Interview with Author Leslie Esdaile Banks (AKA L.A. Banks)

Dyanne:

Hello family it’s that’s time again. I do hope you’ve been enjoying the newsletters and our attempts to keep you informed. This month the interviews are with authors Leslie Esdaile Banks AKA L.A. Banks and Michelle Cameron.

L.A.: You may or may not be aware that I write under several names--so many that sometimes the aliases get crazy and confusing (smile.) So, bear with me while I take a moment to introduce my full writing portfolio to you, given that I write various genres under multiple pseudonyms using the names: L.A. Banks, Leslie Esdaile Banks, Leslie E. Banks, Leslie Banks and Leslie Esdaile, simultaneously with five major publishers: St. Martin's Press (NYC), Simon and Schuster (NYC), Kensington Publishing (NYC), BET/Arabesque (NYC), and Genesis Press (MS.). Crazy, isn't it?

Dyanne: Generally I ask the authors to take a couple of lines to tell us about themselves. I’m glad Leslie was able to crunch it down for me. ( smile)

So, Leslie, tell us what's the craziest thing you've ever had to happen in your career.

L.A. My career itself, LOL! I "fell" into this... girlfriends mailed off my first manuscript, dragged me to a writer's conference, and I literally stumbled into a meeting with who would become my first editor at Kensington/Arabesque back then. Talk about the accidental tourist, sheesh!

Dyanne: You do know you have a ton of people wanting to become an accidental tourist, me included. Share your most selfish decadent wish (G-rated)

L.A.:( G-rated burns all my wishes to a quick, BIG GRIN... but a movie deal, TV series, working full time as a screenplay writer with a Harry Potter (or Lord of the Rings) budget on all my films with the best directors and producers... nice to dream!

Dyanne: I’m pretty sure your wishes are going to come true. Carlos belongs on the big screen. With everything you have going on what's on your plate for the rest of 09?

L.A.: Too much, ha ha ha! Let's see... The Thirteenth--which is the 12th and final installment of The Vampire Huntress Legends series, came out in Feb; Undead on Arrival, werewolf book #3, comes out this April, I just turned in werewolf book #4, Cursed to Death--a fall release... and I'm working on a manga script and graphic novel script for The Vampire Huntress Legends series, as well as a young adult follow on to that series which will deal with the next generation. i am also working on a couple of anthology contributions that should be out this year.

Dyanne: What are you up to now that The Vampire Huntress series is over, and tell us a little about the two contest you had recently.

L.A: I'm still working on vampires, just in different media (graphic novels and manga scripts), as well as YA... werewolves have become my newest passion--blended with the Fae (Seelie and Unseelie stuff)... and recently we had a contest to give away an actual replica of my heroine's sword from the Vampire Huntress Legends series. It was a life-sized, anvil forged, six thousand dollar, jewel crusted model of The Madame Isis blade that heroine Damali Richards uses in the series. This was donated by The Devil's Candy Store and created by Hollywood swordsmith, Tony Swatton, to be given away as an essay contest prize to commemorate the formal end of the series. If you haven't seen it, check it out on the blog--it is GORGEOUS!

Dyanne: Leslie, I for one am thrilled that you’re still going to be working on vampires. By the way I saw the sword and I’m still salivating. I know you barely have time to breathe, so thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Last thing: How do you want to be contacted by readers?

L.A.: They can hit my contact pages at http://www.vampirehuntress.com/ or http://www.leslieesdailebanks.com/ or http://www.crimsonmoonnovels.com/