Please tell us a bit about
yourself:
I’m a college professor of
communication. Just last year, I earned our teacher-of-the-year award! In
addition to teaching, I love fitness and martial arts, and of course writing. Rabbit in Red is my debut novel
published with Distinguished Press.
Tell us about Rabbit in Red:
It’s an adventure in
horror, not simply pure horror, but more of a tribute to great stories,
exciting action-adventure, and deep coming-of-age. I’m a fan of cross-genre, so
you get a little bit of everything here, even satire! Here’s our
back-of-the-book blurb:
Bill Wise has blood in his
past, so he turns to horror films to wipe it clean. Jaime Stein has felt the
betrayal of death, so she too takes refuge in the on-screen deaths of others.
Now Bill, Jaime, and seventeen other horror-loving teens have gathered at Rabbit
in Red Studios, the brainchild of eccentric horror producer Jay “JB” Bell, for
the terror-filled, blood-drenched contest of their lives.
JB has presented this
competition as a race between the best of the best that will reward the winners
with cash, internships, and a career making the movies they love. But things
aren’t always as they seem at Rabbit in Red, and soon life starts to imitate
art. Will Bill and Jaime be strong enough to confront real horror to save their
friends, or will they all fall victim to JB’s twisted plans?
What inspired you to write
this particular story?:
I love horror. I was most
inspired by Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, which is not a horror story but a
nostalgic tale of adventure. But Cline took pop culture and made a story out of
it. When I first read that book, I wanted to do the same, but with horror. I
used to eat, sleep, and breathe nothing but Stephen King. So I got the idea of
making an adventure of the stories I love.
But it’s A LOT more than
that. This book started out as pure fun. It’s the adventure I, as the
self-proclaimed #1 horror fan in the world, would love to do! But this is my
art, too. I wanted meaning behind it. I wanted to explore fear, loss, love,
death, coming-of-age, and more from my own perspectives and experiences. That’s
all there. I hope you love it.
Please share a favourite
snippet from your book:
This was the moment! He
seized a knife that was on the kitchen floor and stabbed the hand—his own
hand!—pinning it to the floor. He hesitated a moment, looking at this image in
front of him. It was the strangest thing Bill could have imagined. There he
was, on the floor of JB’s game chamber, but all around him he only saw the
infamous cabin in the woods from The Evil Dead. And he had stabbed his own
hand, but thankfully he felt no more than a sharp pinch. The knife was virtual,
but the glove was real, and whatever technology JB programmed in it, the glove
reacted in perfect real time to everything happening on screen.
He knew what he had to do
next, and he was both excited and terrified at the idea. This was the epic
moment with Ash in The Evil Dead. He had to cut off the possessed hand. That
was the only way to get rid of the evil, to not become fully possessed. With his
right hand pinned to the floor gushing out blood, Bill reached for the chainsaw
that Ash had used earlier in the movie, which of course happened to be right
next to him.
Remembering this iconic
scene from those younger memories when he and his friends cheered, Bill picked
up the chainsaw with his left hand, bit on the cord and yanked it back with as
much force as he could to start the gas-powered hacking device and brought it
down on his right arm. The screeching noises, the loud mechanics of the saw, the
crunching of bone, and the splattering of blood coalesced in a cacophony of
noises, an orchestra of pain.
Bill cut off the hand.
Which comes first for you
– a character's looks, personality or name?:
Personality! Everything
else is shaped around that!
Any tips for aspiring
authors?:
You absolutely must read
these two books (no matter where you are in your writing career, these will
provide you with many insights): Bird by
Bird by Anne Lamott and On Writing
by Stephen King.
Questions for fun:
If you had the power of
time travel, is there anything you would go back and change? Why/why not?:
It’s such a fascinating
subject to explore in fiction! But no, I wouldn't change a thing. I believe
we’re all here and who we are now based on a domino effect of choices we’ve
made and a domino effect of forces within the universe. Change one thing, any
one thing, and you and I may not even be here today. More than that, I want to
take responsibility for all of my decisions in the past. Even the wrong ones: they
make us who we are today, and we make better decisions because of them.
What super-power would you
choose?:
I want to fly! I’m
terrified of heights. Does that sound ironic? No, I think if I could fly I
would no longer be afraid!
If you could have three
wishes, what would they be?:
I want Stephen King to
tell me and the world that he loved Rabbit
in Red. I want all of my friends and family to live long, healthy lives
without any (more) tragedy. I want to wake up and go to bed happy each and
every day of my life.
Coffee, tea or wine?:
Coffee in the a.m. Wine in
the p.m.
What is your favourite
book? (aside from one of your own!):
Stephen King’s The Stand
Favourite genre and why?:
Horror. When it’s good, it
makes us think about our end in this world. When it’s great, it makes us think
about how to make our lives matter so the end isn’t as scary.
Favourite colour?:
Blue
Upcoming news and plans
for the future?:
I’m currently working on Burn the Rabbit, the second in the Rabbit in Red series! It’s “done,” but
it’s time for revisions and editing and all of that fun stuff! Look for that
book in 2016!
Thank you so much for
taking the time to talk to us!
Blurb:
Bill Wise has blood in his
past, so he turns to horror films to wipe it clean. Jaime Stein has felt the
betrayal of death, so she too takes refuge in the on-screen deaths of others.
Now Bill, Jaime, and seventeen other horror-loving teens have gathered at
Rabbit in Red Studios, the brainchild of eccentric horror producer Jay “JB”
Bell, for the terror-filled, blood-drenched contest of their lives.
JB has presented this
competition as a race between the best of the best that will reward the winners
with cash, internships, and a career making the movies they love. But things
aren’t always as they seem at Rabbit in Red, and soon life starts to imitate
art. Will Bill and Jaime be strong enough to confront real horror to save their
friends, or will they all fall victim to JB’s twisted plans?
Book review: http://www.teamtsd.com/2015/09/29/add-this-horror-book-to-your-reading-list-rabbit-in-red-by-joe-chianakas/
Buy link:
Where readers can find me: www.joechianakas.com, www.facebook.com/chianakas, www.twitter.com/joechianakas
