- How did the idea of Spellbent come about?

There were two events that led to me writing the novel. The first thing that happened was that one night I had the worst nightmare I've ever had in my life. But not only was it mind-bendingly horrific, it had a distinct story that hinted at a complex plot. I woke up, and once I caught my breath, I thought, "Hmm, I should write about that." But I never could find anything to hang the nightmarish scenes on.

Years later, the second thing happened: I'd gotten word that a slot might open in the invitation-only anthology Apprentice Fantastic, and so I worked up a story pitch.  My idea centered on a young woman who loses her master in a spell gone wrong in the middle of a city; she must face a demon on her own without his assistance. The anthology filled and I didn't get to pitch, but the idea caught my fancy ... and I realized that I could integrate the nightmare story in the section of the book where Jessie has to go to hell to rescue Cooper. 

Ironically, I had to almost entirely remove the nightmare scenes from the book during the re-write my editor requested; she deemed the content too horrific for urban fantasy readers. So Spellbent is my own personal pot of stone soup! I kept the original hell sequence and I'm hoping to be able to use it later.

 - How close is the end result to the original idea?

It's considerably different; the novel evolved as I wrote it. I think it's better than my original idea.

- Hypothetically speaking, if Spellbent ever becomes a movie and you have your pick of actors, who would you cast as the main characters?

This is kind of a tough question, since there aren't any actors who truly match my own personal visualization of what the characters are like. Or if they're a physical/attitude match the age is completely wrong or there's a voice issue etc. But I'm a movie geek, so I'll give it a shot! Let's go with Bradley Cooper as Cooper Marron and Jessica Biel as Jessie. The similarities in names is entirely coincidental here. I haven't seen them in "The A-Team" together so I don't know if the two have the tiniest spark of chemistry, but physically they're reasonably close. And, what the heck, let's go with Ryan Reynolds as the Warlock.  The Warlock needs more of a Woody Harrelson attitude, but Harrelson is a bit too old and I've never heard him without the Texas accent.  And if we've got Reynolds as the Warlock, let's go with Josh Brolin as Mr. Jordan. Anthony Head would do Pal's voice, but that probably goes without saying.

- I love the cover designs for Spellbent and Shotgun Sorceress.  Did you have a say in these designs?  And, can you tell us a little bit about the artist?

Both covers were done by artist Dan Dos Santos, who also does the covers for Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series. He's done covers for quite a number of urban fantasies. I had some say in the choice of cover artist. My editor asked me if there were any covers from their catalog that I particularly liked, and one of the covers I picked out was for TA Pratt's Poison Sleep, which Dos Santos also did. I sent along detailed notes about some key scenes and the characters' appearance to the art department, but Dos Santos came up with his own ideas for the covers.

- What are you working on now?

Right now, I'm starting to write new stories stories about Jessie, Cooper, and the Warlock for my upcoming collection Orchid Carousals. I also need to get started on Switchblade Goddess, the third novel after Shotgun Sorceress.

- Any advice you can give to aspiring writers on the writing process and on getting their work noticed?

As far as general advice on writing goes: read as much as you can inside and outside the genre. Don't worry to much about what people are saying is popular because by the time you finish your book, the market may have changed drastically. Write what means something to you, write the stories you and only you could write. It's your own voice that will attract your best readers, not your imitation of someone else.

And stick with it. Getting published is hard, and every time you level up, you discover a whole new set of writing challenges that aren't any easier. You need to have a real passion and determination to succeed as a working writer.  So keep learning, keep reading, keep writing, keep going. One word in front of the other.

As far as getting noticed goes, it doesn't hurt to write and submit short stories and poetry. You can learn a lot about your craft writing shorter works, and magazine editors have a way of moving up in the world.  The managing editor of the teeny-tiny 'zine I sold my very first story to later became the agent who sold my first novel to Del Rey.
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Thank you, Lucy, for taking the time to interview, and good luck with the trilogy, and with the upcoming story collection!  You can learn more about Lucy at her web site: www.lucysnyder.com
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Leave a comment to this post and visit back for the information about the upcoming release of my dark fantasy novel Ivan-and-Marya, upcoming later this month from Drollerie Press .