In honor of this month's creepy critters theme, we featured Renee Stevens' story, Joined by Blood, with our October Signature Background. Who doesn't like vampires, right? If you like your vampires bad... this story has them! If you like your vampires good... this story has them! But figuring out which is which...? Maybe not so easy! If you haven't read it yet, you really should, but first, read this interview with Renee where you can learn some more about

Do you eat your fruits and vegetables?
Some, not all. Some fruits and vegetables I really like, some I absolutely detest and you couldn’t pay me enough to eat them.

What are you wearing (and no fibbing!)?
Jeans and a t-shirt… and my camo slippers.

Are you a person who makes their bed in the morning, or do you not see much point?
Lately I try to at least throw the blankets so they somewhat cover the bed; otherwise I end up with dog hair all over the sheets.

What brought you to the site?
Mainly, I was looking for a new place to start posting my work. I found GA, became a member right away, and started posting in the old eFiction. I just never left and am now coming up on my 5 year GA Anniversary.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
Sometimes it’s just finding the motivation to write, especially lately. It seems like there’s just one thing after another happening that makes me lose my focus.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
The toughest criticism is hard, but I think it would have to be the one when I was simple told that a story I wrote was “boring beyond belief” and had absolutely no plot. The thing was, the story in question was simply a look inside the lives of two characters. There wasn’t supposed to be a major set-up with them. Luckily, no one else agreed with the person who said it.

The best compliment… I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on my writing. With that being said, I think it’s a toss-up between two things. One of which is those readers that continue to follow me and read my work. I’ve heard from a few readers that they’ll read anything I write and honestly, I don’t think you can get a much better compliment than that. The other compliment is similar, in those readers who will wait for chapters, no matter how long it may take me to get them out. I’ve had stories get stalled because of life happening(a couple have been stalled for years), and yet, when I manage to finally get a chapter out of them, I get a review (or comment) from someone saying that they are so happy I’m working on the story again.

Do you have any writing rituals?
If I’m determined to write, then I turn music on. Other than that, only if I’m stuck. If I’m stuck, then I turn music on and grab a pen and paper. Here’s the thing though, it can’t be just any pen and paper. If I am truly stuck, it has to be a new pen and a new notebook. I actually have a stack of single subject notebooks and a stash of never used pens that when I get really stuck on a story, I grab a new set and start working through my thoughts. Once in a while, even that’s not enough to get me through the block, but most the time it works.

How did you come up with the title for Joined by Blood?
I always have a really hard time coming up with titles for stories. Generally, I run title options past Cia, and sometimes we go through numerous title options before settling on one that we both like. If I remember right, I thought of “Joined by Blood” because of the simple reasoning of, all of the bonds in the story are blood bonds and require the ingestion of each other’s blood. I ran the thought by Cia (probably Lugh, Nephylim, and Frostina as well) and it was agreed to be the perfect title.

Why vampires?
I’ve always been fascinated with vampires. When I wrote “Joined by Blood” I had already written a couple of shorter vampire stories, but I wanted to try my hand at something longer. I also always wondered as to what made a vampire good or bad, writing “Joined by Blood” gave me the chance to explore that.

At what point did you realize that Dante, Damian, and Vik were destined to be a triumvirate? Was that the initial idea that came to you, or did it evolve as you wrote the story?
Honestly, that was NOT in the original plans at all. The original plan for the story was simply a Vik/Damian pairing, but the further I got into the story, the more I realized that Dante was playing a more important role than originally planned. He had a bond with both Vik and Damian that just begged to be explored. I wouldn’t say there was a “moment” that I just “knew” they were destined to be a triumvirate though, I think it was just a gradual realization. Little things started to come together until there was no other conclusion I could come to.

What was your favorite part of the story?
That is a tough question. There were so many parts to this story that just beg to become my favorite, but I think one part manages to edge the others out, just a little. In Chapter 6, both the reader and Damian learn of the true relationship between Jarrod and Vik. It’s a bit of an eye opener for everyone, but especially for Damian and it’s a bit of a turning point in the story.

Have you considered writing a sequel to Joined by Blood?
When I first completed “Joined by Blood”, I considered the story complete. Since then, I’ve done some thinking and considering and there just might be a sequel after all. It’s not really even in the planning stages right now because I have so many other stories in the works, but I do have a few thoughts and plans for if/when I get some of my other projects done. However, there is no timeline for when I might start work on it or when it might come out.