Gothic Mom’s Book Reviews

                                                         Interview with Author J.D. Brown

 J.D. Brown is the author of Dark Heirloom, released on March 31, 2012, and Dark Liaison which was released on May 31, 2013. Though I have read and reviewed both of these wonderful books, I haven't had the pleasure to "pick" Brown's brain. Now I have the chance. 

Tell us about your book? How did it get started?

Dark Heirloom follows the misadventure of a young woman named Ema Marx as she stumbles fangs-first into the world of vampirism. She has no idea how she became a vampire, but she’s convinced the guy who kidnapped her is to blame. Yet, he keeps asking her how it happened. Dark Liaison is the sequel where Ema has to fight a major baddy that she accidently unleashed in the first book.

I really love vampires, ever since I read The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice, but more recent works always seem to focus on the clumsy fragile human and I was tired of it. I wanted to read a book where the vampire was the main character, and all the other characters where vampires too. Really, I just wanted to give my readers an “up close and personal” look at what I thought the vampire world might be like.

What do you consider your ideal writing conditions?

Home alone, surrounded by silence. I can’t even listen to music while I write, it’s too distracting. I’m very comfortable in my own company, alone with my thoughts. Coffee is a must! Sometimes I’ll get a snack too.

Are you a plotter, a pantser or some combination of both?

I’m a combination, but I think I lean a little more toward pantser because no matter how hard I try to stay organized, something always ends up changing and then my characters take over and all my notes and outlines go out the door. I’m not a writer, I’m just a vessel through which my characters write because they don’t have a physical form.

Name one of your all-time favorite movies.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It makes me laugh every time and I love to laugh!

Describe one of your favorite characters and tell us who you patterned them after and why?

Well, Ema is actually the only one of my characters who I have an actress in mind for, and that’s Mila Kunis. I adore Mila. I didn’t set out to make Ema like her, but Mila definitely works as far as looks and the ability to match Ema’s personality.

Where do you go for inspiration?

I just turn to my own wacky imagination, but when that fails, I do research. My stories are speckled with actual facts and real myths and legends. With so many hundreds of vampire stories out there today, and with every paranormal fiction author trying to re-invent the vampire, it was really important to me to sort of go back to the original vampire myths – and I don’t mean the ones from Romania or the Inquisition. I went much deeper than that in my research. My vampire characters actually pre-date Jesus; just to give you an idea of how far back the myths go.

Name an author or authors who inspire you.

Gosh, there are so many…Anne Rice, for sure. She’s a lovely lady all around…Cassandra Clare and Darynda Jones are two more who come to mind right away. They are just wonderful talented women. They know how to tell an entertaining story, they’re original, but more importantly, all three of these women are so faithful to their fans and I think that’s very important.

Last, but not least, tell us about your current work in progress.

Right now I have a free web serial on my website titled Athena’s Oracle that is a prequel to Dark Heirloom. It’s a romance that features two of the characters from Dark Heirloom, Leena and Jalmari, and kind of chronicles how their relationship started and how the seeds leading up to Ema formed. I’m also working on the third book in the series, Dark Becoming, which I can’t say much about at this time, but I’m having a lot of fun continuing Ema’s story.

Dark Heirloom links:

Dark Heirloom trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgVI60Z6FpE

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-heirloom-jd-brown/1111299333?ean=9780615623993
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Heirloom-Marx-Novel-ebook/dp/B007RS8M5I/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1365917153&sr=1-1&keywords=dark+heirloom
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/160667
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-heirloom/id528917638?mt=11

Dark Liaison links:

Dark Liaison trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqzDf5qid_w  

 Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-liaison-jd-brown/1115464079?ean=2940016764214
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Liaison-Marx-Novel-ebook/dp/B00D3T1ZI6/ref=sr_1_2_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1371107982&sr=8-2&keywords=dark+liaison
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/books/Dark-Liaison-An-Ema-Marx/A5GU8i1GAUGcwHk2OjO3jA
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-liaison-ema-marx-novel/id656450962?mt=11