Author Interview: Justin Gustainis & Blog Hop

If you are looking for the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop, you are in the correct place and thank you for stopping by.  We are #29 on blog hop list.  We celebrate everything mystery and suspense here - no doubt you can find something of interest!  This month we have been spotlighting paranormal mysteries and authors.  We have three individual books available to win, all of them are paranormal mystery/crime fiction.

Hard Spell by Justin Gustainis - his interview is below.  The review for the book is here (click here.) Warning: R rating on this one.  Note in comments if you don't want this.

A Taste of the Nightlife by Sarah Zettel, the review coming later this week and her interview next Monday.

A Hard Day's Fright by Casey Daniels.  Read the review I did (click here) or the author interview (click here.)

Entry for giveaway lasts until October 31 6:00 p.m. (MST).

I will be shipping the books to the winners except for Hard Spell which the author shall ship.  U.S. residents only please.

How to enter:

*** First, you must be a member (follower) of this blog.***

All entries are to be in the comments for this post.

I will accept entries for this giveaway Monday October 24 beginning at midnight (MST) through to 6:00 p.m (MST) on Monday October 31.    

I shall notify the winner via the email address you provide to get your mailing address and have the prize sent directly to you.

IF you are a member of this blog, you only need to leave a comment with your correct email.

BECOME a member of this blog if you aren't already and enjoy the celebration of all things mystery and suspense.

At the end of this post you will find the blog hop listing to go to the next blog on the list. 

Now to the interview with Hard Spell author, Justin Gustainis!

- Do you start your next mystery with the killer, the victim or a plot idea?

Since the next book is the second in a series, I started with the plot: someone is making and distributing supernatural "snuff films," and the most recent one suggests a link to Scranton (where the series is set).  The first book in the series started with a premise (the supernatural exists, and everyone knows it) and a character (Detective Sgt. Stan markowski of the Occult Crimes Unit).

- Do you outline the plot or some variation of that (a little/a lot of detail, a strict 3 act structure etc) before sitting down and writing?

I usually start with a premise, then decide how I want the tale to end.  After that, it's just a matter of getting from Point A to Point B in a way that makes sense and that, I hope, the reader will find entertaining.

- What is your process for developing a character? Do you use pictures, a worksheet or just let the character(s) tell you about him/herself as you write?

I listen for the character's voice in my head.  Either he/she is talking to me, or to another character.  That's how I "find out" what the character is like, and what he/she wants.

-  Were you always interested in vampires, werewolves, and witches (an old Kolchak perhaps?) The Joe Friday/Dragnet style is unique in paranormal books, did that voice come naturally to you or did you have to work on it?

I loved that stuff as a kid, and when I was twelve, I found a copy of Dracula at my local library.  At my last estimate, I owe $3,441.75 in fines on that book.  Although I liked Kolchak (the two made-for-TV movies, not the series, which even Darren McGavin hated), what really turned me on to the "occult detective" genre was another made-for-TV movie, Spectre, starring Robert Culp.  It was a pilot written by Gene Roddenberry after Star Trek finished its run; the series, alas, was never picked up.

Stan Markowski's voice is an amalgam of Joe Friday, Mike Hammer, and Robert B. Parker's Spenser.  Oh, and two guys I knew growing up.

-  Do you have anything special you do before writing, particular music or a special room/location that helps you get in the zone and write?

I do most of my writing in my office at home, which is decorated with a lot of occult detective memorabilia.  I have posters from movies (Hellboy, Constantine) and TV shows (The X-Files, Supernatural, Blood Ties), action figures (Mulder, Scully, Buffy, Frank Black), mugs, keychains, magnets, you name it.

I don't always listen to music when I write, but when I do it's something like Mark Snow's soundtracks for The X-Files and Millennium.

- What is your work schedule like when you're writing and how long does it take you to write a book?

I have a day job committing higher education, so most of my writing is done in the evening.  It takes me about a year to complete a book, but I should mention that about half of that is spent procrastinating.  So the actual writing probably takes six months.

- What in your background prepared you to write mystery novels and particularly paranormal mysteries?

Only the fact that I've read a gazillion of them.  I've got a Masters in English, but you'd be surprised how little those courses on Victorian Poetry and Samuel Johnson help in describing a werewolf's death throes.  I attended the wonderful Odyssey Writing Workshop in 2008, but I'd already published two novels by that time.

-  Who is your favorite mystery character?  Who is your favorite paranormal character?

Oddly (perhaps) enough, my favorite mystery character is a woman: Jane Whitefield, from the series by Thomas Perry.  My favorite paranormal character would have to be Harry Dresden (from Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" novels). [read my review of the first in the Dresden Files here.]

-  Which author has influenced or inspired you the most?

 I don't know if this qualifies as "influenced or inspired," but Jim Butcher (mentioned above) was very kind to me when I was starting out.  Even though he didn't know me, he agreed to look at the manuscript of my first novel, The Hades Project.  He gave me some very encouraging feedback, and even wrote a nice blurb for the cover when I found a publisher.  Jim is a guy whose immense talent as a writer is matched by his generosity of spirit.

- How did you get your first break to getting published?  Was it at a writer's conference or mailing a query letter?

It was a contest.  A small independent publisher was holding a novel contest; first prize was publication.  I sent the manuscript for The Hades Project, along with the entry fee.  A month later, a got a letter refunding my entry fee, because the contest had not received enough entries to make it viable.  However, the publisher liked the book so much, they decided to publish it, anyway.

- What are you currently reading?

To Kill the Dead, by Richard Kadry.  It's the second book in his "Sandman Slim" series, and it totally rocks.

- What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I can't live, let alone write, without copious amounts of Cherry Diet Pepsi.

-  If your Occult Crimes Unit Investigations were to be made into a movie, who would you cast in your character's roles?

Twenty years ago, either Roy Schneider or Peter Coyote would have been perfect for Stan.  These days, maybe Jeff Bridges would be good.  For Stan's partner Karl, Edward Norton.  For Stan's daughter, Christine, Ellen Page would be very good, I think.

    

-  Do you have anything you would like to share about your next book in the series?

Well, it's more than a month overdue.... and [someone is making and distributing supernatural "snuff films,"]

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THANK You Mr. Gustainis for that interview and for the giveaway copy of Hard Spell to a lucky winner.  Thanks for the tip on the Jane Whitefield series, I am getting the debut book from the library to learn more about it. I had not read any of that series before.

Below you will find the Blog Hop listing.  Thank you for stopping by!