Faith Hunter Black Arts Blog Tour - Q&A and Giveaway!

Black Arts, the most recent and 7th book in Faith Hunter's Jane Yellowrock series, will be out on January 7, 2014.  Faith answered a few questions and there's a giveaway of Black Arts too!

Describe a typical day of writing, for us. And, are you a planner or pantser?

Last question first. I am an outliner, for sure. I call it OOPS – Organic Outline ProcesS. (LOL) But what I outline are only plot points. What happens inside the character during the course of the story, that is always such a surprise! And that surprise factor is why I keep writing.

My day is pretty mundane. Up at 8-ish. Take the dogs out. Email and PR work get the juices going. Then I rewrite the previous day’s pages, adding new content where I left things out. Around 1 or 2, I’ll eat Brunch. Yes, I know it isn’t really brunch by that time, but when you don’t have an appetite until 1 or 2 p.m., it’s a “whatever-meal”. So I call it brunch. Then I start writing (if I haven’t yet). I usually write about 8 hours total. Supper at 8-ish. TV and dogs and hubby get attention after that. These days I’m in bed by 11 at the latest, so I can get more sleep. Except when I’m on the water, kayaking, on the road with the Hubby and rescued Pomeranians, Tommy and Tuffy, RV-ing. Then the schedule goes all to heck and back!



Which vampire mythos did you follow to dictate the rules for your vamps or did you do your own thing? How much research did you?

I always do own thing as much as I can, but I also didn’t want to introduce something entirely new and call it vampire. I wanted my vamps to fit in to the cultural norm enough so that readers didn’t have to do a double-take and read twice to make something make sense. I took what I wanted from the accepted fictional concepts and actual history and modified everything to suit my world.



How much research did you do for the Jane Yellowrock series? Especially three things: Cherokee lore, the weapons, and the fighting parts?

Just before I started the Skinwalker series, I discovered that I am part African American – 20-ish %, and maybe as much as 40% mixed tribe American Indian, mostly Cherokee and Choctaw.

I was quickly fascinated with the Cherokee mythos, and especially the skinwalker mythos and its origins. I also know a Cherokee Elder and got a ton of info from her and her books. She was very helpful about the rituals and the “Christian-i-zation” of the Cherokee religion and people. She knows the early stories, the pre-Christian stories of the Cherokee, or the Tsalagi, also called the Chelokay.

As to the fighting parts of the both series, I am cautious about violence and what it does to people. Used wrong, or taught to unbalanced people, it can lead to disaster. Used right, taught right, it can give confidence to the victims of bullies, victims of abuse—verbal, mental, emotional, physical, sexual—and offer a sense of security to the victims of abuse in any form. I have 3 black belts in the family to ask questions of. I target practice with one of my brothers. And I have access to pathologists and forensic pathologists to ask questions about wounds and evidence.

Amusing note – in the downstairs window of the basement entrance door my hubby has taped a man-shaped target, with lots of centered bullet holes. Mine. He didn’t bother with No Trespassing signs or our alarm system notices. When we had the house added on to recently, the workers all noticed the target and laughed, but made the comment that it was an excellent idea and got the point across.



Do you have any more ideas percolating that you would like to write, for example like different genres?

I wrote something like 16 or 18 books in the mystery / thriller genre and the women’s fiction genre (most under my pen name Gwen Hunter). I like thrillers, I like the pace and the action – and yes, it shows in all my books, as I bring thriller and mystery into my urban fantasy. Among other projects I’ve thought about, I’d love to write a thriller crossover into Jane’s world, with a new Psy-LED female as lead. And I’d love-love-love to write an Everhart witch series, one book from each witch’s POV. Anyway – I have lots of thoughts. We’ll see.

Black Arts
Jane Yellowrock 7
Roc, January 7, 2014
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 336 pages

Jane Yellowrock is a shape-shifting skinwalker who always takes care of her own — no matter the cost….

When Evan Trueblood blows into town looking for his wife, Molly, he’s convinced that she came to see her best friend, Jane. But it seems like the witch made it to New Orleans and then disappeared without a trace.

Jane is ready to do whatever it takes to find her friend. Her desperate search leads her deep into a web of black magic and betrayal and into the dark history between vampires and witches. But the closer she draws to Molly, the closer she draws to a new enemy—one who is stranger and more powerful than any she has ever faced.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

About Faith

Faith Hunter, fantasy writer, was born in Louisiana and raised all over the south. The Skinwalker series, featuring Jane Yellowrock is taking off like a rocket with Skinwalker, Blood Cross, Mercy Blade, Raven Cursed, Death’s Rival, Blood Trade, and Black Arts. Her Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban fantasy series—Bloodring, Seraphs, and Host—feature Thorn St. Croix, a stone mage in a post-apocalyptic, alternate reality, urban fantasy world. These novels are the basis for the role playing game, Rogue Mage.

Under the pen name Gwen Hunter, she writes action-adventure, mysteries, and thrillers. As Faith and Gwen, she has 20+ books in print in 28 countries.

Hunter fell in love with reading in fifth grade, and best loved SiFi, fantasy, and gothic. She decided to become a writer in high school, when a teacher told her she had talent. Now, she writes full-time and works full-time in a hospital lab, (for the benefits) tries to keep house, and is a workaholic with a passion for travel, jewelry making, white-water kayaking, and writing. She and her husband love to RV, traveling with their dogs to whitewater rivers all over the Southeast.

Blog  ~  Website  ~  Pinterest  ~  Goodreads  ~  Twitter @HunterFaith  ~  Facebook





The Giveaway

What:  One commenter will win a Mass Market  Paperback copy of Black Arts (Jane Yellowrock 7) by Faith Hunter from the publisher. US ONLY

How:   Log into and follow the directions in the Rafflecopter below.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a US mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59 PM US Eastern Time on January 4, 2014. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

*Giveaway rules and duration are subject to change at any time without notice*

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