Anne Rice has been very open about consecrating her writing to God (the “Interview with the Vampire” author famously re-joined the Roman Catholic Church in 1998 and then just-as-famously renounced her dedication to organized religion this year). But if she had to do it over, Rice might have been a little less vocal.
“I think it can be very off-putting to readers to read that you consecrated your writing to God. It can give them the wrong idea,” Rice says. “I’m committed to writing what reflects my own beliefs and worldview. But I’m not sure I would tell anybody if I had to do it over. I think it stood between me and my readers.”
Rice’s new book, “Love and Evil,” out today, is the second novel in Rice’s “Songs of the Seraphim” series which follows an ex-assassin named Toby on his quest for salvation. And although “Love and Evil” is written in Rice’s typical engrossing style — complete with a nail-biting ending — she’s going to leave her fans waiting a bit to learn Toby’s fate.
“I can see the third book clearly but I’m not going to write it right now,”?she says. “I need a little time to think about Toby’s options and how he’s going to respond to that cliffhanger.”
What’s next
Before she returns to the “Songs of the Seraphim” series, Rice is working on a book about the legendary island of Atlantis. “It’s a book about immortals that have been on this planet since ancient Atlantis. It’s really thrilling to be writing about immortals who are not vampires. You don’t have to kill anybody, you don’t have to drink any blood, but they’re immortal. I get to have all the fun of describing how they see us and how they see our culture.”
