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entertaining u newspaper: your weekly guide to entertainment
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by erin thursby
scopes1925@msn.com
The werewolf thriller movie called Blood and Chocolate will be released in theaters by the end of the week. Most people don’t realize that this movie started off as a very different product; a novel written for young adults by Annette Curtis Klause. By all accounts, the plot of the movie is going to deviate considerably from the original book, something that is sure to anger the fans of the book (as it always does).
Klause has authored several successful books in the sci-fi and horror genre. Other titles by her are Alien Secrets (sci-fi), The Silver Kiss (vampire), and Freaks: Alive on the Inside (about circus freaks). Here, EU interviews her about her book, Blood and Chocolate, her writing and life.
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EU: What made you choose the teen/young adult age group to write for?
Klause: (laughs) Arrested development. I don’t know, it’s just when I turned to writing short stories after I got out of graduate school and I had the time to write again for myself, it seemed like my characters were all teenagers…I guess that’s because my inner voice is still dealing with the same issues…On the cusp of adulthood…your life can go some many different directions…Since fiction often relies upon a pivotal moment…it seems like a good age group to write about…I write what I would have enjoyed growing up.
EU: As a librarian do you see people check your books out?
Klause: Over the years, yes, I’ve seen people check out my books. Most of the time I don’t say anything because it seems rather egotistical to say [that] I wrote that book you’re checking out.
EU: You came from England to America at the beginning of High School. Did that contribute to the fact that most of your books are about outsiders?
Klause: Definitely, definitely. I think all my life I’ve felt a bit of an outsider. You know, having an imagination and things spouting out of your mouth that you suddenly realize people are looking at you strangely…And we moved from one end of England to the other, where I had a totally different accent from everybody else. Felt kind of an outsider there for a while. Then coming to a totally different country, so yeah, I think that’s why, in part, I write about outsiders.
EU: Your early work was in poetic form, how has that honed your prose writing?
Klause: Growing up I was very fond of writing poetry …I was a very good poet, I think, but I definitely had more success with my prose…the thing that carries over is the imagery…creating images and feelings…I think that shows up in my prose writing. I tend to gravitate towards mood and images.
EU: Where does the title Blood and Chocolate come from?
Klause: The title was about duality of nature and not knowing if you’re one thing or another. Typical adolescent confusion, actually. My husband, someone asked him what the title of a certain book was, and he said ‘Blood and Chocolate’ but it turned out it was a mistake. It was actually Blood and Gingerbread and I said ‘Wait a minute… [Blood and Chocolate], that’s such a good title though; I’d like to use that. That seems to reflect my book.’ Then it turned out that it was an album by Elvis Costello…It was also in that quote from Steppenwolf, and I couldn’t have asked for a better quote: ‘In fear I hurried this way and that. I had the taste of blood and chocolate in my mouth, the one is hateful as the other.’ Yeah, that really does reflect the theme of my book, so I just put the quote at the beginning of my book.
EU: How involved are you with the movie process?
Klause: Not much. (laughs) About 10 years ago I signed a contract. They sent me a few scripts at the time that weren’t much like my book or what appears to be the final movie. And then I just didn’t hear anything for a long time. In fact, at one point, I thought the whole thing was falling through and they weren’t going to renew the option…Then one day these entries started to be filled in—there was a director and suddenly there were crew members showing up. It was very exciting that day.
EU: Have you gotten the chance to take a look at a script draft lately?
Klause: No, I have not seen the script; I have not seen the movie. It was a bit sad, really. I guess when you sign your first movie contract, you have all these grand illusions about how you’re going to be involved and how they’ll invite you to the shooting and one day there’ll be a premičre that you’ll go to…This doesn’t happen, not all the time apparently. I haven’t even been sent a screening copy. Guess I’m going to be standing in line like everybody else.
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