Paranormal Guest Author: Kathryn Leigh Scott + Dark Passages Giveaway

Please welcome today's paranormal guest author Kathryn Leigh Scott!  Kathryn, known for her role as the bride of vampire Barnabas Colllins in Dark Shadows, is the author of Dark Passages.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Kathryn:  I started writing when I was about 7 years old, and wrote a story about a little girl named Pixie who walks into the woods on the edge of her family's farm and comes across the ruins of a cottage. It becomes her secret dollhouse, which she loves to play in because  a good witch appears who gives her dolls the ability to speak. I actually lived on a farm with a derelict cottage in the woods at the end of a meadow. My parents forbid us to play in the woods for fear we would get lost, and made sure we didn't disobey by telling us a wicked witch lived there. I desperately wanted a dollhouse and I guess my imagination took it from there!

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Kathryn:  I originally wrote DARK PASSAGES as a coming of age story set in the 1960s. When I finished the novel, I was reading a portion aloud to my husband when it occurred to me, "What if . . . . Meg Harrison was a real vampire?" I made some notes and rewrote the book. Thinking back, it was a natural choice and felt entirely organic to the story. Now I can't imagine the story without those elements. I know it also has much to do with being steeped in Dark Shadows lore and having originated the role of Josette duPres, the doomed fiance of vampire Barnabas Collins. The series is now celebrating its 45th anniversary and is still very much a part of my life.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Kathryn:  Mind reading! I've thought of the downsides, but they don't stack up against the terrific advantage of knowing what someone else is thinking. Communicating with the dead is also appealing, providing one has a choice on who is called up. I'm not sure I would say no to acquiring any sort of special gift —who wouldn't want to fly or have superhuman strength?

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Kathryn:  If I may say so, I think the very fact that the characters and story were fully formed before the paranormal elements were included give the novel more dimension. It's also a very personal story for me, although it is anything but a "memoir." I draw on what I know and remember, of course, and I believe readers familiar with my nonfiction books about Dark Shadows will enjoy my wild imaginings of what "might've, could've" taken place.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Kathryn:  Carey Mulligan is the first to come to mind to play Meg Harrison. Young Bella Heathcote, who plays Josette DuPres in the new Warner Bros film of Dark Shadows, would also be a good choice. 

Dark Passages by Kathryn Leigh Scott

Dark Passages is a coming-of-age story encapsulating the romance and innocence of JFK’s Camelot era and the tumultuous "dark passages" of Meg Harrison, a vampire raised by her mother to resist the temptation of human blood. Meg arrives in New York determined not to use her vampiric gifts to fulfill her dream of becoming an actress. She joins the cast of the cult hit Dark Passages, only to face her nemesis, a beautiful 300-year-old witch bent on destroying her. Their rivalry leads to a final confrontation as the telekinetic vampire and spell-weaving sorceress engage in a spectacular battle for supremacy. It takes all of Meg’s wit and tenacity to defeat the witch and win the affections of a handsome young mortal with a secret life of his own. In the end, Meg realizes that the powers she always denied within herself are not a curse, but a blessing.


Thank you Kathryn for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Kathryn Leigh Scott and her books, please visit her website.

**Dark Passages Giveaway**

We are giving away a paperback copy of Dark Passages by Kathryn Leigh Scott to one lucky winner!

To enter, please leave a comment on this post including your email address (so we may contact you if you win).  You do not have to be a follower to enter (though I always appreciate a follow!).  This giveaway is to US mailing addresses only.  Giveaway ends September 23rd midnight EST.

Paranormal Guest Author: Allyson James (Stormwalker Series)

Please welcome today's paranormal guest author Allyson James!  Allyson is the author of the Mortal series, Tales of Shareem series, Dragon series, and the Stormwalker series including Stormwalker, Firewalker, and Shadow Walker.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Allyson:  I started writing stories when I was about eight years old. I'd already read all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and had started on Little Women and Anne of Green Gables. I realized that these novels were make-believe written down, and I was very good at make believe. So I started writing down stuff I made up. I also knew that people wrote books for a living, and the books went to libraries and bookstores. I couldn't imagine a better job.

I didn't start writing seriously for publication until many years later. I tried "real" jobs, but I always came back to writing. One day I said, "Why not?" and I started writing and submitting. It took about six years after that, off and on, to finally sell my first novel (which I did in 2002).

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Allyson:  I grew up reading fantasy. I'd read the Lord of the Rings series by the time I was twelve, plus I loved C.S. Lewis's Narnia series. I went from there to fantasy writers such as Terry Brooks, Barbara Hambly, and David Eddings. I've always loved high fantasy and quest fantasy.

I originally wanted to be a fantasy writer, but when I started writing for publication, that market was hard to break into (or so I thought). Plus I always wanted to add romance to my stories, and at the time, romance was a no-no in fantasy (at least, not as much romance as I wanted to include).

So, I decided to be a romance author. I loved historicals (paranormals weren't yet a big thing), so wrote those. I still love historicals and still write them, but as soon as the paranormal romance market really opened up (moving beyond vampire romances), I took it as a green light to write all those stories I'd been saving up.

I kind of had to cajole my editors into letting me write paranormal, because I was doing pretty well at historical, and they didn't want me to stop. But I convinced them, and it's going well! I still write historical, though. Love that too.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Allyson:  I think shape shifting would be cool. I'd love to have animal senses and be much stronger and faster than I am now (sitting and writing isn't good for your figure). Plus with shifting back and forth, you can take full advantage of your human skills as well as your animal skills. Best of both worlds. And maybe then I'd understand what my cats are constantly meowing at me about.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Allyson:  Shadow Walker (Book 3 of the Stormwalker series) has plenty of action plus plenty of heartbreaking romance. Janet Begay, a Navajo Stormwalker, has to face the possibility that her boyfriend, Mick (dragon-shifter) might be lost to her forever, and that she will have to lose everything she has and everything she is to save him. Throw in some humor with Coyote, the trickster shape shifter, dragons who either want to help Mick or kill him, and a drag-queen magic mirror, for a fast-paced tale of magic, action, and drama.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Allyson:  Good question. I'm bad at knowing who is who in Hollywood, or who would be right for my books. So if readers have their own ideas about Mick and Janet from the Stormwalker series (or Liam and Sean Morrissey from the Shifter series I write as Jennifer Ashley), have at it. :-)

Shadow Walker (Stormwalker #3) by Allyson James.

Stormwalker Janet Begay returns home only to have the ground collapse beneath her-literally. After tumbling two hundred feet underground, Janet is rescued by her dragon boyfriend, Mick. But something dark touches Mick while in the sinkhole, and Janet might lose him forever unless she recruites the most unlikely of allies to stop the growing shadow.


Thank you Allyson for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Allyson James and her books, please visit her website.

Paranormal Guest Author: Stuart Land

Please welcome today's paranormal guest author Stuart Land!  Stuart is the author of Back from the Dead, Epiphany, Shadow House, and Original Blood.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Stuart:  I began several times. First, I was in the sixth grade and wrote a time travel story for a history assignment. The second time I was in Junior high and wrote a story about love lost (I know, who hasn’t). Then a bunch of years went by until I was working in the Hollywood film business as a sculptor. I was on many sets and got see how the preeminent directors and writers of our time created these incredible films I worked on. Ok, so not all were so incredible. I mean, what’s wrong with Neon Maniacs, I ask you? But there was also Aliens, Polterguist II, Predator, Independence day, and everyone’s favorite, Nightmare on Elm street V.

I thought I could write as well, or even better, so bought my first portable computer (the only portable computer) a Campaq portable, the size of a sewing machine, 640 k, with a tiny green screen, no hard drive, and five inch floppies. It looked like the monitor from the Matrix. I remember my first attempt at “serious” writing. I broke out in a cold sweat. I had spent a small fortune on hardware and software, and after a week all I had to show for it was poo. That’s right, not all writers are born to the task. Some of us have to actually work at it.

It was a year or so later, after taking every guru writing course in Hollywood and beyond, reading over a hundred screenplay and loads of books, and studying with directors, actors and writers, that I finally had something I considered readable. That was almost twenty screenplays and five novels ago.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Stuart:  I grew up with sci-fi and monsters on TV and in the movies. Later, I worked on some of the most famous sci-fi and monster movies in America cinema, so I guess I always loved the paranormal since it was a large part of my life. However, the stories I write, though many are paranormal, always are very different than anything else out there. Everything I write is really cross-genre and doesn’t fit neatly into just one genre. This makes it hard for people to initially pick up, but every person who has read my books has enjoyed them, with many saying that my stories have allowed them to enter a genre they didn’t care for before.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Stuart:  This is an unexpected question. But, clever girl, I’m ready for it. In my stories, I like supernatural to be close to natural, but mightily enhanced. In my book, Original Blood, one of the characters is turning into a vampire, and during this transition, she can move really fast, faster than any other vampire. How she uses this to her advantage is the power I’d like.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Stuart:  My newest novel, Epiphany, isn’t paranormal at all, but reads like one. It’s based entirely on science fact, yet feels so supernatural because I skirt the edge. Here’s the blurb:
Doctor Sam Enright and his geneticist wife, Dorinda, face turmoil in their small town when a dozen adolescent girls show up pregnant at Sam’s office—and they’re all virgins. When their own daughter falls victim to the same fate, the Enrights rush to Homeland Security for answers. As the questions multiply, they realize they are at the vanguard of a worldwide epidemic, and the mystery deepens. As events escalate, a disparate group of international doctors, scientists, and mothers-to-be are brought together at Dorinda’s genetics lab in Middle America. They race to find the cause and meaning of the mysterious pregnancies, but every discovery reveals a new, worse scenario, leaving humanity's very existence in question.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Stuart:  I hadn’t really thought this out so much, even though I worked in Hollywood a long time. When I write screenplays I think about this, but not for novels. Novels are very specific, whereas screenplays give a lot of latitude as who can play a part. Plus actor and actresses change faster than the weather in San Francisco. Anywho, here are a few choices:

Original Blood (a vampire tail following two women two centuries apart):
Jennifer Lawrence – Zondra
Toss-up between
Natalie Portman - Gailene
Noomi Rapace – Gailene

Epiphany:
Jennifer Hudson - Dr. Dorinda Enright

Original Blood by Stuart Land

Original Blood is the delicious, but tormenting tale of Zondra and Gailene as they’re turned into vampires against their will. Separated by two centuries but bound by familial blood that threatens to destroy the vampire nation, Zondra experiences a mind-bending skewed Cinderella story with hot motorcycles, limitless money, and ancient mansions teeming with the undead, while Gailene must rise from devastation, rage, and vengeance to become a powerful vampire leader in the New World. Both women are forced to overcome their circumstances, one of privilege, one of destitution, to gain the power that will save themselves and the man they both love from the retribution of their creator.


Thank you Stuart for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Stuart Land and his books, please visit his website.