Field Of Blood is a rush-to-the-next-page adventure

Field of Blood, the first in the Jerusalem's Undead Trilogy, features a young woman named Gina Lazarescu, a Romanian Jew.  What inspired you to write this Trilogy, and Gina's story, in particular?

 

In 1989, a bulldozer broke into two-thousand year old burial caves outside of Jerusalem. These tombs were beneath the very spot where Judas Iscariot hung himself, then spilled his blood into the ground. That was the soil from which my vampire trilogy raised its head. (Maybe I should have a fan club called the Undead Heads. You think Jerry Garcia would mind?) I now had the evil force for my series.

 

On the good side, I drew from a section in the Gospel of Matthew that says saints rose from their tombs when Jesus died and resurrected. These saints are mentioned in only that one place (Mt. 27:50-53). I thought: What if they're immortal? What if they've been left on this earth to protect humans? What if... ?

 

Gina is the human factor that keeps this story grounded. But she's not as insignificant as she believes. She discovers that both groups of undead, the good and the evil, are out to find her. In many ways, I wanted to use her to explore the extremes of religious thought and the emotional damage that comes from that. Through the three books, we'll follow her journey: one of self-discovery, forgiveness, and embracing the truth instead of the lies she's been fed.

 

I develop my stories around a key concept, then explore the history and setting, and let my characters present themselves from the themes of that research.

 

Some might see a dichotomy in having a vampire-themed series published by a traditionally Christian publisher, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Can you describe your road to being published by Thomas Nelson, and why you think your Trilogy appealed to them?

 

I actually had a few NY publishers show interest in the series, but their sales teams said they wouldn't know how to market it. I had the same response from many Christian publishers.

 

After traveling in Romania and Israel, my goal was to write a story that would grip readers rather than banging them over the head with a sermon. I despise that as a fiction reader myself. I did, however, want to deal with themes we see all around us--religious extremism, superstition, vampirism, etc--and put them in a historical, literary, and spiritual context. The original vampire literature was full of exploration of faith, science, and the supernatural. I wanted to bring back that atmospheric sense of menace pitted against a measure--even a small one--of true faith.

 

Your debut novel, Dark to Mortal Eyes, came out in 2004, and is also a part of a series, as are other books you've written. What draws you to write series?

 

All of my original works, which represent three separate series, are actually tied together by a same-world concept. As the Jerusalem's Undead Trilogy goes on, it will start to thread in and out of my first series, the Senses Series (exploring each of the five senses), and include stuff from my Aramis Black mystery series. When it's all done, I'll have eleven titles in three series, all joined by settings, characters, and subplots. I'm presently working on a proposal to continue the vampire ideas with a spinoff called the Concealed Tales, filling in some of the dark sections in human history--the Crusades, Rasputin and the Tsars, and so on.

 

Has writing always been something you wanted to do?

 

I've always wanted to write, and I've always wanted to encourage others to pursue their childhood dreams.

 

Most of my life has centered round those goals. In high school, I completed my first novel (just to prove to myself I could do it). I spent a lot of time leading youth groups, hoping to encourage kids who came from broken homes, or had questions about life that adults wouldn't answer. My teen years were full of questions, dreams, and heartache, and I have real empathy for that age group. Along the way, I kept dreaming of being a writer. Eleven years ago, with my wife's full support, I left corporate America and took a less strenuous job so that I could start writing what would become my debut published novel.

 

This year, at long last, I was able to go "full-time," though I'm still making less than I did in the corporate world. But I'm much happier. My wife and kids can attest to that.

 

Your website reveals a writing schedule for the Jerusalem's Undead Trilogy that seems to leave little time for other pursuits. Yet, in addition to this series, you've been quite active lately writing novelizations of screenplays, with the most recent being Fireproof. How did you become involved in this activity, and how do you find time to do it all?

 

Once I have the concept and research for a novel, it takes me three to five months to write the thing. I have no patience for NY Times bestsellers (genre authors, specifically) who complain about a novel a year. Some of us are writing our butts off to make a lot less of a living. Heck, three pages a day (1000 words) can lead to a complete novel in a few months. This is a job, not the luxury road to riches--or at least not for most of us.

 

The novelizations came to me. I had just signed for the Jerusalem's Undead Trilogy with Thomas Nelson, when they contracted with this moviemaking team to do novels of their films. I was approached, because I'd said I would do whatever it took to make a living at this, and after a long interview process, the moviemakers decided to work with me. It's been a great collaborative effort. They've been great to work with, very open to my additions and changes. On my end, I've tried to be faithful to the heart and direction of their original screenplays. It's been a lot of fun.

 

What advice would you give would-be writers?

 

Stop blogging. Stop text-messaging. Stop whatever else you're doing, and just write.

 

It won't happen if you only think and dream about it. It won't happen while you whine about it. It will happen only if you decide that nothing will get in the way.

 

The only aside to that: Honor your present commitments--job, family, and so on. But let everything else fall by the wayside. If you want the "twenty-six lead soldiers" of the alphabet to march forward, you'll have to join them with a military type diligence, coupled with the freedom of mind to let your imagination roam.

Contributing editor, Julie Compton, originally hails from St. Louis, Missouri, the setting for her debut novel and legal thriller TELL NO LIES. An attorney by profession, Julie most recently worked as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in Wilmington, Delaware, but stopped practicing when she moved to Florida with her husband and two daughters. She now writes full time.