Author Interview: Clarissa Johal (STRUCK)

We are at the one year release anniversary of Clarissa Johal’s spectacularly creepy novel STRUCK.  She’s hanging out with us today to talk about her writing inspiration, her love of thunderstorms, and how doing a few plies keeps her writing mind nimble! 

But first, here’s the synopsis:

After a painful breakup, Gwynneth Reese moves in with her best friend and takes a job at a retirement home. She grows especially close to one resident, who dies alone the night of a terrific storm. On the way home from paying her last respects, Gwynneth is caught in another storm and is struck by lightning. She wakes in the hospital with a vague memory of being rescued by a mysterious stranger. Following her release from the hospital, the stranger visits her at will and offers Gwynneth a gift--one that will stay the hands of death. Gwynneth is uncertain whether Julian is a savior or something more sinister... for as he shares more and more of this gift, his price becomes more and more deadly.

And now to the interview! (Honestly, I found my self nodding and yes-ing so much of through this interview, it's like Clarissa is my spirit guide. But not in a stalker-y way. I swear I am not that creepy.) 

Tell us a bit about STRUCK.

STRUCK is my second paranormal novel through Musa Publishing. I was inspired to write STRUCK during a terrific thunderstorm several years ago. I was out running and wondered what it would be like to be struck by lightning in the paranormal sense. I went to bed that night with the idea kicking around and ended up having a nightmare. When I woke, the whole of the book was in my head. I started doing research and interviewed several lightning strike survivors. The aftermath of a lightning strike can be pretty devastating. 

And God this book sounds creepy! I love the idea of Julian sort of straddling good and evil. Where did you come up with the idea for him?

Thank you! I aim for creepy. Julian came to me as most of my characters come to me—completely formed. He had his own ideas about what he would and wouldn’t do in my story. My characters always seem to have their own agendas, I just write it down.

What supernatural entity is he, or would that be a spoiler?

Julian has been claimed by dark entities that live within the “particular” energy manifesting as a lightning strike. He isn’t a demon but more of a dark soul. Telling you more than that would be a spoiler, but I will say this—the cycle has been going on for quite some time.

Can you tell us why was Gwynneth chosen by Julian?

There’s a part of Julian that feels a kinship with Gwynneth; she’s an artist and he was an artist. But initially, Gwynneth was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s only as the story progresses that Julian struggles with his initial intent.

You have some wonderful side characters. What do you love about writing sidekicks?

Thank you! I love to make them as interesting as the main character. My side characters have lives and back stories of their own. I always try and write with the idea that, if I wanted to, I could turn them into main characters and write another book just as interesting. 

Weather clearly plays a huge part in this story. Do you have a favorite weather event? I love anything with howling wind. (Except sleet, because that’s when I want precipitation to make up its damn mind!) 

I LOVE thunderstorms. Love them. Howling wind is always a plus, but if you’ve got lots of thunder and lightning going on, I’m usually outside playing in it. 

How old were you when you saw your first horror movie? What was it?

My parents were pretty strict about the television and movies I watched. I was a pretty sensitive kid, so that was probably a good thing. It wasn’t a horror movie, but I remember watching the 1971 version of Omega Man with Charlton Heston. I would have been about seven years old. I have no idea why my parents thought it was okay for me to watch, other than it was billed as science fiction. The afflicted albino mutants scared the crap out of me. I had nightmares for weeks! I’m good with most horror movies but once you start messing with the eyes, I’m done. The eyes are the windows to the soul. 

What drew you to gothic horror?

I started out writing fantasy. I was working on a trilogy when I was hit with the characters of Cronan and Lucas from BETWEEN. They wouldn’t leave me alone. I would wake with their back story in my head, I would get flashes of their homeland and people they knew—I felt like I knew their lives inside and out. It was weird. It took me about a month to write the rough draft, which never happens, it usually takes me much longer. I joke I was pulled into the Otherworld with BETWEEN because it changed my life. I’ve been writing paranormal and gothic horror ever since. 

Do you have a favorite gothic horror novel?

I really enjoyed Brom’s Krampus: The Yule Lord. He was able to portray Krampus as a sympathetic antagonist, which is always a plus. I just read An Inquiry into Love and Death by Simone St. James and enjoyed it. Anything by Neil Gaiman is instantly on my “to read” list. I have a bit of a writerly crush on him. 

What are you working on now? Any new books on the horizon?

Yes! I have a paranormal psychological horror VOICES coming out May 19, 2015 through Permuted Press. I’m also working on THE ISLAND which should be ready to submit to my publisher by January.

Do you have any writing rituals?

No secrets here, I’m OCD when it comes to my writing day. First, I’ll start with coffee. Coffee is a must. Two cups of Gevalia French roast in the morning. Then, I get my daughters off to school. From there, I hit the gym, come home, have breakfast and do some ballet (I’ve been dancing for about 20 years). After I get my body in gear, I write. By noon, I’m slumping so I have to eat almonds because I’m addicted to them. Blue Diamond Honey Roasted almonds, to be exact. Then, I write some more until it’s time to pick up my daughters from school. My day in a nutshell, haha. 

Where is your favorite place to write?

I have a chair in the living room that reclines. It’s my favorite chair because it’s beside the fireplace and I can look out the window. If I’m feeling restless, I’ll write upstairs in my dance studio so I can plié between scenes. I can’t write when other people are home, though. It messes up the energy. 

What inspires you to write? 

Art inspires me. I’ll see a painting or some relic an anthropologist has found and stories will come to me in a rush. It’s almost painful not to write them down. A lot of times, characters speak to me and tell me their stories. I just write them down. That sounds weird but writers are a weird bunch. 

What 5 books are on your bookshelf right now?

Hmm, I just bought The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donohue. I’m excited to read that. I’m also reading Doctor Sleep by Stephen King and Last Stand of Dead Men (Book #8 in the Skullduggery Pleasant Series) by Derek Landy. I generally can’t read “for fun” when I’m writing because it has tendency to change my writing style. Right now I’m reading (for research): Darkness Walks: The Shadow People Among Us by Jason Offutt and The Banshee: The Irish Death Messenger by Patricia Lysaght. 

What do you recommend people see/read/hear?

To see (out and about): My recommendation is to go to an art museum. Look at pretty things. Take a friend or take your child, but just go. There’s something special about art. 

To see (at home): I rarely watch television, but I’m really into American Horror Story: Freakshow right now. There’s some great writing going on with that series. I would love to collaborate with those writers. 

To read: I think any of the books I’ve mentioned are worth a read but people have different tastes. 

To hear: Corvus Corax is a great band but not to everyone’s tastes. If you like bagpipes and neo-medieval type music, give them a listen. 

If you want to stalk Clarissa along with me online you visit her website, or hook up with her on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Author Interview: Gustavo Florentin (The Schwarzschild Radius)

I'm stepping away from the paranormal today to feature the contemporary thriller,  The Schwarzschild Radius, set in my fair city. When Rachel's sister goes missing, the 18-year-old Columbia University student falls into a violent underworld of child pornography, snuff films, and other horrific crimes. In searching for her sister, Rachel finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who "auctions the deaths of young girls in an eBay of agony." This book is not for the faint of heart, with trigger warnings galore, but it's getting some terrific reviews, and worth a look if you like exciting but unsettling reads.

You can visit author Gustavo Florentin over on his website, connect with him on Facebook. And look for the giveaway at the end of the interview -- it's for a $50 Amazon gift card!

Tell me about The Schwarzschild Radius. What inspired you to tell Rachel’s story?

The Schwarzschild Radius had its genesis decades ago when I attended the Bronx High School of Science. I met so many brilliant young people there and a few years later I thought it would be a good idea to write a story about some geniuses who solve a mystery using their wits. 

What type of world is the New York City that you have created in the book? Is it similar to the NYC we know, or are there certain elements that you created? 

The New York City in the book really exists, though it may not be something most people are familiar with. The abandoned subway tunnels, for instance, go back to the Civil War, and there really are people living in some of them. They are called “mole people." (Ed note: For those interested, there's a great book from the early 90s, about the homeless that live in the abandoned subway tunnels, The Mole People: Life in the Tunnels Beneath NYC) 

What drew you to writing thrillers?  

I started out reading the classics when I was young. Later, I came to admire devices like plot twists and surprise endings. There are many more of those in thrillers than in The Brothers Karamazov, for example. I really liked The Day of the Jackal. Forsythe combined research, suspense and a beautifully elegant writing style into a blockbuster and that book really set the bar for me. 

Many of the reviews for this book focus on how frightening and dangerous the world is that Rachel dives into. And that the “monsters” are real rather than paranormal creatures make it all the more horrific. Is it difficult to write “human” monsters? How do you get into their heads?  

I can identify to some extent even with the bad guys, but at some point, I simply have to use a lot of technique. These antagonists are SO evil that it’s hard to get into their skin. I find that making them intelligent and at times reserved is more effective than making them act over the top all the time. That would get tiresome and the evil would lose its impact. 

You have a fascinating, very technical day job! Is it tough moving between engineer and writer? How do you balance the two? 

One has nothing to do with the other, it’s true. Sometimes when I’ve had a really stressful day I have to unwind before writing by listening to music or playing the violin for a while. When you’re doing one job, you really have to forget the other. Needless to say, I would rather be writing than solving IT problems. 

Now that The Schwarzschild Radius is released, what is next for you?

I’m working on my next thriller, but I find that marketing The Schwarzschild Radius takes more time than I thought it would. Marketing is not something you give much thought to when you start writing. I don’t really care for self-promotion, but it’s a reality of the writing life. My new novel is a political thriller where the main character is John McKenna, the detective in The Schwarzschild Radius. I needed someone with his background and he fit the bill perfectly, so that saved me the trouble of creating a new protagonist. 

Do you have any writing rituals?

Yes, I tend to read first. I’m usually reading four or five books at a time and I’ll read a chapter of each to get into the groove. Then I’ll read what I wrote yesterday, then I’ll start writing my day’s quota, which is 500 words during the week and 1000 to 1500 words on the weekends. It’s a tough regimen between my day job, marketing The Schwarzschild Radius and having a  life. 

Where is your favorite place to write?

I do all my writing on a home-made lapdesk in front of my fireplace. I have a really nice office which I use for my engineering work, but when I quit for the day, I don’t go back in there. 

What inspires you to write?  

I like originality. I’ll always look for an original premise and I have to be able to condense it into a great pitch under 30 words. Above all, the idea has to move me. I have to get the feeling that this story HAS to be told. Only then can I commit a couple of years of my life to writing it. 

What 5 books are on your bookshelf right now?

It’s all over the map. Money Shot, by Crista Faust, The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, The Snow Leopard by Peter Mathiessen, Hollywood by Gore Vidal and an Agatha Christie collection. 

What do you recommend people see/read/hear?

Well, certainly if you’re into fiction and drama, immerse yourself in it. Find an inexpensive playhouse and see plays whenever you can. Read history, classics and the modern works. I watch a lot of foreign films on Netflix. Get a feel for what’s been done, so when you get an idea, you’ll know if it’s worthy. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Interview: Jessica Robinson (Undead Obsessed: Finding Meaning in Zombies)

Jessica Robinson's Undead Obsessed: Finding Meaning in Zombies tackles the confluence of zombies and our fears of science. Examining zombies through the lens of popular culture, and mixed with interviews from experts in various scientific fields, Undead Obsessed attempts to crack the code of what makes our attraction and repulsion to zombies such a favorite past time. I am thrilled she took a few minutes to talk about her book and our fascination with these rotting reanimated corpses. 

You went on kind of this epic journey to research this book—visits to water treatment plants and university veterinary medicine labs to learn about pathogens. How did you decide what you wanted to include in the book?

The original inspiration for the book came from watching an episode of The Walking Dead when the living characters have to get a zombie out of a well.  It made me curious about how pathogens travel through water, hence the visits to the treatment plants.  Then, I decided I should probably know exactly how pathogens behave, so the visit to the vet lab.  The more I learned, the more questions I had, so the more places/people I had to visit.  It was a so much fun!

What zombie movie influenced you the most?

This is actually a really hard question to answer because every movie influenced me in a different way.  Although, without Night of the Living Dead, my obsession would have never started.

How did you connect our fear of zombies to fear of science? How are they connected?

Well, it took some thought and looking at a multitude of films.  I think the puzzle pieces really fell into place while watching World War Z and how science played a role in that, then going back and looking at the other films.

Science or scientists are in practically all zombie films in one form or another—and it’s usually not a very flattering role.  They are usually portrayed as mad scientists, and like zombies, they are focused on achieving their goals (whatever those might be) without regard for human lives or morals.

These weird pandemics are kind of in the zeitgeist, between the recent ebola scare to the enterovirus outbreak. Do you see similarities in the way the public reacted to these scares, and the way you envision a reaction to a zombie outbreak?

Absolutely.  The fear of an epidemic usually comes way before the facts.  We convince ourselves that the illness will be the downfall of society and instantly start pointing fingers at people to blame, and those people are generally scientists.  Instead of preparing for the worst, we just blame it on others.  Much like the zombie apocalypse in these films, it catches us unprepared and unaware, so most of us are killed or turned into the undead.  By working together, that’s when things can truly get accomplished.

I generally poo poo the idea of zombies becoming a real thing, but then spot a news story about some weird disease, either unexplained or caused by some chemical compound (bath salts!) that does something shockingly awful, and rethink my “rational” thought. Do you think zombie-ism is possible in our future? 

I think it depends on how you define “zombie.”  If you look at it from a traditional sense—a corpse that is reanimated—then no.  But if you look at it as someone who becomes mindless and is driven by impulse and base desires, then yes.  As you mentioned, we’ve already seen this type of behavior.

Over the past few years, the popularity of zombies has just exploded in pop culture. What do you think is the reason for this sudden fascination?

I’ve been trying to figure this out, and I’m not really sure.  Monsters go through cycles.  A few years ago, it was vampires.  Before that, werewolves.  At the moment, zombie are the monsters du jour.

Your zombies are usually found in your YA fiction. What made you decide to write a non-fiction piece? Was the process different for you? Would you do another non fiction piece?

I’ve always wanted to write nonfiction about zombies, but I never knew what I wanted to write.  When inspiration hit, I had to get it down on paper.  Undead Obsessed is actually my second nonfiction book dealing with horror films.  My first one was Life Lessons from Slasher Films.  I would absolutely do another nonfiction book.  I’m just waiting for inspiration to hit.

The process was much different because I was looking at it from a different perspective.  For my YA books, I look at ways in which people can survive the undead.  In this book, I look at ways in which the undead can be created and how science plays a role in that creation.

Now that Undead Obsessed is released, what’s next for you?

I have another YA book coming out in January.  It is the sequel to The Appeal of Evil, and it is called Dealing with Devils.  Currently, I’m working on the third book in this series.  No title yet.  I have a middle grade book coming out in April/May called The Ifs Return.  It is the sequel to The Ifs.  After that, I plan on doing another YA zombie book.

Do you have any writing rituals?

Not really.  I just squeeze it in when I can.

Where is your favorite place to write?

At home.

What inspires you to write? 

The voices in my head won’t shut up until I get their story down on paper.

What 5 books are on your bookshelf right now?

Crap!  I can only think of two!

1.  Alien: Sea of Sorrows

2.  The History of Wyoming

What do you recommend people see/read/hear?

Whatever interests them and makes them happy.  

Book review: Drowning in Fear

I normally don’t like reviewing books, but the opportunity for my kid to review the lower grade chapter book Drowning in Fear was hard to pass up.

So, I am handing the blog over to Syd:

Drowning in Fear is about about a boy who is trying to overcome his fear of water.  

Nolan is afraid of the water. His dad sends him to a camp that has a really good lake (Lake Weird) to try to get him over his fears.  After Nolan was told about the camp, he started to have dreams about Lake Weird and someone pulling him in and trying to drown him.  

Nolan gets sent to the camp, and he decides to try to conquer his fear. But when he gets chest-deep, something pulls him under. He was rescued by a camp counselor. They thought it was a plant that pulled him under, but the scratches on his lake looks like it was some kind of animal. Nolan, wisely, does not go back in the water. 

And then a couple nights later, Nolan and his friends, including a boy named Leo who is obsessed with ghosts, go for a walk and find an abandoned, pretty creepy old house. Nolan recognized the creepy house from his dreams and the boys….(Ed note: This is where I delete the rest because it is full of spoilers.) 

I think it was a good horror story for kids who don’t like really scary stuff because it was scary but not really really scary. Parts of it reminded me of RL Stine, who is one of my favorite writers. I definitely want to read more of the Weirdville series.