It’s my pleasure today to
welcome author RP Channing to Thoughts in Progress to talk about writing and his
release, THIRST: BLOOD OF MY BLOOD.
This fascinating story
fits under a number of genres such as young adult romance; paranormal romance;
high school; vampires, demons, witches; dark fantasy; and horror.
Here’s a synopsis of THIRST:
~
Kira Sutherland ~
After
a near fatal accident (and getting cheated on by her 'boyfriend'), and beating
up the lead cheerleader (with whom the boyfriend cheated...), and being labeled
as having 'issues' in her school because she, uhm, sees ghosts, Kira is left
with two choices:
1.
Continue her 'therapy' (where she's told the ghost is a hallucination and also
gets her legs ogled too often...)
Or
2.
Go to Starkfield Academy, a boarding school for "Crazies and
Convicts" (as the social media sites call them.)
She
chooses the latter...
~
Cory Rand ~
Cory
Rand has not had an easy life. His mother died in a car accident when he was
twelve, and so did his mother's best friend...sort of. You see, Janice made a
promise to take care of Cory just before she died, and so she lingers. Undead.
A ghost that watches out for him.
Brought
up in an abusive home, Cory quickly falls into a life of disreputable behavior.
After his third offense (which was prompted by a girl, as usual - he has a
weakness) he's left with two choices:
1.
Be tried as an adult and share a cell with a guy named Bubba (he thinks...)
Or
2.
Go to Starkfield Academy, which Cory is pretty sure is run by vampires. But,
hey, at least he'll get an education.
He
chooses the latter...
It's
at Starkfield that Kira meets Cory Rand, a boy with an insatiable Rage who sees
ghosts, too. As well as other things, other things from his past, things that
confuse him, things like fire and witches and demons.
Things
he's always ignored.
Until
now.
Please join me in giving
RP a warm welcome to Thoughts as he talks about writing. Welcome, RP.
About Moi
I have written over a
million words of fiction in the last three years - and not published any of it.
Writing YA was embarked
upon after a personal hiatus from writing which lasted nearly seven months. In
those months I did a lot of thinking and re-evaluating about what I was writing, and why I wasn’t
taking the jump to publish.
The answer was simple: I
was unhappy with what I had written, and unhappy with the genre I was writing
in.
After much research and
thinking, I settled upon YA.
YA is a beautiful genre.
It’s filled with characters that have hope and promise, characters which look
at a problem and don’t fall into miserable despair, giving up and blathering on
about “Oh woe is me, my life is so horrible, everything is terrible, nothing can
be done about it...”
YA characters have spunk and guts and like to take the bull (or the demon) by the horns. (At
least the cool ones do.)
I also adore fantasy. I
like magic and the unknown and sorcery and the idea that there might be more to
this world than meets the eye.
So I started writing YA.
And when my fingers hit the keyboard, they wouldn’t stop. I fell in love with
the genre, and I’ll be sticking with it for a very long time.
How THIRST Came About
THIRST was actually
called Starkfield Academy right up to
the last minute. I wanted to write a story about High School, but as it grew,
it soon extended beyond the walls of Starkfield (a school for “Crazies and
Convicts,” where most of the story takes place.)
I felt the name Starkfield Academy was not only too
limiting based off how the story had grown, but also that it didn’t have a nice
ring to it.
The concept of “thirst” is
deeply embedded into the storyline, as is the phrase “Blood of my Blood.” They
have deep meanings interwoven into the tale which become clearer as one goes
through the book.
The story as it exists now
is quite different to what I had originally outlined. But that’s how it goes
with me: I plan a story out, and then I start writing it. When I’m done, I
wonder why I bothered planning it out in the first place.
My fingers seem to have a
mind of their own.
New Projects
I am currently working on
a second book to THIRST: BLOOD OF MY
BLOOD.
THIRST is a complete
story in its own right with no cliffhanger. I hate cliffhangers.
So, book two will have a
BEGINNING, a MIDDLE and an END, just as Book One does. It worked for the Golden
Age of Hollywood, so why change a good thing?
I’m also working on
another YA novel that gets my heart pumping hard every time I think about it.
It’s a dystopian story that’s so exciting I can’t believe I haven’t written it
yet. (Actually, I’ve picked it up and dropped it three or four times. I just
want it to be perfect when it finally goes out.) I’m not sure when that one
will come out.
I have no date set for Thirst #2 yet, but it will be out soon.
RP, thanks for visiting
with us today and sharing how THIRST came to be. I understand about
cliffhangers from one book to the next, it does make it difficult for new
readers to know what’s going on.
Now for those who aren’t
familiar with RP, here’s a bit of background on him.
 |
| Author RP Channing |
RP Channing started
writing three years ago, but never published anything even after churning out
over a million words of fiction. Thirst:
Blood of my Blood is the first book he dared to publish. When asked why, he
said, “Because it’s the first thing I wrote that my wife actually enjoyed
reading.”
When not hammering away
(most literally) at his keyboard, he can be found buried in a book, reading
anything from romance to horror to young adult to non-fiction to comedy. If it has words in it, I’ll take it.
SPECIAL GIVEAWAY:
If you enjoy reading books
and posting reviews on Amazon, R.P. has a special giveaway for you.
At the back of his book
there is a giveaway link. Once the book hits fifty reviews on Amazon, one of
those reviewers will win a $20 (US Dollars) Amazon Gift Voucher! Be sure to
check it out.
Thanks so much for
stopping by today during R.P.’s visit. Do you enjoy books that fit under more
than one genre? Had you rather read a book that is strictly labeled under only
one genre?
