I had the honor of recording the audiobook for Once Bitten, and let me tell you, this is a must-checkout for fans of vampire media. I also got to ask the author a few questions, and they were a great sport while we tried to work out the time difference.
Please go check out their stuff and show them some Scoop love! They have a wonderful catalog of work including some queer retellings of famous fairy tales and some other books that lean more on the spooky side!
Thank you so much for chatting with me today! I had the honor of narrating Once Bitten and had a blast recording it. To start off why don't you tell me a bit about yourself and how you got started as an author?
I studied literature at university, and whilst I enjoyed it, I didn't see myself in any of the stories. I wanted to tell stories that I wanted to read, and I've done my best to do just that!
One thing I loved about Once Bitten was the humor the characters found in dealing with these life-or-death situations. Humor also seems to be a theme in some of your other books. Do you use humor to cope during tough times?
Humor is my go-to in uncomfortable situations. I find it puts people at ease, and you use less muscles to smile than to frown. Life is serious enough, let's laugh as much as we can.
Is there anything in particular that you hope people take away from Once Bitten?
I hope they come away from it having enjoyed it. It's the mark of a good book if people talk about it afterwards, and think about it. I hope it gives people something to think about, and also a story they enjoyed.
As someone who adores vampire media, I’d love to know some of your favorite vampire media pieces or pieces that helped inspire Once Bitten.
I love vampire films and shows, ever since I was a teenager and addicted to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Recent revelations about that and other shows I enjoyed left a bad taste in my mouth and made me uncomfortable watching them. I wanted to create a new type of story, one that focused on consent. I reread Dracula and Carmilla amongst other classic gothic fiction and researched vampire lore before writing it. I wanted to give a nod to the classics whilst taking vampires right up to date.
I love how consent is a recurring topic throughout the book, so I must ask. If given the option to become a vampire, would you take that offer?
Good question! I think it would depend on who asked me!
So this book is heavily dialogue-driven and could be made into a screenplay rather easily. Do you have any actors you would love to play a certain character?
I think I'd want to go Indie and give some unknown actors a chance to make the characters their own.
Where else can people find you and your other books?
I'm on Facebook most (you can comment or send me a message) @CHClepitt. I've just started using Instagram properly (and posting cat pictures) c.h.clepitt I am on X but don't use that much any more @BadgersTweetToo or you can check out my website and sign up to my newsletter: https://c-h-clepitt.mailchimpsites.com/
If you wanna check out Once Bitten you can do that here! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFQTQ121
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