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Hello Renee! Or do you prefer R.C.? Thanks a bunches for
doing this interview and telling us about Enslaved. It sounds like a good read.
-R.C. is fine. Though truth be told, I answer to a slew of
names. Seem to collect new ones every year.
First off, I love the cover. Nice! Juicy man meat! *wipes
slobber from chin* Tell us about Enslaved. What inspired you to write it?
-Ha ha! Thank my editor/publisher Jinxie G. for the hot
cover. When she showed me the original picture, I spent days staring at it.
What can I say? I’m a sucker for good shoulders.
Enslaved came
from, appropriately enough, a dream I had one night. It stuck with me the
entire day until I gave in and scribbled down what happened on a Post-It. At
the time, I had two other novels, the end of a novella, and a couple short
story ideas on the workboard hanging above my desk. But it became apparent a
week later that I needed to write this story. Deryck and Shayla were talking.
Loudly. This far into my writing career, I know better than to ignore the
voices in my head when they start babbling.
The novel rewrites the origins of the incubi. In this world,
they aren’t demons. They’re offspring of fertility gods who cavorted with
humans. Because of their potential for vast, unchecked power, the gods enslaved
the incubi, forced them to sleep with humans in a realm called the
Inbetween—not quite the dreamscape, but not the human realm where they’d be
able to absorb the energy of the humans they service.
Very few of the incubi know of the out clause. Deryck
becomes the first incubus in ages to be given the chance for freedom. He needs
help from an office aid named Shayla. However, her history with men is
downright ugly. In the end, she holds the power to determine both of their
fates.
In the agonizing, thrilling, maddening pleasure-pain
experience that is writing, what is your favorite part? Least favorite part?
-My favorite pare of writing has to be getting through the
first chapter and realizing, yes this story is awesome. The feeling doesn’t last
very long, especially when I get into the middle of the book and start thinking
the plot is dragging, when in fact it is going just fine. I’m all about instant
gratification, waiting to see the finished product is hell.
Do ideas come easy to you or do they fester in your mind
like a canker worm until you bolt upright in bed screaming, “Okay, okay,
dammit!”?
-It depends on the project. Some ideas will wake me up, or
prevent me from sleeping until I at least take notes. Other ideas have to be
coaxed like a shy lover, but once I have them where I want them, they’re
amazing.
Speaking of creepy things, your website is a cool dark
themed place. Me like. Do you like horror movies? What’s your favorite?
-Thanks! The skull on the banner of my page is named Yorick.
I took the photo myself one day in a fit of boredom.
I love horror movies. They’ve been my bread and butter since
I was a child. My love of all things horror is inherited from my father, may
the gods bless his soul. That love of horror is what started my writing
endeavors, back when I thought I could be a screen writer at all of 18. It also
lead me to a seasonal job working at The Grove Haunt in Sanger, CA.
As for my favorite horror movie . . . A Nightmare on Elm
Street 3: Dream Warriors. I watch it at least 30 times a year. It is one of my
comfort movies and by far the best of the ANoES series.
You mentioned a pretty awesome list of things that make R.C.
Murphy happy, music being one of them. Any artists or song that helped inspire
or motivate you to write Enslaved?
-Enslaved had a
rather weird soundtrack. Actually, it had two soundtracks because Deryck and
Shayla have vastly different tastes in music. Any time I’d swap POV (point of
view), I’d have to swap stations on Pandora. For the most part Shayla’s
soundtrack was Evanescence, Flyleaf, and Apocalyptica. Deryck’s included Five
Finger Death Punch, Slipknot, and Stone Sour. There were also times when the
tension in the book was so thick, any noise at all made it difficult to write,
so I hunkered down in my cave/office and wrote in silence.
Last but not least, this addiction to puppy breath. What
helped you overcome it or did you succumb? I’m uh…*cough* asking for a friend.
-There is no cure for puppy breath addiction. You just
accept it and cuddle All. The. Puppies. Of course, you must ask permission from
the pup’s owner before you rush over to get your fix.
You can get your copy of Enslaved by R.C. Murphy at Just Ink Press and http://www.amazon.com/Enslaved-The-Inbetween-Novels-ebook/dp/B00BFGG2VO
