Holiday Elf Susan Stec

The Grateful Undead Series

In book one,THEY'RE SO VEIN, the women in the Stech family went from dentures to fangs, Depends to thongs, Dr. Scholl's® to stilettos, and bumbled their way into an undead lifetime of Critter Control when one of them inadvertently turned a raccoon into a vampoon.

GATOR BAITIN' (book 2) begins as the team is dispatched to destroy a vamp-gator wreaking havoc at Gatorland in Orlando, only to get sidetracked by a serial killer investigation, a vamp-bull at a rodeo in Kissimmee, and a colorful demon named Rafael. Between bronco busting, dragon riding, Jesus-freak chasing, gator hunting, demon summoning and dead bodies popping up everywhere, Susan's finding it hard to fit in a little romp time.

In BLOOD, SWEAT, AND DEMON TEARS (book 3) Susan's sister is in one hell of a mess (literally); confined to servitude with the demon, Rafael.When Rafael gifts JoAnn with an Earth-to-Abyss cellphone so she can communicate with her sister, Susan soon finds out that JoAnn has gone from servitude to concubine, and no longer wishes to come home. Only problem is that JoAnn really loves her new cell phone and the frequent calls--time really moves like Hell in the Abyss--are driving Marcus and Susan batty! In their attempt to retrieve JoAnn, THE GRATEFUL UNDEAD team ultimately finds themselves knee-deep in vamp critters, demons, rogues, and a host of new and colorful characters, when the mission takes them from their home in Florida to the streets of New Orleans.

All Hell is breaking loose in book 4 of the Grateful Undead series.

The women in the Stech family are aging. Jeni and Paul are dating.

Christopher is getting a free Travel-to-Hell-and-Back card from Satan.

JoAnn is using and abusing drugs, and she's sexting Raphael at bedtime.

Raphael wants to come to earth and live with JoAnn and Lily.

Chick kills a senior citizen at bingo.

Dorius' head is on the block with the Italian council—a fanged critter turned up in Italy.

From the author -

One's real life is so often the life that one does not lead~~Oscar Wilde

What was your inspiration for "The Grateful Undead? I started to have this crazy dream every night: Sexy vamp guy waltzes through the French doors of my bedroom balcony, and after an erotically charged interlude (see chapter twenty-eight in book one, They're so Vein), he fangs me, which just happens to clock me back about 30 years. That's when the crazy-as-hell, non-estrogen producing women in my family burst into my dream asking for a piece of the action. I laughed myself awake and then got out a pad and a pen. After I cut the girls loose in my world there was no dragging them back out again! My dreams became filled with fanged fiascoes and they mentally pushed me toward the computer every morning, fighting for top billing.

Can you describe your main character, Susan, and how her personality leads her into trouble? Susan has curly red hair, green eyes, and dresses in grubby jeans or cargo shorts, t-shirts and her Doc Martins, which drives her bible thumping vampire-ish sister, nuts. But then again, JoAnn irons her underwear. Am I ashamed of Susan? Nah, I'm very proud of her crude, sarcastic wit. I take full credit for each and every one of her unseemly qualities—taught her everything she knows.

The Stechs have an interesting family dynamic. Can you tell us a little about how they interact? They interact like the women in my real family. The characters in my book are spontaneous, edgy, and verbally animated; nothing is sacred, no holds are barred.

Your book is filled with comedy. Do you plan for funny moments, or do they come naturally? I can never plan anything that spews from my character's mouths, or their actions and reactions to different situations. I stick them in a situation and they write the outcome. I just type and laugh along with them until we get there.

Can you tell us a little about the differences between the main Vampire men in this book?

Marcus is patient, sexy, loveable, wise, and brainlessly in love with Susan. Although she is attracted to him, Susan fights that attraction with every forward step they take. Marcus is the head of the council and the founder of BAMVC. He starts out a little proper in book one, a bit more down to earth in book two, and amusingly part of Susan's life by book three.

Dorius—the bastard—is in charge of the rogue hunters at BAMVC and is everything the women hate in a man; controlling, arrogant, borderline narcissistic. It's always about appearances and maintaining the stature expected of immortal beings that are highest on the food chain.

Christopher plays a key role in all three books and adds a lot of humor to the pages, especially in book two and three where he becomes a permeate fixture in the Stech household. He is a one-hundred-and-five year old immortal in the body of a six year old with curly blond hair, blue eyes and a cherub face. He's intelligent, complex, a prankster, and vindictive when it comes to Dorius. Christopher's character surprises me constantly as I write, always challenging, always amusing. However, most of the time Susan's character would like to hold Christopher's head in the toilet until the bubbles stop.

Do you have any interesting rituals or habits when you write? I have to listen to 70's-80's rock while writing, the louder the better, and I have to start each chapter with a line from a song. I do remove them before publishing, though.

Can you tell us about the next book in this series? COFFIN FIT is vanity reaching around and biting the Stech women in the ass. JoAnn's demon ex puts a spell on the girls. They start aging and reverting to the cloak and dagger vamps of old times. Holy water, crosses and sunlight fry their rapidly sagging asses, and the biggest travesty is they can't see their images! Oh, and one of JoAnn's little vamp critters finds its way to Italy. Is Dorius pissed? You bet. The ending takes place in Purgatory, Down Under with characters from another one of my books.

THE GRATEFUL UNDEAD SERIES