Wednesday 11 December 2013

Author Intervie : P.J.Day



So Finally it's Time to publish my Interview with Author P.J.Day
With his huge success in King's Blood Series I don't think their is any one who don't Know him still let me introduce you to him

About P.J. Day

P.J. Day is the author of the King's Blood series, and the Sunset Prophecy. He lives with the two of the most extroverted daughters on planet earth, along with a feral house cat that has been mistaken for a mountain lion, and a wonderful wife who understands her husband's need to put his ramblings in print. Southern California serves as the backdrop for his inspiration and indignation.








Interview

-Sanchit Bhandari
  • Tell us something about your book?
  • Just as in all of my works, that include supernatural characters, I thought it'd be a wonderful idea to drop a witch smack dab in the middle of the world, town, and the neighborhood I reside in. One to two times a week I write in a quaint little coffee shop next to Chapman University in Orange County, California. A block from historic downtown Orange. It's pretty well preserved town center with a variety of antique stores, wonderful restaurants, and feels as if you were transported back in time to when Southern California was nothing but orange groves and farmland surrounding a town square. Even though the neighborhood, like most neighborhoods in Southern California, presents a model of optimal "melting-pot" integration and is a glimpse into the future of not only America, but the world, there are still pockets of recent immigration, mostly undocumented, that still make a living in the parts of well-to-do Orange County. Mercedes Cruz "Mercy", is an American-born, first generation daughter of these immigrants, and a "bruja". She knows first hand the trials they must go through to not only assimilate, but maneuver through a society that on one hand values them for exploitative purposes (cheap labor, unsavory & illegal work at times), but on the other views them as political pawns in the ongoing battle of immigration reform. Some of these immigrant communities tend to live in the shadows, because they fear deportation and exploitation, and tend to be mistrustful of law enforcement, for a plethora of reasons, not all nefarious. This leads to instances of unreported crimes, and produces a fertile breeding ground for crime syndicates looking to exploit human capital. Not only is Mercy a burgeoning witch who is finally coming into her own, but has also started her own private investigation firm in Orange County, whose main purpose is helping out some of these communities that are sometimes prone to exploitation by criminals. Yes, the series has a serious, sociological undertone, but it is also generally light in tone as well. It is Southern California after all, where there could be a giant mudslide taking out a couple homes on a cliffside in Malibu, while a surf compedition could be taking place on the beach below, and where police manhunts are treated like a reality-show version of Rambo: First Blood and the winner becomes a martyr of spectacle. Mercy's Magic straddles the line between seriousness, vanity, and the sometimes unredeeming and random circumstances brought upon by human nature.
  • What inspires Your hyperactive mind to dish out such feisty novels?
  • Life. Society. The ever-changing and evolving human experience. With social media and the 24 hour news cycle, ideas are now a dime a dozen. As a writer, you got to be very careful and selective and not choose a theme that'll be forgotten tomorrow.
  • How much does the characters in Your novel reflect You or people You know in Your real life?
  • Mercy is a reflection of the California Girls I grew up with. Beautiful, witty, chasing dreams, never content, and sometimes a bit loopy. Of course, this is a gross generalization, as you'll find women and men in all walks of life who fit this description, hell, So. Cal is filled with these types from all over world and from around the country. I know some readers may scoff at Mercy's sometimes baffling decision making, but you know what? There is a certain kind of strength and courage in some of the decisions that she makes, that at first glance might seem perplexing and outright stupid to some people, but that may end up being very rewarding in the long run. Their called risks for a reason. Mercy's Magic is a lesson in risk taking. Whether it is about the pursuit of justice, cultural autonomy, or the universal act of love.
  • You have faced your share of social stratification how much of this does the characters face?
  • Like I had mentioned earlier, although there are still problems in So. Cal with the haves and the have nots, and the occasional underlying issues regarding race, there's never been a better time to be an advocate of cultural and racial integration in America than being in Southern California. Everyone seems to be getting along, except maybe in our prison system, but that's an entirely different topic. However, Mercy will indeed face the struggles of a culture that still embraces traditional and religious tomes as she slowly comes into her own as a witch. There are still many in her circle of influence who see witches as evil deities, representing the wicked ways of Satan, Beelzebub, and whatever lurks in the underworld.
  • Are you a Plotter or a pantser?
  • Up to this point I've primarily been a panster. I hate rules. I hate structure. I believe there is beauty in chaos and the randomness of life and thought. However, I think I've hit a point where my characters might have become a little too reactionary for my tastes and some of my reader's tastes. If your a panster, or a gardener as George R.R. Martin and others have called this particular style, the possibility that your protagonist gets caught up in the plot like a leaf in the wind is very high. This leads to an unfocused story, and confusion for some readers, especially at the beginning of your story, where your still trying to figure things out. I'm working on a adventure novel right now that is loosely based on Mozart's The Magic Flute. It's about two scoundrels that would never be classified as reactionary, who will drive the plot, are more than happy to take life by the horns, but at the same time, are deeply flawed and unscrupulous at times. Due to its influence, and complicated storyline, it's the first story that has forced me into becoming an actual dye in the wool plotter.
  • How is it working with Elizabeth Basque?What can you tell us about her
  • Working with Elizabeth has been a dream. She's the best writer I've ever met when it comes to pacing a story, no matter how short or long. I told her I wanted Mercy's Magic at a certain length and she gave me a first draft filled with intrigue, a fun mystery, and wonderfully told backstory all without the fat that typically comes with a first draft. She's also fast too. Her writing pedigree is actually quite influential, but she wouldn't want me to say anything, as she prefers to take a back seat when it comes to the promotion and marketing of Mercy's Magic. I couldn't have had a better co-writer/creator for Mercy's Magic, that's as much as I'm going to say at this very moment, until she tells me otherwise.
  • How is Mercedes Cruz series diff from king’s blood series ? is their gonna be a cross over?
  • Mercedes Cruz deals with the paranormal and psychic elements of fantasy storytelling. Basically the only rules it adheres to are some of the familiar tropes readers associate with witches, warlocks, and magic, of course we'll continue to break them as we continue the series, and by introducing brujeria (Mexican Witchcraft) we hope to bring a fresh perspective into the world of witch storytelling. King's Blood is as sci-fi and political as a vampire series can get. If you're familiar with King's Blood, it deals with the question, "what if vampires were real?" There's no magic with Jack King's powers and penchant for blood, it's all explained in his books. So no, I don't expect a crossover.
  • Can you share any interesting event that took place while writing the book?
  • My daughter had her tonsils taken out in the middle of the editing process. She was miserable that entire week, and so was I. Poor baby...
  • You are an inspiration to a lot of people around the world, is there anyone who inspires You in particular?
  • We are all flawed to some degree. No matter how inspirational, how sincere, or how pious a person might come across, I'm sure if you dig deep enough you'll find a skeleton or two in their closet that would either render them a hypocrite or fallible. However, aside from the cynical outlook, my inspiration could come from anyone, anywhere that chooses to spend a large chunk of their lives improving conditions for everyone, anywhere. Whether it be someone who is spending every waking hour trying to solve a hundred year old physics problem, a cure for a crippling disease, striving to advance their choice of art-form through depth, uniqueness, and sincerity, or anyone who looks to progress our species in a way that makes sure we don't devolve into warring, resource obsessed tribes from the past, is personally inspirational to me.
  • When did your tryst with literature start?
  • I've always loved reading. The first book I was able to read front and back was a Dinosaur 'facts' book my mom and dad had purchased for me in second grade. It was a cool dinosaur book with awesome info-graphics and pictures that made me look like a miniature Jack Horner to my classmates after ingesting it multiple times. When it comes to fiction, the first enjoyable experience I had was reading Stephen King's, The Eyes of the Dragon. I think I was in 5th or 6th grade, but I decided to pick it up so I could read it for the naughty bits. I had a blast getting my first taste of "erotica" from none other than Stephen King--puberty pre-internet was such a strange time indeed. Even though it's not considered one of his best works, it still led me to pick up his other stuff at the time, like The Shining, Cujo, and Silver Bullet, which not only made me a fan of his work, but the world of pop fiction, and eventually what many of us consider "literature", despite its subjective connotation.
  • What was the first story that you wrote, can you share it?
  • The first time I wrote anything remotely resembling fiction had to have been when I was 18 or 19. I decided to write a spoof sports article having the stars of the WWE (at the time called the WWF, World Wrestling Federation) attend a tryout for the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training baseball camp. I posted it in some Yahoo Group. I got a couple of chuckles out of it, but it's been lost for a years now, somewhere in the nether-regions of the digital abyss where the likes of Prodigy and Netscape reside in. It's probably one of those things that seemed funny at the time where I had the "Rock" say something like "Do you smell what the Rock is cooking?" right before throwing his fastball, but I'm sure if I ever came across it again I'd cringe or shake my head at what I thought was funny, for me, at that time in my underdeveloped life.
  • What are your upcoming projects?
  • Hopefully, by the time this interview is published, so too will Mercy's Magic's sequel, California Witch be available for purchase. Then a short time after Mercedes Cruz #2 is released, I'll release a zombie novelette, "Zombie Party: The Turning at Delano" that is going to be published and edited by the ultra, best-selling badass, J.R. Rain, who was #1 on Kindle for a couple of weeks on Kindle in November. It's about a zombie-like outbreak that takes place in rural Cali, out near Bakersfield after some party-goers ingest a bad batch of meth. Think Breaking Bad, meets The Walking Dead, meets Animal House, It's fun, but still has the sociological P.J. Day zip readers of my work are familiar with. Then, hopefully by the end of this year, I'll have the continuation of the Jack King saga, King's Blood: Vampire Terminus, out. It starts right where Vampire Descent left off. Jack, Holly, Ted, and the Jiang-Shi (Chinese Vampires) face a reality where they are now considered enemies of states in a connected, media saturated world, and where vampire DNA has now become the most highly sought after substance by everyone and anyone in power, most likely sparking a new, multi-regional arms race. But before Jack could finally reveal his plight to the world, he must chase down the answer to the greatest questions of all, "What exactly is a vampire, and who is Jack King?"
  • What do you think is the best way to come out from writers block?
  • Write. Write. Write. Read. Read. Read. Everyone suffers from different forms of 'writer's block' at different time-frames of their careers. For example, early on, I obsessed over narrative and how to best convey action and transitions, all while trying to do my best in honoring basic rules of grammar, that I had refreshed myself with after 8 years of schooling. I think this is the type of 'writer's block' most writers and those curious about writing talk about. It literally feels like your brain and your story can't move forward because it's scrambling for the right tools to use, and at the beginning of one's writing career it feels like your toolbox is filled to the brim with tools you just have no clue how to use. Story logic suffers, you improvise, and Hemingway's theory, that one should always write a true sentence, is thrown out the window for the sake of just moving on. Eventually, if you write enough, and you are the proud owner of an elastic brain that actually learns and grows, you'll encounter other forms, of what are considered traditional forms of writer's block, such as, "What is the most efficient and evocative way to express an idea or thought?" or "I wrote this whole chapter, and on second thought, it's completely unnecessary. So how do I condense what happened in it it in one paragraph at the beginning of the next chapter?" I know I'll look back at my writing roadblocks years from now, and smile, but who knows what kind of writer's block I'll encounter after my 10th year writing, or 20th, if I'm so lucky to be lucid, eager, and compelled by then. So just write, read, and learn. In the end, remember to simplify your ideas and scenes to their core and just move on.
  • What connects Your supernatural characters with normal Humans?
  • They all want something. As Kurt Vonnegut stated in his 8 rules of creative writing, Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water. Whether an animal, a warlock, a witch, a vampire, a friend or foe, they should all be motivated by something they don't have at that particular moment in the scene. It's what moves a story forward. As long as the objective is something most of us could identify with, then the connection will always be there for readers and the characters. The closer the objective is to a universal truth, but expressed in a subtle, nuanced, and mysterious way, the more the reader will appreciate what you're trying to do with your characters.
  • Any message you want to give to your readers?
  • I love you guys for being there with me since King's Blood, and for continuing to stick with me while I experiment with stories, characters, and setting. I wish I had more time to be more active on social media, and connecting with you on a personal level, but currently I am just obsessed in trying to create the best stories possible. Maybe one of these days, I'll be afforded a breather so I can sit down and just enjoy life with you all.

Mercy's Magic

Mercedes Cruz is a Bruja--or Witch, in Spanish. Just like many first generation sons and daughters of immigrant parents, Mercy has embraced America, its culture, and its customs in their entirety. But Brujeria or Mexican Witchcraft is deeply tied with Mercy's heritage and her family's past, and because she's neglected such a large chunk of her identity, Mercy now stands a stunted witch in her 30's.

Mercy, also a single mother of five year old Terra, who may also share her attributes, has decided to start her own private investigation firm in the heart of Orange County, California. She's decided to use her budding talents to recruit business, solve challenging cases, and help those in the community who lack a voice and who may be too afraid to report crimes due to their legal status --leaving criminals to freely exploit those who choose to live in the shadows.







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