I’m an avid recreational mountain climber and have summited Mount Shasta over a dozen times. Having studied the mountain and knowing of its mystical legends and lore, I felt impelled to write a story incorporating those legends.

John J. Blenkush – 24 December 2020

The Back Flap

A maligned and shamed teenager transforms into our planet’s only hope at salvation.

Lemurian DNA is at its end.  Armageddon is near.  A new world is about to be created.  Few will survive.  And only one, the surface-equal, can save the ancient race from extinction.  Through happenstance 16-year old Julissa Grant becomes the Lemurian’s choice.  But she’s not without flaws.  Although she can inject fresh DNA, is a virgin, and is believed pure of heart, she is easily misled.  Her temperament is problematic to learning the Lemurian age-old art of transferring, manipulating, and storing life-force energy, critical to living in the New World.  Her notoriety gained when she’s embodied with the Holy Grail of healing only serves to lead her further off course.  For a time, she joins the Sons and Daughters of Belial, the Lemurian’s arch enemies.  After she and her loved ones become targets of the Belials, she chooses to go below to the Lemurian city of Telos.  But she’s a diamond in the rough.  She fails at walking Songline with her equal, Aaron Delmon.  She’s given a last-gasp chance to prove she’s the surface-equal by completing Discovery.  Will she make it to the NEW WORLD?  Give birth to their visionary leader, HeIs?  As the Lemurian Foretold has prophesied?  Or die trying?

About the book

When did you start writing the book?

I started writing the SOLSTICE SERIES eight years ago, publishing the first book, Of The Heart, in 2012.

How long did it take you to write it?

Eight years to write all five books of the SOLSTICE SERIES.

Where did you get the idea from?

I’m an avid recreational mountain climber and have summited Mount Shasta over a dozen times.  Having studied the mountain and knowing of its mystical legends and lore, I felt impelled to write a story incorporating those legends.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

Many times.  But as Julissa Grant, the protagonist took on a life of her own, her reactions became easier to create.  As well as the other characters.

What came easily?

Having a sense of how these – young – characters would react.  I grew up with six sisters and spent most of my adult career working for a high school and university, which gave me sense and perspective into their world.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

 All fictitious, with the exception I used a name of past acquaintance. (deceased)

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

I love real-life drama and am drawn to adventure stories.  Joe Simpson, Ed Viesturs, Reinhold Messner, have all had an impact.  Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell are recent additions, which inspire me to look outside the box.  So it’s not so much as to how I write, as to what I write.

Do you have a target reader?

Not generally, although the SOLSTICE SERIES – due to the protagonist being a female and teen – seemed likely destined to be YA.  However, beta testing proved the series captured the attention of general adult.  I write what I know, feel, experience, which doesn’t lend itself to pigeon-holing.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

Get up every morning, sit down and write.  Something.  Anything.  Get stuck?  Go for a run. (I train and run marathons.)  Some of my best thoughts are generated when I’m in the zone.  With the SOLSTICE SERIES, the latter books – even though they’re more complicated – were easier because the characters were established and destined in their interactions.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

No.  I don’t outline.  Until I’ve completed the novel.  I let my imagination run wild.  It’s where I want to ‘live.’  And create.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

I’ve used batch editing to reset the stage in my head and to spur progress, but I don’t do it as a matter of practice.  Once the novel is finished, I’ll edit over and over again, until I find I’m damaging the work instead of improving it.

Did you hire a professional editor?

No.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

I did while writing Stacy’s Story.  Loreena McKennitt’s Mummy Dance and others seemed to fit the alter world Stacy had entered and drove my fingers to write what Kirkus described as “beautiful passages.”  But I didn’t use music for Reddition or the five books for the SOLSTICE SERIES, as I find it distracting.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

Yes.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

It was more of a plunge, as Amazon had just opened its doors to Indie publishing.  Only later did I shop my novels around to literary agents.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

I created all the book covers for my novels, with the exception I hired Robin Ludwig Design Inc. to create (from my design) the 3d image for the SOLSTICE BOXSET.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

No set plan, although I’m currently using Amazon, www.nnlightsbookhaven.com, www.booksbutterfly.com, Goodreads, and others to promote and push the SOLSTICE SERIES.  I also have my own website; www.lostfingerart.com, where I advertise and promote my works.

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

When I wrote my first novel (The Dothorian Door) back in the early 90s, I threw everything in including the kitchen sink.  First draft contained 600,000 words, which after many drafts I cut back to a reasonable 90,000 or so.  It was tough work, and I almost gave up.  But other ideas for stories emerged in my head and kept knocking to get out.  If you sit down and ‘play’ with the idea, over and over, the story will come out.  The hard part is writing ‘good’ enough that others will want to read it.  Which requires work.  And as hard as it is to write good copy and build an entire novel, it’s even harder to sell that novel.  Just know, unless you’re extremely lucky, to be successful you will have to endure.  And endure some more.

About You

Where did you grow up?

I grew up on a (very) small dairy farm in Minnesota, the 6th of 10 siblings.

Where do you live?

In Northern California.

What would you like readers to know about you?

That I love adventure and the stories it generates.  All of my novels spring from this fountain.

What are you working on now?

A novel entitled Sandman, which takes place in Caye Caulker, a small island off mainland Belize.

End of Interview:

Get your copy of the Solstice Series boxset from Amazon US or Amazon UK.