Ask the Author: Hadena James
Answered Questions (17)
Hadena James
I have no firm release date for Demonic Dreams. I did manage to get 40,000 words written on it this week, but health problems have kept me from doing much at all the last 9 months, not just work, but my life in general. I was diagnosed with a chronic pain condition and have been searching for a doctor to treat me, but it's been a long search.
Checking my blog, twitter, or Facebook page is the best way to keep up on releases. Or joining my newsletter. You can find the link at the back of any of my ebooks.
Checking my blog, twitter, or Facebook page is the best way to keep up on releases. Or joining my newsletter. You can find the link at the back of any of my ebooks.
Hadena James
None that have published yet. I will spend most of my summer attempting to finish Demonic Dreams.
Hadena James
Fortified Dreams is the most brutal book I have ever written. It has multiple killers who are definitely enjoying themselves. However, if I had to pick the most brutal killer I've ever created, it would hands down be Aislinn Cain. Her mental justifications are sometimes scary and the fact that she doesn't have a preference for how she does it, makes her a force to be reckoned with. If she were a bad guy, it would be hard to link her kills together.
As for research, the one I'm currently writing; Flawless Dreams, has required the most. I have a history degree and can put it to good use in the D&R novels, but Flawless has required me to really understand the insect world and insect farming. There was a lot I didn't know about either. It has been fun to research though and I'm learning all sorts of new things.
As for research, the one I'm currently writing; Flawless Dreams, has required the most. I have a history degree and can put it to good use in the D&R novels, but Flawless has required me to really understand the insect world and insect farming. There was a lot I didn't know about either. It has been fun to research though and I'm learning all sorts of new things.
Hadena James
Sorry it took me so long to respond, I've been without internet for a week now and Goodreads doesn't load on my phone or tablet correctly.
I am still considering it, but he's a bear to write. He has no personality. However, I had to write a ton of backstories for serial killers we'd never met that were in Fortified Dreams. So, at the moment, I'm writing Innocent Dreams and working on making several of these longer (they were just begging to be longer anyway). If I get several in the 15,000 or more word range, I'll put them into a collection and release them.
I am still considering it, but he's a bear to write. He has no personality. However, I had to write a ton of backstories for serial killers we'd never met that were in Fortified Dreams. So, at the moment, I'm writing Innocent Dreams and working on making several of these longer (they were just begging to be longer anyway). If I get several in the 15,000 or more word range, I'll put them into a collection and release them.
Hadena James
I wish I could answer this. Unfortunately, ACX has changed how they do royalties (so you pay $14.99 for the audiobook and I make $0.24 from it), meaning I can't justify spending $5,000 each to create them.
Hadena James
The migraines and decision not to have children are really our only similarities. However, I wanted her to have migraines because I could explain that horror to others through her. People like my father, who barely get headaches, always think a migraine is just a bad headache... Pop some Excederin and get back into it was his philosophy. And it doesn't work that way. Since Aislinn was already neurologically different, giving her migraines seemed appropriate.
If we share other similarities, it's not intentional. The real me is a mesh of the 3 main women from The Dysfunctional Chronicles. I share a lot of traits with Nadine, Kenzie, and to some degree, Alex. Aislinn's more the badass I want to be and the other 3 are more like the real me.
Wait, I do have a head full of facts that Aislinn occasionally helps me spew out, but all my female characters have that trait.
If we share other similarities, it's not intentional. The real me is a mesh of the 3 main women from The Dysfunctional Chronicles. I share a lot of traits with Nadine, Kenzie, and to some degree, Alex. Aislinn's more the badass I want to be and the other 3 are more like the real me.
Wait, I do have a head full of facts that Aislinn occasionally helps me spew out, but all my female characters have that trait.
Hadena James
That's actually the first step on any Dreams & Reality novel. Sometimes, they just come to me (Explosive Dreams, I was actually at the Marion County Fair in Missouri, waiting for the event to start and I was looking at the fair, which looked sad and pathetic because it was still daylight and there were only a handful of people with little kids running around and the inspiration for it was born). Sometimes, I have a method for the killing, but not a killer and the killer evolves from the method. Sometimes, I think "I want to have a young female killer, what would she do?"
I also read a ton of psychology books, sociology books, and true crime to help keep my characters "honest" to the psychology of their killer personality and that's how I get into their heads. What people don't realize is that my imagination is much worse than what I put in the books, so sometimes, I find their heads very disturbing places to be (it was so bad, I couldn't do it for Cannibal Dreams).
I also read a ton of psychology books, sociology books, and true crime to help keep my characters "honest" to the psychology of their killer personality and that's how I get into their heads. What people don't realize is that my imagination is much worse than what I put in the books, so sometimes, I find their heads very disturbing places to be (it was so bad, I couldn't do it for Cannibal Dreams).
Hadena James
I have a history degree. As for Aislinn & Malachi... During the serial killer flap of the late 1960's, the US Marshals attempted to organize a team of trackers for the specific purpose of hunting serial killers. It was a disaster and didn't last more than a year. However, seventeen years ago, when I started the series, I thought that maybe it would have gone better if the trackers had been just as off as the killers and Aislinn was born. I picked a woman because it's rare for women to be either sociopaths or psychopaths. Malachi was created because I needed a psychopath to highlight the differences and similarities between the two. Later, he evolved into a more important character, not just a contrast, but a compliment.
Hadena James
I am aiming for May 2015 for the release of book 8.
Hadena James
The next should release in May of this year. :) It doesn't have a title yet, but it's well under way.
Hadena James
14 November 2014 is the release date for Butchered Dreams. Pre-orders will begin on Amazon and Smashwords about 14 October. Not sure how long it will take to get to iBooks. :-)
Prepare yourself for much Malachi-ness.
Prepare yourself for much Malachi-ness.
Hadena James
I don't know. I just write. For me, it's just something that I do, like breathing or eating.
Hadena James
Cannibal Dreams the fifth in the Dreams and Reality Series
Hadena James
Everyone has a story to tell... keep at it.
Hadena James
Being able to work in my pajamas.
Hadena James
I don't get writer's block... occasionally, I suffer from laziness, which is pretty hard to cure. It requires me to get close to a deadline.
Hadena James
From listening to someone talk about the zombie apocalypse.
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