"Crystallophobia (Fear of Glass)," by Jim Bronyaur & Rebecca Besser (Book Thoughts and Author Interview)

I recently had the pleasure of reading "Crystallophobia," the first book in the Series of Fears. Check out the Facebook page!

Although I'm a big fan of Stephen King, I haven't read horror in a long time. Actually, I don't remember ever reading a zombie story. What can I say? I live a sheltered life. But I have to tell you, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the story line and the fast-paced tension of this book. I literally sat on the edge of my seat and gnawed on a fingernail while I read.

Jim and Rebecca keep the action moving in this tale of a struggling small town called Streinersburg, Ohio. We enter the lives of the townspeople on a normal Tuesday morning, when a sudden explosion changes everything.

I'd love to talk more about this book and series, but I thought it would be more exciting if the authors answered a few questions for us.

~Welcome, Jim and Becca! Thank you for allowing me to read the first book in The Series of Fear. Is this your first collaboration?

Bec: We wrote some poetry together back in the day on Soft Whispers. A Line At A Time, I believe it was called. Other than that...this is the first story/book we've written together.

Jim:  Yeah, we had small stuff before.  This is our biggest to date.  And plus, it’s a series, so we’re sort of stuck together, for now. 


~Well, so far, so good. You two work well together. You both have amazingly twisted minds! How did this project begin?

Bec: A joke from a post Jim did on Facebook saying there would never be sparkling zombies. I told him we could rock them and make them badass... LOL

Jim:  Yeah, we have weird conversations.  I’ll say something random and Bec finds a way to turn it into a horror book.  We started writing this story last year but it fizzled out a little.  Then I saw a show about fears and it sparked an idea for a series.  I wanted to take fears and twist them… turn them in a horror series… it just so happened that we had this sparkling zombie idea with pieces of glass in their bodies, etc. so our first fear was born – Crystallophobia, fear of glass.

~The characters had me laughing out loud, cringing and even I felt a little sad for the two old ladies. I enjoyed peeking into the townspeople's lives. Who created which characters?

Bec: I had Sparkles, her mom, the teenager, and the ambulance drivers. :) Everything else is Jim because he started the story. LOL

Jim:  I enjoyed Sparkles… for the time she was there (hehe).  I just thought of a small town, hidden away from the rest of the world, and wrote.  My favorite character of course is Perkins.  His name is cool and he was just fun to build. 

~Which book is the next in the series? Could you give us a little hint what it's about?

Bec: Technology and The Devil/Demons.

Jim:  The next one is Bec’s idea.  It’s a sick premise and I fell in love with it.  A man who was raised Amish gets engaged and moves into a more modern time.  His fiancée gives him a cell phone as a present and soon he begins to think that technology is coming to life to kill him. 

~Ooh! That sounds like a good one too! How can everyone get their copy of Crystallophobia?

Bec: Kindle and Nook!

Jim:  Yup.  And soon enough, we’ll be distributed through Smashwords for .PDF, Sony, Apple, etc.

~Thanks again for stopping by! Good luck with your series. I can't wait until the next one comes out!
*****

Connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Plus, sign up for free e-mail updates from this blog in the top right-hand corner of the page.

*****