Check out my interview with Before Sunrise Press below or click the picture to go directly to their website!

Recently our staff interviewer, Billie Watts, sat down with S.C. Parris to discuss her upcoming Before Sunrise Press release, “A Night of Frivolity” - available on Kindle and in other eBook formats, April 18.

Before Sunrise Press: To start things off, how about you introduce yourself to readers who many not be familiar?

S.C. Parris: “I’m Sheron Sylvestre (pen name S.C. Parris), I live on Long Island with my family and my Siberian Husky. I’ve written stories and poems for as long as I can remember, had half-starts with stories when I was younger, and had a poem published in a book of students’ poetry in middle school. I’ve explored many avenues of art, such as drawing and the like, but the things that have stayed with me have been writing (books, poems, screenplays), and acting. I guess I’m just drawn to the written word - or at least story-telling.”

BSP: Who would you cite as your primary influences?

Parris: “Edgar Allan Poe jump-started my love of writing. His macabre, grim, yet beautiful way of penning a horror story/poem reached my adolescent heart in ways I didn’t even realize would influence me so directly. J.K. Rowling is, of course, another inspiration of mine as I’ve read her books since my mother pushed the first Harry Potter in my hands and told me it was okay to read. I believe it’s Misses Rowling that’s really inspired me to set aside the short stories and poems and delve into full-length stories. I also pick up bits and pieces from all authors’ works I read, far too many to name, of course.”

BSP: Why don’t you tell us, without spoiling anything, what your short story is about?

Parris: “A woman with a head for rebellion meets her match in a strange man on a night out in town.”

BSP: You actively chose to set the story in the 1700s. What was it about that era that you found so appealing?

Parris: “Ah, I’ve always been drawn to the cobble-stoned streets, gas-lit lamps, and horse drawn carriages that marked that period. There was always something magical about it and I guess I find it somehow easier to draw upon the world and characters that live (and thrive) in that time. I have been called an “old soul” by many.”

BSP: Recently the whole ‘vampire’ genre has undergone a complete makeover as a result of the Twilight series, and I think a lot would argue for the worse. Where do you stand on Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series?

Parris: “I read New Moon first without knowing it was part of a series and there were many times that I literally threw the book across the room - I’m obviously not a fan of what Mrs. Meyer has “done” to the vampire genre. […] I believe that she hasn’t really done anything to the vampire genre - only put her own bizarre twist on these creatures and called them ‘vampire’. Regardless, there is something enigmatic about vampires, about the burdens they face, their lust for something they cannot possess freely - it’s all fascinating to me and it always has been. (My mother confessed to watching tons of vampire movies while I was still in the womb.)”

BSP: Where do you think your interest stemmed from?

Parris: “I believe my first (memorable) encounter with vampires was in the movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) - I was equal parts horrified and enamored with the creature that wrapped so many around his long finger. The lore has stayed with me ever since.”

BSP: In your opinion, what do you consider the greatest vampire story ever told?

Parris: “As I’m not yet finished reading the original novel of Dracula by the one and only Bram Stoker, I can’t count it as one of the greatest ever told, though it sure is shaping up that way. Of all the vampire novels I’ve read and movies I’ve seen, I’m hard pressed to name one that’s stood out to me as the greatest ever told. If movies are allowed in this, I would say the movie adaptation of Interview with the Vampire has stuck with me as a great vampire story, though I haven’t read the original novel so I’m not certain how much weight that holds.”

BSP: Do you have any other writing projects coming up? What other genres do you like to explore?

Parris: “I have many. I’ve self-published two vampire/fantasy novels (The Dark World & The Immortal’s Guide) in the past two years and I’ve three more in that series due out soon. Besides those, I’ve many other projects lined up to be completed either this year or within the next two. One of those being a paranormal romance set in modern times currently entitled ‘Judgment’ and another that will be the start of a new series, a purely fantasy/adventure novel set around an assassin/mercenary and his band of hired men as they go around their deceptive world, doing the most untouchable work for the highest pay.”

We’d like to thank S.C. personally for taking the time to let us interview her. Be sure to check out her vampiric period piece, “A Night of Frivolity”, set to be released April 18, 2013 by Before Sunrise Press.
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And that's that! Hope you enjoyed it and will pick up A Night of Frivolity April 18th!

Keep your bite!

S.C. Parris