 New Jersey Stage magazine. To read it in its original format, click here |
Rock and roll and vampires go together, so it makes perfect sense that Gail Petersen of The Catholic Girls would choose the topic for her book, The Making of a Monster. In the book, a woman moves to Los Angeles to restart her life, but a chance meeting with a vampire turns her into a creature of the night. She joins a rock and roll band and searches among the lost souls in the City of Angels for companionship, but always feels as though she does not belong. Facing a bloody struggle, she finally embraces her vampire nature and only then does the mystery of immortality explode.
The Making of a Monster was first published by Doubleday/Dell in 1993 and recently re-released as an e-book. New Jersey Stage spoke with Petersen about the re-release as well as the book's sequel that she is currently writing.
Was The Making of a Monster inspired by your life in a rock and roll band and your own days dealing with a record label?
I have always loved vampires ever since I was a little girl. When I was really a little kid, I had a terrible crush on Bela Lugosi. I still think he's a very handsome and charismatic guy. As a child I sang, and also wrote stories. When I was seven I wrote a book called The Mysterious Ghost that was my own version of a Nancy Drew type detective. My father, who was a graphic artist, printed several copies of it and even made his own cover. By twelve, I had taken up guitar, and because we couldn't afford guitar lessons, I was self-taught. Before long I was writing songs. After that, it was a short trip to forming The Catholic Girls, playing live with an all girl rock band and eventually being signed by MCA. That band disbanded in 1985 and I moved to LA and formed another band The CIA with myself and all guys. We were doing very well and had solid record company interest-but then, I became pregnant and couldn't perform on stage. The real bomb, and what was even worse, was the doctor told me that I had a rare, but very dangerous pregnancy-related condition, and I had to stay in bed for six months, and not get up, and that there was only a 20% chance that the baby would even be born and that the baby would most likely be premature and ill. All this, exceptionally negative and dire, in addition to being possibly life-threatening. My chances of giving birth, and additionally, the baby's chances at birth, health, and possibly survivability, were minimal. I had some big life-decisions to make: become completely sedentary and near-lifeless and "possibly" save the baby, or not. I made the choice. So I was faced with months in bed, very much alone as my husband at that time had to work, and all of my family was back in NJ/NY area. I had to do something to stay positive, or at least "sane", so I decided to go back to my roots in school and write a book. Of course it had to be about vampires and of course the main character had to be female. I had become a night person due to the music, so that it was easy to identify with her - to be able to sleep at all (with the new wrinkle of "migraines", I had to have a very dark room with the white noise of a fan going. I decided to put my knowledge of playing in a band to good use and made my main character, Kate, a bass player. Again, the band comes close to a record deal and then has to deal with the real world of rejection that most bands face (unlike one very popularized vampire who had none of those problems). Kate has even more concerns because she realizes that if she did "make it" in the music business, it would be very hard to tour and that the chances of the discovery of her true nature would become much greater. I finished about half the book in the five months while literally, lying flat on my back 24/7. I'm happy to say my daughter was born one month early but was 6 lbs 13 ounces and in great health. She went on later to become a drummer. I finished the book during her first year while she napped or when I couldn't sleep because she had woken me up three times a night for her bottle. I was then very lucky to find a great literary agent who had me signed with Dell/Doubleday and the rest is history.
It's been said that your strict Catholic upbringing comes into play a bit during the book. Would you agree?
It definitely does and admittedly, I did use some of my own history in writing the character. If you've ever read any of my other interviews or heard me interview on TV or radio, well-I'm not the most up-front person where my own life is concerned. I stay under the grid and I usually reveal little or nothing. Lately, I'm saying (finally) what I please and explaining more. Kate, like me, has gone through 12 years of Catholic school and has to wrestle with her strict, rigid, Catholic upbringing in nearly every facet of life (or death), and when it comes to killing someone for their blood in order to survive, it's a real powerhouse of internal strife, regret, compulsion, necessity, and moral stance. There's even a scene in a church where she takes out some of her pent-up anger at her new existence on a priest and the revelation that holy water is just a myth at stopping vampires. Since the book came out, yes, this ground has been covered, but I think I was the first (or close to first) on that. Just like with the Catholic Girls, we were the first to bridge some taboo territory. We wore rosary beads as earrings, placed votive candles on stage, wore Catholic school uniforms. At the time, it was a first, and we took the heat for all that-later on people like Madonna, Brittney Spears did similar and were termed as "suddenly breaking new ground". They became big stars. We didn't, but internally, I'm proud of our stance. Well, with vampires, there are now many who have played in or worked in, the music business. Did they break new ground? Somehow, I suspect not. That brings up the question, am I bitter that some critics said I followed in their steps. Maybe a little, but... I can live with that. I think the representation of Kate in music is very realistic... and different. Not everybody ends up as a star. Not even vampires. Some do. Some don't. Human or vampire, becoming a "thing" in music requires, luck... and lots of work.
Catholicism is a strong influence in Making of a Monster. Whether Kate, or me, really are good Catholics. Maybe and maybe not. In books just as in life, there are many shades of gray.
Do you think rock and rollers can truly relate to the vampire world? Or is that just a Hollywood image of musicians?
No, there is some real validity to that. It is often a "world of darkness" sort of life... and even playing out late and racing to get home before the sun rises is a real concern. It's difficult to sleep during the day. Not everyone can adapt to that cycle. But, for me and many musicians I know, getting home before daylight is real. I think most musicians can relate to vampires. Of course there's no blood sucking but when you're on the road you barely see the light of day-so you're on a different schedule from most of the world and in a way you feel like you're living outside of it. Being on stage does make people view you in a different way (good or bad) and you begin to feel different too. Being able to find a dark place to sleep becomes very important.
Your ‘re working on a sequel. What led you to revisit this work?
At this point, so many people have written to me asking me to do this I almost can't refuse. I also would honestly like to do the continuation of Kate and move her forward into "today". The world has changed since 1993; so has Kate, so have I, so have vampires. Everything is different. I think that's exciting. Readers wanted to know what happened to Kate and the vampire who made her, Justin. I have known what the fates of these characters were for a while so now I'm putting it into words. I think people will be surprised at where things go. I can say with absolute assurance though that not everyone in the world is a vampire. Vampires are not everywhere. They don't all go to "vampire bars" or drink "vampire drinks". And they don't necessarily follow the vampire "book" of behavior in the 21st century! No. I'm not following into that boring ditch. I'll admit though, I do like watching The Walking Dead. What can I say?
Finally, how have you managed to keep The Catholic Girls going so long when so many bands break up within a year or two?
The Catholic Girls have had a long history. We were together five years before we were signed to MCA Records in the 80s. When we lost the contract the band broke up and we didn't reform until 2000 when I moved back to the East Coast from LA. Since then we have stayed together and continue to record and perform live on stage. I don't see this ending in the near future. I'm putting a lot of time into my novels. I care about them and I care about how they're crafted equally as I care about how music is crafted. All in all, The Catholic Girls will keep going as long as we can play rock and of course, enjoy it. I also have some new goals and dreams and that includes writing great books. In my whole life, the word "average" or "okay" have never been part of my vocabulary; I like great, well-done music and I like great well-written stories. That hasn't changed. And honestly... never will.
