Dare to visit GODLAND?

The opening lines of your book give us an idea of the tension and dare I say ‘horror’ to follow. I thought for a while I was reading a paranormal story. The truth was even more disturbing.

“A blast sheared open the night sky. An ear-piercing shriek followed. Bats and birds fled trees, draping a transient veil across the face of the moon. A moan gained in intensity—not quite human, not quite animal—and rumbled across the cornfields like a runaway train.

For those gathered at the small Kansas farm, the long night of survival had begun.”

So Stuart, what inspired you to write Godland?

Stuart: Actually, Rosalie, it started with the characters. I had an idea of four very different characters: a bitter farmer, a troubled teen girl, a ruthless corporate marauder, and a failed, gay entrepreneur. I thought it might be fun to see how they might be connected. The interwoven, puzzle plot followed. Now, of course, when I say “fun,” I probably have a different concept of “fun” than most people.

Do you wake at night, reliving scenes? Tormented by the lives you create for your characters?

Stuart: Honestly, as I wrote this book, it put me in a very dark place at times. Usually I like to insert humor into my novels. Not so much this one.

In Godland the idea of escape and survival are important. Each of the characters have their own ways of coping with the trauma of their previous lives. You capture their resourcefulness and coping mechanisms well. Some more successful than others. Have you studied psychology? How do you get into your character’s heads so well? You make them seem very real.

Stuart: Great question, Rosalie! Yes, escape and survival is an important theme of the book. Especially the parallels of physical and psychological escape. Something every character in the book strives for. The past forms the future. For everyone. And, yeah, psychology was my under-study in college. Can’t say I drew too much on that though. Most of the book’s just my putting myself into the characters’ mind-set, then letting it rip. As I said, “fun!”

Family and family ties play a huge part in GODLAND. Some of the ties are not what most family values promote. GODLAND isn’t based on any real or living situations is it? You had me wondering if there are places where the type of people in GODLAND might really exist.

Stuart: Well, my burden is Kansas. I live in this Godforsaken state. I’m embarrassed at some of the primitive beliefs and practices that go on here. For cryin’ out loud, we still have an active Ku Klux Klan chapter, lots of dark secrets and horrific situations going on in the farmlands, a violent mob presence in Kansas City, black magic worshippers, antiquated political beliefs and laws. Recently, a law was passed allowing restaurant owners to refuse service to people who they believe may be gay. You believe that? In my books, I’m trying to expose the hidden, awful underbelly of the Midwest, even though the loudest proponents of Kansas’s Norman Rockwellian surface—wholesome family values--are the biggest hypocrites. Don’t visit Kansas!

The names of each character in the family are straight from the Bible. Are you a religious person? Or do you see religion as being an obsession like it is for Edwin. Obviously naming his children after characters from the good book, didn’t help him raise them well, or them to be righteous. Although, in their darkest hours, some of the players in the drama find a germ of compassion.

Stuart: LOL. I think compassion’s key, Rosalie. If characters don’t have it, or find it eventually, then I find books like that generally hard to get behind. True horror comes from humanity’s foibles, something awful, inescapable. Yet humanity also shines sometimes when hidden reservoirs of compassion surface. Am I religious? Not particularly. Mostly because I had it beaten into me (not literally) as a kid. A rebel, I suppose. But if I’m writing tales set in creepy Kansas, I can’t escape religious themes. Part of the general make-up. Funny thing about the names, Rosalie. At first I had three integral characters named Peter, Paul and Mary. My wife caught it, said, “uh, no.” Took me a minute before I realized what she was on about.

I came away from reading GODLAND wondering how an author can write such dark and traumatic stories. I don’t usually watch horror movies… I really don’t understand when there is no logical reason for violence, or supernatural haunting/violence. GODLAND transcends that nonsensical horror by bringing its characters to life with deep motivation and logical reasoning for each and every action. Makes it all much scarier. My hat goes off to you for creating a dark landscape with a story that pulls the reader into every scene and has them on the edge of their seats, ready to run, as they turn each page.

That’s not a question…

Stuart: I hear ya’, Rosalie. I agree logic is important. As for how I write such dark and traumatic tales? Well, actually, it’s probably the darkest of my books. As I said before, I do like humor believe it or not. This book is exorcising demons, I suppose. Kinda’ like most of my books. (My YA series deals with my awful high school years of bullying and senseless violence). And Edwin’s loosely (VERY loosely) based on my grandfather. Didn’t know him very well, he died early. But my dad told me lots of awful tales about him. Of course he wasn’t as bad or evil as Edwin. But he had his moments of mental and physical abuse.

Final question is how does an author capable of writing GODLAND, turn back to writing for young adults?

Stuart: Not sure I’m turning back to writing YA books. Godland was actually the second book I wrote. But I had to let it gestate for a while. And I have about four more adult suspense thrillers on dock. Then again, I have an idea for a couple of YA books. Another Tex, the Witch Boy tale set in college. And a story about Satan’s son being banished to a Midwest high school for being too lenient on the damned souls in hell. Many laughs (I hope) will ensue.

I am reading ‘Elspeth the Living Dead Girl’ at present and find you have captured the voice of a teenage girl. The change of voice shows the level of expertise you have mastered in your writing. Congratulations.

Stuart: Well, thanks, Rosalie. It helps having one of those curious, completely alien creatures–one you have to constantly walk on eggshells around--known as a teenage girl under your roof. I listened to her, her friends. Talked to them. Um, shamelessly eavesdropping. Probably my biggest challenge, that book. Writing POV from two very different teen girls’ perspectives. Very fun, too. Unleashing my inner teen girl!

Where can we find you, and your books online.

Stuart: Let’s make it easy. All my books can be found here: Stuart's Amazon page

And here’s my blog. Generally I don’t chat too much about writing, find it kinda’ pompous. But If you’d like a laugh, wanna’ read my gripe of the week, have at it: Twisted Tales From Tornado Alley

Thank you for being a guest on my blog.

Stuart: Hey, thank you! Now go get back to writing about Caleath. And everyone check out Rosalie’s beautifully written sci-fi/fantasy epic.

STONE CHAMELEON, Urban Fantasy at its best...

Today we feature STONE CHAMELEON 

by Jocelyn Adams...

For a FREE copy to review just answer the question at the end of the post.

STONE CHAMELEON, 

Nothing urbane about this URBAN Fantasy...

When a series of unusual murders point to Lou Hudson, Ironhill’s equal rights advocate, as the primary suspect, she has but one choice: find the real perpetrator before her trial begins or face execution.

Lou, the last of the jinn, survives by hiding her abilities after the rest of the elementals fell victim to genocide. As a preternatural pest exterminator and self-proclaimed guardian of the innocent, she’s accustomed to trudging through the dregs of society. Hunting down a pesky murderer should be easy, especially with help from the dashing and mischievous local media darling.

For Lou, though, nothing is ever simple. When she discovers the killer’s identity, to reveal it would unearth her secret and go against her strict moral code, resulting in a deadly catch twenty-two.
*******

Now to meet the author... It is great to introduce the amazing  Jocelyn Adams...

Your novel Stone Chameleon has recently been released through Museitup Publishing. Can you tell us a little about what inspired you to write this dark fantasy?  The blurb makes Lou sounds like an interesting character in a desperate situation.

Hi, Rosalie.  Thanks for inviting me.    

Normally I have a clear moment of conception for a story, but this one is kind of a blur.  

I knew I wanted to try out a different voice and reinvent a supernatural creature that wasn’t often written about, and somewhere out of those thoughts, Lou Hudson was born with her mixture of British and Canadian English.

She’s determined to smooth out the relations between human beings and all of the preternatural creatures that live in her city, all while keeping her jinn heritage a secret as her species was condemned and all but wiped out.  

Her lot in life has created an interesting blade she balances on, and because of it, she has become someone incredibly strong and determined to change the prejudices of the world.

She already sounds like an exceptional character.

Did Lou and her henchmen follow your plot path or did they take on a life of their own? Do you keep paranormal characters in check?

Oh, goodness, no.  My characters rarely turn out how I initially envision them.  I don’t plot anything, just have a name and a general description, then let my fingers fly.  

I struggled with Amun’s character (Lou’s potential love interest) and had to reinvent him a couple of times.  

Another main character in the book began as a straight-out villain who was only supposed to play a bit part, but has now become an integral part of the series.

  Sometimes I feel like I’m trying to walk a bunch of giant dog on leash, and sometimes all I can do is try to keep my feet under me while they drag me where they want to go.  J

Or two small dogs. LOL. I have two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels that create the same effect!

You spend time with a compound bow? What an interesting hobby. What is the most unusual experience you have had while shooting?

It’s a great hobby that gets me outdoors a lot in the summer.  When my hubby and I were in high school and shooting at our local club, we very nearly stepped on not one, but two skunks hidden in the grass.  By some miracle we weren’t sprayed.  Needless to say, we took a little more care while wandering the course after that.

Goodness that's a great incentive to watch where you put your feet. hehe. Thankfully we don't have skunks here! We still need to watch where we walk. :)

How much of your life is reflected in Lou’s adventure?

There was a lot of me in my first main character, Lila Gray, but only a little of me in Lou.  

We both have a love affair with toast and we’re attracted to hulking Scotsmen in kilts, but beyond that, we’re not very similar.  

It was a challenge writing her because her voice is so different from my own.

An interesting concept, Jocelyn, writing a character so different from yourself and to do it successfully. I think that is a skill in itself.

Have you always been a writer?

I’ve only been writing since late 2009, actually.  It wasn’t something I even considered trying even though I loved writing poetry and short stories in high school.

  It was one of those door closing, window opening kind of things that launched me into authordom.  J

What drew you to the Dark Fantasy genre?

Back in 2009, my career took a left turn, leaving me with copious quantities of time on my hands.  A friend of mine suggested I read the Anita Blake series by Laurell K. Hamilton.  

That series totally ensnared me from page one.  It was the one that made me want to write.  I love dark and gritty stuff, so naturally that’s what I ended up writing, too.

Thanks for sharing a little about Stone Chameleon.

Thanks so much for having me.  It’s been a pleasure.

Now for a glimpse into STONE CHAMELEON.

Excerpt:
A flare shot over the rooftops to our left. I dove at Blake and slammed him to the pavement as another column of fire streaked toward us. The flames seared my back. The dragon bat was not a happy camper. Someone landed on my backside, crushing a grunt out of me and pounding my shoulder blade while Blake gasped beneath me.

“Bloody hell, Amun,” I said, before I realized he did it to put out the flames eating up my shirt. “Oh, I see. Thanks.”

He pulled me up, and the three of us ducked behind a car in the parking lot beside the Whip and Tickle, a vampire fetish-wear shop. The owl-sized bat swooped over us again, blasting an inferno that exploded the front window of the shop, sending studded leather and melted mannequins onto the sidewalk.

Three of the other creatures we’d hunted lay dead on other streets, the scorpion included, all by my sword when I’d been left with two options: kill or die. Twelve more were contained in three trucks. The bat remained the only unwelcome visitor in Fangtown. Other than us, of course.

“This is madness, Lou.” Amun panted beside me, his arms rising to shield his head as the bat exhaled on a Mini Cooper two cars over, the crackling and popping suggesting we should find a new hiding place.

“I agree with Mr. Bassili,” Blake said, his drawl worsening with his fright. “What the hell in a hand grenade do we do now?”

Rudy poked his almost translucent head out from behind the newspaper boxes he dove behind during the first fiery blast. The poor guy shook so badly I’d have been surprised if he could see anything. I gestured to him to stay put. “We’ve scared it, not something you want to do to a dragon bat.” A deep exhalation centered me enough to think. “I seem to recall the pecking order in a colony of bats. If we want protection from the dominants, we must present an offering of food.”

“And that helps us how?” Amun, his face blackened with soot and smeared with dirt, tilted to rest against the tire of the car, appearing as frazzled as I’d ever seen him. The sight induced a belly laugh that wouldn’t be contained.

He took on a strange expression of one eyebrow cocked and a half-grin, as if he wasn’t sure whether to be amused or offended. “What?”

I waved him off. “Nothing, I think I’m just losing my marbles.” Rising up enough to see around the car to Rudy, I shouted, “Rudy, do you have any rodents in your truck? Rats or mice?”

“No,” he hollered back, “but I can call some for you.”

I nodded. “As fast as you can.”

Flapping came from our rears. Crackling. A blast tossed the front of a car up until it crashed down on its hood, crushing a Mazda behind it.

“Move!” I shoved at Amun and tugged Blake toward the back of the fetish shop, since it was much closer than the front where flames still poured out of the broken window. Amun kicked out with a startling force against the wooden door. It took three tries, but it finally gave. My, but he was strong. We rushed inside and crouched behind a cement wall beside a set of stairs leading down.

“What do you want the rats for?” Amun asked with obvious suspicion. “Tell me you don’t want one of us to go out there and dangle something for that thing to come and snatch, probably toasting us to a golden brown in the process? Because I think I’ve grown a healthy dose of sympathy for marshmallows right about now.”

“Don’t worry, Amun. I’m going, not you. We just need to listen for Rudy to come back, if he hasn’t chickened out and run for the hills. Hopefully rats like to hang out here and aren’t snapped up for evening snacks.” There was a reason the umikan stuck to small, normal pests, other than his ability to talk to them. Although he’d deal with the scarier stuff when the need called for it, he usually didn’t have enough courage to fill a thimble.

“What?” Amun palmed his forehead. “You can’t be serious.” He gestured toward the door. “Have you been oblivious to the destruction that thing caused just in the last ten minutes? It’s pissed, and I don’t think it’s going to care about some little morsel you offer it.” His frown tugged at his features. “Why are you smiling like that?”

I shrugged, hopped up on adrenaline and enjoying the sight of the great Amun Bassili squirming. “This is what I do for a living.”

“You’re enjoying this?” Both of his eyebrows jacked up.

“Yup,” Blake said, rolling his eyes and chuckling from deep in his belly. “Weirdest broad I ever knew. Takes a bit of starch outta the ole manhood, don’t it?”

I wiped the char from my hands onto my jeans. “To do a job one takes no pride in is a travesty, in my opinion.”

At Rudy’s shout from beyond the wall, I said, “Stay here. Don’t come out until I call or you could send the bat into fits again.”

************



About the Author:
Jocelyn Adams grew up on a cattle farm in Lakefield and has remained a resident of Southern Ontario her entire life, most recently in Muskoka. She has worked as a computer geek, a stable hand, a secretary, and spent most of her childhood buried up to the waist in an old car or tractor engine with her mechanically inclined dad. But mostly, she's a dreamer with a vivid imagination and a love for dark fantasy (and a closet romantic — shhh!). When she isn't shooting her compound bow in competition or writing, she hangs out with her husband and young daughter at their little house in the woods.

Links:

Website  |  Blog |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads


Purchase Links:
MuseItUp Bookstore
Amazon.com  |  Barnes & Noble  |  MuseItUp Publishing

To get a FREE copy of STONE CHAMELEON to review, just answer the question
What sort of creature is mentioned in the excerpt?
Email your answer to Caleathsquest @ gmail.com (no spaces) and I will contact the author.

Thank you for sharing a little about STONE CHAMELEON today Jocelyn. I love the idea of dragon bats.