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Barb & JC Hendee interviewed
01/02/2006 . Source: Orbit Books Team 
One of the most famous husband and wife teams in the fantasy and horror-writing world talk about researching medieval Serbia and Yugoslavia, loving Buffy and Angel, and consider the literary mafia who make judgments as what is or isn't literature. Buy Barb & JC Hendee in the USA - or Buy Barb & JC Hendee in the UK  Dhampir, Thief of Lives and Sister of the Dead are a terrific mix of fantasy and vampire fiction. Can you tell us a little bit about the background to the books?
Barb: One night back in 2001, we were researching another project when we came across a most interesting entry in a book called The Vampire Encyclopedia by Mathew Bunson. It related information regarding the origins of the "dhampir," a name given by Slavonic gypsies to the child of a vampire. In medieval Serbia and Yugoslavia, charlatans took advantage of this myth by pretending to be dhampirs. They would convince a troubled village that it was beset by a vampire, and that only a dhampir could see the undead creature. Then they would stage elaborate "battles" and claim they had destroyed the vampire-and charge the village quite a fee. This is what sparked the original idea, and the story of Magiere and Leesil began to grow.
J.C.: From there, we considered the fantastical possibilities. We asked ourselves "what if one charlatan had to face the concept that vampires were indeed real-and that that she was a real dhampir?
Our aim was always to write fantasy, not vampire fiction, though we've both written works in past on vampires and other undeads. And we wanted to write a female protagonist living the more active side of action fantasy in a role most often reserved for male characters. And so Magiere came into being.
Leesil followed quickly, first as a sidekick. It wasn't long before he demonstrated this wasn't enough for him, and he started shaping the story and Magiere's world in new ways. Chap snuck in as well when we felt a need for a third character, and even he began surprising us with new developments. And then Dhampir took shape in ways we didn't even imagine at first. Our characters drive our stories. And each one of them, as much as we as writers, has contributed a powerful influence on how the world of Noble Dead developed further. .
Did the idea come to you fully formed or did you start with one particular aspect and flesh the books out from there?
Barb: I do think the sort of dark, Eastern-European world of Dhampir started in that particular novel and then grew from there, although J.C. has had ideas for parts of the world for years-other continents. If the series continues to grow, readers will later be able to see other continents and cultures.
JC: The world is loosely based on one from a novel written for my master's in English, but it has been reshaped in many ways. Now it has grown into something neither of us first conceived. In some minor ways, I might even say the world itself is a character that we work with in ways similar to our protagonists, antagonists, and those who fall in the grey area between. As some can see from our stories, we do like to play in the grey, where a hero or villain is a matter of perspective. This play is where we find some of our best ideas - even in the beginning. So, no, it wasn't fully formed, and no, it wasn't one particular aspect, other than the first concept of a charlatan who was fooling herself as much as anyone else she conned.
Vampire fiction is extremely popular these days; why do you think that is?
JC: I always feel at a loss on this one. I'm big Buffy and Angel fan in general, though I mostly prefer the earlier years of Angel. I've written some works dealing with undeads, and have been interested in exploring such the existence of such creatures, and more than just vampires. I think Buffy and Angel have certainly contributed a lot to the popularity of such fiction. Beyond that I'm not really sure what it's all about. For my part though, at a young age I was entranced with such works as Kill the Dead by Tanith Lee. And from there I've always had some curiosity about existence across the border between life and death.
Barb: This is the most common question we're asked. I'm not sure, but I do see a definite trend in the vampire fiction towards either humor or romance. I keep meaning to read one of these popular books like Dead and Unwed, but I just haven't done so yet. In America, the popularity of Buffy was just astonishing. Again, this was a mix of humor, adventure, and vampire lore-and the writers did a good job of creating a believable world. But I'm really not sure about the resurgence of vampire stories in popular culture.
Do you have any particular favourite authors who have influenced your work?
JC: I used to read quite a bit of fantasy (and some SF) in my younger days, but I don't read much fiction any more. So I guess this is hard one for me to answer as well. As mention, I liked the earlier works of Tanith Lee, including her series Tales from the Flat Earth. Also William Horwood's Duncton Wood. And I had a fascination with Gene Wolfe's character, Severian the Torturer from his Book of the New Sun. But there is also a little known pulp SF writer named Cordwainer Smith who penned stories that sparked thoughts in me, particular one little short story called The Game of Rat and Dragon. Each of these might have had an influence on me, but I'd be hard pressed to be specific in how. But perhaps one thing is that character is everything; a character that is nothing more than puppet in the plot means the story itself never becomes real for the reader. Character drives plot to create story for me.
Barb: I feel odd answering this, because I don't read a lot fantasy-but I read fiction all the time. My current favorite authors are Anita Shreve, Philippa Gregory, Tracy Chevalier, and David Guterson.
I also recently read the Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher and was blown away. The cover of that book makes it look fluffy, so I've avoided it, but it's a deep and startling read. I think these writers have influenced me regarding the concept of "story" and "character." Unless the writer develops characters that feel real-like people you could encounter and get to know-the book has not succeeded.
As a husband and wife authorial team, how do you approach the actual writing of the books?
Barb: People often ask us "How do you manage to do this and not kill each other?" But really, for us, it's pretty easy. I can't say that we have never argued about a plot point or a stylistic choice, but it's extremely rare, and we're currently working on the 4th book. We write up an outline together-chapter by chapter, scene by scene, with a chosen character POV-that normally runs about 30 pages. That way, we both know what basically needs to happen in each chapter. I tend to do a lot of the first draft, but J.C. drafts too. Then I go over what he's drafted and make changes. He goes over everything I've drafted and makes changes. Then we each go over the whole book several times and we make changes, and by the time we're done, no one else can even tell who wrote what.
JC: We've been together for twenty years, and along the way have done almost everything together. This included our years in college and even jobs and other pursuits. Perhaps that's why it seemed to come so naturally to us.
Along with the formal process of outline and organizing, which even lone writers do, we also talk… gossip even, about the characters in our world. We consider what they would and wouldn't do as opposed to where we would like the novel's story to go. Sometimes what we intended in small ways doesn't work for a particular character dealt this as person, and changes have to be made. And we both approach it in this manner… together.
Do you have a set writing routine and if so, what is it?
Barb: We both teach college online full time, so our schedule is varied. We tend to do the lion's share of our writing on our semester breaks. During those time periods, I get up early, make coffee and then write all day. But my best hours are in the morning.
JC: I am not a morning person. (You can stop giggling, Barb.) I need time to putter and gear up, like a dragon coming out of its cave from a deep sleep every day. I'm strongest in my writing routine from very late morning until mid-afternoon. And I probably work in shorter spurts while Barb is a binge writer. Over time, we've started adjusting more to each other's approach.
Some authors talk of their characters 'surprising' them by their actions; is this something that has happened to you?
Barb: Oh, constantly. Leesil writes most of his own scenes. He makes me crazy sometimes with his antics. I just wish he would grow up. Hah!
JC: Agreed. Magiere's slow smolder nature is full of surprises. In the upcoming Traitor to the Blood (book 4) there's a moment of reaction from her towards changes in Leesil that came out of nowhere… and broke my heart as I wrote it. The coming book has perhaps a little less humor and far more personal darkness, and when put under pressure, characters as people can be startling (even to authors) in the way they react to it.
Do you find it frustrating that so much excellent work is currently being produced in SF & Fantasy but that by and large it is still ignored by the literati?
Barb: Oh, goodness no. I feel so sorry for writers who care about such things. We are writing for an audience of readers, and our readers seem to LOVE the books. J.C. and I are both academics, so we are surrounded by intellectual snobbery all the time. We fit in when we need to, but it's always a relief to get away from it. We want to engage and move and entertain our readers. That's fun.
JC: I may have been a little more involved in the literary writers' community in college than Barb, though not much. Pretentiousness does exist there among some who consider themselves within the literary tradition or who make judgments as what is or isn't "literature." Not all people therein are that way. I met the good, bad, and in-between-well, sometimes the bad seemed to hold majority rule. There were also those, such as Mary Clearman Blew, who taught at the University of Idaho while I was in graduate studies. Some would consider her own works in the literary category, but she worked with an open-mind to foster writers of all ilk.
In the end, there is only one validation of meaning to me: the reader enjoyed our work. Genres of premise such as SF, Fantasy, and others are a big part of our society. Anyone who ignores that is… well, like someone who puts on a blindfold so they don't have to see the jungle they walk through. Giving them credence through concern is just following that blindfolded person. You get a name for that in the jungle-lunch.
If Dhampir was ever filmed, who would you like to see directing and acting in it?
Barb: I'm going to have J.C. field this, as the question has been discussed at length on our website. Gosh, there were polls and final voting, and it astonished me. I completely disagree with all the choices for Magiere, but I think she would be hard to cast. I would go with either Claudia Black or Rachel Weisz.
JC: Oh, thanks dear, leave me in the hot seat. The forum polls were based on member nominations and then member votes. I don't agree with all the final choices, but it still so much fun to see what all the visiting readers came up with in the end.
Indeed, I think Claudia Black (Farscape) could do Magiere justice. Leesil is harder to see, but Jonathon Rhys-Meyers (Bend It Like Beckham), and final choice in our polls) comes to mind, as well as Paul Bettany (A Knight's Tale). For Rashed, I would love to see Jeff Kober try it. Teesha might be handled by Natalie Portman (Garden State) or Emily Watson (Equilibrium), who Barb nominated at one point. For Ratboy, I'm still at a loss, but perhaps Elijah Wood (LotR) might bring something interesting to the role. Brenden and Karlin I see as Adam Baldwin (Firefly) and Alan Tudyk (Firefly, and chosen in the polls), respectively.
Choosing a director is the most difficult. Possibly Jean-Jacques Annaud for his work on Name of the Rose and Enemy at the Gates, or Ridley Scott for his work on Blade Runner and Legend.
Thank you very much, Barb and J.C. Hendee!
And thanks to Orbit Books for permission to post this interview. For more details of their SFF authors and books, visit Orbit at www.orbitbooks.co.uk 
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