Hi everyone,
thanks for coming out to the Bitten By Books and HallowRead Convention author chat! We’re all really excited to be here. Let me take a moment to introduce the lovely ladies who’ll be joining us today! Julieanne Lynch, author of the soon to be motion picture Shadow World Series, Rachel Rawlings author of the Dark Paranormal Urban Fantasy The Maurin Kincaide Series and founder of HallowRead book and pop Culture Convention and Rochelle Maya Callen author of the Ashes & Ice trilogy and the novel Two Breaths Too Late which helps raise suicide awareness and Elizabeth Kirke, author of acclaimed YA and NA novels like Magic Abroad and Carved in Cherry. All of these fabulous women can be found in one place this fall the HallowRead Convention. In fact one lucky winner will receive two all access passes to the weekend long event for fans of Paranormal Urban Fantasy, Steampunk and Horror which includes the ghost tour, paranormal investigation, Steampunk author tea, haunted ruins, panels, workshops and more! For those book lovers too far away to make it to HallowRead this year we’re giving away a $25 Amazon gift card! We asked each other a few questions to get the party started. But we want to hear from you too, so don’t be shy! Throw those questions out there!
Julieanne – Rachel, if you could cast your characters from The Maurin Kincaide series in a Hollywood adaptation of your books who would you pick and why?
Rachel - Wow, Julieanne came out with the big guns! Believe it or not this is my most dreaded question. For me trying to find someone who is a physical manifestation of one of my characters feels like an impossible task! Actually, I know it’s an impossible task, lol! I stayed up late Saturday night trolling IMDB and Google search results for Best Female Action Star, Most Popular Brunette Actress and a bunch of other key words too ridiculous to mention here just to find Maurin. I wanted someone who could kick ass like Milla Jovovich or Kate Beckinsale but wasn’t already known for such iconic roles as Alice or Celine. I’m just not sure I am able to find this person by watching movies or tv or searching the internet. There is a scientist at MIT who believes according to the theory that patterns and therefore atoms and subsequently DNA will eventually repeat a parallel universe our doppelgangers could in fact exist. Mind you, this is a very watered down version of a complex theory explained on Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman (that’s the kind of tv I watch lol) but it’s comforting to know Maurin is out there, in this universe or it’s parallel. She exists; I just haven’t found her yet. Perhaps it’s best left up to casting directors! It would be a blast to sit in n the casting call though!
Rachel - I have your first book on my Kindle now, Within the Shadows. You chose a PSI vampire, that’s not something you read about every day. When researching the supernatural what made you choose these unique vampires over the more traditional bloodsuckers? Did it pose any challenges when creating your world?
Julieanne – Thank you, Rachel, what a brilliant question! I am a huge vampire fan. I have been since I first read The Vampyre by John Polidori after I became obsessed with the poetry of Lord Byron. When
researching for my Shadow World series, I knew exactly how I wanted my vampires to be, but I wanted to do something different. I wanted a vampire that possessed the power to drink blood as well as the life source of its victim.
So, when it came to researching, I dug deep. I ventured into the world of the Nelaspi, and old Eastern European folklore, where I became slightly intrigued by the concept of psi vampires. I remember having read about them in passing years before, but never really “looked” into the concept of their way of life, or how much I could incorporate their feeding habits into my story.
My research then led me to Sanskrit folklore, which stated that the drinking of “prana”(life force) completes the purity and evolution of vampires. So, I decided on creating a hybrid, a vampire who not only drank blood, but also the prana, or life force. But I added a twist, my vampire, because of her hybrid existence, didn’t lose her soul. Her heart still beats and she still looks every inch a human, but needs blood and energy to survive.
In all honesty, creating my world using psi vampirism didn’t pose any kind of writing challenges, if anything, it left me with a lot of creative freedom. I made the prospect of writing a new chapter each day exciting, and I am so glad that I stuck to my original idea of creating a whole new breed of vampires, their conflicting hunger drives the series forward.
Rachel - Rochelle, I was all set to ask you about your Ashes & Ice trilogy but in light of thes heart breaking news of Robin Williams death I’d like to hear more about what inspired you to write Two Breaths Too Late. I know it’s a party so we don’t have to get too heavy, I’d just like to bring some attention to the charity your sales will benefit.
Rochelle – Thank you, Rachel. This novel and the project that evolved from it are extremely important to me. I released a flash fiction piece a year ago for World Suicide Prevention Day. It was about a girl who hangs herself and realizes she regrets her decision right before she dies. A reader urged me to write a novel with the same theme. I avoided it, because I was intimidated. I avoided it, because it brought so many memories that I didn’t want to remember. But as time went on, I kept writing on other projects and continued my behavioral coaching work, I was slammed with a realization. None of this—the words I wrote on a page, the work I did with clients, the family that I had that loved and supported me—would be here if I made a different choice years ago. When I was 11, I stood on a chair with a noose dangling in front of me. I grew up in an abusive home that was punctuated by extremely violent episodes. There was fear, loneliness, and I felt like I couldn’t take it any more. I didn’t want to go on. I just wanted to let go. But then I thought of my sister…she was only a year old. And my mother, who offered me so much love. I stepped off the chair that day. But there are many in this world, who are like the the girl I write about in Two Breaths Too Late. We have all experienced loss. The feeling off too much space because we know that something or someone was meant to be there to fill it. It is estimated that nearly one million people commit suicide every year. The #HoldOn2Hope project was born out of my own heartbreak for these lives lost. I wrote Two Breaths Too Late and I cried every time I sat down to write it. I didn’t cry because I am a masterful story-teller. I cried because this story of loss happens far too often.
Two Breaths Too Late is about a girl who commits suicide and must face the brokenness she has left behind. This book isn’t about happily-ever-afters. It is about the millions of terrible and beautiful moments that make up a life and the hope that lives in even the darkest of places. A portion of the novel’s proceeds (paperback sales and ebooks) will go to the incredible To Write Love On Her Arms organization as well as to my suicide prevention project, #HoldOn2Hope. The #HoldOn2Hope project is about creatives uniting together to raise awareness about suicide as well as actively working to prevent it. Apart from the online media awareness campaign that will launch in September, I will be launching free educational/motivational quarterly coaching calls based on my behavioral work around the theme of suicide and will also work to raise funds to start a national awareness campaign for 2015 that will culminate in a LIVE event in DC where creatives can gather together and offer their own messages of hope to those who may be struggling. Every sale will contribute to that mission. I am truly devoted to the success of this project and the people it is meant to serve. The statistics need to change and we can be a part of that.
http://twloha.com/ www.holdon2hope.com will be live on Sept 1st. http://tinyurl.com/k4ln5v2 will bring you to the Facebook page where you will find details on pre-ordering the paperback, the giveaway aimed at bringing exposure to the project, and a sneak peek at the website in development.
Connect with the Hallow Read Convention
CONTEST INFO: Open to readers worldwide except where noted.
Prize 1: Two HallowRead Convention tickets for panels w/ ghost tours and the workshops. $100.00 value. (US only)
Prize 2: A $25.00 Amazon Gift Card
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