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Welcome to The Wormhole and my day on the tour.
It is my pleasure to feature Lee Rudnicki and My Immortal.
Enjoy the interview!
When did you first
realize you wanted to be a writer?
I didn't so much as realize that I wanted to be a writer; I had to
become a writer.
To explain, I come from another world.
The drum corps world. They call it Marching Music’s Major League now,
but it’s basically a circuit of world class drum corps from all over the
country. Look up the drum corps Phantom
Regiment if you want an example of what I’m talking about.
Anyway, in high school, I was on a mission to get good enough to march
in and teach a drum corps someday. In California.
So, I drummed. I was pretty much drumming 24/7 when I was awake and sometimes
in my sleep, not much else. The rest of school? Pretty much, out. I wanted
nothing to do with it, I wanted to drum. Typing? Out. Writing?
Not a chance. Math? Avoid. As the
story goes, I drummed. But that’s a story for another day, my friends. The point is, writing “words” was not part of
the equation, I could barely write a paragraph.
Literally.
Faaaaaaaaaaaaaast forward, I graduated college, left the drum corps
planet and landed on Mars, aka law school. The new environment was cool, but
things got not cool when my first assignment came back covered in red ink. The
Picasso-like red and yellow mess of putrid tort soup on a bagel with cream
cheese was followed by a direct speech from my professor. “Learn how to write
or you will fail out.”
Rut roh. I had no other career plans. And my only superpower, snare
drumming, would not save me.
So, fear was my initial motivation to write. Please understand, there
was no mission statement about becoming a novelist. There was no plan to write
or produce anything. I was a drummer out of water, with no other options, and
learning how to write was a matter of career survival, quite frankly.
The cool thing is that getting a mission where everything is on the
line, is that it is a great experience if you can survive it.
So, I came up with a plan. In addition to studying, I wrote online a lot and read and wrote anything and
everything I could, and also travelled every chance I got. When I finally published something, Tale of a
Drum Line, it did well, and that gave me confidence as a writer. I just
published Tale of a Drum Line as an e-book, which
you can find here.
When did you
consider yourself a writer?
I finished my first screenplay in the UCLA professional screenwriting
program. That’s when I finally felt as if I had written “something.”
How long did it
take you to write a novel?
Well, the journey of My Immortal not typical. The screenplay came first, so I already had
many elements figured out when I started.
Which technically makes the creative process backwards.
Anyway, if you’re interested, here’s my 7-step playbook for turning a
screenplay into a novel –
PLAYBOOK – SEVEN
STEPS FROM NOVEL TO SCREENPLAY
Step 1 – Paste your screenplay into an MS Word Document. 10 seconds.
Smile.
Step 2 – Format everything like a novel. change verb tense, fix
character names, add quotation marks. blah blah blah – 3 weeks. Hype.
Start thinking about the cover. Publishing rights. Tell your friends.
Step 3. Visit the location.
Rewrite the novel there. Grow confident. Hype.
Step 4 – Go home. Check word count.
Terror. Panic. Curse. Panic. Writing a novel at this speed will take 200
years. WTF. LOL. Drink.
Step 5 – Brainstorm. Buy voice recognition software. finish first
draft in 27 days by telling the story to yourself as you visualize the journey.
Celebrate with nice dinner. Predict editing time of 7 weeks. Boast. Hype. LOL. Send your friends the
cover. Hype. Boast. Predict.
Step 6 – Spend 7 months editing, and then another two months editing.
Curse. Spend endless hours at the computer. Curse the fact that you told anyone
you wrote a novel. Or even wrote a novel. What a stupid [bleep] idea. WTF.
Step 7 – Publish. Smirk. Collapse.
What would you say
is your most interesting writing quirk?
My Immortal is not written like your typical novel. I feature short, fast-paced machine gun
chapters with relentless action and violence. I include some of my photography
from Eastern Europe as well. When you’re done
reading My Immortal, I don't want you to
feel like you read a good book. I want
you to feel like you survived.
Where do you get
your ideas or inspiration for your characters?
I’m a producer, so my choice of what projects or characters about are
largely dictated by what I want to see made into a movie or television
show. Whether or not that ultimately
happens on any project is another story as everyone who ever tried to produce
or write anything knows, but that is usually my initial source of
motivation.
Character-wise, my characters write themselves. It’s hard to explain, but the My Immortal
creative process was more akin to following Wolf, Sebastian and Eva down into
the tunnels underneath Berlin
and documenting what happened, not putting words on paper and imagining a
character saying that. Long story short,
writing a novel was the most unusual and vivid creative experience I’ve
had. I highly recommend it to everyone.
And by the way, writing a novel is terrible experience some times as well. But at the end of the day, it’s a worthwhile
endeavor, even if nobody reads your books.
Maybe especially if nobody reads your books.
What do you think makes a good story?
Structure is key,
but I can appreciate anything that is not boring.
If you’re going to
write for the audience, write for the audience.
Our time is precious, so make it worth your reader’s time. Be as clever as you want, but understand that
your readers need to “get” the story you wrote after one reading, not
fifty. Boring sucks, regardless of
genre.
What book, if any, do you read over and over
again?
The 4-Hour Work Week, by Timothy Ferriss. It’s a genius book on time management, even
if you don't want to sell widgets or be a speed-reading world champion ninja assassin.
What is the most interesting thing you have
physically done for book related research?
I went to Berlin to retrace the
steps of Sebastian, Wolf and Eva as they escaped from the city. I wanted to make sure the historical context
was accurate, and the scenes that I was writing correctly captured the essence
of each city. It took a ton of time,
travel and research in Europe, and I barely survived a few encounters with the
vampires in Prague -- Czech vampires are under the control of no one, and can be
quite unpredictable even when not provoked.
Seriously.
At the end of the
day, the My Immortal story fits within the historical framework of the second
world war. It could have happened. Maybe
it did. And I learned that vampires
really do exist, at least in Prague.
What can readers expect next from you?
A few movies. Book-wise, I’m working on the sequel to My
Immortal, which is set in Japan. It’s dynamite.
Okay, now some fun and ridiculous
questions. What is the capital of Switzerland?
Bern. But
99% of Americans think it’s Geneva,
so I’m okay if they ever decide to move it.
It certainly would be a lot less confusing for us, as a nation. Speaking of Europe,
they have a much more rational view of vacation time then we do. And better
beer, for the most part.
Dogs or Cats?
Rumiko and I own a
miniature Australian Sheppard, Buzz the Dog.
If you want to see Buzz do his famous cookie-on-nose trick, here it is.
Coffee or Tea?
I drink one cup of
coffee in the morning, then I exist the rest of the day on unsweetened iced
tea. This one time, in band camp, I
tried this so-called beverage in North Carolina called sweet-tea, which seemed
to me to be the culinary result of a Three Musketeers bar, a pound of sugar, a
slice of baloney, two lemons and a tea bag all thrown into a juicer. I
dunno.
Dark Chocolate or Milk?
I greatly prefer
dark chocolate. In fact, I am proud to
hold an official certificate in chocolate tasting from Hershey
Park in Pennsylvania, which is what you get after
you ride the ride with the singing cows, then taste all of the different kinds
of Hershey’s chocolate. I’m originally
from Mountaintop, PA, by the way.
Night or Day?
If the author of a
vampire novel ever says “Day” in response to this question, red alert. Delete
this blog immediately, change your name and go into hiding.
Crayons or markers?
Sharpie uber alles.
Pens or Pencils?
I haven’t willing
used a pencil since the third grade (true story). I prefer black Bic Cristal 1.6 mm pens, which
leak all over the place, but write so well that I’m willing to deal with the
ink on my hands as collateral damage. While we're talking about penmanship, I
think one of the most useless skills I learned in elementary school was cursive
writing. In fact, my cursive writing is
pretty much still on a third grade level.
No offense to anyone who still likes to write like that, but unless and
until you need to beam back to the year 1872 and write some letters to Congress
or whatever, I think that’s a skill you can leave by the wayside.
Can you please give us an excerpt from your vampire
novel?
Absolutely. I call
this excerpt “The Miracle,” because it’s when the German soldiers learn a
secret about Eva that is far more shocking and important to the world than the
fact that she is a vampire.
Enjoy …
EXCERPT -- MY IMMORTAL THE VAMPIRES OF BERLIN
THE MIRACLE
Axel stirred just
as Sebastian emerged from the darkness with Eva. “Kill the devil girl!” he
gasped.
Overcome by
emotion, Klaus got up and pointed his rifle at Eva. “We need to get rid of her.
The vampires will stop hunting us. We’ll be safe.”
Sebastian put
himself directly into the line of fire. “Easy there, soldier. We’re all on the
same side.”
Klaus didn’t
flinch. “How many more of us have to die because of her? You have a genius plan
to get out of Berlin.
That’s what you guys told us, and that’s why we followed you. We don't need
this vampire shit!”
Sebastian put his
hand over the muzzle. “Put the rifle down. I’m not going to let you shoot her.”
The old man’s voice
broke with emotion. “Get out of my way! She is not your daughter! Your daughter
is dead! I will shoot that witch!”
“Shoot her!” Dieter
shouted.
Just as Klaus began
the muscle contractions on his index finger to shoot, Sebastian moved at
lightening speed and tackled him. Dieter jumped onto Sebastian’s back, but
ended up on the ground next to his grandfather a split-second later. With his
growing strength, Sebastian could have easily killed them both. Instead, he
held them down just hard enough to prevent them from hurting someone.
Unnoticed during
the mêlée, Eva knelt down and put her hands on Axel’s face. She closed her eyes
as a soft blue glow emanated from her palms. The horribly burned pilot moaned
and tried to push her away as the light grew brighter, but Eva kept her hands
firmly on him.
Dieter noticed the
light. “Stop!” he yelled. “She’s hurting him!”
Eva took her hands
away from Axel and crumpled to the ground.
Sebastian released
his grip and the fight ground to a halt.
Klaus ran to the
pilot’s side. “Are you all right? Axel, are you still alive? Talk to me!”
Axel pulled his
hands away from his face.
Klaus gasped. “Oh
my God …”
In case you are still looking for more...Author Bio:
Lee Rudnicki is an entertainment lawyer, producer, and writer in Los Angeles. Lee has a law degree from the University of San Francisco, a music degree from San Jose State, a Certificate in Screenwriting from UCLA and studied international law at Trinity College, Ireland and Charles University, Prague. Before law school, Lee was a world-class rudimental drummer and drum corps instructor.
My Immortal The Vampires of Berlin
By Lee Rudnicki
Genre: Horror
Publisher: 23 House
Date of Publication: March 9, 2012
Number of pages: 306
Word Count: 56,000
Blurb/Book Description:
A supernatural adventure set in present day and 1945 Berlin. Our heroine is Eva, a shell-shocked young vampire who is found wandering around in the ruins of Berlin Cathedral on the last day of the war by soldiers.
Purchase Links:
BARNES AND NOBLE
AMAZON
AMAZON KINDLE
VAMPIRE BLOG – (SIGNED COPIES) --http://www.vampiresofberlin.blogspot.com/
Ten-year-old Nathan Rockledge cannot catch a break. After all, life as a fourth-grader can be hazardous what with science projects to deal with and recess football games to avoid. Everyone, including his best friend Tommy, seems to have bad luck when hanging around Nathan. Throw in an older sister who is a royal pain, a dad who is stuck in the past, and a mom who keeps trying to poison him with her awful cooking, and poor Nathan’s life as a fourth grader appears to be completely doomed. Armed only with his sketchpad, his imagination, and his wits, Nathan Rockledge navigates the perils of the fourth grade in style, to emerge heroic, as Nate Rocks, proving that even a ten-year-old can accomplish great things.
With fourth grade finally winding down, 10-year-old Nathan Rockledge is looking forward to a fun and relaxing summer at home with his friends. That is, until his mom decides he has to go to overnight camp with his annoying older sister. When his best friend Tommy decides to tag along, Nathan thinks maybe his summer won’t actually be so bad. After all, he does get to be away from his mom's awful cooking for an entire six weeks. Amongst Color War competitions, a flaky counselor, and a bully named "No-Neck,” Nathan turns to his trusty sketchpad, transforming himself into Nate Rocks: 10-year-old extraordinaire. His speedboat ready for action, Nate saves the day time and again from the perils of floods, snakes, ghosts, and even the most wanted criminals.
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I went to 
My Immortal The Vampires of Berlin
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