We chat with author David Ferraro about A Vile Season, which is a queer regency romance of a vampire competing for the heart of a duke, think Bridgerton meets The Bachelor!
Hi, David! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Absolutely! I’m David Ferraro and I write queer YA novels. My debut, “The Alchemy of Moonlight” came out last year from Page Street YA, featuring werewolves in a gothic romance, and my follow-up “A Vile Season” is out now, with vampires in a queer-normative Bridgerton-esque setting.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I devoured YA novels when I was in middle school and high school. This was back when they were mostly thrillers, in the 90’s. I would literally get every single new title that came out each week at my local bookstore. There came a time when I started to have expectations for what a book was about, based on its cover. When I discovered that some books weren’t as good as what I imagined they were going to be, I started to write my own.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White – I was absolutely obsessed with the animated movie at the time, and checked the book out from my school library!
- The one that made you want to become an author: I would probably have to give that credit to L.J. Smith. “The Vampire Diaries” definitely got my attention, but subsequent series like “The Secret Circle” were when I got really excited by what I read, and probably lit that spark in me.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: I was an English and creative writing major in college, and I really fell in love with classics during that time. I, of course, came to love Jane Austen, and one of her novels, “Northanger Abbey,” featured a character obsessed with all things gothic as a result of books like Ann Radcliffe’s “The Mysteries of Udolpho.” Since it seemed right up my alley, I checked out “The Mysteries of Udolpho” and it quickly became my favorite novel of all time. It was instrumental in establishing what we think of as gothic to this day, and had everything you could want in a novel: star-crossed lovers, a dastardly villain, a dreadful castle populated with secrets and ghosts. I was all-in, which is why my novel “The Alchemy of Moonlight” is a retelling of that Ann Radcliffe novel, through a queer YA lens.
Your latest novel, A Vile Season, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Queer YA Bridgerton with Vampires
What can readers expect?
The protagonist, Lucian, is a notorious vampire who is stripped of his powers after he’s driven from his castle by vampire hunters. As punishment, the god of vampires makes him human and charges him with not only tracking down the vampire hunters, but winning the hand of a future duke, to prove himself worthy of regaining his immortality. Lucian is desperate to succeed, and has to seduce a boy he loathes, while dealing with an onset of human emotions he isn’t prepared for, all without his powers to fall back on. A really fun part of this story for me is that we get to see a former vampire who hasn’t seen his reflection in centuries, and is used to being cloaked in the shadows of night. Seeing him out of his element was a blast, as I got to use those well-known vampire tropes and turn them on their head.
Where did the inspiration for A Vile Season come from?
I mean, I was as obsessed as everyone else with Bridgerton, and the conception of “A Vile Season” definitely spun out from watching that series. I’m also a huge fan of horror movies, so I was able to draw on decades of vampires on film and in books. It was great fun mashing the two together in this story.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I have never had more fun writing a character than I did with Lucian. He starts out his journey so conceited, seeing humans as little more than inconveniences he has to navigate to regain his powers. So when he starts to grow to enjoy their company, and even find a boy he has romantic feelings for, we get to see him evolve. He’s still as arrogant as ever, but now he has people he cares about and wants to actually protect, which is a new experience for him. I’ve always enjoyed characters who are cutting and sarcastic, and Lucian’s mind is as judgy as they get.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome some of them?
How I write in general can be a challenge! I don’t do outlines. I only scrawl a few names of characters and places for notes, and I just kind of write. I’ll have a general idea of where things are going, but I love kind of letting my characters breathe and take the story to unexpected places. Sometimes that can mean whole parts of a work-in-progress have to be edited to accommodate for something I didn’t plan, but somehow it all works out perfectly in the end.
What a stunning cover! Did you have a vision in mind at all? What did you think when you saw the final artwork?
I have been so lucky to have such amazing cover artists! Page Street has been great about listening to what sort of art styles I envisioned for my books. Katie Beasley’s design was perfect for getting across the Bridgerton and vampire vibes I was hoping for, and Adelle Kincel knocked it out of the part with that beautiful art. It truly captures the romance and menace of “A Vile Season” perfectly. I may have gasped out loud when I saw it for the first time!
What’s next for you?
I have more coming from Page Street YA! I can’t really go into details yet, but readers can be assured that more supernatural romance shenanigans are on the way! Anyone who likes Studio Ghibli movies or “Agatha All Along” will love what’s in the pipeline.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
I’ve read so many good books lately! The conclusion to Adelyn Grace’s “Belladonna” series was everything I could have asked for, truly one of the best YA fantasies out there. “Someone You Can Build a Nest In” is one of the most unique books I’ve read in a long time. It’s a ton of fun, with a protagonist that’s an absolute delight to read. S.A. Barnes continues to write solid Sci-Fi horror – “Ghost Station” was a perfect follow-up to “Dead Silence.” And I have to mention Tobias Madden, because he is writing some of the best rom-coms out there, and for a queer audience. “Take a Bow, Noah Mitchell” is an absolute treat of a book.
