Some authors and their books really take me by surprise and I fall in love with them almost immediately. This is true for the Club Monstrosity Series by Jesse Petersen.
When I started reading the first book,
Club Monstrosity, I was so in awe that I couldn't wait to get my hands on the second part,
Monsters in your Neighbourhood. I had already enjoyed Jesse's zombie series but I didn't expect this series to be even better.
So I asked Jesse to be a guest on the blog so you can all check out the author and maybe find out a little bit more about Club Monstrosity. I hope it will have you grabbing a copy sometime soon and also enjoying it as much as I did.
Make sure you enter the contest! Jesse is giving away a copy of her amazing new release! Don't miss out on it!
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Amber - Welcome back to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is great to have you here as a guest! Could you start things off by telling us a little about your new series, Club Monstrosity?
Jesse - Thanks for having me back! So Club Monstrosity is a two-book series about real life monsters who belong to a support group that meets in the basement of a New York City church. When someone starts killing them off the way they were destroyed in their famous movies and books, they have to figure out if they want to live in hiding, or follow their instincts and monster out. The first book of the same name, CLUB MONSTROSITY is out now. The second book THE MONSTERS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, will be in stores July 29.
Amber - How did you come up with the idea for the Club Monstrosity series? Was it a long process or did it just come to you?
Jesse - I got the glimmer of the idea for the monster support group in the basement of a church (like AA) and then it just took off from there. The hardest part was figuring out the monsters.
Amber - I love the unusual characters in the book. Are you a big horror movie fan? Was it hard to decide which characters to include?
Jesse - Yes, deciding about which monsters was hard. I knew Natalie was a Frankenstein's Monster, but otherwise I started going through lists of classic movie and book monsters and choosing. The other difficulty is getting around copyright. Monsters from old books are open season, but you have to be careful about monsters from the movies of the early 20th century. Sometimes Warner Bros gets a little snippy. There's a reason why one of them is a Swamp Creature, I'll put it that way.
Amber - The idea of having a Monster Anonymous group is just wonderful! Did you sneak into some AA meetings for research purposes?
Jesse - No, I just kept thinking about Fight Club where the characters are addicted to going to support groups.
Amber - The debut book in the series, Club Monstrosity, is already out and the sequel, The Monsters In Your Neighborhood, is due for release in July. How many more books do you have planned for the series? When can we expect them to be released?
Jesse - That's it. I would love to write more books, but the sales just don't bear that out. So THE MONSTERS IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD is the end of the series.
Amber - How do you pick the names for your characters? Do they have any special meanings?
Jesse - Since the monsters mostly have picked their own names, I liked that they had chosen very normal ones. Natalie, Alec, Drake, Linda. They don't want to be seen. And Kai, of course, has picked something a little more exotic, being a mummy.
Amber - How much say do you have in the book publishing process? Eg. Do you get to pick the cover?
Jesse - Actually the book had a different cover which we didn't love, so we asked to go back and I sent a few images. Ultimately they came up with the current sort of Warholesque covers which I ADORE.
Amber - The covers for the series are really cool! Who did the artwork?
Jesse - The art department at Pocket Books did the covers.
Amber - Are you a full time writer or do you have a day job? If yes, How do you divide your time?
Jesse - I write full-time and have since 1999. I support our family through my writing. I write or do promo about 70 hrs a week, all told.
Amber - Did you always wanted to be an author? Why did you pick the Paranormal/fantasy genre?
Jesse - I have always wanted to be a writer. I actually make my main living in romance, but I had the idea for MARRIED WITH ZOMBIES and just wrote it for my own entertainment. When it sold, I was shocked. It's fun to write something different and snarky.
Amber - I am sure that being an author has its ups and downs. What experiences have you had so far?
Jesse - Well, I wish both these series had done better financially. I write what I like to read, but there may not be a giant audience that wants to read snarky, funny, tongue-in-cheek urban fantasy. That's life, unfortunately.
Amber - How long on average does it take you to write a book? Do you have a process you follow? or do you just start at page one and see what happens?
Jesse - I am a heavy plotter and I write at least 50 pages a week, so it takes me about 6 weeks to write one of my urban fantasies. Probably 8 weeks total after editing.
Amber - What are you listening and watching lately? Is there any music or other media that influences your writing?
Jesse - I don't listen to music at all while I write, it's too distracting. Summer lull has slowed down my tv watching, but I'm excited Venture Brothers is back after such a long hiatus.
Amber - If you could be any paranormal creature, what would you be and why?
Jesse - After writing Club Monstrosity, I think paranormal creatures would have it pretty bad in modern life, so I'm not sure I'd want to be anything. LOL Having those powers comes at a cost. It's like being a celebrity, except you don't make any money, you're just getting followed and harassed and you have to adjust your life all the time. I like being anonymous, so I think I'd just stick with human.
Amber - Thank you for being a guest on the blog! I hope you will stop by again sometime!
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Contest Time!
Jesse is very kindly giving away a Kindle copy of
Club Monstrosity! One lucky winner will get to read this wonderful book!
However, If we get more than 2,000 entries on the Widget then I will offer up a second copy. So we could have two winners!
If we get more than 3,000 entries I will offer a third copy! Three winners!
So make sure to tell your friends and get them to enter!
How To Enter
Use the
Rafflecopter widget below to enter the contest. Keep the contests going by using the Bookdepository.com and Amazon.com links/Banners below and around the site. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners you must claim your prize within 7 days of the winner being announced!
