EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Uzuri Wilkerson, author of the Bitten series!

Read on for an exclusive interview with Uzuri Wilkerson, author of the Bitten series.

RM: Thanks for taking time to answer our questions! Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Uzuri. I live in Boston. I love writing. My vampire series is my first foray into the publishing world. I write (and read) in a variety of genres. It’s all about if the plot sounds interesting and if it’s written well. Besides writing, I have two jobs to pay the bills.

RM: What prompted you to take up writing?

I don’t know where it started. But I do remember one day, after finishing a novel about a girl fighting hard to keep her family together, figuring out that I wanted to be published. I wanted to have an actual book and I wanted others to experience it, too.

RM: What genres interest you the most in books?

I tend to go for modern-day thrillers and mysteries, especially ones with a supernatural bent but not exclusively.

RM: Who are your favourite authors?

I like Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, and James Patterson. I’ve liked some books by Carl Hiaason, Tess Gerritson, E. Lynn Harris, Dan Brown, and Patricia Briggs. And I would be interested in other books by J.K. Rowling and Suzanne Collins, since I really enjoyed and connected with their series.

RM: Is there a specific reason for choosing to write about vampires?

I like their mystery, long lives, and that they tend to have supernatural abilities. Drinking blood and/or killing people is kind of second. That adds to each character’s development—like, how they deal with feeding and if they kill.

RM: What is one thing you feel strongly about? The one topic that will always elicit a reaction from you?

I absolutely hate when people litter. I don’t get the thought process of, “I’m done with this. Okay I’ll drop it out my car window.” I guess it’s just ingrained in me to throw away my trash in a receptacle instead of on the ground. People who litter fascinate and anger me beyond belief.

RM: Have you travelled outside your country? If yes, what are your favourite nations?

I studied abroad in Spain, once in high school and then in my junior year of college. It was great. I also got to visit London. It was really overcast that day but I still enjoyed it. I have a very long list of other places I’d like to travel though. If I ever become rich, traveling is top on my list of things to do.

RM: What is the most comfortable position you choose to write?

On my couch, with a cushion between my lap and laptop.

RM: If you weren’t a writer, what other profession would you have been in?

I think I’d like to make music videos. I always get these exciting, out-of-the-box ideas for songs that I never see realized because entertainers stick to the norm…

RM: Do you have a few words to tell to budding writers?

Keep writing, every day. Oh, and get a good external drive. I can’t say just how devastating it is to lose work if your computer crashes. So get an external drive and back it up regularly.

RM: Thank you once again. Your answers were as interesting and enthralling as books from Bitten!