Hi, today we get to chat with Ms. Erica Leigh Madson, author of The Ferguson Film Fantasy Series, Electric Vibes, Electric Vibrato, and Electric Vamp from Rosa Romance Publishing Company.


Ms. Madson, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule for this interview with us here at Fallen Angel Reviews.

When I read your bio, I was interested in the fact that you’d moved to Los Angeles to go into the film industry. Was there a specific job that called to you, and how hard was it to get into?

I had already worked in a number of capacities in the film industry, primarily on the organizational side but also in the art department before moving here. But moving up meant making contacts in Hollywood so I actually moved to Los Angeles to get a degree in film in a program that promised summer internships in the studios.

I am good at what I do so I have managed to work pretty steadily - not in the lap of luxury but with a steady enough income to be live comfortably.

As an organizer by nature and training, I can apply my skills to a wide range of jobs, from marketing to production management, from contracts to consulting, from producing to post production. I freelance, which means working on individual productions for various different employers. It can involve working 14 or 16 hours a day when I am “in production” but gives me periods of unemployment in between which allows me to write.

How did you go from working in the film business to writing books?

I have always written, even as a child. Not always the assignments I was supposed to hand in but I definitely wrote. Along the way I worked in dinner theatre and was responsible for converting two act plays into three act plays (they made most of their money selling booze at the intermissions). Then it was summaries and production notes, letters and contracts – stuff related to my work.

I had been looking for a publisher but did not have a clear idea of what I wanted to write other than I felt I wanted to start with fiction of a novella length. A friend hooked me up with Rosa Romance who told me they were looking for “Hollywood Romances.” I told them I would give it a try and they were really excited by the first few chapters of Electric Vibes which I sent them to make sure I was on the right track.

I am now working on the third book in that series which should come out in early fall.

Do you ever want to write a screenplay? Please tell us how different screenplays are from books, and which in your opinion is the hardest to write.

From childhood on, I have liked to do things my way – I wrote well at school just not always what the teacher requested.

Screenplays have got to be one of the formats which gets the most interference from outside sources. And I know because many times I have been one of those sources.

Of course, if I come up with the perfect script idea, I will put fingers to keyboard and let rip, but in the meantime, I am going to stick with novellas.

And screenplays are definitely harder to write. Every bit that goes into them is meant to communicate certain information – inflection for the writers, how long a scene runs, the rhythm and the pace… It would take a year of classes and several large textbooks to communicate – it is a lot more complicated than most people think. Give me my novellas.

Since you’ve worked in the business for so many years, is that why you’re books are based on Hollywood?

Certainly I write about what I know best. But I also realize that there is a huge audience out there fascinated by the phenomenon known as filmmaking. Look at how many magazines there are about the stars, how the glamour of Hollywood gets millions to tune in to the Academy Awards year after year, the press coverage the shenanigans of Lindsay Lohen and Mel Gibson have engendered.

By basing my books in the venue I work in, there is a comfort level for me because even if the characters are fictional, their jobs, their responsibilities, their concerns are those I know well.

Is Jerry or Sofie based on anyone you know, or are they just fictional characters?

There is part of a number of people in both but no one person stands out as the recognizable progenitor of either. Most electricians I know do not come from wealthy families and few women outside the “biz” are likely to put up with the hours and the demands of any film job.

Please tell us a little about the Ferguson family?

When I was mulling over what to write for Rosa Romance, I liked the idea of having characters progress from book to book but not necessarily a series focusing on one or two leads. Among my friends in the film are several who have relatives in other areas of the business, a producer whose brother is an actor, a director whose sister is a designer, an accountant whose son is an agent, etc.

Which got me thinking. If I could imagine a big enough family, I could write all sorts of Hollywood stories which could interlink.

So I came up with Mary, the grande dame producer and her children and step-children and their children and their lovers and wives and husbands and… I’ve got a whole world out there to build stories from.

Are Electric Vibe, Electric Vibrato, and Electric Vamp going to be the only books in this series, or do you think you’ll be writing more about the this family and the secondary characters?

Electric Vibrato continued the story of Sophie and Jerry at the request of my publisher. When it started to get too long, I split it into two books. Electric Vibrato introduced most of Jerry’s family and my next books will draw from them. This will allow me to explore the worlds of actors, designers, agents and writers as well as that of the on-set and technical people who make movies out of a script and a whole bunch of professionals.

After this series, what can the readers be expecting to see from you in the future?

I have a feeling the Ferguson Family will keep me busy for quite a while.

When you’re getting ready to write, is there a specific ritual you go through to get started?

Once I find some time to sit down and write (difficult these days as I am working on a TV series at the moment), I will usually reread what I wrote the day before, both to proof it and to get into the skins of the characters

What other types of books would you like to write that you haven’t as of yet?

Science fantasy and action adventures. I grew up loving the books of Robert Heinlein and Anne McCaffrey. There is something freeing about setting a fable in the future where anything under the sun, maybe a sun which is not our own, is possible.

And I would love to take the story-telling genius of Robert Ludlum and Tom Clancy and introduce a strong, sexy heroine who would use her intelligence and womanly wiles to foil the bad guys.

If you could go into the future, say 50 years, what would you take with you from here, besides family, and why?

Any remaining national and state parks that haven’t been desecrated by the current government.

How would family and friends describe you?

Quiet, erudite, unpredictable, and… what’s a polite way to say opinionated?

What advice would you give to a new author just starting out?

Write. Anything, anywhere, any time. The ability to write is best honed in practicing the art.

Where and how can readers see your books and get in touch with you?

EricaLeighMadson.com and through my publisher RosaRomance.com

Just one last question before we let you go . If you were a candy bar, which one would you be and why that one?

Coffee Crisp. My favorite, and only available in Canada till recently. There is a website petitioning Nestle to expand their US distribution. And I would really like to expand my US distribution…

Ms. Madson, thank you again so much for doing this interview with me and Fallen Angel Reviews. I’m looking forward to reading your books.

Interviewed by: Donna