I was sitting in a restaurant recently, having one of those let’s-catch-up-because-we-haven’t-seen-each-other-for-months kind of lunches with an old girlfriend. After the plates were cleared away and we’d finished trading guilty looks for splitting a second dessert, the conversation got around to my writing. She had just finished reading The Kure and wanted to know more about what was going through my mind when I was writing one of the horror scenes. I expected the usual questions having to do with the process of choosing a setting, or how to make the negative components of the dark side relate to some other aspect of the story through direct reference or metaphor.
She surprised me: “Once you’re in that state of mind—so you can see the horror well enough to describe it—how do you get it out of your head? How do you deal with it for days, and sometimes months, and still sleep at night?”
I don’t remember what I told her. At the time, I was still reluctant to reveal the nightmares that often ended with me being forced awake by my own sleep-shattering screams.
But her question was a good one. And the more I thought about it, the more I began to wonder if a writer’s physical reactions—while immersed in the process of serving up just the right portions of terror, violence, and distress—were really useful indicators, rather than undesirable by-products.
I began to realize that the intensity and frequency of my nightmares were not only an inescapable side-effect, but an integral part of creating a realistic tear in the universe, or a believable—but altered—state of reality.
I’ve never been able to walk away from the computer and leave the story on the hard drive. It stays with me, evolving, taking form, breathing and bleeding, brushing against me in the dark. And sometimes, when I least expect it, it tries to take control. If I’m near the keyboard, it goes into the story. But if I’m asleep, it reaches out for me . . . and pulls me in.
In the following excerpt from The Kure, John finds himself in the grasp of a vindictive master–a supernatural power that will not allow him to keep the details of the Kure’s sinister ritual a secret any longer. Only by confessing its existence to Sarah—the woman he has sworn to protect from its influence—can he save himself from everlasting torment.
Excerpt:
The purest form of fear tightened around his chest. He thrashed against merciless restraint, desperate to pull in a breath. Sensing his panic, the creatures’ breathing turned loud and anxious, their acrid, metallic wind washing over him like a rush of burning nettles. He choked and gagged, fighting for air, helpless against a force as persistent as the shrill cry filling his ears.
Tell her. Tell her. Tell her.
Another blinding flash dropped from the blue-fired curtain and John heard his own juices sizzle as scorching heat charred his skin. He cried out, his screams lost in the trailing thunder.
Tell her. Tell her. Tell her.
The next bolt exploded from the remotest regions of the expanse, its target as certain as if thrown by Satan himself. The blistering torch cut John to the quick, the blast wrenching his head backward to face the absent heavens. His eyelids burned away, he watched in horror as a new stream of vicious hellions burst from a malevolent sky. Swooping down, they half-flew, half-fell, shrieking the same familiar chant.
Tell her. Tell her. Tell her.
The words struck him like sharpened quartz, cutting deep into his quivering flesh. His heart flailed wildly in his chest, its violent beating so loud he worried his torso was already splayed open and exposed to the grisly mutants.
Tell her. Tell her. Tell her.
Those closest to him tested the reach of their thorny spikes, the trickles of blood sharpening their appetite for the kill.
Ever since his arrival into the void, John had continued to harbor the most basic instinct of any species—survival. He believed a route of escape remained open and accessible, and with sufficient time and effort, he would eventually find it. Now he realized his involuntary passage had not only taken his freedom, but had also stripped away every nuance of hope.
He felt the tug of barbed claws ripping and tearing at his clothes, the jabs and slashes intensifying until they extended beyond fabric. His blood gushed, painting his tormentors, the hellish sacrament driving the wicked feeders into a maniacal and savage frenzy.
With no one to chronicle his side of the battle, without another human soul to document his courage, only he could serve as witness—a witness who could no longer tell delirium from reality, insanity from death.
It had to end.
“I will!” John screamed. “I will tell her!”
It was reflex, a primal reaction to imminent extinction.
He offered no final muster of resistance, no new wave of strength. He was finished. The cure had become a curse, and it owned him. It was as much a part of him as an arm or leg. In the end, he knew he could only puppet the dark master’s wish.
John Tyler, a young man in his early twenties, awakens to find a ghastly affliction taking over his body. When the village doctor offers the conventional, and potentially disfiguring, treatment as the only cure, John tenaciously convinces the doctor to reveal an alternative remedy—a forbidden ritual contained within an ancient manuscript called the Kure.
Although initially rejecting the vile and sinister rite, John realizes, too late, that the ritual is more than a faded promise scrawled on a page of crumbling paper. And as cure quickly becomes curse, the demonic text unleashes a dark power that drives him to consider the unthinkable—a depraved and wicked act requiring the corruption of an innocent soul.
Ultimately, John must choose between his desperate need to arrest the plague that is destroying his body, and the virtue of the woman he loves, knowing the wrong decision could cost him his life.
For a limited time, read “The Kure” for only $.99 (kindle version)
One of my resolutions for 2012 is to read more new authors – especially those whose books normally fall outside my favorite genres. As I began to search reviewer’s blogs for some ideas, I realized how many more people were reading books of all kinds, primarily due to increased availability and choice of low-cost ebooks for the kindle and nook. I often saw comments from readers who had decided to read a particular author’s work because it was ninety-nine cents, or in some cases, free. Realizing a lower price would motivate more people to read The Kure, I decided to temporarily lower the price. I’m calling it “Resolve To Read”, and it’s going on right now. The kindle version of The Kure can be purchased for ninety-nine cents on Amazon. So if you were planning on buying a kindle version anyway, why not take advantage of the “Resolve To Read” promotion and save two bucks?
Jaye Frances is the author of the new paranormal/occult romance The Kure, the first novel in The Kure series. Her next release, scheduled for March 2012, is titled The Possibilities of Amy, a coming-of-age story about a young man forced to choose between alignment with his peer group and protecting his new love interest. She is also a featured columnist for the NUSA SUN magazine. Jaye was born in the Midwest and grew up surrounded by traditional values and conservative attitudes (which she quickly discarded). She readily admits that her life’s destination has been the result of an open mind and a curiosity about all things irreverent. When she’s not consumed by her writing, Jaye enjoys cooking, traveling to all places tropical and “beachy” and taking pictures—lots of pictures—many of which find their way to her website. Jaye lives on the central gulf coast of Florida, sharing her home with one husband, six computers, four cameras, and several hundred pairs of shoes.
Find Jaye Frances on the web:
Her website: jayefrances.com/
Her blog: blog.jayefrances.com/
Her Facebook page: facebook.com/jayefrancesauthor
The Kure on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12718447-the-kure
Thank you for stopping by, Jaye!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
No comments:
Post a Comment