Cast In Blood by Christine Sutton, Lisa Lane, Jamie Johnesee: Interview

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

Author Bios

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.

Amazon     Facebook    Twitter     Website  

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.

Amazon     Facebook    Twitter     Website  

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.

Amazon     Facebook     Goodreads     Website 

Interview 

Please welcome Cast In Blood authors Lisa Lane, Christine Sutton, and Jamie Johnesee to Diane’s Book Blog. 

What is your favorite part of the story, Revelations: Cast in Blood? 

LL: I particularly like the section in which Lucifer recalls the events that led to the "Fall." I think we found a unique way of retelling that story, one I hope will resonate well with the readers.

CS: I really love the whole book, to be honest. If I had to pick a part that I liked the most, it would probably be the breakroom scene. You’ll have to read it to see why. J

JJ: I think my favorite part would have to be the friendships that form between our main trio.

How long did it take you to write Revelations: Cast in Blood?

LL: I think the first draft took us about two months, and then the redrafting process took about a month. We each were only responsible for about 20,000 words, so it all came together relatively quickly. Still, given three creative minds had to come together to produce a cohesive piece, I think we made good time.

CS: It seemed like no time at all. We had so much fun writing the story and working together that the two months it took to write just flew by!

JJ: It was a couple months but, like Christine said, it just flew by.

If you were stranded on a desert island which of your characters do you want by your side?

JJ: I would definitely want Apollyon with me. Not just because she can teleport either. She’s kind of an all-around badass with a quick wit.

If you could be best friends with one of your characters, who would it be?

CS: I think I would be friends with Lenny. She is fun and snarky. She buckles down when the going gets tough, but she never misses an opportunity to crack a joke.

What is your favorite book that you wrote?

LL: My favorite is Finding Poe, a Gothic horror that pieces together aspects of over twenty of Poe's best stories and poems to create an original story based on the time surrounding Poe's death. The story in itself is a puzzle, the main character being far from the person she believes herself to be … only Poe knows the truth, and that truth dies with him.

CS: I am partial to my novel, Prodigal Son. It is a graphic journey told from the point of view of a budding serial killer. It is the most raw and honest thing I have written, and is definitely not for the faint of heart.

What books have most influenced your life?

LL: The books that have most influenced my life—or at least my life as a writer—are:

The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdritch

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

The Shining and Firestarter by Stephen King

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Cat See No Evil by Shirley Russeau Murphy

As you can see, I hold no bias when it comes to genre.

How do you overcome writer’s block?

LL: Most of the time, I'll give myself a writing prompt based on whatever scene I'm writing, and I'll give myself a 1000-word minimum to address that prompt. Having an outline, at least for the longer works, helps to keep me on track. Even when I'm having difficulty figuring out how I'm going to get from Point A to Point B, I can use those outline plot points as the basis for writing prompts. Sometimes it still feels like I'm squeezing blood out of a turnip, and sometimes I still need to step away from the work for a couple of days for added perspective, but it helps.

CS: I stop. I put down the writing and do something totally unrelated. I paint or sculpt or watch television until I get my inspiration back. It usually happens within an hour or so.

JJ: I write something else like a blog post or a retelling of my day’s events. Sometimes I will just write whatever comes into my head even if it’s nonsensical.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

CS: Absolutely! Here is a sample of the first chapter:

LENNY WALKED OUT THE back door, two large, black garbage bags in her hands, into the alleyway behind the Children of Light church and the adjacent soup kitchen. She struggled to raise the dumpster lid and hoist the trash up and over. After nearly showering herself with empty peanut butter and jelly jars, she finally negotiated the refuse into its rightful place.

"Ha, garbage! Suck it! I win again!" Lenny raised her arms in a victory stance.

She turned to go back to the kitchen when she heard a rustling noise coming from behind the dumpster. She lowered her outstretched arms and stopped imagining the crowd going wild over her big win against the trash bags, moving instead to seek out the source of the noise.

"Here, kitty, kitty," she called out, assuming it was a stray rummaging for dinner.

Lenny jumped back with a scream when she saw the massive creature crouching behind the big, metal container.

A single, solid black eye glared back at her. The eye almost took her attention away from what looked like a mouth full of sharp teeth that were framed by canines no less than two inches long.

In a flourish, the dumpster lurched forward, causing her to sidestep to avoid being hit. With her natural grace, the sidestep turned into a side fall, and she tumbled to the ground, skinning her knee and the palms of her hands. She scrambled forward, feeling a fear that was normally reserved for fleeing dark bathrooms or looking out a window at night and knowing a monster will be looking back at you. She felt two hands grab her ankles and pull her back, but she was too scared to look behind her at the owner of those hands. Without warning, the thing pounced, straddling her body, but not crushing her.

She braced herself for the end.

This is how I die, she thought. Crushed by a garbage monster. Great.

The creature placed what felt like a claw in the center of her back. Instead of attacking, it leaned its head down to hers and took a deep whiff. As she closed her eyes tight and waited for the pain, the thing jumped up and disappeared down the alley.

What the fuck was that?

Whatever it was, it was big.

Lenny scrambled to her feet and ran inside, trembling and fighting tears. While she was not exactly unaware of strange and unusual things, never in her wildest nightmares would she have imagined something so monstrous. Not that she was complaining … but why had it left her alone? She wondered if she smelled bad to monsters, like how she hated the smell of certain foods.

I'm like Brussels sprouts to monsters. I can live with that.

What book are you reading now?

CS: I just finished Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

What do you prefer paperback, hardcover, or ebooks? 

JJ: I used to love paperbacks but I’m finding myself preferring ebooks more and more because I can take hundreds of books with me on my phone and that means I always have something to read with me.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?

JJ: I want to thank you so much for supporting me and reading my work. It means so much to me that you folks take the time out of your lives just to read something I wrote. It’s always a pleasure getting emails and reviews from people. I really appreciate you guys, so, thank you from the bottom of my heart.