Strange
Magic:
A
Yancy Lazarus Novel
Pilot
Episode
Yancy
Lazarus Series
Book
One
James
A. Hunter
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Shadow Alley Press, Inc.
Date of Publication: January 16th,
2015
ISBN: 978-1507706923
ASIN: B00R7QEFN8
Number of pages: 221
Word Count: 75,000
Book Description:
Yancy Lazarus is having a bad day:
there’s a bullet lodged in his butt cheek, his face looks like the site of a
demolition derby, and he’s been saran-wrapped to a banquet table. He never
should have answered the phone. Stupid bleeding heart—helping others in his
circles is a good way to get dead.
Just ask the gang members ripped to
pieces by some kind of demonic nightmare in LA. As a favor to a friend, Yancy
agrees to take a little looksee into the massacre and boom, he’s stuck in a
turf war between two rival gangs, which both think he’s pinch-hitting for the
other side. Oh, and there’s also a secretive dark mage with some mean ol’
magical chops and a small army of hyena-faced, body-snatching baddies. It might
be time to seriously reconsider some of his life choices.
Yancy is a bluesman, a rambler, a
gambler, but not much more. Sure, he can do a little magic—maybe even more than
just a little magic—but he knows enough to keep his head down and stay clear of
freaky-deaky hoodoo like this business in LA. Somehow though, he’s been set up
to take a real bad fall—the kind of very permanent fall that leaves a guy with
a toe tag. Unless, of course, he can find out who is responsible for the
gangland murders, make peace in the midst of the gang feud, and take out said
dark mage before he hexes Yancy into an early retirement. Easy right? Stupid.
Bleeding. Heart.
Available at Amazon
PRAISE
FOR STRANGE MAGIC:
"Move over Harry Dresden
because there's a new wizard in town. Yancy Lazarus a chain-smoking, take no
prisoners S.O.B. with a heart of gold and a fistful of primal power. A stellar
debut novel from James Hunter, the next big name in Urban Fantasy." —Rick Gualtieri, Author of Bill the Vampire
(The Tome of Bill)
Excerpt:
The piano keys
bobbed and danced under the pressure of my fingers. Music—low, slow, and
soulful—drifted through the club, merging and twirling with wandering clouds of
blue-gray smoke. So many places have no-smoking laws these days, it seems like
there’s nowhere in the country where a guy can take a drag from a cigarette in
peace. Everyone is so worried about their health, they make damn sure you stay
healthy by proxy.
Not Nick’s Smoke
House, though. Nick’s—like some rare, near extinct animal—is the kind of bar
where you can die unmolested by laws or ordinances. You can burn yourself up
with cancer, drown yourself into liver failure, or binge on a plate of ribs
until a heart attack takes you cold, and no one will say boo. And you can die
to music here: the beautiful, lonely, brassy beats, of the like only ever found
in New Orleans.
About
the Author:
Hey all, my name is James Hunter
and I’m a writer, among other things. So just a little about me: I’m a former
Marine Corps Sergeant, combat veteran, and pirate hunter (seriously). I’m also
a member of The Royal Order of the Shellback—‘cause that’s a real thing. And, a
space-ship captain, can’t forget that.
Okay … the last one is only in my imagination.
Currently, I work as a missionary
and international aid worker with my wife and young daughter in Bangkok,
Thailand. When I’m not working, writing, or spending time with family, I
occasionally eat and sleep. Strange Magic is the first novel in the Yancy
Lazarus series—the third, full-length novel, Wendigo Rising, just released on
November 3rd, 2015.
Interview
Hey folks, my name is
James Hunter and I’m a former Marine Corps Sergeant, combat veteran,
and pirate hunter (seriously). I’m also an Urban Fantasy writer—not that
you’ll catch me making that confession in public. I’m the author of the Yancy
Lazarus series, which revolves around the adventures and various shenanigans of
Yancy Lazarus, a magical, wet-works man turned rambling blues hound.
Where are you from?
Originally, I’m from
beautiful, sunny Colorado, though I currently reside in Bangkok, Thailand—a crazy-pants
city with a population of approximately 14 million.
Tell us your latest news?
Well, I just released my
third Yancy Lazaus novel, Wendigo Rising, which hit the number one spot in
Amazon’s Dark Fantasy category, which is pretty exciting. I feel like the third
book is definitely the best yet and I’m excited to get back to the ol’
inkslinger-grind.
When did you first consider yourself a
writer?
For me anyone who enjoys
writing—whether published or not—is a writer. Poems, short stories, flash
fiction, novels. Whatever. If you write then you’re a writer. Period.
What inspired you to write your first
book?
The first book I ever
wrote took a grand total of four years; it was a terrible high/epic fantasy
novel, which will never, ever, ever see the light of day. Suffice it to say, my
first full-length novel was a great learning lesson in how not to write good
fantasy. Mostly, that book was inspired by Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time
series. The Wheel of Time was my first true exposure to the high fantasy genre,
and it left me with a writing itch that just needed to be scratched.
How did you come up with the title?
All of the titles for my
other books came pretty naturally, but Strange Magic took some serious
thinking. Ultimately, I went with that because I thought it sounded cool while
also capturing the mood and feel of the book.
Is there a message in your novel that you
want readers to grasp?
I think there are a few
themes underlying the narrative, but I like to let readers find them (or not)
for themselves. Any theme that does exist, however, exists in the background,
well behind the story itself. Generally, my books aren’t high literature, not
even close. They’re shoot-‘em-up, magic-slinging, roller coaster rides that are
high on entertainment and that’s the way I like ‘em.
How much of the book is realistic?
The book is urban
fantasy, so realistic is a little blurry to say the least. But wherever the
book does overlap with reality (Yancy’s time as a Marine, say) I diligently try
to make sure I get things right. Also, many of the strange creatures populating
my novels do have some basis in reality—at least in the sense that they’re
predominantly derived from real (though often obscure) mythologies.
Are experiences based on someone you know,
or events in your own life?
Each book, to a certain
extent, has elements of my own life and experiences woven throughout. There’s
an old writer’s axiom, Write what you know, and I think that shines through in
my work. My main protagonist, Yancy Lazarus, is a travelling bluesman, a trait
he happens to share with my father. Like me, Yancy is also a former Marine, and
though he served in Vietnam (well before my time), my time in
service—especially my deployments in Iraq and Africa—shaped much of his service
history.
What books have most influenced your life
most?
I’d like to shout out to
my top three most influential authors. First, J. K. Rowling and the Harry
Potter books: this series, more than anything else, influenced me to start
reading as a young teenager and got me hooked on the fantasy genre. Stephen
King, and pretty much every book he’s ever written, has had a huge impact on me
as a reader and writer. And, of course, Jim Butcher and the Dresden Files.
These books introduced me to the Urban Fantasy genre and made me want to write
in this genre, abandoning my original calling as a horror author.
If you had to choose, which writer would
you consider a mentor?
Tough call—probably a
photo finish draw between Stephen King and Jim Butcher.
What book are you reading now?
I’m reading Craig
Schaefer’s Redemption Song (Daniel Faust Book 2), another in a long line of
very well-written, urban-fantasy novels with a noir feel. If you’re a fan of
gritty, fun Urban Fantasy, then I’d highly recommend the Daniel Faust Series.
Are there any new authors that have
grasped your interest?
A couple of newer authors
in the urban fantasy field worth checking out are Sam Witt (author of the
Pitchfork County Series) and Domino Finn (Sycamore Moon Series and Shade
City).
What are your current projects?
Currently, I’m working on
a new Urban Fantasy series—a spin off novel that takes place in the same
“universe” as the Yancy Lazarus series. The book is called “Mud-Man” and I’m
hoping to have it out by the beginning of February. Here’s a little teaser:
Levi Adams is a soft
spoken, middle-aged, Mennonite man—at least he tries to be when he’s not
murdering people.
Levi’s a Golem, a
Mud-man, crafted from the muck, mire, and corpses of a World War II
concentration camp—killing is just a part of his DNA. He doesn’t like it, but
unfortunately he’s been saddled with a divine commission to dole out judgement
on those who shed innocent blood. After a lifetime as a cold-blooded, murder
machine, however, Levi’s trying to change his grisly nature. And the AA
meetings and church services are helping. A little. But when he runs
across a wounded girl during one of his “hunting expeditions,” he realizes
self-help may have to go on the backburner.
Someone is attempting to
revive an ancient godling and the road to rebirth is paved with dead bodies.
Lots and lots of them.
Now, Levi must protect
the girl—the key to an unspeakable resurrection—and defeat a Nazi Mage from
Levi’s murky past. But the shadowy Mage holds a terrible secret about the
Mud-man’s unorthodox birth, one offering insight into Levi’s morbid compulsion
for blood shed. It’s a secret Levi would pay anything to discover: maybe even
the innocent girl in his care. If Levi isn’t careful, though, he may end up as
the Mage’s final sacrifice.
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