Month: March 2021

Paramedic to the Paranormal- Jamie Davis

One of the trends in Urban Fantasy that fascinates me (and makes me insanely jealous) is the number of authors cranking out series after series of fun reads. While they might not be great art, they’re fun. It’s kind of the Kindle version of the old pulp novels (and I mean that in the best way.) Ultimately, it’s what I envisioned for the Lucca stories and for Johnny Lycan, but you know… day job, life and stuff.

One such author is Jamie Davis, the author of 40 books including his new series, Extreme Medical Services. Imagine being an EMT and having to pick up an overdosing vampire and you get the idea.

Jamie, what’s your deal, man?

When I get the question “tell us a little about yourself” I’m usually stuck for an answer. I mean, there’s so much to tell. I’m a husband, father, grandfather, nurse, and retired paramedic who has been telling stories in one form or another my whole life. My wife puts it this way: “He embellishes every memory a little more each time. You never know which version you’ll get.”

I think it’s because I see so many possibilities in the world and people around me. “What if” is a way of life for me and that’s where many of my books begin. In fact, my first series, Extreme Medical Services, started in the back of the ambulance late one night when I dropped off a particularly hairy patient. I remarked to my partner, “What if that guy is really a werewolf? It is a full moon.” Thus was born my books about paramedics for supernatural creatures.

Now, I have more than forty books, most of which fall into the category of what I like to call Fun Fantasy Reads. All are family-friendly and suitable for young teens and up, even though they are written for adults. I have heard from several readers who enjoy my books because they can share them with their kids. It gives them something to talk about in a time when we’re always so distracted by our screens.

What’s Extreme Medical Services about?

Extreme Medical Services as I explained earlier is book 1 in a whole series about supernatural paramedics. If you’ve ever asked yourself, “What happens if a vampire or a werewolf needs to call 911?” then these are the books for you.

Of course, now you’re curious, aren’t you? That’s okay. There are plenty of stories there to scratch that itch. With 8 books and a prequel in the series already, I’m also currently finishing up book 9. All the books are also available as excellent audiobooks. They’re narrated by the superbly talented Roberto Scarlato and he really brings the stories to life with his amazing voice.

What is it about this world that you enjoy so much?

Dean Flynn, the newbie paramedic in Extreme Medical Servcies is as green as they come. Don’t get me wrong. He’s highly trained, having graduated at the top of his paramedic academy class, he just didn’t exactly know what he’d signed up for when the chief told him he had a special assignment in mind.

He’s thrown into the deep end as he meets patient after patient on his first days on the job, uncovering a whole new world he never knew existed, right there under the surface in the city in which he grew up. Now he’s an ordinary guy, saving lives, and making some unusual friends along the way. That’s a good thing, because there’s something sinister lurking behind the scenes that could endanger the patients he’s sworn to protect.

If this was set in Chicago, it sounds like he might run into Johnny Lupul one night. That would be hilarious. Who did this to you? What do you read?

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about authors who’ve influenced me. I could list off the big ones, Tolkien, Robert Jordan, or Heinlein. Yeah, I read them, but I think there are others who had a bigger impact on me in different ways. Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series was probably the first that set up a modern world with a hidden magical realm ordinary humans couldn’t see. The concept intrigued me then and still does today. I still reread those books from time to time. I highly recommend them. They’re not just for kids.

Another writer who impacted me was David Weber. His Honor Harrington Universe (and it is expansive) showed me how really strong characters could draw you into a story, making you care about them and everything they do. I’ve laughed aloud, cheered, and shed a few tears while reading his sci-fi epics.

I’ve read many others and they’ve all impacted my writing in one way or another. In the end, they’ve taught me to write stories about people you can care about, even amidst fantastical or futuristic situations. Who knows, I’ve always said we should all keep our eyes open because there’s magic all around us.

How can people keep up with you and your work?

The best ways to catch up with me and what I’m doing is first at my website, https://jamiedavisbooks.com, where you can get a free book, sign up for my active and fun fantasy newsletter.

Second, you can join the fun in Jamie Davis’ Fun Fantasy Readers group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/funfantasyreaders/). We don’t just talk about my books. It’s a place to talk about great fantasy (and sci-fi) stories on TV, in movies, and other great authors out there. I’m in there all the time and love chatting with everyone.

You can find the entire Extreme Medical Services series here: https://jamiedavisbooks.com/buy-extreme-medical-services-books/

And I’m also on Twitter at https://twitter.com/podmedic

Johnny Lycan and the Anubis Disk is now available in paperback and Kindle, and available almost anywhere from #BlackRoseWriting. It’s an American Book Festival Finalist for Best Horror of 2020. “If Raymond Chandler wrote about werewolves.”

The 3 Musketeers With Magic- Sebastien de Castell

Nothing makes me happier than a good swashbuckler. Swords are way cooler than guns, and witty remarks while buckling someone’s swash is always amusing. (Remind me some time to tell you about my first-ever fencing tournament when I faced a guy named Free Wind.) My favorite book growing up was always the Three Musketeers, and my all-time favorite movie will always be The Adventures of Robin Hood. So, when I found the first book in Sebastien de Castell’s Greatcoat Series, The Traitor’s Blade, I was intrigued. Here’s my conversation with the Canadian author whose books are like the Musketeers, only with a touch of fantasy magic in them.

Who’s Sebastien de Castell and why do we care?

I’m a professional procrastinator who periodically slams his fingers against the keyboard repeatedly until a fantasy novel comes out. Somehow, despite wasting inhuman amounts of time, I’ve had eleven books published in my relatively short career, translated into fifteen languages and with a couple of film & TV option deals (which, for the uninitiated, is not nearly as impressive an accomplishment as it sounds since most option deals go nowhere). At my core, I think of myself as a traveller – not just to different places, but through different careers and vocations. I’ve worked as a touring musician, a fight choreographer for theatre plays, a project manager, actor, teacher, and a half-dozen other careers in between. Oddly, being a novelist has turned out to be the steadiest job I’ve ever had. Oh, and I’m Canadian, but not the good kind who are modest and always apologizing for things – the jerks who sew Canadian flags on their backpacks and travel the world talking about the greatness of Canada. My wife has been slowly but surely breaking me of that habit.

Preach, brother. What’re your newest books about?

Play of Shadows is a swashbuckling fantasy novel set in the theatre. A young actor fleeing a duel finds refuge among a company of actors thanks to an obscure law that prohibits performers in the city’s sacred plays from dueling. However, when he takes the stage for one of their historical performances, he suddenly finds himself channeling the spirit of one of the historical figures he’s supposed to portray – only he’s changing all the lines and revealing secrets that powerful forces would prefer stayed buried. Lots of intrigue, sword fighting, and, of course, the strange magic of the theatre.

Way of the Argosi is a coming-of-age fantasy novel about a young woman on the run from the mages who destroyed her clan. She’s driven to survive any way she can, and tries everything from becoming a knight to a thief to a gambler. When she meets a mysterious card player who calls himself an Argosi, she’s offered a new path, but whether it’s one that will save her life or cost her soul she will have to discover for herself.

I love the blend of old fashioned adventure story and just enough magic. Where did all that come from?

Play of Shadows takes place in the world of the Greatcoats, which is where I tell my swashbuckling tales of intrigue. I’d written four books dealing with sword fighting magistrates, and so wanted to delve into something a little different. In this case, asking how the world of the theatre could be filled with its own magic and intrigue. I started creating these strange traditions like having some actors be such celebrities that they’re believed to actually channel the spirits of the characters they play, thus altering the script in subtle ways, or having constant violent struggles between companies of actors vying for control of the best theatres, all in the backdrop of a city finding itself under siege from within. Those kinds of ingredients always get my mind working, and as a reader, that’s the sort of fantasy to which I’m drawn.

Way of the Argosi came about because I’d wrapped up the six book Spellslinger series and my publishers wanted more books set in that world even as I was getting constant e-mails from readers asking to learn more about the Argosi. For those who haven’t read Spellslinger, the Argosi are a loose-knit order of wandering gamblers who created decks of cards to represent the various civilizations on the continent and seek out what they call “discordances” – people or events that could alter the course of history. What I love about the Argosi – and what I think draws readers to them – is that, in a story world heavily focused on magic, they themselves shun magic entirely. All their skills and tricks and talents are built on very human things like dancing and eloquence and martial arts and swagger. In a sense, they’re sort of like the anti-Jedi, because instead of having to be magically born attuned to “the force”, they have to earn their skills and find their own unique path through the world. Those things always speak to me as a reader, and even more so as a human being who is, alas, bereft of magic spells or a destiny.

Who did this to you? Who did and do you read?

My tastes in authors really change on an almost daily basis. The ones who influenced me the most when I was starting out were Raymond Chandler, Steven Brust, Charles de Lint, and Anne McCaffrey. As I started developing my style as a writer, I often found myself drawing from other mediums, such as Brian Michael Bendis the comic writer for character development and for dialogue my favourite screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin.

When reading for pleasure, I tend to read outside of fantasy simply because I can’t stop analyzing fantasy books. I read a couple of Walter Mosley books recently and was blown away by his sense of tone and the weight of his characters. Kate Quinn who wrote The Alice Network, The Huntress, and her most recent novel, The Rose Code, is probably the writer I enjoy the most in recent years. I’m not sure why since she writes about World War II intrigue which has never been my thing, but her style is just so engaging that I’m instantly pulled into the books.

How can we learn more?

I don’t spend a ton of time on social media, though I have all the usual accounts which I’ll list below. When people want to reach out to me, the best method is via my website at www.decastell.com/contact. Same is true if someone wants to find all my books in all their various editions and languages – go to www.decastell.com and there are links to all the buying options in print, audio, and ebook as well as how to get signed copies (something that comes up more and more these days).

Website: https://www.decastell.com

Twitter: @decastell

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/decastell

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SebastienDeCastell

Johnny Lycan and the Anubis Disk is now available in paperback and Kindle, and available almost anywhere from #BlackRoseWriting. It’s an American Book Festival Finalist for Best Horror of 2020. “Like Dresden Files with Bite.”