the situation. I never told her I heard the one in the bedroom ring. She probably thought I was nuts, just picking up the phone that didn't ring and talking like it did.


I know of course, that you have a very full family life with a husband, 3 children, and 2 pets. How and when do you ever find the time to write?
When my four year old son wakes up that’s the end of my quiet time, so I get up really early. But it works out well, because I don’t think I would get any writing done if I had all the time in the world. Besides, I can’t write first draft at any other time; I can edit, but the story comes from an early morning combination of coffee and quiet.


So, what does Author Dorlana Vann like to do when she actually has some free time? Any favorite hobbies or activities?
I love to cook; I like making up my own recipes. I enjoy going to festivals, the beach, and on road trips with my family. And getting together with “the gang” to play poker and to have a couple of drinks is always a blast.



Who are some of your favorite authors, and have any had a big influence on your writing?

Some of my favorites are Oscar Wilde, John Grisham, Sarah Addison Allen and Laura Esquivel. Anne Rice’s work is probably what guided me away from the family saga genre and towards the supernatural. But when I went to write horror, it came out quirky. Don’t ask me, the characters just kind of took over…

What would you consider your biggest "sinful" indulgence?

I don’t know. I might spend a bit much on shoes and purses. And just recently I had my ears repierced, after ten years of not wearing earrings, and so now I’m buying all of these fabulous earrings. So, I guess shopping. Yeap. I love the mall.


You know I'm also going to ask you "the" question that I ask of all my author friends! What is the most surprising fact about you that your fans will be shocked to know?

Professionally: I don’t like short stories. I started writing them to get started in this tough business of writing, but I really prefer (reading and writing) the novel to the shorter form. But they are beginning to grow on me a bit now.
Personally: I was married when I was 16, and my husband was 18. We just celebrated our 23rd anniversary this March and I’m not even 40 yet (but almost... yikes).



Where do you see yourself in 5 yrs? 10 yrs?
I really like expanding my supernatural fairy tales to novel length. I participated in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month – you write 50K words in 30 days) in November and completed the rough draft of my Rapunzel inspired young adult supernatural novel – I used my short story, The Tower, as a base. I also have a Little Red Riding hood inspired young adult story brewing in my mind – I’m trying to keep it back until I’m ready to write it. Even though my stories and novels are suitable for all ages, I think I would really like to step over to the official young adult genre. So, in ten years I hope to have a gob of supernatural fairy tale inspired young adult novels.



You've been a member of a local group of writers called Humble Fiction Cafe. Tell us about your group and what you all strive to achieve together.

Writing is a very solitude activity so when you find a group of people who can relate, it’s great. Other writers also make terrific sounding boards, critiquers and motivators. Our anthology, SPLIT, is now available – Yay. We each picked dichotomies/opposites to write about. A lot of the stories were inspired by or are a continuation of other stories in the book. It was a really fun project that we are all very proud of.


Where can people find you and your work online?

Website: http://www.dorlanavann.com/
Myspace: www.myspace.com/dorlana
Supernatural Fairy Tales blog: http://www.dorlana.blogspot.com/
Supernatural Fairy Tales myspace page: www.myspace.com/sfairytales
Humble Fiction Café’s story circle: http://www.humblefictioncafe.blogspot.com/



Any new Dorlana Vann books for us to be on the lookout for in the near future?

I’m actually working on the second half of my Dark Tarot Death Card book. My second novel for the book is Isabella’s Dark Night. It’s another paranormal mystery. It’s about a woman who finds her archeologist parents murdered. Her search for a missing amulet (the reason her parents where killed) takes her back to ancient Byblos and also across the world to modern day Egypt.
It will be released by itself in Ebook around September 2008, and then it will be combined with Jaclyn’s Ghost by the end of the year for print.



Thank you very much for taking time to chat! It has been a real pleasure and you know I wish you much much success in your writing career!
Thank you! And thanks for creating such a great candle for Jaclyn’s Ghost – I love it!