Joann H Buchanan Author

Joining me today for an interview to kick off his blog tour is Eric Johnston. 

1.      1.       Can you tell us about The Twins of Noremway Parish?

The Twins of Noremway Parish is the first part of a two-part novel (the second part is titled The Book of Ragas, and will be published at a future date) that takes place in the distant future, approximately 5,000 years hence. The world is run-down; the land is dry, parched, and dead, and there are only a few human settlements left in the world. There was a war with beings known collectively as “the Darkness.” They have one goal: bring chaos to the world.

There is one being from a group of god-like entities that had survived since the beginning of existence that attempts to restore order to this chaos. He/She is a Story Teller. These Story Tellers spin tales, making sense of all the disparate things around them, developing cohesive narratives that have a certain elegance, a pristine order.

The Twins of Noremway Parish begins with the Story Teller narration, but he/she is soon captured by the Darkness who seeks to use his/her powers to tell another story, one that will tear apart the fabric of the universe. The story changes, becoming dark, evil, and…deadly.

The story itself really follows the parish friar, Decon Mangler, often referred to as “Brother Decon” and the Parochial Vicar, Teret Finley, known as “Sister Teret.” They are the male and female religious leaders of the parish, and being such, must keep a certain innocence about them. When a pair of infant conjoined twins are found in the cathedral, they decide it would be best for the twins if they raised them as mother and father themselves. This leads to a social uproar as it becomes clear that, to some within the parish, tradition, even a tradition that makes no sense, is more important than thinking about the actual well-being of these children.

2: What inspired you to write The Twins of Noremway Parish?

I started out with the idea about twins. I’m a twin, so I thought there is something worth exploring here concerning the relationship that you have with this other person that you cannot have with anyone else. I wanted to write about a pair of conjoined twins whose parents had them separated shortly after birth. This was a story that would take place today. And one of the twins could think of nothing else but wanting to be reconnected to his brother. This desire drives him to the point where he murders his brother when he refuses to be a willing party to becoming reattached. And then the story was to end with this twin cradling this rotting hunk of meat that used to be his brother.

But that story didn’t work for me. So I made up my own world. I initially made it an alien world called Ongola, but then decided I would set it in the distant future…and then the story took shape.

I wrote the first draft of what is The Twins of Noremway Parish in about two weeks. This book was originally set-up for the main story which in now known as The Book of Ragas, a separate novel that will be published in the coming months.

3. If you could visit any part of your books in real life, what place would it be and why?

I would love to visit Noremway Parish itself because of the characters there. I love Decon and Teret. They are so perfect for each other.

4 What is your favorite part of writing?

Meeting my characters, listening to them talk, and seeing how they react.

5 Can you tell us about anything new you're working on?

Right now I am writing the sequel to Harvester Ascension, titled Harvester Evolution. My Harvester series ties into The Twins of Noremway Parish and The Book of Ragas in several interesting ways. I am also writing a novel called Temporal Winter, which is a novel about a new civil war, American vs. America, except it is war of Future America vs. Present-Day America. In the future, temporal bombs, bombs that can erase certain moments in time, are created, and this precipitates a war against a people who are seen as living only in the present, bent on sending a big “screw you” to posterity. The third novel I’m working on right now is called Orchard Hills. It is about a police officer who is killed in the line of duty, but wakes up in this strange reality where he is required to avenged his death when all he wants to do is get to heaven (or wherever) to reunite with his dead daughter.

6 Who are some of your inspirations?

I only write books I would want to read.

I read a lot from classic science fiction, horror, and fantasy novels to history and science. I have a wide knowledge-base from which to draw inspiration.  Style-wise, Stephen King is my biggest influence.

TIME FOR SOME FUN!!

7 What is your FAVE food ?

Pizza. I prefer peperoni and bacon.

8 If a movie was made, who would you see playing some of your main characters?

Decon—Christian Bale

Teret—Scarlette Johansen

Franz—Gary Oldman

Rita—Kathy Bates

9 What is your fave color?

Blue

10 What is your fave time of day?

Early morning and just before sunset

Last question, If you could share anything with new writers, what would it be?

If you want to be a writer then WRITE! There isn’t some magic moment where you suddenly become a writer. If you want to be a good writer, you must write a lot and READ a lot. In my opinion, if you don’t read as part of your daily ritual, there is no way you can be a good writer. And lastly, never give up. Rejection is the name of the game in this business. Don’t take it personally, and don’t give up.

Thank you Eric Johnston for stopping off and having this conversation with me. 

Copyright by Joann H. Buchanan