Strange Magic:
A Yancy Lazarus Novel
Pilot Episode
Yancy Lazarus Series
Book One
James A. Hunter
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Shadow Alley Press, Inc.
Date of Publication: January 16th, 2015
ISBN: 978-1507706923
ASIN: B00R7QEFN8
Number of pages: 221
Word Count: 75,000
Book Description:
Yancy Lazarus is having a bad day: there’s a bullet lodged in his butt cheek, his face looks like the site of a demolition derby, and he’s been saran-wrapped to a banquet table. He never should have answered the phone. Stupid bleeding heart—helping others in his circles is a good way to get dead.
Just ask the gang members ripped to pieces by some kind of demonic nightmare in LA. As a favor to a friend, Yancy agrees to take a little looksee into the massacre and boom, he’s stuck in a turf war between two rival gangs, which both think he’s pinch-hitting for the other side. Oh, and there’s also a secretive dark mage with some mean ol’ magical chops and a small army of hyena-faced, body-snatching baddies. It might be time to seriously reconsider some of his life choices.
Yancy is a bluesman, a rambler, a gambler, but not much more. Sure, he can do a little magic—maybe even more than just a little magic—but he knows enough to keep his head down and stay clear of freaky-deaky hoodoo like this business in LA. Somehow though, he’s been set up to take a real bad fall—the kind of very permanent fall that leaves a guy with a toe tag. Unless, of course, he can find out who is responsible for the gangland murders, make peace in the midst of the gang feud, and take out said dark mage before he hexes Yancy into an early retirement. Easy right? Stupid. Bleeding. Heart.
Available at Amazon
A Yancy Lazarus Novel
Pilot Episode
Yancy Lazarus Series
Book One
James A. Hunter
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Shadow Alley Press, Inc.
Date of Publication: January 16th, 2015
ISBN: 978-1507706923
ASIN: B00R7QEFN8
Number of pages: 221
Word Count: 75,000
Book Description:
Yancy Lazarus is having a bad day: there’s a bullet lodged in his butt cheek, his face looks like the site of a demolition derby, and he’s been saran-wrapped to a banquet table. He never should have answered the phone. Stupid bleeding heart—helping others in his circles is a good way to get dead.
Just ask the gang members ripped to pieces by some kind of demonic nightmare in LA. As a favor to a friend, Yancy agrees to take a little looksee into the massacre and boom, he’s stuck in a turf war between two rival gangs, which both think he’s pinch-hitting for the other side. Oh, and there’s also a secretive dark mage with some mean ol’ magical chops and a small army of hyena-faced, body-snatching baddies. It might be time to seriously reconsider some of his life choices.
Yancy is a bluesman, a rambler, a gambler, but not much more. Sure, he can do a little magic—maybe even more than just a little magic—but he knows enough to keep his head down and stay clear of freaky-deaky hoodoo like this business in LA. Somehow though, he’s been set up to take a real bad fall—the kind of very permanent fall that leaves a guy with a toe tag. Unless, of course, he can find out who is responsible for the gangland murders, make peace in the midst of the gang feud, and take out said dark mage before he hexes Yancy into an early retirement. Easy right? Stupid. Bleeding. Heart.
Available at Amazon
About the Author:
Hey all, my name is James Hunter and I’m a writer, among other things. So just a little about me: I’m a former Marine Corps Sergeant, combat veteran, and pirate hunter (seriously). I’m also a member of The Royal Order of the Shellback—‘cause that’s a real thing. And, a space-ship captain, can’t forget that.
Okay … the last one is only in my imagination.
Currently, I work as a missionary and international aid worker with my wife and young daughter in Bangkok, Thailand. When I’m not working, writing, or spending time with family, I occasionally eat and sleep. Strange Magic is the first novel in the Yancy Lazarus series—the third, full-length novel, Wendigo Rising, just released on November 3rd, 2015.
www.JamesAHunter.Wordpress.com
www.twitter.com/@jamesahunter13
www.facebook.com/WriterJamesAHunter
Hey all, my name is James Hunter and I’m a writer, among other things. So just a little about me: I’m a former Marine Corps Sergeant, combat veteran, and pirate hunter (seriously). I’m also a member of The Royal Order of the Shellback—‘cause that’s a real thing. And, a space-ship captain, can’t forget that.
Okay … the last one is only in my imagination.
Currently, I work as a missionary and international aid worker with my wife and young daughter in Bangkok, Thailand. When I’m not working, writing, or spending time with family, I occasionally eat and sleep. Strange Magic is the first novel in the Yancy Lazarus series—the third, full-length novel, Wendigo Rising, just released on November 3rd, 2015.
www.JamesAHunter.Wordpress.com
www.twitter.com/@jamesahunter13
www.facebook.com/WriterJamesAHunter
Interview
1. Where do you get your ideas?
Getting ideas is never the hard part, at least for me—finding the time to explore and write all those ideas into something worth reading is the hard part. Really, anything can get my brain churning up something new: a dream, a painting, a specific scene from a book or a movie. All it takes is one powerful image—often I build a story from one scene, which jumps into my head.
2. Do you have a dream cast for your book?
I’ve never really given it much thought, actually. I like movies, but I’m generally more of a book guy, so trying to name even a handful of actors or celebrities is like pulling teeth for me.
3. How do you handle writer’s block?
For me, writer’s block has a simple solution: Sit in a room, by myself with a computer. I don’t have to write, but I can’t do anything else either. No Youtube. No Netflix. No internet (not even a quick glimpse at my email). No books. No music. Nothing but writing. After an hour or so, boredom takes over and voilà, no more writer’s block.
4. What inspired you to write?
I’d like to shout out to my top three most influential authors. First, J. K. Rowling and the Harry Potter books: this series, more than anything else, influenced me to start reading as a young teen ager and got me hooked on the fantasy genre. Stephen King, and pretty much every book he’s ever written, has had a huge impact on me as a reader and writer. And, of course, Jim Butcher and the Dresden Files. These books introduced me to the Urban Fantasy genre and made me want to write in this genre, abandoning my original calling as a horror author.
5. What’s the hardest part of being an author?
I’d say, for me, the hardest part of being an author is all the non-writing related stuff I have to do. I’m a self-published author—and I’m glad I went that route, it’s really been a good decision—but all the marketing and administrative work takes a lot of time and effort. Time and effort I’d much rather spend writing more books. Being self-published is awesome—creative freedom, great royalties, and total control over the story, artwork and price point—but I can understand why many authors would want a publisher to handle some of the business stuff. Still, being an author is awesome: people literally pay me money to make up bizarre stories with crazy monsters. Doesn’t get any better than that.
Getting ideas is never the hard part, at least for me—finding the time to explore and write all those ideas into something worth reading is the hard part. Really, anything can get my brain churning up something new: a dream, a painting, a specific scene from a book or a movie. All it takes is one powerful image—often I build a story from one scene, which jumps into my head.
2. Do you have a dream cast for your book?
I’ve never really given it much thought, actually. I like movies, but I’m generally more of a book guy, so trying to name even a handful of actors or celebrities is like pulling teeth for me.
3. How do you handle writer’s block?
For me, writer’s block has a simple solution: Sit in a room, by myself with a computer. I don’t have to write, but I can’t do anything else either. No Youtube. No Netflix. No internet (not even a quick glimpse at my email). No books. No music. Nothing but writing. After an hour or so, boredom takes over and voilà, no more writer’s block.
4. What inspired you to write?
I’d like to shout out to my top three most influential authors. First, J. K. Rowling and the Harry Potter books: this series, more than anything else, influenced me to start reading as a young teen ager and got me hooked on the fantasy genre. Stephen King, and pretty much every book he’s ever written, has had a huge impact on me as a reader and writer. And, of course, Jim Butcher and the Dresden Files. These books introduced me to the Urban Fantasy genre and made me want to write in this genre, abandoning my original calling as a horror author.
5. What’s the hardest part of being an author?
I’d say, for me, the hardest part of being an author is all the non-writing related stuff I have to do. I’m a self-published author—and I’m glad I went that route, it’s really been a good decision—but all the marketing and administrative work takes a lot of time and effort. Time and effort I’d much rather spend writing more books. Being self-published is awesome—creative freedom, great royalties, and total control over the story, artwork and price point—but I can understand why many authors would want a publisher to handle some of the business stuff. Still, being an author is awesome: people literally pay me money to make up bizarre stories with crazy monsters. Doesn’t get any better than that.