I am delighted to have been invited by Yah Gotta Read This who promote indie authors, to take part in Richard Moran's blog tour for The Angelites. The book is available on kindle now
The Anglites e-book
The book is a fantasy, crime and paranormal adventure featuring Gina Vasquez a former New York City Police Detective whose life has gone off the rails and after a term in prison has moved to New Mexico looking for a fresh start. Instead she finds herself caught in a battle between angels and demons and with a huge decision to make about her future. Read an extract below;
"Gray ashes flew through like leaves in the fall. She couldn’t believe what she had done. This church, once so beautiful, was now in ruins. Tears flowed down from her brown eyes, and as she was relieved that the chaos had ceased, she whispered, “Thank you.”
The victory was short-lived, however, as vociferous thunder roared from the heavens. The black sky morphed into a firmament of flaming red with lightning striking across. Hideous flying creatures, with wings of a vulture and red fur covering their scaly skin, swarmed over the wrecked church. They could smell the terror pouring from her flesh. Black nails stuck out of their tree-twig fingers.
Gina was ready to make a run for it when sandy hands arose from the dusty remains and clutched onto her ankles. The harder she tried to break free, the more hands latched onto her. She looked up and saw the razor-tipped nails coming moments away from shredding into her face. Before she tasted their pain, she woke to a fight with her blankets, screaming in absolute terror.
Her nerves took some time to settle before she realized she was in the confines of her bedroom. The alarm clock on the night table read 1:11 a.m. It was pin-drop quiet outside in the suburban streets of Eagle Nest, New Mexico."
I asked Richard some questions about his writing and his influences.
1. Who are your favourite authors and biggest writing influences?
I like James Patterson books the most, but I would pretty much read anything that sounds good. My love for writing stories with my love for comic books as a kid. I would take a stack of white paper, fold them in half and draw mini comic books for my family to read. However, my desire to write books came when I read the Harry Potter series. That whole world was written in such a unique way and then I thought what if I can do that with my stories; transcend my storytelling to a level where all types of people could enjoy. So, I decided to go for it and see how it will turn out. So far I like what I've produced and I think it's only going to get better from here, stories and otherwise.
2. What's a typical writing day like for you?
A typical day is trying to stuff my ideas on paper as quickly as possible because there are so many things going on in my life right now that I need to get my ideas down as fast as possible before I forget them. Then, I either wait for the late night hours or during my lunch break at work to sit down, pick a playlist that matches the mood I'm in to listen to and get to typing. My only problem is that I tend to write and edit at the same time, which slows me down and wind up not getting as much written as I may've liked to.
3. Do you have other fantasy stories lined up or will you be writing in other genres also?
Yes. I have one other fantasy story already in the works, which goes down a different avenue from The Angelites. This is has the same superhero-esque theme, but it may be a bit family-friendly, (maybe not, depends on the reader, lol) But also, I do plan to write different genres, like now I have an idea for a YA audience that goes down with a problem that exists with teens today, but is taken to the limit, like you know its a story, but can still touch on topics that many people are trying to solve.
4. Are you a careful planner or do you like to see where the characters take you?
I like to see where the character takes me. Right now I'm changing my entire idea for the second Angelites book because I thought about how I made these characters and then I look at what I wrote before and think "Hmm...that really doesn't work for this person now." I guess that it means to be a write, to keep your characters as fresh as possible and put them in situations to keep your audience attached to them so that they'll continue to buy the books you create.
5. What were your favourite books as a child?
I didn't read a lot of books as a child, but from what I remember...I liked the book, Alive, the true story about the rugby team stranded in the Andes. Also, some Edgar Allen Poe stories I liked, but I enjoyed a Batman graphic novel called The Dark Knight Returns.
6. Did you write as a child?/Did you always want to be a writer?
Besides writing my comics, I never thought of being a writer, at all. Most of my life I wanted to draw, to be an artist. I didn't take writing seriously until I was about 18 years old, when me and my late-best friend, Dennis, formed a rap group called The Endangered Species. Then I started writing my own verses and each one was like telling a story and I had to change my way of thinking to make the story flow. Also, Dennis wanted to be a horror writer, heavily influenced by Stephen King. About 8 years ago, he died in a tragic fire at his home; he died rescuing his mother and sister. Somehow, shortly after that, I felt like his desire to write was sent into me because suddenly ideas for stories started to overflow, like I pictured the book covers in stores and some on the big screen as a movie, I mean it was crazy. Dennis and I were very close, like brothers, but I never thought in a million that his desires would become mine. I guess this was God's way of telling to me to finish what he started.
