Vampire Academy, Richelle Mead interview

To coincide with the release of Vampire Academy on DVD, we spoke to author Richelle Mead to find out her thoughts on adapting the book to the big screen…

Ticking all the right boxes for Twilight fans who have been craving a fix of teenage bloodsucking action, Vampire Academy is based upon the series of best-selling books by author Richelle Mead.

Directed by Mark Waters (Mean Girls), the film stars Zoey Duech and Lucy Fry as two vampire friends who attend Vladimir’s Academy, a boarding school for the undead. With Russian hunk Danila Kozlovsky stealing the girls hearts as the sultry Dimitri, Vampire Academy is all set for a cult following among vampire lovers…

This must be quite a crazy experience, having a film made based on a book you have written.   It’s definitely overwhelming and it’s mind-blowing to me the work that goes into a movie. It astonishes me. I had no idea the level of detail that they do. I mean when you think about it there are hundreds of people who gone through that level of detail for my book. That’s just like wow, it’s unbelievable.

Do you feel pressure as a result of it?   No, I don’t. I am actually very at ease with it. It’s just fun to see and everything I have seen looks great and I am just going with the flow. I think people are going to love it. I think that the biggest emotional reaction I am having right now is that I have real faces to my characters now and I feel bad for some of them because I know they don’t end well. I feel like I owe a personal apology to some of the actors now because it doesn’t turn out well for all of them in the books.

What was the journey like to get here?   We optioned the film a couple of years ago, but it took a long time for anything to happen. That’s just Hollywood. Every book I know from my friends that has been optioned, the same thing often happens. And I think we also suffered because we were optioned right near the end of the twilight franchise and it’s hard for people to jump on, oh another Vampire story. It doesn’t matter if they are radically different. They are just worried, oh that won’t read well. It took time for people to warm up to it and also to get the right team. Daniel Waters and Mark Waters on board, who are both so insanely talented.

That’s when it got serious.   Exactly.

What do they bring to the table? What’s their special sort of quality?   Daniel and Mark? They really get what I was writing. I like to mix things. My books are not a straight romance, it’s not a straight adventure. It’s got funny moments, but it’s not a comedy. And they get how to mesh all that. And they both have a snarky tone to them, which I get, because I have kind of a dark humour. And having Daniel with Heathers and Mark with Mean Girls, they get how to work that into it, but it doesn’t make the movie irreverent. It’s still a very serious movie, and reading the script and watching how it plays out, it’s incredible how perfectly they have kind of nailed that balance. I think fans are going to be thrilled with that, because that’s why they like the books.

How hands on have you been? Can they ask you any questions they want? Have they been asking you lots of questions?   Mark has asked me some questions. Ultimately, the movie making process, when I sign the paper, it’s all up to them. They could cast it with werewolves if they wanted. It’s out of my control.

Is that a spoiler?   Yeah…surprise! No, they don’t ever have to talk to me again, but Mark’s been really great. There has been things he has wondered about, some of the costume choices and things, or he would ask oh if we do x will this effect y, and that’s been really great. I have just been there as consulting when they need it. I don’t make any ultimate decisions, but it’s a real privilege as an author for them to check with me. I think that there are a lot of authors that walk into a theatre and are very surprised with what is there.

Were you worried about that? When the film was optioned and you suddenly lost control over it. Were you worried that would go in a way that you didn’t like?   I always knew it was a possibility. It’s a risk that any author takes. You have people much, much bigger than me. You sign away that control. It was a risk I was willing to take. I think it’s less scary to me, because I ultimately write the books. If they did something, and it ultimately wasn’t what I thought, I still make my own world. I think it’s scarier for the fans, because they aren’t writing the books or making the movies, so I think that there is a loss of control and they are worried about the movie coming out. They don’t need to worry. It’s been great so far. I just take it as it comes and I think we have been lucky so far. Everything has been spot on.

You are pretty active on twitter. The fan base is quite big on twitter. What do you think of the support that they give?   They are great. I have the best fans and readers in the world. I mean they are just so passionate and so supportive. And they are what makes this possible. It is what inspires me and I hope it inspires the actors too. Its gruelling work, books or movies. There are days where I am like I can’t write another word and then you see the enthusiasm out there and I get emails from people who are like this character changed my life. And that’s what gives me motivation. The tangible things are important of course, paycheck and sales, you think about those, but it’s that reader reaction that gets to your heart and makes you want to do a good job.

In film we don’t often see many strong female leads, it’s much more common in books, why do you think it’s important that these films do exist. That perspective being represented.   Even in modern times I think it’s easy for women and young women to think that they have to slip into sort of a passive role – just focus on romance or something like that, and not go off and do your own thing. So I think it’s good for them to see an outgoing character who can have it all kind of. I tried not to stray too far into the opposite direction. Sometimes I see action heroines who are too unemotional, who are too hard core. They don’t have friends or lovers or anything. I think it’s important for young women to see you can have all these parts of your life – you can have your friends and still have your emotions. I really try to balance it out. I hope that comes across in the books and in the film.

Rose is a relatable character – she’s has real teenage problems and crushes, but at the same time she is incredibly strong. What inspired you to create Rose?   It was just a fun thing for me and it’s very different for me. I am more of a thinker. You know, think first, make a plan, then act. I just thought it would be so great to have someone right there, no filter, in your face, punch first then ask questions. But she doesn’t stay that way. Rose evolves and she matures and I think that is a fun journey to put someone on. It was just a fun departure for me, cause it was so different from myself and because it did have so much potential to make her grow and get a grip. You really can’t keep throwing punches your whole life. It’s still definitely great to stand up for yourself, but there is a balance there. She was just a fun character to work with. She’s got great lines. It was just something different.

Obviously you have talked to fans who have read the book and it’s changed their lives, can you give us examples of it changing someone’s life?   This is a common one, just teenagers who have been going through so much, divorce especially with their parents, who need that escape. It’s not like my books are fixing that by any means, but when you are going through a lot of hurt, they have said this book got me through a time I didn’t know if I would have been able to. I have had more than one soldier write to me. People stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan who have said you know what long time from home its hard, I have read your books, and those stories are inspiring to me. They just gut you. It’s easy to just be focusing on your one page and then to realize that it has such a global spread and such an emotional spread. It’s daunting.

Do you have to check yourself sometimes?   I am trying to tell a story. I certainly have points that I try to make in my book but I am not trying to teach a lesson at the end of the day. I mean if people take away something and it inspires them, I think that’s great. I want them just to have a nice experience, to be entertained and to have a good time.

What about the books themselves? Can you talk about the future and what your plans are?   Vampire Academy is six books, and that focus is on Rose. Bloodlines, the spinoff series that I am working on. The main characters are side characters in this series. Rose is still in it, but she is off to the periphery. That’s what I am working on right now, the spinoff.

That’s the great thing about creating a world. You can do what you want with it, decide if you will spin it off or such. You have got a lot of creative freedom there.   It’s nice. It’s a good balance. When I finished the Vampire Academy series I thought, I need a break from Rose, but I don’t want to let these guys go completely. The spinoff was a great balance.

Have you ever thought of creating another world, completely unrelated.   I have some adult books that are set in different kind of fantasy worlds. My newest just came out which is kind of sci-fi-ish. So I do have some other things to play with.

Mark Pilkington