I have a real treat for you today, as well as many others to come. Today though, we have an interview with author Tonia Brown. Her book "Sundowners" was recently released with Permuted Press and is a real page-turner. I had tons of fun gathering all of this information from Tonia as well as doing the interview. Granted, there weren't many questions, but there is so much good information here you'll feel like you know her personally! First, we'll start with some information about her riveting work "Sundowners!" Enjoy!
Here are a few details about "Sundowners!"
Sundowners is a backwoods southern horror about the
importance of family, the power of gossip and the nature of the artistic muse.
Fifteen years ago, siblings Coil and Cassiopeia suffered an
incident in the woods behind their family home. An incident that neither of
them are willing to remember. Something that nearly killed Cass and left Coil
accused as her abuser. An act that robbed young Coil of his artistic potential
yet boosted his little sister into an almost overnight sensation in the art
world.
Now, fifteen years later, the self-exiled Coil has come home
to deal with his world famous sister as she suffers from sundowning; severe and
violent personality shifts after the sun sets. Coil’s reluctant loyalty to his
family is rewarded with an unexpected return to his artistic roots, as he wakes
each day to find he has painted a brilliant but disturbing masterpiece in his
sleep.
As the siblings struggle to heal old family scars, something
is reaching out to the small town of Ellenville, driving the townsfolk mad and
leaving chaos, mayhem and death in its wake. The key to stopping the madness
lays in Cass’s sundowning and Coil’s blooming talent.
In order to cure Cass, the pair of siblings must come to
terms with their old demons, both figuratively and literally. They find an
ancient and terrible horror has risen once more from the backwoods of the
family home, and this time it threatens to not only tear their family apart,
but also the small town of Ellenville, and perhaps the entire world.
"Tonia Brown's characters crawl slowly out of the
story, sit beside you and nestle their heads on your shoulder, smiling slyly as
you cringe away, unable to put the book down because you're already hooked and
they know it. Brown is one of the most talented writers to emerged from the
horror scene in recent times and I, for one, will be there for every new
release." ~Gina Ranalli, author of MOTHMAN EMERGED
"Sundowners Is one of those stories that gets under
your skin. Page after page you are sucked into the characters, but you know
something bad is right around that corner, and you don't want anything to
happen to these dysfunctional siblings." ~Armand Rosamilia, author of the
DYING DAYS zombie series
Tonia Brown is a southern author with a penchant for
Victorian dead things. She lives in the backwoods of North Carolina with her
genius husband and an ever fluctuating number of cats. She likes fudgesicles
and coffee, though not always together. When not writing she raises unicorns
and fights crime with her husband under the code names Dr. Weird and his sexy
sidekick Butternut. You can learn more about her at: www.thebackseatwriter.com
NOW SMALL INTERVIEW WITH TONIA HERSELF!
Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
My name is Tonia only because my twin sister’s name is
Tonie. We were supposed to be a boy, but we became two girls along the way. The
docs just didn’t realize there were two of us in there. True story. Tonie is
technically Tonie junior, because our dad is a Tony. So is our nephew. And our
sister’s ex-husband. And my husband’s name is Tony. And my maiden name is
Anthony.
I know. Crazy stuff.
Otherwise, I was raised in a military family, so I’ve been
all over the world. I’ve been married for 18 glorious years to a man that still
rocks my world, even when he is in just his socks and nothing else. I have
loads of cats that control my every waking hour.
Again, true story.
What inspired you to write your first book?
I was tired of reading the same old crap, so I decided to
write new crap. I mean, there is still the same old crap out there, but now you
can read my crap too! Hooray!
How did you come up with the title for
"Sundowners?"
The medical phenomenon of Sundowning has always fascinated
me. Every heard of it? Sundowners Syndrome is when folks—usually older
individuals suffering from an existing form of dementia—experience personality
changes after the sun sets. Sometimes they just wander around or babble incoherently,
but sometimes they get violent and lash out at caretakers and loved ones. I’ve
heard nursing home tales of little old ladies breaking nurses’ arms in their
sudden rage after dark. I get accused of making it all up when I tell people
about it, but it’s real! Google that shit!
When I learned about it, I wanted to write a book about it,
and of course it bloomed into a horror novel. Took me two years to work on. The
story was just slow to tell. When I finished it just seemed natural to title
the book after the whole thing.
What genre is "Sundowners" and what draws you to
this genre?
Sundowners is a horror novel. A little Southern Gothic at
times, a little Lovecraftian influenced at others, but mostly straight horror.
Oh, and a touch of romance. Don’t wince! It’s only a touch.
I love horror because it’s so much fun. I mean, yeah I love
gore and stuff like that, but the real reason I write it is because it is fun
to write. I love the idea of scaring the crap out of folks!
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Welcome and learn from criticism. Everyone goes through an
awkward writing phase before they find their voice. People aren’t judging your
worth as a person when they tell you how horrible your work is. (And trust me,
they will.) They are judging your writing skill. Keep in mind you asked them to
do that very thing when you offered to let them read it. Take what you can from
the criticism and learn. If your feelings get hurt, you either need a thicker
skin or you need to get out of the game now while you still can.
So everyone don't miss your chance to check out her work "Sundowners." It is truly an amazing piece of literature and I hope you learned as much about it and its creator as you possibly could. We had a lot of fun doing this and just to give you guys a little more insight here are two more blurbs!
"If you haven’t read Tonia Brown, you’re missing out on
one of the finest voices in dark fiction. Sundowners is Brown at her best, and
you’d do well to give it a whirl." ~Pete Giglio, author of SUNFALL MANOR
and co-author of THE DARK
"Tonia Brown's Sundowners is one of the most engaging
books I've read this year! This southern-flavored horror is so well-written
that I found myself re-reading sentences constantly. Ms. Brown drew me right in
and made me late coming back from lunch more than once." ~Stephen A.
North, author of DEAD TIDE and DRIFTER
Here are some links below that will not only take you to a place where you can learn more about this amazing and talented woman, but to also purchase her work "Sundowners."
Website: /www.thebackseatwriter.com
Blog: steampunktrain.blogspot.com
FaceBook: www.facebook.com/backseatwriter
Purchase link:
http://www.amazon.com/Sundowners-Tonia-Brown-ebook/dp/B00LUB9O3M/
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