Monday, May 14, 2012

5 Questions of a Paranormal Science Fiction Author, Jason McKinney



Welcome back to the Weird, the Wild, and the Wicked. I have the honor of hosting paranormal science fiction author Jason McKinney for the beginning of his blog tour with a new release. Jason shares my love of the fantastic and lycanthropic, and his new release, Dog World, is just the thing to get us all howling. Plus, he’s offering one lucky commenter an autographed copy of Dog World and two runners-up will receive an e-copy.

Welcome, Jason. Thank you for being with me today.

Thank you for having me, Siobhan. I’m very pleased to be featured on The Weird, the Wild and the Wicked. From what my wife and a few others have told me, I’m a big unbalanced package of all three. :)

LOL. She’s a lucky lady, then. What started you on the path to becoming an author?

One night, ten years ago, I was about to read my son a bedtime story, when he asked for an all new adventure instead of a traditional tale. I was half asleep when I began, but I was able to come up with a story based on my wife’s albino German Shepard, Teddy. I’m told I spent a half hour telling the tale, but being so out of it then, I barely remembered it. The next day my wife, Tabitha, suggested I write it out. I looked at her and said, “What story?” She then recounted what I’d told Christopher the night before and needled me again to put it to paper. A year later I did just that. I ended up writing five tales titled Sheriff Teddy’s Mysteries, and I hope to get those released soon.

That’s awesome! What a great dad to do that. J
Congratulations on your new release on Dog World. Introduce us to the main characters and premise of your story.

Dog World is the first in a werewolf apocalyptic series. The protagonist in charge, Karl Vance, has been plotting to make werewolves the dominate species since the bubonic plague outbreak in 14th century Europe. Over time he’s cultivated contacts while amassing an army and wealth to make his goal a reality. In the end the invasion of Iraq proved to be the perfect beachhead to initiate his final solution to the human question.

There is no singular lead character in Dog World, but there is a core group of characters made up of diverse individuals. Captain Paul Demarti and Major Omi Kunpai are the heart of the group while Specialist Gloria Tan, Sergeant Cameron Mitchell, and Chief Warrant Officer Brenda Walinski are my strong female cast.

Demarti is the level headed communications executive officer stationed at one of the attacked forward operations bases and Kunpai is a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is Marine infantry officer sent to investigate loss of communication with Demarti’s post.
Tan is a communications soldier under Demarti that survives the initial attacks and becomes a hardened lycan hunter while Mitchell is a human sympathizing lycan who initially wants nothing to do with either side.

Now Walinski is my personal favorite as well as a favorite to Dog World fans. She’s an Apache helicopter pilot that becomes injured after her squadron is decimated at Demarti’s base. What makes her fun is the injuries she sustains in her helicopter’s crash that causes her to have extra personalities living in her head afterwards.

I can say she’d be my favorite, but I’m a sucker for helicopters. Did anything in particular inspire this story?

The inspiration for Dog World was a short story I scribbled 13 years ago. It was about an American infantry platoon doing maneuvers in Ireland when they encounter something they could never have imagined. Their maneuvers turned into a fight for their lives and those of a small village against marauding werewolves. I stuck that story in the drawer that we writers exile things to when we don’t think they’re good enough. Tabitha, however, loved it and urged me for years to do more with it, but I shrugged her urgings off, convinced that it belonged in “the drawer”. Then we saw the movie Dog Soldiers and she brought up my old story. She kept saying things like, “See that? There’s a market for your story. That movie’s a hit” After I finished my last Sheriff Teddy I finally decided to drag the idea out and turn it into Dog World.

What made you choose lycans (werewolves) over other paranormal creatures?

Werewolves scare me and I mean, they really scare me. I’ve loved Lon Chaney, Jr’s The Wolf Man since I was a kid, but it was seeing Silver Bullet as a ten year-old that truly made me fearful of them. Everett McGill was delightfully scary as the lycan villain. He set a tone for me that only Dog Soldiers has followed. I read Cycle of the Werewolf years after seeing the movie and it scared me to the point that I loved the emotion. It also doesn’t hurt that werewolves as a whole get the crap end of the stick when it comes to the majority of media, and I wanted them to be the ones on top for a change.

I always cheer for the werewolves. J What other projects are on the horizon for you that we’re likely to see?

I’m currently working on the sequel to Dog World titled Dog ‘Verse and a werewolf zombie mash-up titled Werewolves of the Dead. I’m also finishing up proof reading my Sheriff Teddy books for release. My manager *cough, cough, wife* would like to see those in circulation.

Thank you for joining me today, Jason, and we look forward to all your upcoming releases!

And thank you for having me aboard, Siobhan. It’s been a pleasure and an honor to be on your site, and to be grilled in such a fun way. :) 

Jason is graciously giving away a signed copy of Dog World to one lucky commenter, and two copies of the ebook to two other commenters. All you have to do is is leave a valid email address or Twitter handle so we can contact you if you win. The giveaway will run from Monday, May 14th until 8:00 pm PDT Thursday, May 17th. The winner will be announced here on the blog on Friday morning.

Here's the blurb to Dog World:

As the war in Iraq gathered momentum in 2003, a separate, secret conflict took shape between humans and lycanthropes, or lycans – biped wolves that consume human flesh. Galvanized by the growing human conflict across the globe and intent on seizing the opportunity, the werewolves launch a full-scale assault on humanity, decimating the population and changing the course of history. Captain Paul Demarti, a U.S. soldier on the front lines in Iraq, is among the survivors of the attack and now leads a small band of determined fighters hoping to preserve the human race. As borders between ally and lycan blur, paranoia and anxiety mount. The group learns they must trust one another and work together in order to survive. Hope dwindles as the conflict continues and the humans must decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to create a future for their kind. Readers craving a compelling story coursing with humor will relish sinking their teeth into Jason McKinney’s furiously fast-paced and viciously fanged Dog World.

If you’d like a copy of Dog World, and can't wait for the giveaway, you can find it at:



If you'd like to find out more about Jason McKinney, you can find him on:


EXCERPT

The top of his dark flesh grew darker, new hair sprouted all over. Its flesh had the appearance of rapidly flowering, perverse new forestation, growing over barren, pain clotted land.
His uniform ripped, and the sound forced Zellar to try to move away. She became tangled in her own wobbly feet, and fell to the floor. She desperately scooted away from the terror filling her mind, body and soul. She struggled to get to the door as quickly as she could force her mangled body. Escape and evasion thinking gave way to panic. Her thoughts didn’t extend past getting the fuck out and surviving to the next minute. Retreat was her only plan and she had no idea where safety might be found.
The building was empty. No one showed up around a corner to investigate the commotion. Zellar felt that she was alone in ways she didn’t want. She paused, watching, too terrified to move.
Taylor stomped to Zellar and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off her feet.
She felt his claws growing into her neck. She could feel one touching a throbbing artery. The artery pulsed under the pressure before the claw pierced it.

Thanks so much for stopping by and happy reading! :)

3 comments:

  1. OMG! A werewolf paranormal. I just love how the story came together with reading a bedtime story to his child. That's simple awesome!

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  3. Dog World sounds awesome, Jason! When it comes to creatures of the night I've never had too much interest in vampires (with the exception of Steven Montano's Blood Skies series), but there is special place in my psyche for werewolves. I think they are badass! Silver Bullet is one of my favorite King classics, but I was lucky enough to have first seen it as an adult. I probably would have lost a lot of sleep had I seen that one as a kid like you did.

    I wish you much success with Dog World, Jason, and I look forward to hearing more about your Sheriff Teddy books, too! That's pretty cool that you're publishing those.

    Cheers!

    Rob
    @SharkbaitWrites

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Comments are on moderation, so they'll become visible once I've read them. Words, words, words. I love them. Have you a few to lend?

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