Interview with Gabriele Russo
We are excited to have Gabriele Russo join us today and share with us.
Where do you get your ideas?
This is such a hard question to answer because ideas are everywhere. Just this week, my cat inspired a whole new character, social media gave me a plot twist resolution, an old picture found in a drawer sparked a scene’s setting… The trick is being open to ideas, letting them grow, thrive. I do this by writing: an idea will spark another, and another, until suddenly a whole book has taken shape under my fingertips.
Do you have a dream cast for your book?
I do, I had to make one up in a script writing class. Sadly, it’s an impossible one, and most of the ages are all wrong, but here it is: Queen Louhi – Tilda Swinton or Lauren Holly; Ba’al Hammon – Patrick Warburton; Goblin – Peter MacNicol; Andrew – Alan Rickman; Lara - Chiaki Kuriyama; Anansi – Chris Rock; Prince Asset – Morgan Freeman, King Japhet – Eddie Murphy (looking as he did in Coming to America); and Jupiter – Patrick Swayze (in Point Break).
How do you handle writer’s block?
To be frank, I’ve never had a bad case of writer’s block, but when what I’m working on isn’t coming out, or coming out wrong, I switch to something else. If all else fails, I give up for the day and spend the afternoon doing things that help clear my mind, like paint or play tennis.
What inspired you to write this book?
I started writing this book so long ago, I’m not sure I remember all the inspirations that led me down this path. I know I needed a change in my life: running a restaurant (even two at one point) had left me exhausted and confused about what to do with myself. When I discovered Douglas Adams, then Terry Pratchett, it was an epiphany. I had tried to write before, but it had never felt right. This did.
Get Your Copy Today!
Incompetent Gods by Gabriele Russo
Book 1: Gods Inc. Series
Fantasy
Fiery Seas Publishing
December 2016
In a dimension created by the ancient gods, most are now stuck working at Gods Incorporated. CEO Queen Louhi Pohjola, a mortal demigoddess turned vampire (on a diet), holds the planet in the palm of her hand and while she cannot by any stretch of the imagination be called a nice person, there’s worse lurking in her shadow.
Goblin, a bitter hybrid with childhood issues and shape-shifting abilities, has a grudge against the world. First on his to-do list is getting rid of the Queen and take her place by forcing the titan Ba’al to devour her.
As her friends and allies fall one-by-one into Goblin’s traps, the Queen’s fate seems inevitable. With no one left to fight, will Ba’al’s friends, a bunch of over-the-hill incompetent gods, be enough to stop Goblin from turning the world into hell?
About the Author:
Gabriele Russo, AKA Lucie-Gabrielle Jolicoeur-Rousseau, was born in Quebec City amidst a family of book lovers – her father had dreamed of being a writer and both of her brothers are published authors.
Since she earned her Bachelor’s in History, it was no surprise (except to her) that she ended up working in restaurants, eventually owning two, which almost drove her mad. She sold them and was nursed back to pseudo-sanity by Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.
That’s when she answered the family calling and decided to write. Armed with her ideas for the Gods Inc. series she went back to the University and got her Master’s in Creative Writing.
She now lives with her husband in Culpeper, Virginia, where she divides her time between painting, ripping apart and reconstructing her recently bought historical home, playing tennis and, of course, writing more books.
