Guest Author Interview: Kevin James Breaux

Please welcome today's guest author Kevin James Breaux!  Kevin is the author of Soul Born.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Kevin:  I started writing on weekends back in 1998. It was not until around 2006 that I started writing almost every day, which is totally necessary for authors. In 2007 I sold my first short story, a zombie tale called DEAD MAN'S PARTY, to an online web magazine for $50. I was so excited! That was the moment I finally realized that people truly liked my work.

For the past year and a half I have been writing full time. I am another victim of the bad economy, unable to get back into my former career, so I have focused my energy on writing and it has really paid off.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Kevin:   Some of my favorite movies and TV shows are from the paranormal genre. When I was in college I was a huge fan of White Wolf Publishing's World of Darkness books, especially Vampire the Masquerade. Back then I was watching Forever Knight and playing Vampire RPG games, while reading Anne Rice. Once I felt I was truly ready I wrote my first Urban Fantasy novel in 2008. Although SOUL BORN, my debut novel, is an epic fantasy, I hope to develop a series of urban fantasy novels as well. I would love to paint an entire world of paranormal beings.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?
 
Kevin:  It's hard not to pick a Vampire with all the cool ones on TV these days. I mean Spike, Eric, Damon, these guys get all the girls! Like, I can yell "Sookie!" with the best of them! Other than that, I think the ability to control time would be great: slow it down, speed it up, stop and rewind it. You could relive you favorite moments, and speed by the bad ones.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Kevin:  SOUL BORN allows the reader to take the first steps into a new world and take the journey, along with the characters, as that world comes out of a dark age and moves into one steeped with fantasy. Some of my first readers have called the novel "brutal" and "thrilling" which might stem from my background writing horror. Soul Born was never intended to be a dark fantasy, but has some elements in that sub genre. I think Soul Born has a lot to offer to a large variety of readers. It has a love story, and love triangle, along with bloody action and large battle scenes. Most of my work is character drive so I promise you will get to know the people in Soul Born and will end up liking or hating them.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Kevin:   I love this question and blogged about this very topic the other week. I have an art school background and I visualize all my writing as movies in my mind. The leading characters in Soul Born: Opal the mage, Tala the elf and Karn the warrior would be played by Bijou Phillips, Kelly Brook, and Eric Etebari.

Bijou looks just like I imagined Opal, and she has even acted like her in former movies. I love the wickedness of Bijou's look, she super pretty and seems to have a bad side. Kelly Brook, if you read about her, claims to be very athletic, yet has a very voluptuous, pre-raphaelite style build. Tala is just that, an alluring beauty that can fight if need be. Eric Etebari and Karn could be separated at birth. Have you ever seen the Witchblade TV show, from years ago, that is how Karn looks and acts. I cannot imagine anyone other than Eric in that role. You hear me Hollywood, no way would Tom Cruise play Karn! No way!!!

Soul Born by Kevin James Breaux.

All Opal wanted was to be respected as a wielder of magic, but her teachers passed her over time and time again. When a mysterious warlord embarks on a conquest to destroy the lands of Illyia Opal seizes an opportunity to step out from the shadows of her instructors and take her rightful spot among them.  Tala, an alluring young elf, was banished from her tribe, hunted and nearly killed by the beasts that dwell in the deep forests, but more than anything else she is a survivor. Joining forces with an ancient elemental power Tala finds herself in the center of an unrelenting human war. She never wanted any of this.  Flesh like leather and bone as strong as steel Karn, a veteran from the first kingdom to fall, is fueled by vengeance. While pushing ever headlong into battle Karn begins to recall memories of another life; ghosts that haunt his dreams.

Through death of soul, their world is born.

Thank you Kevin for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Kevin James Breaux and his books, please visit his website.