UFI welcomes Author Michael Griffo. Thanks for Joining us!!
What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview?
I SPENT SEVERAL YEARS AS AN ACTOR. I NEVER ACHIEVED ANY FAME NOR DID I EVER MAKE ENOUGH MONEY TO QUIT MY SURVIVAL JOBS, BUT I GAINED A LOT OF EXPERIENCE, SELF-CONFIDENCE, AND SAW A GREAT DEAL OF THE WORLD. MY CLAIM TO FAME WAS THAT I PLAYED KENICKIE IN THE FAR EAST TOUR OF THE MUSICAL ‘GREASE’! THE PEOPLE OF INDONESIA WERE A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED BECAUSE THEY TRULY THROUGH THEY WERE GOING TO SEE JOHN TRAVOLTA AND OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN! WHOEVER DID THE MARKETING OVER THERE USED PHOTOS FROM THE MOVIE TO PROMOTE OUR TOUR SO THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE GETTING FILM ACTORS INSTEAD OF US!
What do you enjoy doing on your down time?
SINCE WRITING IS SUCH A SOLITARY AND SEDENTARY ENDEAVOR, I LIKE TO BE AS ACTIVE AS POSSIBLE. I SKI, I PLAY TENNIS WITH MY NEPHEW, I DO AS MUCH YOGA AS POSSIBLE. THEN WHEN I GET TIRED OF ALL THE EXERCISE I PLOP ON MY COUCH AND CATCH UP ‘THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS’ WHICH IS MY FAVORITE SOAP OPERA! I’VE BEEN WATCHING IT FOR DECADES! I ALSO LOVE WATCHING TV SHOWS FROM THE 60S AND 70S, MY FAVORITES ARE DARK SHADOWS AND AN ANTHOLOGY SERIES FROM LONDON CALLED THRILLER. I JUST WATCHED AN EPISODE WITH A VERY YOUNG HELEN MIRREN, WHO RECENTLY WON AN OSCAR FOR ‘THE QUEEN’ AND SHE WAS A BRILLIANT ACTRESS EVEN BACK THEN WHEN SHE WAS JUST STARTING OUT.
What is your Favorite part of writing?
OKAY, THIS MAY SOUND WEIRD, BUT MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE PART IS PICKING CHARACTER NAMES! I GUESS IT’S BECAUSE I DON’T HAVE ANY KIDS SO I’VE NEVER GOTTEN TO NAME ANOTHER PERSON; THROUGH MY WRITING I GET THAT CHANCE. I SCOUR THE BABY NAME WEBSITES TO FIND INTERESTING NAMES AND NAMES THAT HAVE A SPECIFIC MEANING – VERY LITTLE OF IT IS ARBITRARY. FOR INSTANCE I CHOSE THE NAME PHAEDRA BECAUSE SHE’S AN EFEMERA, A FOG, AND SHE FADES IN AND OUT.
AN EXTENSION OF THAT IS THE ACTUAL CREATING OF THE CHARACTERS. I LOVE STARTING WITH THE BASIC FACTS ABOUT A CHARACTER AND THEN ADDING MORE SPECIFIC LAYERS TO END UP WITH THIS THREE-DIMENSIONAL PERSON. IT’S NOT ONLY A LOT OF FUN TO DO, BUT IT’S INTEGRAL TO WRITING A GOOD STORY. WITHOUT INTRIGUING CHARACTERS THAT READERS CAN RELATE TO, ROOT FOR, AND OTHERWISE BECOME EMOTIONALLY ATTACHED TO, THERE WILL BE NO RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE READER AND THE CHARACTERS
Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?
SINCE I WORK FULL TIME I DON’T HAVE THE LUXURY TO SIT AT MY LAPTOP AND DAWDLE. I HAVE TO HAVE A GAME PLAN, I HAVE TO SIT DOWN AND BEGIN WRITING, I CAN’T LET MY MIND WANDER AND THINK ‘WELL, WHAT DO I FEEL LIKE WRITING TODAY.’ AS A RESULT, I’M EXTREMELY ORGANIZED AND WRITE A VERY DETAILED 50-60 PAGE OUTLINE BEFORE STARTING ANY BOOK. ALL THE PLOT POINTS AND BASIC INFORMATION THAT I NEED TO TELL THE STORY IS IN THE OUTLINE. I THEN BREAK IT DOWN INTO CHAPTERS SO WHEN I SIT DOWN TO WRITE A CHAPTER I KNOW HOW IT WILL BEGIN AND END; THAT KNOWLEDGE HELPS FREE ME UP CREATIVELY SO I CAN HAVE FUN AND EXPLORE THE CHARACTERS AND THE STORY.
What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?
I REALLY LIKE C.S. LEWIS BECAUSE OF HIS DUALITY – MANY OF HIS STORIES, ESPECIALLY THE MOST FAMOUS, ARE EQUAL PARTS SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY AND RELIGION. I FIND THAT COMBINATION INTRIGUING AND PERSONALLY CONSIDER THEM VERY CLOSE THEMATICALLY. OF COURSE, I LOVE THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA MAINLY FOR LEWIS’ WILD IMAGINATION, BUT ALSO THE SIMPLICITY IN WHICH HE WRITES. BUT I ALSO LOVE HIS SPACE TRILOGY (‘OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET’, ‘PERELANDRA’, AND ‘THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH’.) IT’S A LESSER KNOWN SERIES AND THE THIRD BOOK IS QUITE LONG, BUT THEY’RE VERY ORIGINAL AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING.
URSULA K. LE GUIN’ EARTHSEA SERIES IS ANOTHER FAVORITE OF MINE. AGAIN, IT’S AN INCREDIBLY IMAGINATIVE STORY, SIMPLY TOLD.
AND I JUST FINISHED THE SECOND BOOK IN THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY. I LOVED THE FIRST BOOK AND I THINK SUZANNE COLLINS IS AN AMAZING WRITER, I’D LIKE TO READ HER EARLIER WORKS AS WELL. I THOUGHT THE SECOND BOOK WAS GOOD, THOUGH NOT AS MUCH OF A PAGE TURNER FOR ME AS THE FIRST ONE THAT I DEVOURED IN TWO DAYS. THERE WERE STILL ENOUGH UNEXPECTED TWISTS TO MAKE IT AN EXCELLENT READ AND KEEP ME INTRIGUED FOR BOOK THREE.
How would you pitch The Archangel Academy series to someone who has not heard of your books before?
IT’S A YOUNG ADULT SUPERNATURAL TRILOGY THAT TAKES PLACE AT A BOARDING SCHOOL IN ENGLAND. MICHAEL HOWARD IS AN AWKWARD, GAY TEENAGER DESPERATE FOR A NEW LIFE. WHEN CIRCUMSTANCES SWEEP HIM AWAY TO ARCHANGEL ACADEMY HE MEETS THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE IN RONAN GLYNN-ROWLEY AND COMES TO REALIZE THAT HE WAS DESTINED TO LIVE A LIFE NO HUMAN COULD EVER HAVE IMAGINED POSSIBLE.
Can you tell us a little bit about the world that The Archangel Academy series is set in?
ARCHANGEL ACADEMY IS ACTUALLY BUILT ON HALLOWED GROUND. IT IS HERE AND ONLY HERE THAT NORMAL VAMPIRES CAN WALK IN THE SUN. THE REAL REASON FOR THIS IS EXPLAINED IN BOOK THREE: UNAFRAID. THE SCHOOL ITSELF IS ISOLATED AND IN THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE, AND EVEN THOUGH IT LOOKS AND FEELS LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A GOTHIC NOVEL BUT EXISTS FIRMLY IN THE PRESENT DAY.
THE SCHOOL HAS TURNED INTO A HOTBED FOR SUPERNATURAL CREATURES – VAMPIRES, WATER VAMPIRES, EFEMERAS, AND PROBABLY LOTS MORE ANCIENT CHARACTERS HIDING OUT IN THE FOREST OF NO RETURN.
IT’S ALSO A WORLD WHEREIN GAY AND STRAIGHT TEENAGERS COEXIST PEACEFULLY, WHICH IS WHY MICHAEL FEELS AS IF HE’S COME HOME. HE ISN’T BULLIED ANY LONGER FOR BEING GAY, AFTER A WHILE HE NO LONGER FEELS UNNATURAL AND HE IS ABLE TO LET GO OF THOSE ISSUES THAT PLAGUED HIM FOR SO LONG. THAT’S REALLY THE BEAUTY OF THE SCHOOL.
Do you have a favorite scene in Unwelcome?
ALL I’M GOING TO SAY IS THAT MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE SCENE IN THE ENTIRE SERIES TAKES PLACE IN UNWELCOME AND INVOLVES MICHAEL AND HIS MOTHER, GRACE.
Which character was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?
MY FAVORITE WAS MICHAEL BECAUSE TO ME, HE REPRESENTS ALL TEENAGERS, GAY AND STRAIGHT. HE’S FILLED WITH ANGST, INNER TURMOIL, BUT ALSO A JOY THAT JUST CANNOT BE SQUELCHED. HE’S RESILIENT AND STRONGER THAN HE ACTUALLY REALIZES. HE’S ALSO FUNNY AND EMBRACES LIFE. I FIND ALL THOSE QUALITIES TO BE WONDERFUL AND HOPE READERS CAN LEARN FROM HOW HE HANDLES HIMSELF IN THE FACE OF EXTREME ADVERSITY. SOME ‘REVIEWERS’ CONSIDER MICHAEL TO BE A WHINER, BUT I DON’T AT ALL. HE QUESTIONS HIMSELF AND THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM AND HIS CIRCUMSTANCES. HE MAY FALL VICTIM TO A FEW MOMENTS OF SELF-PITY, BUT WHO DOESN’T? WHAT TRANSCENDS HIM FROM BEING A WHINER IS THE FACT THAT HE ALWAYS TAKES ACTION. HE DOESN’T LET HIS LIFE JUST HAPPEN, HE TAKES CONTROL OF IT.
What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?
WELL I JUST SOLD ANOTHER YOUNG ADULT TRILOGY SO THAT’S VERY EXCITING. THE FIRST BOOK WILL BE TITLED ‘MOONGLOW.’ I DON’T WANT TO SAY TOO MUCH EXCEPT THAT THE PROTAGONIST WILL BE A 16-YEAR OLD GIRL, WHO BECOMES THE VICTIM OF A VENGEFUL CURSE. SHE HAS TO DEAL WTH NOT ONLY BECOMING A HIDEOUS CREATURE, BUT HER VIOLENT ACTIONS SHE COMMITS THAT SHE HAS NO CONTROL OVER.
IT’S GOING TO BE VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE ARCHANGEL ACADEMY SERIES IN TONE AND MYTHOLOGY, BUT I KNOW ITS GOING TO BE JUST AS EXCITING. I CAN’T WAIT TO START WRITING IT!
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Unwelcome
Archangel Academy #2
August 30,2011
Archangel Academy is more than a school to Michael Howard. Within its majestic buildings and serene English grounds, he's found friends, new love, and a place that feels more like home than Nebraska ever did. But the most important gift of Archangel Academy is immortality. . .
Life as a just-made vampire is challenging for Michael, even with Ronan, an experienced vamp, to guide him. Michael's abilities are still raw and unpredictable. To add to the turmoil, the ancient feud between rival vampire species is sending ripples of discord through the school. And beneath the new headmaster's charismatic front lies a powerful and very personal agenda.
Yet the mysteries lurking around the Academy pale in comparison to the secrets emerging from Michael's past. And choosing the wrong person to trust—or to love—could lead to an eternity of regret. . .
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