Paranormal Guest Author: Stuart Land

Please welcome today's paranormal guest author Stuart Land!  Stuart is the author of Back from the Dead, Epiphany, Shadow House, and Original Blood.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Stuart:  I began several times. First, I was in the sixth grade and wrote a time travel story for a history assignment. The second time I was in Junior high and wrote a story about love lost (I know, who hasn’t). Then a bunch of years went by until I was working in the Hollywood film business as a sculptor. I was on many sets and got see how the preeminent directors and writers of our time created these incredible films I worked on. Ok, so not all were so incredible. I mean, what’s wrong with Neon Maniacs, I ask you? But there was also Aliens, Polterguist II, Predator, Independence day, and everyone’s favorite, Nightmare on Elm street V.

I thought I could write as well, or even better, so bought my first portable computer (the only portable computer) a Campaq portable, the size of a sewing machine, 640 k, with a tiny green screen, no hard drive, and five inch floppies. It looked like the monitor from the Matrix. I remember my first attempt at “serious” writing. I broke out in a cold sweat. I had spent a small fortune on hardware and software, and after a week all I had to show for it was poo. That’s right, not all writers are born to the task. Some of us have to actually work at it.

It was a year or so later, after taking every guru writing course in Hollywood and beyond, reading over a hundred screenplay and loads of books, and studying with directors, actors and writers, that I finally had something I considered readable. That was almost twenty screenplays and five novels ago.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Stuart:  I grew up with sci-fi and monsters on TV and in the movies. Later, I worked on some of the most famous sci-fi and monster movies in America cinema, so I guess I always loved the paranormal since it was a large part of my life. However, the stories I write, though many are paranormal, always are very different than anything else out there. Everything I write is really cross-genre and doesn’t fit neatly into just one genre. This makes it hard for people to initially pick up, but every person who has read my books has enjoyed them, with many saying that my stories have allowed them to enter a genre they didn’t care for before.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Stuart:  This is an unexpected question. But, clever girl, I’m ready for it. In my stories, I like supernatural to be close to natural, but mightily enhanced. In my book, Original Blood, one of the characters is turning into a vampire, and during this transition, she can move really fast, faster than any other vampire. How she uses this to her advantage is the power I’d like.

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

Stuart:  My newest novel, Epiphany, isn’t paranormal at all, but reads like one. It’s based entirely on science fact, yet feels so supernatural because I skirt the edge. Here’s the blurb:
Doctor Sam Enright and his geneticist wife, Dorinda, face turmoil in their small town when a dozen adolescent girls show up pregnant at Sam’s office—and they’re all virgins. When their own daughter falls victim to the same fate, the Enrights rush to Homeland Security for answers. As the questions multiply, they realize they are at the vanguard of a worldwide epidemic, and the mystery deepens. As events escalate, a disparate group of international doctors, scientists, and mothers-to-be are brought together at Dorinda’s genetics lab in Middle America. They race to find the cause and meaning of the mysterious pregnancies, but every discovery reveals a new, worse scenario, leaving humanity's very existence in question.

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

Stuart:  I hadn’t really thought this out so much, even though I worked in Hollywood a long time. When I write screenplays I think about this, but not for novels. Novels are very specific, whereas screenplays give a lot of latitude as who can play a part. Plus actor and actresses change faster than the weather in San Francisco. Anywho, here are a few choices:

Original Blood (a vampire tail following two women two centuries apart):
Jennifer Lawrence – Zondra
Toss-up between
Natalie Portman - Gailene
Noomi Rapace – Gailene

Epiphany:
Jennifer Hudson - Dr. Dorinda Enright

Original Blood by Stuart Land

Original Blood is the delicious, but tormenting tale of Zondra and Gailene as they’re turned into vampires against their will. Separated by two centuries but bound by familial blood that threatens to destroy the vampire nation, Zondra experiences a mind-bending skewed Cinderella story with hot motorcycles, limitless money, and ancient mansions teeming with the undead, while Gailene must rise from devastation, rage, and vengeance to become a powerful vampire leader in the New World. Both women are forced to overcome their circumstances, one of privilege, one of destitution, to gain the power that will save themselves and the man they both love from the retribution of their creator.


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

To learn more about Stuart Land and his books, please visit his website.