I Love Vampire Novels had the chance to speak with author R.L. Merrill.  She has a new book out in her Carnival of Mysteries Series, You Can Save Me. This is the follow up to You Can Do Magic and both are available now!

ILVN: Hello Rochelle, Tell us a little bit about yourself.

RLM: Hi there! I’m Ro (she/her), I’m a Bay Area gal (with the exception of four glorious years spent in
Iowa for college), and I have been publishing tales to make you swoon and shiver since 2014. A
horror lover since childhood, I started out writing paranormal romance, but I write
contemporary, suspense, and horror as well. I’m a huge metal fan, every day is Halloween at my
house, and I’m a recovering public school educator. I’m a mom to two young adults, a rescue
Great Dane, and twin black cat familiars.

ILVN: Tell us how you got started writing.

RLM: I started writing in 2009 totally unintentionally, I was looking for a way to deal with a stressful
teaching job and raising two kids. Once I finished the first book, I was hooked. I’ve published
somewhere in the range of 60 novels, novellas, and short stories since then.

ILVN: Wow! Congratulations.  I’m always amazed at the talent level of our authors. We are lucky to have you work with us.
Why paranormal/urban fantasy? What drew you to the genre?

RLM: Blame it on all the nights I snuck out of bed to stay up late and watch Creature Features with my
dad. Or maybe it was my English teacher in high school allowing me to read Stephen King for
assignments. Definitely reading Anne Rice at an impressionable age made me fall in love with
monsters. I didn’t read for a long time after having kids and while digging into my teaching
career, so when my students started coming in with this thick black book and an apple on top, I
was intrigued. Twilight got me back to reading, and then I asked, “where’s the adult version?”
J.R. Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Charlaine Harris were my gateway authors before I started
writing myself, and I’ve discovered so many great books since.

ILVN: We always want to know…What comes first for you — the plot or the characters — and why?

RLM: The sound comes first for me. Whether it’s music or what I imagine the tone of the score or what
the dialogue sounds like, I can hear the story and characters first. I always use playlists and I
write with music playing more than not. Next up is characters. I’m inspired by people around me,
whether they know I’m listening or not, so beware.

ILVN:  Interesting…that’s quite unique. What’s your favorite type of paranormal creature and why?

RLM: I’m a huge fan of Frankenstein’s Monster and The Bride. They’re all over my house. I’m quite
partial to Vampires, of course. I’ve written funny vampires (The Miscreants Series, part of the
Magic and Mayhem Universe) and serious, alternative vampire lore (Sundowners). I’m also a fan
of mythological beasts. One of my favorite dark paranormal romances is Where The Devil Says
Goodnight by K.A. Merikan. It’s based on a Polish myth. So good.

ILVN: You have excellent taste! Tell us about your heroine/hero. What inspired her/his quirks and struggles?

RLM: In You Can Do Magic, we have two heroes. Kallos Alexandrou is a man out of time. Honorable,
loyal, and completely lost in a new time, he finds a damaged rockstar seeking redemption in Ryan
Wells. The two are thrown together at a crucial time for each of them and they develop such a
special bond they became one of my favorite couples ever. Ryan is the lead singer of a metal
band on the last cross-country Warped Tour in 2018 and there are lots of appearances from
other characters in my Summer of Hush series. But Ryan was the first character I’d ever written
who was previously incarcerated, and I wanted to explore the reality of what his life would be
like post-prison. I did a lot of research for this book, especially the history that Kal comes from.
He’s a victim of trauma and when he meets Ryan for the first time, he’s unable to speak. His
journey was awesome to explore.

ILVN: Would you and your main character get along?

RLM: Oh, I’d love to hang out with Ryan and Kal. Ryan’s the guy who’s so wrong but you love him
anyway. Kal is the guy who would make sure you had everything taken care of for you and he’d
watch your back. I’d love to go to a European metal festival with these two!

ILVN: Which of the characters do you relate to the most and why?

RLM: Probably Ryan. He’d trying to make up for his mistakes and the people he’s surrounded by, for
the most part, aren’t willing to give him an inch. I feel like that sometimes.

ILVN: What is a significant way your book has changed since the first draft?

RLM: The ending changed quite a bit and I think it made for a much more satisfying story. It also
allowed for Ryan and Kal to come back as supporting characters in book two, You Can Save Me,
which is out 8/21!

ILVN:  Where can our readers find you?

RLM:

www.rlmerrillauthor.com, www.facebook.com/rlmerrillauthor,
www.instagram.com/rlmerrillauthor, www.tiktok.com/@rlmerrillauthor1342,
www.twitter.com/rlmerrillauthor

ILVN: Thank you for taking the time to chat with us.