Johnny Worthen THE BLOG MANSION

Welcome to THE NEXT BIG THING!!

“THE NEXT BIG THING” is designed to raise awareness of new works, or works in progress by posing ten delicious questions the work, and then tagging other authors to do the same.

I was nominated by Ann Marie Meyers on her blog, http://www.annmarie-meyers.com/ and Lehua Parker http://www.lehuaparker.com/ on hers.  I met these two excellent authors through Jolly Fish Press. Take a look back and check out their stuff. I'm thrilled to follow them. Also be sure to hop along to the fine authors I tagged at the bottom of this post. They’ll be up on the 6th of February.

And now, THE NEXT BIG THING:

What is the working title of your next book?
    BEATRYSEL, it’s a name of an angel – or a demon in Qabbalistic mythology.

Where did the idea come from for the book?
    I’ve been interested in the occult for ever, particularly the High Magic formats practiced by the Golden Dawn and echoed in the obscure rites of Freemasonry. There are so many offshoots of shamanism, New Age philosophy and other magical schools that many people believe they’re just different paths to the same goal, different steps to a shared song. With that in mind, I created a group of seekers all on different paths but sharing in fellowship around an occult bookstore much like one I knew in Oregon. I embraced the concept of angels and demons conjured to do a magician’s will as described in the ancient Grimoires, magical spellbooks. I put a modern spin on it all and thus was born BEATRYSEL.

What genre does your book fall under?
    Believe it or not, BEATRYSEL began as a love story, but it’s a horror. What becomes of love when it’s unleashed? Yes. It’s a horror. I’ll brand it as supernatural/occult thriller because “horror” as a mainstream genre has been sidelined by newer nomenclature.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
    Julian Cormac: Jeremy Davies
    Molly Cormac: Rose Byrne
    Peter Stephensen: Mark Strong
    Octavia Crabtree: Geraldine McEwan
    Amanda Starling: Kate Mara
    Courtney Song: China Chow
    Beatrysel: Saoirse Ronan

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
    Love has a power all its own.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
    BEATRYSEL is coming in 2013 from Rainstorm Press as my debut novel. I don’t have an agent. I thought I needed one but so far I haven’t. There’s a lesson there for other writers.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
    BEATRYSEL was the second novel I began but the fourth I finished. It took years from start to finish due distractions and other projects. I hit a wall not so much in story but in process. The delay allowed me to learn how to write better and discipline myself. Once back into the project, it wrote itself. Editing to its current state took five months. I suspect there’ll be another go around before its available.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
    Classically, I can’t help but see similarities in Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and the Faust legend. More recently, John Saul’s work, particularly Black Creek Crossing influenced the mood o my book.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
    I witnessed my sister go through a sticky divorce and saw the raw emotional energy involved in that break up. Being magically minded, I wondered what that power would look like unleashed, how it would behave before it was upset while it was still cherished. What beautiful and terrible thing it would manifest as outside the human psyche.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
    I’m proud of my blurb: Unsatisfied with the ancient grimoires, the Magus made his own. Unsatisfied with the ancient demons, the Magus made Beatrysel. She was a creature of love. But there is no love without hate, no light without darkness, no loyalty without betrayal. And demons are greedy for flesh.

Jumping on!
    Visit these authors I've tagged next week for THE NEXT BIG THING:

    Sakina Murdock http://soulsubsistence.wordpress.com/

    Erin Britt http://erinrbritt.wordpress.com/

    Susan Harris Dorsey http://www.sjdorsey.blogspot.com/