#pitchwarsASFF

[mavonduritrilogy]

#PIMPMYBIO for #PitchWars 2017 - @Mavonduri

Ok, so it’s been a WHILE since I’ve even posted on this thing. But I’m hellbent on waging a proper Pitch War, so here goes nothing...

Werewolves are my thing. Always have been. Don’t ask me why. It seems they have a story to tell, and want me to tell it. Something to do with Atlantis. It gets complicated. So, I write. How goes it? I’m Jeff, pleasure to meet you.

I’ll get right to the book then, shall I? If you have a similar affinity for the lycanthropic, the fantastical, the esoteric... you might enjoy this macabre thing I call THE PERSONAL ACCOUNT OF DARIUS CARLYLE

I like to think my work occupies a happy middle ground between YA and adult. The genre is flexible enough, and our kids desensitized enough that a little blood and gore might be good for them. Plus, Happily Never Afters are where it’s at.

What’s most important to note about this book is that it’s a journal. Not my journal per se, but Darius’s. Here’s where I usually digress onto some inane tangent about the handwritten rough draft. The intimacy of pen on paper akin to channeling a past life from a parallel universe, blah blah blah...

In truth, it actually was cathartic. Cathartic, and creative. It’s a bloody work of art I couldn’t be prouder of, because I was able to dig through thousands of years of history, written only ten years before, when I fancied myself the next Tolkien (my crest has fallen since, of course). And therein I found the key to a story half a lifetime in the writing...

BLURB:

In 1888 Darius Carlyle investigates the slew of murders London's penny dreadfuls attribute to Jack the Ripper. When his dearest Kate follows him to Whitechapel, she becomes the Ripper's next intended victim. Unhinged, Darius hunts the Ripper down with murderous prejudice. But the Ripper's death reveals the true threat: an ancient werewolf with a personal vendetta. And Darius soon learns the depths of the creature's malice, as Kate's humanity begins waning with each full moon. 

PITCH:

Werewolves, Jack the Ripper, esoteric magick, and damned love. All recounted in a mystical werewolf hunter’s journal.

OR:

All Darius Carlyle ever wanted was someone to love and werewolves to hunt. By cruel happenstance, his dearest Kate becomes one and the same.

ME:

Give me a good book, a good movie, and a good beer (Jameson to wash it down, please, on the rocks). Some of my favorite films/TV shows:

Lord of the Rings (all three Extended Editions)

Batman Begins

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (favorite guilty pleasure)

The Prestige

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

Ancient. Effing. Aliens

Penny Dreadful (not so secretly in love with Eva Green)

Supernatural (c’mon)

The Flash

Harry Potter should be a given

I grew up on a healthy literary diet of R. L. Stine (Goosebumps) and K. A. Applegate (Animorphs). Recent favorite books include I, Lucifer by Glenn Duncan and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clark. I also take a lot of inspiration from the likes of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde and of course, the great Professor, J. R. R. Tolkien, perhaps the singular great literary influence on my life. 

 I’ve always been fascinated by what’s on the fringe of the impossible, and gravitate to stories which explore it. The idea there’s so much we don’t know for certain draws me to history and myth, science and superstition. And I suppose that’s seeped into my writing.

I wish I could add gifs; sadly I’m not that fluent in Tumblr. I have a lot more personality on Twitter. Suffice it to say I’ve pimped my bio, yes? 

Don’t be shy, say hi!

Sincerely,

JJW