I want to give a warm welcome to Jason Graves and thank him for stopping by. Jason is one of the independent authors taking part in our great giveaway organised by Clare Davidson. You can win 11 ebooks, 3 signed paperbacks and a $20 Amazon voucher (open internationally) Just click here to see the great books and to enter.
Jason has kindly answered some interview questions for us. His book – Blood Roses, is available in our giveaway.
Where did the idea for Blood Roses come from?
I wrote the story for my daughter, with the idea that the protagonists were identical twin girls not much older than herself. The girls discover that they’re vampires, but the twist is that their condition is plausible, biologically, unlike in some other vampire stories—that was a lot of my inspiration, to write something different than what is popular at the moment. My girls find it challenging to suddenly be vampires, and find it especially disruptive when an old enemy of vampires–Corelis, who is supposed to be dead—reappears and threatens the girls’ lives. They have to rely on each other even more than usual—it’s a buddy story in some ways, instead of a fatalistic romance.
What genre would your book fall under?
It is contemporary paranormal fantasy.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Kevin Grevioux would be a great Maelcom. He was a most persuasive character in the movie Underworld and didn’t get nearly enough screen time.
In the book, I describe Wilhelm as looking like a short Max von Sydow (who is over six-feet tall), so if there are any five-foot-four actors out there who look like Max, you’re a shoo in.
The rest of the characters I’m less certain about, but I’d love to sit with a casting director and watch actors and actresses read for a movie based on my book!
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Madeline and Marissa Owen are identical twins who, with their paper-white skin, look a lot like vampires… well, sometimes, looks can be not at all deceiving.
Are there any characters that you love and found easy to write?
Maelcom Greene, because he is a strong, mysterious character who tries not to take life too seriously and he is a genuinely good friend to those around him; However, he speaks with an accent, so writing his dialogue can be challenging. Also, Adrian Hofbauer, because he is a complex individual, but is very purpose driven, so his complexity isn’t immediately obvious. Madeline is very much like me (were I a teenage girl), and was easy to write, but I had more fun with her sister Marissa, because of her devil-may-care attitude; she becomes a kick-ass person by the end of the book.
Are there any characters in your book that you hate?
Well, Corelis, but that’s complicated and he’s the bad guy, so you’re supposed to hate him. The person who I had the most difficulty with—and who readers have told me they despise—is Marlena. I did not understand her for a long time; she’s not an easy person to have living in my head.
What other books within your genre would you compare it to?
I have a hard time comparing my work to other writers’ stuff, but I apparently tell stories in the vein of Stephen King, in that I place relatively ordinary people into extraordinary circumstances and it is not a foregone conclusion that they will survive. Readers have told me that my work reminds them of Cassandra Clare’s books, the work of Eoin Colfer and Laurell K. Hamilton, and one reader told me that my stories reminded her of Jo Rowling’s work in that I hide things in plain sight. This is all reader feedback, I don’t claim to write in the same league as these authors.
Tell us anything else that might pique our interest in your book.
There is an undercurrent of functional insanity running through the narrative; crazy people are always interesting if not always likable.
What other books have you written?
I have a novella called On the Bridge about a young woman named Gretchen Thyrd, who gets inadvertently involved in a fairy political power struggle and ends up running for her life from some fairy assassins intent on killing her to get the soul she is giving refuge to. It’s a great story and will be expanded into a novel soon.
Author bio:
I live in North Carolina with my family and a managerie of small animals. When not spousing, parenting, and teaching, I listen to the voices in my head and write down what they say. I think that cheese is one of the top ten things ever created by humans.
You can Stalk Jason on these formats:
Thanks again to Jason for stopping by! his book – Blood Roses, is part of our giveaway but also available on Amazon
His other book, On The Bridge, is also available on Amazon
Don’t forget to enter our giveaway!
