Ambrosia: Your entire life has really seemed like something
out of a novel. One adventure after the other! You were a rock star for a
while, a model, you make some beautiful jewelry, you’re an incredible
photographer and you’ve published over forty plus books. What else has been
memorable for you with things that you’ve done in life?
Rue: Oh man. When you mention all of that I feel like I
should take a nap. Lol Well, I think the most memorable things in my life have
to be the quiet moments I had with my Mom when I was growing up. Curling up
behind her legs and napping mid-day. The day I knew in my heart that my husband
was my true love and when I realized that I could and not just dream that I
could do what I wanted in life. I
honestly take it one day to the next and each challenge as it comes. I am never
overwhelmed by anything, in fact I welcome change and new things as often as
possible. I think this is why I teach myself to do so many things, I love being
able to stand back and say “yes, I totally pulled that off.”. Now, if you need
surgery, don’t call me. I have no idea about that.
Ambrosia: What is your roll with Vamptasy Publishing? Now
that Vamptasy has united with Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly publishing
what will your roll be?
Rue: My roll always was first and foremost an author on
Vamptasy. I stepped into head of promotions a few months ago and all the while
I have been close friends with SJ.Davis (owner of CHBB/Hot Ink Press). In fact
I had books on both her pubs before the merger. Now, I write and still do
promotions but the family is larger and I can focus more on my books, marketing
and side projects like my jewelry company, Vivid Book Designs and my online
magazine. As you might imagine my time was spread thin anyway so the merger has
made it a bit easier on me. Now I had been and will continue to make covers for
Hot Ink and Crushing Hearts whenever SJ Davis reaches out and needs them done
for her.
Ambrosia: What’s your favorite thing to do out of all of
your ongoing projects? Writing, jewelry, photography for example…
Rue: That is tough to answer. Well, it’s a tie really
between photography and writing. Both allow me to express my art. I don’t
approach writing as someone trying to work out the technical this and that
bullshit. I go into it as a storyteller and remain that way from start to
finish. I also do that in my photography. Every shot tells a story, every edit
I do enhances the story until I see the vision of it that I saw when I first
took the shot. I guess I am just strange in that way. Everything speaks to me,
a shot, a story and piece of jewelry. I just try to do my very best at all of
it and hopefully it shows.
Ambrosia: Writing is obviously a great passion of yours.
What lead you to become an author? Have you been writing all your life, or was
this a sudden thing at the time?
Rue: I told stories to my sisters when they were little. As
in I made puppets and made up elaborate fantasy filled stories mainly starring
two black rabbits by the names of Oogie and Ogabond. I actually included them
in a short prelude to the Blood & Light series called “Birth of a Vampire”
but anyway, that was all the storytelling I did as I grew up and so it kind of
makes sense to me that I still tell stories in that way. I am all about characters
and plots, wrapped in fantasy. I write like I am sitting at a campfire and
telling you the story, well more accurately, my characters tell you the story.
Not me. I never over explain, over describe or over anything, I let you get
immersed in the story by caring and feeling like you are there and the
characters are real. I love to have sci-fi elements, paranormal elements and
damaged characters who could be you on so many different levels. Now, my
writing has one beginning. I turned 40. I went out, I was aggravated and drank
too much and then I came home and hand scribbled the first few pages on book
one in the Blood & Light series and hand to Goddess, I still to this day
have no idea why other than the fact that I placed my Father in the story( William).
You see he left when I was 7 years old and that impacted me in a very heavy
way. I missed him, I felt rejected and I watched my Mother struggle as a single
Mom and the hurt she felt as he left us. Well, come to find out, I received a
call 13 days later from my Mom telling me that he was dead. He had been on
vacation, had a heart attack at home and no one knew until he did not return to
work 13 days later. His death certificate is dated the day I started to write
and that is the truth of where I started in February of 2010. I had no dream of
being a writer, I was working in retail as a Store Manager and suddenly I was
obsessed with the story and had to write it. So, 2 years later and 6
novels/2800 pages, The Blood & Light series is available to the world and I
am grateful. I grew so much while writing it seeing I was not a writer when I
started but I came out the other side an author and for that, I am forever in
debt to the powers that be. Just on a side note, I did take breaks from writing
that series and wrote another novel called “Stuff and Things and what boredom
brings” for my Mom and quite a few shorts. Strange but true in the land of Rue.
Ambrosia: Of all of your books, do you have an all-time
favorite and what makes that book more special than the rest? What’s your
favorite quote from that book?
Rue: Oh my God. Well. I have 28 books out and to me they are
all my children as any author will tell you. I guess I will do my best to pick
one line although I could never snub any of them and call out one book as my
favorite. I would share lines from my erotic’s but I would fear the server fry.
Hahahaha So, I will pick Stuff and Things and what boredom brings, chapter 4 a
section of a conversation as I normally do not have “favorite” lines, but
sections “The Logistics of Sex” when Alexi is reluctantly having the “talk”
with her Dad about sex and he says…
“Are you looking at porn?”
“No! Oh my god…no.” I
said as I crossed my arms on my chest.
“Oh… okay good. That
stuff is not realistic anyway, I mean some of the stuff they do… holy
crap! I mean how you get legs up that
high…”
“Dad! I am not
looking at porn, nor will I.” I said as I shook my head.
“Oh… okay.” He said as he looked back at my fries and popped
one into his mouth.
“Well, do you understand the logistics of what happens when
you have sex?”
“Oh god.” I said.
“Well, the first time for a girl hurts, from what I hear…”
“Good to know.” I said as I slapped my hands on my legs.
“I would assume so, I mean your Mother was really…”
“Stop… stop… stop it.” I said.
“Oh… okay, yeah, you don’t want to hear about that.”
“Not really.” I said as I crossed my arms back on my chest
and shook my head.
“Well… it gets really hard.” he said as he waved his hands
at his crotch.
“Don’t… don’t do that, the waving thing at your crotch.”
He looked up at me and grinned as he shook his head.
Ambrosia: Outside of your own books, do you have a favorite
book or a favorite author?
Rue: Well I love many, all of which are Indie’s. You can
count every single brother and sister I have on Vamptasy Publishing and CHBB
and Hot Ink in there. I also love Cassandra Clare and Anne Rice. But honestly I
also love the writers of my favorite shows like Supernatural, The Walking Dead,
Justified, Firefly just to name a few. I am also a huge fan of Quintin
Tarantino and David Lynch as well as Joss Whedon. I mean what amazing
storytelling and as I have always said, I am a lover of the character and plot
and all of those shows and artists showcase just that.
Ambrosia: Does a lot of your jewelry stem from inspiration
from your books, or is it sometimes the other way around?
Rue: I never really mixed the two honestly. I mean I mention
clothing in my books but seldom any jewelry and that part of my art comes from
things I see as in a charm here or a print I edited there and then I create
something. I love Steampunk, so keys, compasses and time pieces always pop up
with me as well as fairy tale themes and whimsical stuff. I just make what I
like to wear mostly. I try to keep it simple for the most part. It changes from
day to day. I may make earrings one day and the next I am making broaches. Then
a necklace and then I make a head piece or choker. It all depends on how I feel
just like when I write a story.
Ambrosia: I know you have a very supportive family, which is
a wonderful blessing. Your mother was also a great mentor and friend for you
also. If it’s not too personal, have you ever written anything for her or
specifically for anyone else in your family?
Rue: I wrote “Stuff and Things and what boredom brings, a
witches tale” for her. It was a way for me to deal with knowing I was losing
her to Cancer and she passed in March of 2012. Her loss in my life is something
I will never get over but it gets a bit easier to deal with daily as I guess
anyone who has lost someone close to them will tell you. In that book, “Alexi”
has lost her Mother and in the first book she spends time transitioning to a
life without her. I am currently writing book two and now she is accepting
which is step two in the process. I have a tendency to write what is going on
with me personally in my novels as I work through stuff. Now with that being
said that series is some of the funniest stuff I will ever write as my Mom had
the best humor in the entire world and I wanted that to be the books for her,
it is what she would have wanted and I just wish she had been able to read
them. One thing I will say is no matter what you have going on always make time
for those you love whether it is a coffee date or a simple stop in and Hi. You
never know with life how long we have and to miss those moments is a tragedy
and something you never want to wish back.
Ambrosia: You’re such a busy person. Are you looking to try
anything new soon?
Rue: World domination in 2013. I mean I think I can handle
it now. lol
Ambrosia: I loved your story of how this first started for
you. Will you share with everyone how you became published and picked up by
your first publishing house?
Rue: Oh well, I wrote and released Blood & Light book
one with authorhouse and I had no clue what I was doing at all. I had no
fanpage, website, blog, betas…nothing. I just released that book with a crappy
cover and then kept writing. Then I said…”Ummm, why am I not selling any books?”
and it hit me. Writing the book was just the tip of the iceberg and I could
have slapped myself for that one. So, I joined Facebook, set up a page started
networking and ran into some not so nice people at first. People who were
snooty and did not want anything to do with networking at all in fact I had
some authors tell me to basically go away so I did and I started my own pages
of which I have many now with awesome people who like to network and understand
it is a group effort . Anyway, I was approached to do a short in an anthology
for Vamptasy Publishing called “Red Wine” and I jumped at it, I mean wow, it
was on an Indie pub and I was so excited. So I wrote “Birth of a Vampire” which
was a back story on one of the rogue vampires in the Blood and Light series and
Nicola Ormerod contacted me and we started to talk, from that we skyped and
then a contract popped up and I was signed 6 months after I self pubbed my
first novel. I was so grateful and so very lucky and I am telling you now,
Nicola is one of the most honest and hardworking women in this industry and I
will always be her friend. She gave me my start when no one else would even
look at me and now she has merged with SJ Davis (who was my pub sister on
Vamptasy when I first got signed) and being back with Sarah and having Nicola
by my side as an author and a business partner in Vivid Book Designs is a dream
come true for me. Best publishing people in the business hands down.
Ambrosia: Is there anything you would like to say to your
readers or fans? Or perhaps other authors and aspiring writers?
Rue: To fans I will say thank you for driving the train this
year. You have taken me from selling a few books to being a bestselling author
and linked, shared, gotten my books into libraries, reviewed, entered me in
contests and won, as well as sent me messages, gifts and helped me keep my chin
up even the day my Mother passed away. It is an amazing thing to have people
connect with you on this level and support you so loyally. I love my fans, best
people in the world.
To aspiring authors here is the thing. Know this, writing
the book is just the smallest part of it. I know that sounds crazy but you have
to promote it. Market yourself, have a website and or blog, fanpage, beta’s,
get involved with as many groups on FB as you can to help support you. Link and
share your news every day, do giveaways, share other peoples posts and support
them too. Be on twitter, and as many social networking hotspots as possible.
Think globally and not locally. Create digital posters, use them when promoting
yourself and always keep it fun. Do not let crappy reviews get you down and
block people who try, you don’t need them, even if you thought they were a
“friend”. If you are serious, put everything you have into it and dedicate
yourself to it. Do not expect huge results at first and watch as what you put
in helps you grow. It will take time, anything worth it does and ALWAYS reach
out to those who can help you out. You have too. It is not just you, it is a
whole family in the Indie world and the more you dig in the better it will be.
On to the goofy and
fun…
Ambrosia: Have you ever gone out in public with your shirt
on backwards or your slippers on, and then when you realized it just said screw
it? Or have you ever done this on purpose?
Rue: I have left my house in the most ridiculous clothing on
purpose because to me it is Halloween every damn day.
Ambrosia: Toe socks? Fuzzy or cotton?
Rue: Leg warmers, gray:)
Ambrosia: Can you tell the difference in Coke and Pepsi?
Rue: I don’t drink anything but Cream soda in a glass bottle
on occasion. But I would think the difference is a C and P.
Ambrosia: Are you a person who makes their bed in the
morning, or do you not see much point if no one else is going to see it?
Rue: I never make my bed, in fact my Husband is the clean
one, I just get up and leave a trail of shit in my wake. Lights on, clothing on
the floor, I am horrible and I have no idea why he loves me. hahahaha
Ambrosia: Do you go out of your way to kill bugs / run from
bugs / or save them?
Rue: I lock bugs in rooms like they can’t follow me then
start harassing my husband on FB and telling him to come home and handle it.
Ambrosia: Any phobias?
Rue: Spiders
Ambrosia: Favorite strangest food?
Rue: I like ketchup on my eggs. I don’t know if that is
weird to the world but my husband always looks like something is about to burst
through his chest when I do it. hahahaha
Rue’s Bio…
Rue Volley is a bestselling author, graphic artist and
photographer. She splits her time between writing and designing covers for
books. She owns "Rue View" magazine and RV Radio, both dedicated to
helping those in the Indie Arts get more exposure. She hosts multiple groups on
facebook, all dealing with promotion and marketing for artists. She is signed
to Vamptasy Publishing and also writes for Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly
publishing and Hot Ink Press.
Tell us about the books coming out in January…
Okay, well I have a few. I have book two in a witches tale
series coming out called “This and That and what killed the cat” Book three in
the Maddie Maze series called “Silly spells and Surefooted suckdiggery” and I
have the first novel in the Hunters’ Blood series called “Dog will Hunt” coming
as well as book two in the Double Gun Dealer series called “Lin” I
can give you a blurb on This and That and what killed the Cat…
I ran for what seemed like forever and then stumbled, over
what I have no idea, but the fall is not what irritated me, it was the fact
that something had the nerve to try to trip me up. How dare it! I mean I am
Alexi Carvelle Damn it! Witch and all around badass…well, you know what I mean.
Sometimes you have to tell yourself that and convince people around you that it
is true, but you know what? If you believe it, then it is real, just like
nobbles and elves and magick. Oh my god…magick. What a pain in the booty. I
have tried over and over again to master it and although I proudly scream (in
my mind) that I am a witch, I am so not even that yet…in fact I am trying to
just get this heart flutter thing under control with you know who…you know, Mr.
Deadish and super hottie Logan Stewart. I have too, I mean he is on a timer
now, a when is he going to just stop ticking timer and my ability to master
this hocus pocus this and that is imperative. I mean Kyle won’t do it, how
could he? He is just the disease and I have to be the cure and I swear to you,
when this is all said and done, I will zap him into some other dimension just
for coming here and mucking up the clockworks.
I looked
up and grinned…Logan stared down at me with a smile so familiar and yet foreign
to me. It is almost as if he teeters on being fake at times, but I took his
hand and he helped me. I brushed the leaves off of my jeans and laughed, trying
to play off the embarrassment of falling. I know, why the hell should I feel
weird about falling? Well, it is the L word, it has me all messed up and doing
things that suck on the daily. I straightened my shirt and adjusted my jacket,
feeling myself starting to surface.
LINKS
To Rue’s website, http://ruevolley.moonfruit.com/
A place to buy and browse all your books, http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=rue+volley&sprefix=rue+volley%2Cdigital-text%2C220
To Rue’s merchandise, http://www.whatboredombrings.com/
Fan pages, good reads, blogs, etc
Fanpage
goodreads
twitter
jewelry page
Vivid Book Designs
Rueview Magazine
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