Q&A Interview and Giveaway with JR Rain

JR. Rain Interview

Hello everyone!  LITERAL ADDICTION and Book Monster Reviews are very pleased to welcome JR Rain to our sites today.

JR is an ex-private investigator who now writes full-time in the Pacific Northwest where he lives in a small house, on a small island, with a small dog. 

Growing up, JR was always making stuff; skates, skateboards, skimboards, skis, sleds, clothing, furniture, wood carvings, Easter baskets, comic books, you name it.  After searching for the one thing that he wanted to keep on making for the rest of his life, he discovered one of those Choose Your Own Adventure books, and became hooked on writing.

In high school he balanced being a nerd and jock well and somehow managed to even write five complete novels.  In college he wrote two more books and over 80 short stories.  After college, he spent the next four years researching and writing his first adventure novel, “The Lost Ark”, and at the age of 28, he landed one of the biggest agents in Hollywood. 

He quickly discovered that he had a natural knack for writing screenplays, and for two years worked exclusively for Paramount Pictures and Alphaville Productions developing various TV and movie projects.  Ultimately he realized that he had strayed from his true love, writing novels, and took some time to write “Dark Horse”, “Moon Dance” and “Cursed”.

After moving around the country and going through a very tough period in life (where he still managed to write “The Mummy Case”), he eventually moved back to California where he got his Private Investigator’s license, and had his first novel published by Mundania Press in November of 2005.

Now he’s come full circle and lives a simple, peaceful life… a life filled with writing, hiking, and Beggin’ Strips.  J

JR has many books in his library of literary excellence!  He is the proud creator of the VAMPIRE FOR HIRE, JIM KNIGHTHORSE, ELVIS MYSTERY, and THE SPINOZA series as well as the GRAIL QUEST TRILOGY and several standalone titles and series both independently and with other well known authors. 

His most recent releases, “Aladdin Sins Bad”, Book #2 of the THE RETURN OF ALADDIN series with Piers Anthony, “Moon Child”, VAMPIRE FOR HIRE Book #4, “The Vampire who Played Dead”, 2^nd in a series of SPINOZA Short Stories, and “The Vampire Club”, written with Horror author Scott Nicholson have all been getting rave reviews.  For the sake of this interview, let’s give you the synopsis of each of those to peak your interest…

 

"Aladdin Sins Bad", Book #2 of THE RETURN OF ALADDIN -

The end of "Aladdin of the Lamp" finds the cunning Aladdin ruler of a great kingdom. Now, many years have passed....

Life as the king of Agrabah is never boring, especially when the dashing Sinbad the Sailor requests a ship to save his kidnapped wife. Aladdin, never one to run from danger, agrees to help and accompanies Sinbad as they set sail to accumulate enough treasure to ransom the sailor's wife. Soon they run afoul of zombies, sirens, demons, nymphs, evil djinns, and a dastardly plot to take over his kingdom. But Aladdin has a few tricks up his sleeves...including one very magical lamp.

From bestselling authors Piers Anthony (Xanth) and JR. Rain (Vampire for Hire), Aladdin Sins Bad is the second in a fantastical series set in the enchanted world of the Arabian Nights.

"Moon Child", Book #4 of VAMPIRE FOR HIRE -

Mother, wife, private investigator...vampire. Six years ago federal agent Samantha Moon was the perfect wife and mother, your typical soccer mom with the minivan and suburban home. Then the unthinkable happens, an attack that changes her life forever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire.

Now in MOON CHILD, sequel to AMERICAN VAMPIRE, private investigator Samantha Moon is faced with an impossible decision—a decision that no mother should ever have to make. A decision that will change her life, and those she loves, forever.

And through it all, Sam finds herself in a lethal game of vampire vs. vampire as a powerful—and desperate—enemy will stop at nothing to claim what he most desires.

"The Vampire who Played Dead", Book #2 of the SPINOZA Novellas

Two years ago, a woman is murdered in cold blood. Now a son she'd given up for adoption returns to claim his inheritance. To verify his claim, a DNA test is ordered. Except there's one problem.

Her grave is empty.

Spinoza is a private investigator who specializes in finding the missing. He's good at what he does. Damn good. But he's also a recovering alcoholic and a royal mess. Hired to find the missing body, Spinoza will follow a set of clues that leads him to the unthinkable, a world of nightmares and dreamscapes. A world inhabited by the living and the dead.

"The Vampire Club"

Over 150 years ago, a man was killed with a silver bullet in a rural, Pennsylvanian town. A man who just might be a vampire.

The Vampire Club, a group of misfits who meet regularly in the basement of Western Virginia University’s library, think that they might have found their first documented case of a real vampire. Better yet, the Club thinks that the vampire might still be alive to this day, lying comatose in a hidden grave. And this is good news indeed for a group of vampire lovers.

The hunt begins, and as they close in on their immortal prize, they soon realize that they aren't the only ones interested in the vampire; indeed, a powerful group of killers will use whatever means possible to keep the vampire permanently in its grave.

The first in a series that features The Vampire Club, a group of lovable, laughable, larcenous college students turned vampire hunters.

We have you out on Amazon looking all of these up now don’t we!?  Well, put that aside for now, and let’s get to the interview so we can learn a little bit more about JR and his books…

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LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews:  Hi JR!  We’re happy to have you with us today!  Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to drop by and spend some time with us!

JR: So happy to be here! Wonderful site!

LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews:  We’d like to start out by getting to know you a little bit better.

Q1): Can you tell us 3 things about yourself that we can't find out on the internet, in your bio, etc?

JR: But it’s all in my bio! Okay, maybe there are some things...let’s see...I’m very interested in the paranormal and the weird in general--but then again, you might have gathered that from reading my books! Six months ago I went on a bigfoot hunt up here in Washington state. So much fun. Sadly, we didn’t see a squatch or really see any signs of one, either. Bummer. Still, I could feel it watching us. Years ago, I nearly added “ghost hunting” to my list of services for my private eye business, but, alas, decided against it, although I did participate in a few hunts. So cool. Lastly, I saw my first UFO about two months ago. I was walking with my dog on my island when I saw a bright light coming toward me from the east. I live near a military base, so I have seen every airplane imaginable. But this light was unlike anything I had ever seen. First off, it was incredibly bright, and it wasn’t so much a ball of light as a bright star; meaning, light sort of radiated out from it. It was also completely silent, and I remember just standing there, watching it and thinking, “I swear to God, if this fucking thing abducts me I’m going to be pissed.” So it comes at me slowly, brighter than anything that I’d ever seen in the night sky. It moves directly over me and then...poof. It’s gone. I just sort of nodded to myself and said, “Yup, definitely a UFO.”

2) What are 2 things that never fail to make you smile and 2 things that always piss you off?

JR: I’m a sucker for romantic comedy movies. What can I say, I’m a big softie. Also, you will often catch me smiling for hours after receiving a particularly heartfelt email from a reader. Feels damned good when I’m able to touch readers on a deeper level. On the flip side, any cruelty to any animal, from shark finning to boiling lobsters alive. How anyone could willingly eat something after it’s been so cruelly killed is beyond me. I pray for more compassion in this world. That’s it. Cruelty to animals takes up two slots for me.

3)  What do you enjoy doing when you're not writing?  Do you have any special hobbies or interests outside of hiking and spending time with Sadie?

JR: Well, I often find myself helping other writers. I get a lot of satisfaction helping my friends find success. Next year I will be traveling the world. I plan on visiting Ireland, Sweden, Iceland and Australia...in-between writing four Samantha Moon novels, of course.

4)  What’s a normal writing day like for you?  Do you have a routine that you follow, anything you absolutely have to have with you to get the creative juices flowing, etc?

JR: I get up early and start early. Anywhere from 6-8 a.m. After I get a few hours of writing in, I will then do my morning affirmations/meditations (I’m a spiritual bloke). I will then get two more hours of writing in, then head off to Starbucks, where I’ll read for an hour or two. After that, I’ll walk my dog...then write until about 7:00 p.m. I’ll either go out to dinner with friends or make something delicious. The late evenings are spent watching an hour or two (max) of my favorite TV shows...and the late night is usually spent answering emails. Then I do it all over again the next day.

5)  Do you have a personal favorite book that you have written so far, maybe one that had more meaning for you when it was written, etc?

JR: That’s easy. The Body Departed is my favorite. The novel came together for me far better than I could have hoped, and I think it offers a sweet message of hope, love and forgiveness.

6)  If you could spend the day with one of your characters, who would it be and what would you want to do?

JR: Ha! That’s a good question. Hmmm. Spinoza’s kind of an introvert and he’s deeply troubled (although a damn good investigator). Boy, it’s a toss up. Who wouldn’t want to hang out with Elvis? He was supposedly a wonderful friend to those he was closest to. Knighthorse would probably get me in trouble, although we could knock back a few beers and probably make each other laugh.

7)  If you were told the world would end in 24 hours, what would you spend those last 24 hours doing?

JR: Is that enough time to build a bunker? How about throw an end-of-the-world party and get drunk as hell. Better to go out with a bang.

8)  Who are a few of your favorite authors and a couple titles in your TBR pile? 

JR: Robert B. Parker is my favorite author. Not only does he write the cleanest prose, he’s probably one of the funniest writers out there. Subtly funny. He’s greatly missed. I dedicated The Vampire Who Played Dead to him. I’m currently reading Riptide by Preston and Child. It’s a rip-snorting, treasure hunting thriller set on a small island off the coast of Maine.

9)  Were there any specific influences behind the creation of the RETURN OF ALADDIN, VAMPIRE FOR HIRE or SPINOZA series?

JR: “The Return of Aladdin” series, which I wrote with the great Piers Anthony, was supposed to be a blend mystery and fantasy. It started out that way, but it mostly segued into fantasy adventure, which was fine by me. The “Vampire for Hire” series was my attempt to tell as real a vampire story as possible. And what’s more real than a mother and wife dealing with marital issues? Also, I decided to have her treat her vampirism as a disease, rather than something supernatural, and the story just took off from there. The “Vampire for Hire” books were always intended to be mysteries first, but I sometimes blur those lines with romance and family drama. The “Spinoza” novella series is designed to be my “down time” stories. Each book is about 100 pages, and they are easy and fun to write. Every writer needs a change of pace.

10)  What were some of the challenges (research, literary, psychological, logistical, etc) in bringing the “The Vampire Club” to life?

JR: Well, I wrote The Vampire Club when I was 19. Scott Nicholson only recently went through it and put his own hilarious spin on it. The Vampire Club was intended to be a vampire farce. This was before Twilight or True Blood (the book was written 20 years ago). I had been working in a bookstore at the time, and vampire novels, thanks to Anne Rice, were very popular. But not romantic vampires, mind you. Adventurous, epic, horrific vampire stories. The Vampire Club was my attempt to poke fun. But something interesting happened along the way. I ended up writing a book I really liked!

11) Can you tell us how many books you have planned for each of the series - RETURN OF ALADDIN, VAMPIRE FOR HIRE and SPINOZA?

JR: Piers Anthony and I have no novel planned for 2012, although we might return to it in 2013. “Vampire for Hire” is open-ended. I’m writing four in that series next year. Knighthorse, Spinoza and Elvis are all open-ended series, too; meaning, I have no plans to ever finish any of these series. Although I am taking a break next from all my series, other than Samantha Moon, I will come back to them in 2013. Additionally, Scott Nicholson and I might return to Cursed, Ghost College, The Vampire Club and Bad Blood (with H.T. Night). So those co-authored books all have the potential for a sequel, as well.

12)  Do you plan to write more installments for any of the other series? 

JR: Oooh...look at me being pro-active and already answering this question!

13)  What else do you currently have in the works that we can look forward to?

JR: Hail Mary (Jim Knighthorse #3) will be out in 2 weeks (November 1st). The first book in the series, Dark Horse, is now free on Amazon. So if you haven’t read this series yet, then this is your chance. Vampire Dawn (Vampire for Hire #5) will be out this Christmas.

14)  Is there a question that you have always wanted to be asked in an interview, but have never been asked?  How would you answer that question?

JR: Do you really have eleven toes? My answer: no.

15)  Is there anything special you would like to say to your readers while we have you here today?

JR: Just a big THANK YOU for all your support. 2012 will be an interesting year. Assuming we all survive the Mayan Doomsday prediction (trust me, we will), then you will have plenty of Samantha Moon to read next year, with four books planned!

LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews:  JR, thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule to sit down and talk with us.  We hope to have you on LITERAL ADDICTION and Book Monster Reviews again in the future to help promote your upcoming work if you would be interested.

JR: So fantastic! Thank you so much for having me!!

If you would like to find out more about JR and his books, you can visit any of the sites below.

JR's Website:  http://jrrain.com/index.html

JR’s Blog:  http://jrrain.com/cgi-bin/blog

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/JR-Rain-Mystery-Author/313664350623

Twitter:   http://twitter.com/#!/jr_rain

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CONTEST:  JR is graciously giving away a signed copy of Ararat to a winner from Book Monster Reviews and a winner from LITERAL ADDICTION.

To Enter: Make sure you are a member of the Book Monster Blog (by clicking on the “JOIN THIS SITE” button at the top left hand corner of this blog page), and then post a comment on the interview and make sure you leave a valid email address. 

*Any comments without an email address will NOT be entered into drawing.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

Don't forget to drop by the LITERAL ADDICTION website (http://www.literaladdiction.com/) and follow the directions and links to enter their contest for an extra chance to win!!!