'Chaos' Nilsson has it all: a successful career in the music industry, fame, money, the girl.
He also has a monkey on his back, brought about by the visions that plague his mind and haunt his every waking moment; visions that will only be quietened when he numbs himself with generous amounts of alcohol and drugs.
After an accident that nearly costs him his life, he embarks on a journey of self discovery, in search of his roots and the secret to the blood coursing through his vein.
Blood by Ruth Miranda is so much more than a horror story with supernatural creatures. This novella is a family drama centered around a young man named Caius, who has recently survived an extremely traumatic experience and he now requires therapy. During his sessions, Cai reveals he is suffering from brutal visions...memories of life he's never lived. He soon realizes his family has been keeping several secrets from him, the kind of secrets that tear apart loved ones and destroy lives.
Miranda alternates between the visions and Cai's sessions, creating the right amount of suspense to lure readers in, only to be faced with blood, teeth, lies and deceit, as Cai attempts to find the truth behind his many "gifts." The story pours along rather quickly with the visions continuing, even as the young man travels far from home.
The cast of characters and the detailed lore behind each one is making the wait for the sequel excruciating...so I decided to kill some time by inviting Ruth Miranda to the Lair...
Q. Where did the idea for Blood come from? Did you do any research for your characters’ special traits?
It actually came from the photo used for the book cover. I was playing around with ideas for another book cover when I happened upon that image, and suddenly, a story came into my mind, the main characters already very defined. I did not research any traits, used mostly my own life experience.
Q. There are so many layers to this story…do you have a specific message you are trying to get across to your readers?
I don’t think so. My main goal with Blood was to entice the readers into start making up assumptions in their minds, as to what was going on. I actually started doing that before publishing the novella, by sharing teasers on my Instagram that really helped spike up curiosity. But in the end, maybe what I am trying to say with this story is that perhaps nothing is thicker than blood?
Q. Why did you choose to write within this sub-genre of horror? Is this also what you prefer to read?
I read everything, except sappy romance. My favourite authors are Stephen King, Agatha Christie, Donna Tart, Anne Rice. But I mostly write in the Paranormal genre, usually Paranormal Romance, or Paranormal Fantasy. I do like to mix up several sub-genres, but to be honest, I never looked at Blood as horror, to me it was a Paranormal Urban Fantasy, very much like my previous novels, The Preternaturals Series – although these are very much romance infused, and Blood lacks that.
Q. For some reason, many of the authors I know are chefs, bakers, etc., even if they write in different genres. Do you think this is a coincidence or do you think there is a serious connection between food and the written word?
I see books and writing as food for the mind, so yes, I think there’s a bit of a connection there. I love cooking, but I mostly love eating, and I have a slight obsession with feeding my family balanced meals with the occasional treat. I’m also very much of a wine lover, which goes together so well both with books and food, doesn’t it? I think they all come together in the end. The first novel I published actually delves a bit more into food, it’s a Mystery Romance and food does play an important part in it.
Q. You seem to be equally passionate about cooking and writing. How do you find time for both?
Well, I am a stay at home mom, so I can indulge in writing all day long while my son’s at school. And seeing that my husband works full time, I think it’s only fair I get to do the cooking on work-days. Most of my food is every day, simple fair, and because I can afford the time, I usually spend a bit playing around with food, so I get to serve something that is nourishing but also delicious and interesting to eat. As for my writing, even when I’m lying down to sleep, I find myself coming up with stories, or lines, sentences and even whole chapters that end up in paper the next day, after they’ve stewed in my head. But not working outside the home does provide me with time for all this.
Q. The Lair has a lot viewers who will enjoy your new Blood series. Is there anything else you would like them to know about your writing? What do you have planned for the rest of this year?
I plan to write another two novellas related to Blood this year, focusing both on events that come after those taking place in Blood and those before it. I am also working on an Arthurian saga, two volumes are already written and am on the third and hopefully final one, but I don’t think these will be published before the end of the year, probably only by 2019. These also connect with Blood in a sense that some characters overlap, and the “universe” created for them is the same, as it is with The Preternaturals Series. So there’s still a lot of work ahead for me, which is great, I love what I do!
Thank you for visiting the Lair!
I will be keeping track of Ruth Miranda as the new titles come out, so readers can expect to see more of her work here in the future.
As always,
AstraDaemon
Blood by Ruth Miranda is so much more than a horror story with supernatural creatures. This novella is a family drama centered around a young man named Caius, who has recently survived an extremely traumatic experience and he now requires therapy. During his sessions, Cai reveals he is suffering from brutal visions...memories of life he's never lived. He soon realizes his family has been keeping several secrets from him, the kind of secrets that tear apart loved ones and destroy lives.
Miranda alternates between the visions and Cai's sessions, creating the right amount of suspense to lure readers in, only to be faced with blood, teeth, lies and deceit, as Cai attempts to find the truth behind his many "gifts." The story pours along rather quickly with the visions continuing, even as the young man travels far from home.
The cast of characters and the detailed lore behind each one is making the wait for the sequel excruciating...so I decided to kill some time by inviting Ruth Miranda to the Lair...
It actually came from the photo used for the book cover. I was playing around with ideas for another book cover when I happened upon that image, and suddenly, a story came into my mind, the main characters already very defined. I did not research any traits, used mostly my own life experience.
Q. There are so many layers to this story…do you have a specific message you are trying to get across to your readers?
I don’t think so. My main goal with Blood was to entice the readers into start making up assumptions in their minds, as to what was going on. I actually started doing that before publishing the novella, by sharing teasers on my Instagram that really helped spike up curiosity. But in the end, maybe what I am trying to say with this story is that perhaps nothing is thicker than blood?
Q. Why did you choose to write within this sub-genre of horror? Is this also what you prefer to read?
I read everything, except sappy romance. My favourite authors are Stephen King, Agatha Christie, Donna Tart, Anne Rice. But I mostly write in the Paranormal genre, usually Paranormal Romance, or Paranormal Fantasy. I do like to mix up several sub-genres, but to be honest, I never looked at Blood as horror, to me it was a Paranormal Urban Fantasy, very much like my previous novels, The Preternaturals Series – although these are very much romance infused, and Blood lacks that.
Q. For some reason, many of the authors I know are chefs, bakers, etc., even if they write in different genres. Do you think this is a coincidence or do you think there is a serious connection between food and the written word?
I see books and writing as food for the mind, so yes, I think there’s a bit of a connection there. I love cooking, but I mostly love eating, and I have a slight obsession with feeding my family balanced meals with the occasional treat. I’m also very much of a wine lover, which goes together so well both with books and food, doesn’t it? I think they all come together in the end. The first novel I published actually delves a bit more into food, it’s a Mystery Romance and food does play an important part in it.
Q. You seem to be equally passionate about cooking and writing. How do you find time for both?
Well, I am a stay at home mom, so I can indulge in writing all day long while my son’s at school. And seeing that my husband works full time, I think it’s only fair I get to do the cooking on work-days. Most of my food is every day, simple fair, and because I can afford the time, I usually spend a bit playing around with food, so I get to serve something that is nourishing but also delicious and interesting to eat. As for my writing, even when I’m lying down to sleep, I find myself coming up with stories, or lines, sentences and even whole chapters that end up in paper the next day, after they’ve stewed in my head. But not working outside the home does provide me with time for all this.
Q. The Lair has a lot viewers who will enjoy your new Blood series. Is there anything else you would like them to know about your writing? What do you have planned for the rest of this year?
I plan to write another two novellas related to Blood this year, focusing both on events that come after those taking place in Blood and those before it. I am also working on an Arthurian saga, two volumes are already written and am on the third and hopefully final one, but I don’t think these will be published before the end of the year, probably only by 2019. These also connect with Blood in a sense that some characters overlap, and the “universe” created for them is the same, as it is with The Preternaturals Series. So there’s still a lot of work ahead for me, which is great, I love what I do!
Thank you for visiting the Lair!
I will be keeping track of Ruth Miranda as the new titles come out, so readers can expect to see more of her work here in the future.
As always,
AstraDaemon
Thank you SOOOOO much for the feature!!!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure!
DeleteAs a woman who is in sixth season of starring in an LBGTQ based supernatural horror/thriller, to say I LOVED blood would be an understatement! I deeply appreciated as a woman, that she chose to make the love interest a plus sized woman. I'm so tired of hearing people say this is cliche. There is nothing cliche about about loving a person regardless of size. And I've got news, as a chick who once weighed 400lbs and thought she looked damn good then, just as much as I do right now in a size 12 (spoiler alert- I didn't have bariatric surgery, either)- big girls got it going on. At times, I had to put the book down and walk away for a few moments when reading about the flashbacks he had of her- and his flashbacks, period. The author described them in amazing detail and as a person who lives with PTSD, she made me empathize with Cai greatly and feel his pain. If I can't immerse myself into a book and get feeling, I'll put it down. I'm one that something HAS to capture my attention and keep it. That's one thing Blood did from the beginning to the very end. Hats off to the author!
ReplyDelete