It gives me great pleasure to welcome my talented daughter, Victoria Gemmell (aka Vikki Andres), to my blog. Having two published YA mysteries already to her name, Follow Me and Promise Me, she has now published a third book, Young Blood.
In a slight departure, this new longer novel is more of a YA/Crossover thriller, and will probably be of interest to a wider readership. I’ve asked Victoria a few questions about Young Blood, and writing in general.
Welcome to the blog, Victoria, and congratulations on your brilliant new novel! Thanks for taking time to answer the following questions.
Thanks so much for asking me to feature on your blog.
What would you say makes Young Blood more of a thriller?
My first two books were Young Adult mysteries where an event had already occurred and the reader is kept guessing as to who the villains are, and where the true threats lie.
With Young Blood the reader knows right from the start something about the house is going to be unsettling and most of the villains are obvious (Dr Carmichael for example). Within Young Blood it's also clear where the threats lie, but there are still lots of unknowns to uncover, so still a bit of mystery.
Within a thriller I think the suspense often arises when readers anticipate that the characters will face threats, with plenty of obstacles thrown in their way, and there is the question of 'will they be able to overcome these?'
Both of my protagonists, Ana and Hope, face threats and challenges, with contrasting narratives from both outside and inside the house, which I hope builds up the tension. I think tension and emotional conflict is imperative for a thriller, in order to keep it 'thrilling'!
What was the inspiration behind your new book?
My initial idea for Young Blood stemmed from an article I read, about an American start-up company ‘Ambrosia’ founded by a medical school graduate, Karmazin, in 2016 which sold ‘young blood plasma transfusions’ (from young people into older people).
Charging a large sum of money for these transfusions, they claimed a range of health benefits such as offering treatment for Alzheimer's. In a pitch about Ambrosia at a self-enhancement conference in 2017, Karmazin said, “We’re a company interested in making you young again.”
This sparked off the idea of having a powerful doctor set up a premium club for wealthy individuals to access pure plasma transfusions, capturing young people from the care system to be the donors, maintaining a super-controlled environment within ‘the house’.
In my day job I work with vulnerable teenagers on a daily basis. I see how much uncertainty and instability young people in the care system can face and how depressingly easy it could be for them to 'disappear' and for powerful individuals in authority to cover this up.
Did it involve a lot of research, and do you enjoy research?
When I was reflecting on this question, I realised I did do quite a lot of research over the course of developing this story! I'm curious by nature so I do like to learn about new things. I’m conscious of not going down too big a rabbit hole though, as at the end of the day I’m a writer, writing fiction. (If there are factual errors then please suspend belief, readers!)
I did a lot of reading about plasma donations, and the science behind Karmazin's claims. I also read wider articles around things like Parabiosis techniques. I found the science stuff fascinating.
Extracting plasma is a different process from a straight-forward blood donation and I watched videos from plasma donation centres to 'see' the different types of machines they use to give me a clear picture of what it would look like. As a big part of the story also focuses on early-onset dementia and Alzheimer's, I completed a short online course on a site called Future Learn. The training included snippets from carers of individuals with dementia. I watched TED talks similar to the one referenced in the story. I’ve also seen the effects of dementia first-hand within my wider family and I spent time reading through information from a local memory clinic in Glasgow.
As I mentioned previously, I often work closely with young people within the care system and we undertake various training modules. One stood out in my mind where we watched videos from young people within the care system speaking about their experiences. When one of my colleagues told a client I was writing this story, he offered to email me a very personal account of his own experience. I never met the boy so it was anonymous, as I wouldn't have been able to link him back to any client file. I would never base any of my characters on real people, but it did help me view things from quite an emotional stance, to try and imagine what it would feel like to be in certain situations, from different perspectives.
Do you have a favourite place to write?
I'm very lucky to have my own little writing room in my house. Above my desk I have what I call 'an inspiration board' and I like to hang nice art work and other trinkets around the room to help it feel like my creative space. I like to create and shape stories in this room, but I’ve found when I get to the editing stage, or writing a blog post, I prefer to sit downstairs at the dining room table which overlooks our garden.
Do you listen to music while you write, or prefer silence?
When I’m in the 'creation' stage of a book I like to listen to music. I think it helps me to access and activate the creative side of my brain. I often have a playlist on repeat which helps me switch into the 'mood' of the story.
In Young Blood, when I wrote scenes within the house, especially ones which feature Hope and Seb, I often had songs from Silverchair's Neon Ballroom on repeat. The song Black Tangled Heart in particular seemed to fit the 'tone' and the emotion within certain chapters.
When I get to the edit stages and need to really focus, I tend to not listen to music because by that point it's all about the fixes, and the layering, and I'm using more of the logical side of my brain by then!
Any advice for budding writers?
Don't overthink things - just write. See above. Listen to some music to try and get your brain into a more dreamy state of mind to switch off the over-analytical, critical part of your brain which I think can often slow you down or, at its worst, stop you attempting something.
Connect with other writers. From a young age I was lucky to have access to the writing world, (thanks to you, Mum), encouraging me to access groups and conferences. Meeting and talking to other writers, attending workshops, forming groups and sharing work and experiences has been so important to keep me motivated and has taught me lots about techniques and how to prepare work.
Lastly, read! Read and pay attention to books, stories, poetry. All of the clues about how to pace stories, structure them, develop characters and so on lie within the pages of your favourite stories. Once you start to really understand why something works and why it pulls you in, you can hopefully apply the same techniques to your own work.
Your writing is often described as quite cinematic. Do you ever picture actors you would like to play your characters if your books were made into films?
I don't picture specific actors, but I do have a dream director picked out. If anyone reading this knows Emerald Fennell please tell her to give me a call!! I absolutely love her directorial style. I was captivated by the boldness of both Promising Young Woman and Saltburn.
Tell me one surprising or quirky thing about you!
I'm terrible at answering questions like this. My husband told me to say I like to watch trashy reality TV shows like Love is Blind, Below Deck and Selling Sunset, which is in stark contrast to some of the more serious documentaries and films I like to watch.
Held captive in a gothic house, kidnapped teenagers from the care system are exploited by a wealthy ring of powerful individuals for their ‘pure plasma’ blood transfusions. To cure illness and chase the dream of eternal youth, no price is too high.
When fifteen-year-old Hope goes missing from school one day, her friend Ana starts to unravel dark secrets that could lead to her rescue.
But then Ana receives an offer that could mean curing her mum of early on-set dementia leaving her with an impossible choice:
Would you betray your friends to save your Mum?
About Victoria: Victoria Gemmell lives in Renfrewshire, Scotland. Young Blood is her third novel. Her debut Young Adult mystery novel Follow Me was released in 2015, with her second (stand-alone) YA mystery Promise Me published in 2021. Victoria also writes contemporary short stories and flash fiction and has been published in various journals.
Passionate about inspiring and motivating teenagers, Victoria works as a careers adviser, and since the release of her debut novel has enjoyed ‘putting on her author hat’, delivering creative writing workshops to enable teenagers to discover the power of their imagination and explore the fun side of creativity.
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