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Tethered to Darkness
Group Reads: Guest Author Invite
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January 2022 Group Read #2 with Guest Author, Justin Holley
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This sounds really good, I love Astral projection stories! Excited for this one guys! Welcome Justin!
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Thank you so much for having me! I sure appreciate it. And I hope you dig the story. Questions? Please don't hesitate to ask.
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This looks very exciting and different from the usual horror tropes. Looking forward to reading it!
Saving the thread!
Hi, Justin! Welcome to HA! I'm hoping to squeeze this in to my reading plan for the month.
Can you tell us a little bit about how this book came to be?
Kenneth wrote: "Hey Justin. Thanks for joining us. I think the topic of astral projection is so interesting. How did this story come about? Was there a lot of research that had to go into it to get the nuances right?"I did do quite a bit of research. Interestingly, my greatest resource was Out of Body Experiences by Robert Peterson. We met at a book signing in Brainerd, MN and we traded books. Robert got a copy of Bruised. His came in handy when I needed the info...
Char wrote: "Hi, Justin! Welcome to HA! I'm hoping to squeeze this in to my reading plan for the month.
Can you tell us a little bit about how this book came to be?"
You bet! I've always been fascinated with Astral Projection even though I'm too chicken to actually ever try it...mostly for the reasons outlined in the story. lol. Anyway, I wondered what the worst-case scenario may be for someone who practices Astral Projection. This is what my mind came up with. But I wanted it to be more than that...I knew I wanted a love story at its core. I hope I accomplished this. Please let me know :)
Paula wrote: "This looks very exciting and different from the usual horror tropes. Looking forward to reading it!"Thank you so much!
Thank you for sharing your time with us Justin. I'm so excited to start reading this tomorrow. I love the topic of Astral projection so I was already pumped about the story. Then I saw the cover...it is stunning!
Kasia wrote: "The cover alone looks incredible, I'll definitely be reading this with you guys. And Justin, welcome welcome, really looking forward to this story."Thank you! Hope you enjoy :)
Sally wrote: "This sounds really good, I love Astral projection stories! Excited for this one guys! Welcome Justin!"Thanks for reading, Sally!
Kimberly wrote: "Welcome Justin! Looking forward to reading this one!"Thanks! Thank you for having me.
Latasha wrote: "Welcome Justin and thanks for joining us!"Thanks for having me. I'm excited to hear all the feedback.
Diving in, love the Occult art at the beginning of the chapter.
Sally wrote: "Diving in, love the Occult art at the beginning of the chapter."Yes, the artwork is fantastic! My publisher spoils me :)
Really enjoying this so far. The descriptions of the sounds and smells when Mia is having an experience are terrific. Bruce is such a sweet character. Justin, are any of the characters from the book based on people in your life? Or are they creations specifically for this story?
Sally wrote: "Really enjoying this so far. The descriptions of the sounds and smells when Mia is having an experience are terrific. Bruce is such a sweet character. Justin, are any of the characters from the b..."
Thank you, Sally, for the kind words. Yes, in fact, Mia very much exists in real life. She is based on someone I know and that someone is also having a lot of fun reading this. Of course, Mia isn't a 100% representation of this individual, but some of her traits are there for sure...such as the social anxiety and knitting.
Thanks Justin, that's very cool. I'm also loving Crowley the cat. In my head he's an angry little King of Hell like Crowley from Supernatural: )
Sally wrote: "Thanks Justin, that's very cool. I'm also loving Crowley the cat. In my head he's an angry little King of Hell like Crowley from Supernatural: )"Yes, Crowley rules the roost :)
Just finished, Justin this ended up being way more than I expected. It got really intense at parts and some of the scenes with Pastor Matt were downright disturbing. Really great stuff. The religious cult scenario was definitely well written and well researched. The occult knowledge was solid as well. This story was wrapped up very nicely, but I must say I would be thrilled if the professor and Crowley were up for more adventures. There was queer representation in this story. It was subtle but positive and, as a lesbian, I very much appreciated it. Thank you for sharing time with us Justin, I'll definitely be checking out some of your other work. And if Crowley and the professor ever show back up, please let me know!
Sally wrote: "Just finished, Justin this ended up being way more than I expected. It got really intense at parts and some of the scenes with Pastor Matt were downright disturbing. Really great stuff. The religio..."Sally, thank you so much! And I'm super glad I got things right. I worry about that a lot. As for Professor Colista and Crowley, we shall see. I have a couple ideas percolating...
I'm about 60% in. At first I wasn't too thrilled with Mia or Bruce - too goody-two-shoes, you know. And I didn't think I was going to like it. And the slutty roommate was a little over the top, also, I thought. But then.... But then, things took a decidedly evil and wicked twist, and now I'm in the midst of an occult circle, demonic(ish) possession, and a religious cult. Things are getting most delicious!
Completed the book last night and just posted my review on GR.Justin, I love the Minecraft references in your book. Are you an avid gamer, or just your characters?
Kind of off topic but I just got an email that you dropped a new book today Justin, Congrats! It sounds good, gotta take a look at the first 2 in the series.
Netanella wrote: "I'm about 60% in. At first I wasn't too thrilled with Mia or Bruce - too goody-two-shoes, you know. And I didn't think I was going to like it. And the slutty roommate was a little over the top, als..."Sometimes an author needs to keep things placid for a time so that the turn is more shocking. Thanks so much for reading. Glad you ended up enjoying it. The feedback I'm getting on Colista and Crowley has my gears turning, for sure!
Netanella wrote: "Completed the book last night and just posted my review on GR.Justin, I love the Minecraft references in your book. Are you an avid gamer, or just your characters?"
The only video game I play a lot of is Resident Evil 4. But my stepson is a huge Minecraft fan, so I had some fuel to draw from there!
Sally wrote: "Kind of off topic but I just got an email that you dropped a new book today Justin, Congrats! It sounds good, gotta take a look at the first 2 in the series."Thank you! Yes, the entire 3-book serialized Blood from the Stars novel is now out. The 3 books are called (in order): The Fall, The Capture, and The End Game. Readers seem to be enjoying them thus far :)
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Kenneth wrote: "Justin, do you have a favorite horror sub-genre? Is there one that you haven’t done yet that you’d like to explore?"I'm currently writing a psychological horror piece, no monsters or supernatural events. Just human monsters. I've always wanted to try this and it's a blast so far!
https://geni.us/9t0s