Welcome to the 5 Minutes Series. Each week, I’ll ask five questions of some of my favorite authors, editors, publishers, and other industry professionals. This week, I got to talk to author Virginia Black, an absolute powerhouse of a writer and an all-around cool person to boot.
You recently released an excellent novel called Consecrated Ground. What was the inspiration for that and how has it been received so far?
One afternoon while I sat at my favorite whiskey bar imbibing a Perfect Manhattan (or maybe it was a Jack Knife), a mainstream romance publisher posted a request for pitches on Twitter. Joan Matthews leapt fully formed into my brain and her story came to life. Before that moment, I’d never once thought about writing a paranormal romance with a vampire-hunting lead. Joan had other ideas.
The pitch didn’t go far — I had much to learn about the craft at that point — but once fully developed, CONSECRATED GROUND made the journey to its home at Bywater Books.
The reviews have been positive with very little constructive criticism beyond a few comments about the pacing, and I’m not sure I can apologize for that. The story called for fifth gear, so that’s where it is.
Just between us, is your coolness effortless or did you have to work at it?
Now that I’ve stopped hysterically laughing…I am not now, nor have I ever been cool. I’ve had to work very hard at suppressing my inherent nerdery, and I’m not sure I’ve been successful. The next time you think I look cool, ask me about my preferred role playing games, or my favorite science fiction show (Farscape), or insist I choose between Star Wars and Star Trek (it’s an unfair comparison; ask me why) and see how long that perception of coolness lasts. (I give it four minutes.)
(Ed. Note. It’s Star Trek.)
Years ago, you wrote a story for an anthology I was editing about a person who was time shifting. It has stayed with me all these years. Do you naturally gravitate toward speculative? What draws you to that genre?
I’m drawn to the improbable, the impossible, the fantastic, the unfathomable. What kind of technology could humanity build in our future? To what kinds of places could we travel? What if we learned more about the human experience and our true potential and capabilities — how might that shape our lives? How can love prevail in a dystopian or apocalyptic environment? What if fantastic creatures are more human than we are? What if spaceships were common? What if interstellar travel were possible?
I should probably stop here. This is how my brain works.
Once I thought all these questions grew from a negative response to the real world, to the present, to a life I was trying to escape. Turns out even when I’m happy and things are going well, I’m still contemplating the things that don’t exist…yet.
If you had to choose between whiskey and bacon, what would you choose and why?
With all due respect, I don’t understand this offensive question and I refuse to respond to it.
What piece of advice would you give writers who are either just starting out or who are questioning whether they should keep writing?
Write for you, write often, and get those ideas out of your head and onto the page. Studying the craft of writing is important — vital, even — but all the study in the world won’t do any good until you put words on the page. That said, don’t spend so much time writing that you never study how to improve. It’s an odd balance that’s different for every writer, I’d imagine, but it’s crucial to not sacrifice one for the sake of the other.
If you’re questioning whether you should keep going…why? Are you trying to write for someone else? Stop it and write to scratch your own itch for awhile. Are you receiving rejection after rejection? Well, your writing either needs work, or it’s been submitted to the wrong place and/or at the wrong time. If the former, read a craft book, get a coach, take some classes, hire an editor —whatever it takes to level up your work. If the latter, **keep going**. Take that next rejection, cry and yell for five minutes, then print it out twice—one to put in a file folder proving your progress as a writer (because you submitted! Yay, you!), and the other to burn with your friends.
Don’t all writers ask themselves whether they should keep writing at one time or another? Would we even *be* writers if we didn’t? In any case, if you’re putting words down (even if it’s gibberish), you’re a writer and the answer is always the same: keep going.
VIRGINIA BLACK (she/her) is the author of NO SHELTER BUT THE STARS (sci-fi romance, 2024) and CONSECRATED GROUND (paranormal romance, 2023) — both from Bywater Books — as well as several short stories and works of fan fiction. She enjoys strong whiskey, loud music, and writing about angsty protagonists, though not necessarily in that order. When not penning dark speculative sapphic fiction, she is almost always reading or lurking on RPG sites. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her wife of 21 years (and counting) and their savagely witty teenage daughter. She can be found on the web here.
Virginia is all over social media. Please check her out:
Twitter: virginiablk517
BlueSky: virginiablack.bsky.social
Facebook: virginiablackwrites
Instagram: virginiablackwrites
Spout: VirginiaBlackWrites
Finnian Burnett 