Revelations:
Cast In Blood
Christine
Sutton, Lisa Lane, Jaime Johnesee
Publisher: DevilDog Press LLC
Publication Date: September 1,
2015
ASIN: B0117VK5JQ
Book Description:
An unknown force threatens Heaven
and Hell, along with every soul on Earth. Three unlikely heroes join together
to restore universal balance.
Will their shared adversary
initiate an Apocalypse before they're able to uncover the truth, or will they
rise to a calling that has, from the beginning of time, been Cast in Blood?
Available at Amazon
Interview
Where are you from?
LL: I’m originally from California, but I moved too
frequently growing up to claim a home town. I’ve lived in the Las Vegas area
for the better part of the last fifteen years, so I guess these days I’d say
I’m from Vegas.
JJ: I’m from Michigan but have lived in Alabama
(twice) and Indiana as well.
CS: Sunny Central California!
Tell us your latest news?
LL: The Revelations
novel releases are currently my biggest news, although I do also have another
novella in my Jane the Hippie Vampire
series coming out soon.
JJ: Along with Revelations
I have a new novella in my Bob the Zombie
series coming out soon as well as the expanded novel from my novella Shifters.
CS: Of course, Revelations,
but I also have my very successful Burkheart
Witch Saga series.
When and why did you begin writing?
LL: I wrote my first short story when I could still
count my age in single digits. I wrote it because I was enamored with the
written word and wasn’t content merely reading my favorite stories—I needed to write them too. It came innately.
JJ: I was eight and my teacher had us write a story
in these cloth covered books. I knew at that point I loved writing and it would
be something I would always do.
CS: I can’t remember a time when I didn’t write. I
think I was born with a pen and paper in my hand.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
LL: I’ve always considered myself a writer. No
matter what profession I’ve had to pay the bills, I’ve still always been a
writer. You might as well ask me when I first considered myself a human being.
JJ: I, too, have always considered myself a writer.
It wasn’t until I retired from zookeeping (due to illness) that I realized I
could do it for a living.
CS: Same here. I have always considered myself a
writer.
What inspired you to write your first book?
LL: Funny story. When I was in my early teens, my
twin sister and I felt we had a great idea for a sequel to one of our favorite
movies at the time, The Lost Boys. We
studied screenplay format and wrote a script then, fully believing Richard
Donner would be all over it, submitted the treatment to Warner Bros. Of course,
it was rejected and we were crushed, although his then assistant—I still
remember the man’s name was Scott Nimerfro—must have identified that the query had
been written by children because he really did his best to let us down easy
(and finally sent us a Lethal Weapon 3
poster to bribe us to stop writing him back begging for reconsideration).
Anyway, when we finally got the hint
and gave up on the sale, we decided to change the characters and mix up the
storyline a little to make it an original story and turn it into a novel. That
was the best summer of my entire childhood.
JJ: I wrote my first book as a first anniversary
gift to my husband. They say the first anniversary is paper so I figured it
would be the best way I could show him how much I appreciated his helping me
through my illness.
CS:I wrote my first novel at around fourteen. I
don’t remember a specific inspiration. T was just like breathing or walking. I
just needed to do it.
Do you have a specific writing style?
LL: I prefer more literary prose, which has made
writing in a more mainstream style a bit of a challenge for me. Every once in a
while, Jaime and Christine will get on me to revisit a chapter I’ve written
that they feel needs to be simplified. Writing this series has been a learning
experience for all of us, I think.
JJ: I tend toward mainstream. I like to write fast
paced and emotionally charged work. This project has been fantastic as it’s
really helped me hone my detail work.
CS: I am definitely mainstream, fast-paced,
emotional. I love to write characters that are real and natural, warts and all.
How did you come up with the title?
LL: We knew we wanted to play off the biblical Revelations story, and we’d agreed our
characters were all going to be strong and rebellious women, so I’d initially
suggested Rebelations—a play on rebel and Revelations.
Tracy, our publisher suggested we simply go with Revelations. As for the book
titles, “Cast in Stone” just popped into my head, and I liked the cadence “Cast
in” offered. I suggested it to the group, and we brainstormed until we came up
with the agreed upon “Cast in” titles.
JJ: Well said, Lisa.
CS: What she said. J
Is there a message in your novel that you want
readers to grasp?
LL: Appearances can be deceiving….
JJ: Be open to the people you meet, they might just
become your best friends.
CS: Nothing in the world is black and white. There
are shades of gray in everything. There is no absolute good or bad. Everyone
and everything has a story.
How much of the book is realistic?
LL: It’s a pretty tight weave of magical realism,
just about as realistic as any other urban fantasy out there. We’ve got
believable characters dealing with a mesh of realistic and not-so-realistic
issues in a covertly fantastical world.
JJ: While we do weave in some mythology, I can’t say
any of it is realistic but we do our best to make it feel that way.
CS: I think it is real enough. Although we do have
demons, angels and all sorts of magic and creatures, once the readers begin the
story, it will be absolutely real to them. We also tried to stay within a set
of rules and not get overly fantastical.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events
in your own life?
LL: None on my end.
JJ: I actually based my character, Polly, on my big
sister Sondra. She’s kind of a badass.
CS: Actually, no.
What books have influenced your life most?
LL: Cat’s
Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, A Room of
One’s Own by Virginia Woolf, The
Shining by Stephen King, The Last
Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdritch, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, and
the Autobiography of Malcolm X.
JJ: Watchers
by Dean Koontz was the first horror book I read. I was eight and I fell
completely in love with the genre at that time. Of course Edgar Allan Poe and
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are two of my favorite authors for their sweet twists.
CS: Carrie
by King, The Color Purple by Alice
Walker, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou, and so many others!
If you had to choose, which writer would you
consider a mentor?
LL: Fellow horror author Lisa Mannetti has been my
mentor for a few years now, and she’s taught me so much about the craft from
our shared literary perspective. I’ve also recently begun working with
mainstream horror author Hank Schwaeble through HWA’s mentor program, and he’s
helped me to identify some of my lingering bad habits. I’m grateful for both of
them.
JJ: Armand Rosamilia. He has been like a big brother
to me and has not only helped me grow in my writing but he’s also encouraged me
to keep writing and publishing when things seemed bleak. He does this for so
many authors. Mark Tufo is another author I consider a mentor and big brother.
Without these guys I might have stopped publishing completely. They’re my
heroes.
CS: I can’t actually say I’ve ever had a mentor. I’m
pretty solitary. Jaime has been an amazing friend, springboard and brutally
honest critic.
What book are you reading now?
LL: I’m reading a handful of unpublished works in
progress.
JJ: I’m reading The
Dangerous Type by Loren Rhodes and The
Box Jumper by Lisa Manetti.
CS: I just finished Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King.
Are there any new authors that have grasped your
interest?
LL: I’ve recently discovered a few authors new to
me, but no one new to the publishing world.
JJ: I think we are going to see some big things from
Ricky Cooper and Tania Cooper. Also Aliyah Thornbrugh will be writing some
amazing works in the coming years. She has a little ways to go but a wonderful
grip on storytelling, which is something that can’t be taught.
CS: I’m a fan of Ian Woodhead, Jaime Johnesee, and
Paula D. Ashe. William Cook has some serious talent, too.
What are your current projects?
LL: I’m getting ready to co-author the third Revelations novel while continuing work
on my Jane the Hippie Vampire series.
I also have a couple of dark speculative fiction novels wandering around in
submissions limbo.
JJ: Revelations,
Shifters (I’m working on books one
and two right now), and my Bob the Zombie
series.
CS: Revelations, the fourth book in the Burkheart
witch Saga - Just Right, and a new novel that is yet untitled.
What would you like my readers to know?
LL: If you enjoy gritty and dramatic horror, the
first novella in my Jane the Hippie
Vampire series, Love Beads, is
available for free through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes, Kobo, and
Smashwords. If you’re interested in books more in the vein of dystopian or
Gothic, I’ve got a few books you might be interested in reading as well. For
more information, go to http://www.cerebralwriter.com.
Thanks for reading!
JJ: First, I’d like to thank them for taking the
time to read this and get to know a bit more about us. I’d also like to let
them know that the first novella in my Bob the Zombie series is free right now.
Bob’s a normal guy (a bit like Clark Griswold from the National Lampoon’s
Vacation movies) except for the fact that he died and was raised by a
necromancer. Enjoy his hijinks for free at:
http://www.amazon.com/Bob-Zombie-Jaime-Johnesee-ebook/dp/B00D0VPURO/
CS: Thank you for reading and
allowing us to invade your space for a while! You can always check out my other
titles at Amazon, http://www.amazon.com/Christine-Sutton/e/B005NNAKAE/ .
About
Christine Sutton
Christine Sutton is the author of
more than fifteen short stories, novellas and novels. While she tends to cross
genres within horror, she is always passionate about scaring the hell out of
you.
Her passion would have to be
serial killer fiction, but she also loves ghosts, ghouls, demons and monsters
of all types. Christine's work ranges from modern day fairy tales to demonic
soul eaters to ghostly children that just want to play. Her writing has been
called passionate, realistic, gritty, fun, enthralling and tons of other cool
adjectives.
You, too can pick up some of
Christine's work and come up with some cool adjectives of your own. It won't be
hard. I promise.
About
Leigh M. Lane/Lisa Lane
Leigh M. Lane has been writing
for over twenty years. She has ten published novels and dozens of published
short stories--penning the majority of her speculative and literary works under
Leigh M. Lane and her mainstream and urban fantasy stories under Lisa Lane. She
is married to editor Thomas B. Lane, Jr. and currently resides in the hot and
dusty outskirts of Sin City.
For more information, visit her
website at http://www.cerebralwriter.com
About
Jaime Johnesee
Jaime Johnesee lives in Michigan
with her husband and two sons. She spent fourteen years as a zookeeper before
shifting her focus to writing full time. Known for her bestselling horror
comedy series, Bob the Zombie, she is also currently coauthoring the paranormal
horror series, Revelations, for Devil Dog Press as well as working on her
Shifters series.
No comments:
Post a Comment