Oh. My. GOD. It’s finally here. UNCONTROLLABLY WASTED by C. Elizabeth Vescio is out TODAY. And I’ve got an interview and teaser for your reading pleasure! But first, this is what I said about this amazing follow-up to ELEGANTLY WASTED.
"Darkly humorous, deeply vindictive, and sexy to the extreme, C. Elizabeth Vescio’s UNCONTROLLABLY WASTED boasts a cast of characters so deliciously devious and witty, you’ll find yourself pouring a glass of wine, putting on your Jimmy Choos, and applying for a job at Elegance, Inc.”
I’m one lucky lady to call this author a friend and am so excited for her second book to FINALLY be available to the public.
I sat down, via computer, with C. Elizabeth Vescio and asked her all my burning questions. Check out her awesome responses:
1) Contract killers… how in the hell did you come up with the concept for The Wasted Series?
I started off wanting to write a family novel- based on the weird things my own family has gone through… and in the concept stages- in speaking to my cousins- I just thought the story needed guns. I’m a huge fan of action- so just writing a family dramedy wasn’t in the cards for me. Maybe one day… but for now, I choose contract killing. It’s also super fun to embellish some of the regularly mundane aspects of family life.
2) Writing a series is hard and many times the pressure is on for the second book. Was there anything particularly hard about writing UW? Anything liberating?
It was different from writing book one. Elegantly Wasted is more like an origin story… it centers on one event and then jumps around from there, explaining stuff… but there’s only so much Frankie can explain from her point of view. There’s really this huge world of Osiris that no one has seen… I needed to bring that out. It was liberating to write these characters and their interactions. Book two has a timeline… it goes from point a to point b and it’s a roller coaster. I had to delve into a larger plot line while masking it with a smaller one… and make sure the larger plot lines of the next book would be set up properly. I learned a lot… a lot a lot.
3) The element I love most about the series is your ability to create characters with amazing wit and heart, while still being contract killers. How did you come up with these characters?
I base some of my characters on people I know. Sounds cliche- but it works. Ask a friend- what’s some wild dream of theirs? Everyone has them. So taking some real personality traits from people and throwing them into these over-the-top character creates something great. Granted, not all of the characters are based on people I know- like Judah was created from scratch… and some characters are a mix of two or three people- like Odette Dupriez. Odette is over 30 but looks like a teenager… My step-sister has pituitary dwarfism- which means she will never look much older than twenty. Tough life, right? But that would make the best contract killer… some thirty year old with the wisdom of the world in a petite package…. seemingly innocent. Kind of like Claudia in Interview with a Vampire. I mixed that with the anger issues, and take-no-shit personality that my half-sister has and I have the perfect Osiris agent.
4) What is your favorite line from UNCONTROLLABLY WASTED?
I think that my favorite line is: Here’s your perfect storm, Addi. Better find some fucking shelter.
Frankie is just at the edge- a chain of events that sets up the crazy second half of the book… I think it encompasses everything well.
5) If Frankie was real, what band would be her favorite? Kat’s? Addi’s?
Frankie has two favorite bands- the Killers and INXS. Kat loves George Michael and Prince… Addi is a fan of Mana and the Cure… obviously they are all 80s kids.
6) If you could to get a drink with one of your character’s who would it be? (Mine would be Spark, duh.)
I think that would be a toss up between Yeh and Gretchen Pierce. Yeh for some philosophical deep conversations and Pierce for people watching at a bar, talking shit…
7) If you weren’t writing The Wasted Series, what would you be writing?
A Sci-Fi space opera… or something paranormal… or maybe cheesy erotica- I hear there’s money in these things.
8) There are a lot of writers out there hoping to break into the publishing business. What is your advice to them?
I’ll utter some classic Wil Wheaton advice: Don’t be a dick. Remember that everyone else is struggling too. If this were easy- everyone would do it and be successful with it. It’s good to have confidence, but also be prepared to take the criticism. Be willing to help others and be thankful you are doing what you love.
9) You’re into Cosplay, which is so fucking cool. What is your number one character to dress up as?
When you Cosplay, you change it up all the time- and I totally spend too much money doing it- but my current favorite is Gaige from Borderlands 2. She’s so spunky and fun- and one of my favorite cosplay chicks, Chloe Dykstra also dresses up as her… our styles are totally different but I dig it.
10) What is one thing people would be most shocked to know about you?
I was stationed in a Helicopter Combat Support Squadron: Naval Air Station North Island in the US Navy from 1998 - 2001. I’m a veteran and I have seen some interesting stuff. I really appreciated that time in my life. It’s helped me become the person I am today.
SHE’S AWESOME, RIGHT?!?!?!?!?!
Now check out this teaser for UNCONTROLLABLY WASTED:
Six months ago I walked into a poorly lit room in a prison outside of Boston and got my first good look at this kid. His demeanor had been very different.
He looked beaten down and he was nervously moving his right knee up and down at the speed of light. He kept his hands clasped tightly in his lap and didn’t want to make much eye contact.
As I sat down in front of him and threw a file onto the table that separated us, I smiled to calm his nerves.
“Hi,” I adjusted my navy Chanel jumpsuit and nodded to him.
“Are you another lawyer?” Dante looked confused.
“Do I look like a lawyer?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Not one that I could afford.”
I chuckled at him. “You’re funny. I like that.”
He seemed to relax a little bit. His knees stopped moving and he placed his hands on the table top.
“My name is Francesca,” I told him “You can call me Frankie.”
“Nice to meet you, Ma’am… Frankie,” he managed.
“Dante, I’m going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer them truthfully,” I said. “There are no recorders, no one else is listening and your answers aren’t right or wrong as long as you’re honest with me.”
“No one else is listening?” Dante gestured his head to the large two way mirror on the wall.
I looked over to it then back at Dante.
“Perceptive,” I smiled again. “My brother, Lex, is on the other side of that glass. He’s interested in your answers as well.”
“Your brother?” Dante’s confusion was quickly turning into concern.
“Like I said,” I took out a pen and opened the file. “Just be honest.”
Dante leaned toward me and took his hands back off the table, resuming his shaky knee syndrome.
“Where are your parents?” I asked.
The questions I was asking, I already knew the answers to, but I wanted the story from Dante.
“My mother died on Flight 11,” Dante said. “My father wasn’t much use afterwards so my sister took me in.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “Your sister was Alicia Collins?”
“Yes,” Dante’s face hardened.
“And you think that Cedric Collins killed your sister?”
“I know he killed her,” Dante responded.
“Do you know why he’d do something like that?”
Dante’s eyes locked with mine.
“He was a sadistic pervert. He was hurting other women… sexually- videotaping it,” Dante said. “My sister found out about it.”
“How did you come across this information?” I asked.
“She told me,” Dante said. “She called me right before he attacked her.”
“Were you with anyone when that call came through?”
“Were you with Ethan Chase?” I asked.
The kid shifted in his chair and frowned. “Yes.”
“Ethan is your best friend, isn’t he?” I smiled.
“How long have you two been friends?”
“Since forever,” Dante managed a weak smile. “Our mothers were best friends. They got pregnant a few months apart. I suppose it was kind of pre-destined.”
“So it’s safe to say that you know Ethan better than anyone,” I deduced.
Dante swallowed, nervously. “I suppose-”
Dante didn’t like that I brought up Ethan. No one had up until this point and Dante seemed to have it in his mind that he had taken the fall and that was that.
“How long have you known that Ethan was a psychopath?”
Dante let out a short cough of surprise. I doubt he had even said those words out loud before and it was always unnerving to hear them.
“What?” He sounded shocked.
“A psychopath,” I repeated. “Someone who doesn’t really feel anything. Methodical, lack of empathy, superficial charm, impulsive behavior… any of that sound like Ethan?”
“Uhhh I…,” Dante’s shock was doing wonders for his vocabulary. “I’m, no… er… I’m not sure?”
“You’re not sure?” I changed my disposition. “You’re not sure that your best friend is a killer?”
He continued to sputter his way into illogical sentences.
“You know what I don’t get,” I said, growing tired of Dante’s failed attempts at playing dumb. “I don’t get what would possess someone to take the fall for a murder they didn’t commit.”
Dante’s brow creased into a frown.
“I mean,” I gave a sarcastic laugh. “Is it love, loyalty, or are you just stupid?”
The kid’s face twisted into an angry grimace. “I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”
I leaned forward, a creepy smile playing on my lips.
“Too bad,” I said. “You’ll stay here until I have the information I need.”
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