Mexican Radio And Other Short Stories, by Jaysen True Blood
Today on Meet the Author, please join me in welcoming Jaysen True Blood, author of Mexican Radio And Other Short Stories, Volumes I and I.
Silverberry: Tell us a little about yourself.
Jaysen True Blood: I grew up in the Midwestern U.S. and have lived here for most of my life, except for brief excursions south to Oklahoma and Alabama which were brief. I grew up in a home where storytelling was a part of everyday life. My dad told many great stories he had been told by my grandfather about WWI and working as a journeyman carpenter. My mother recounted many stories from her life as a ranch hand and migrant worker. Between this and the availability of books, I learned the fine art of storytelling and writing a good story. I have worked at many different jobs in my life, but have only been good at writing and music.
Silverberry: What inspired you the Mexican Radio stories?
Jaysen True Blood: I have many different sources of inspiration. With the westerns, I wanted to revive some old characters from when I was writing serial fiction and ended up writing about some very different characters who fit into the storyline I had already had written. The science fiction all have varying beginnings. Though “Badlands” was written first, I wrote “Burning Sky” at the suggestion of the great Piers Anthony, who was wonderful enough to critique “Badlands”. “Narratives Of A Dry Vampire” (quickly becoming a fan favorite) is a story I wrote in high school which I wrote the second part to in 2012. The title story was a quirky little piece that basically wrote itself.
Silverberry: What do your heroes yearn for?
Jaysen True Blood: Each story’s hero (anti-hero, in certain stories) has a different desire. Bartoq (Narratives) desires to live as a monk, abstaining from blood. Some are out to escape, some to put an end to mysteries, some to stop killers, others to prevent something. Just depends on the story.
Silverberry: What are the stories about and who would enjoy it?
Jaysen True Blood: The collection is a mix of historical fiction, westerns, science fiction, and fantasy with a little suspense, mystery, and horror mixed in. In other words, there is something for everyone in both volumes.
Silverberry: What do you think makes for great fantasy fiction?
Jaysen True Blood: Really, you have to forget the “rules”. Most readers do not realize that there is no “new” fantasy or science fiction storylines or plots. Only “new” settings and characters. Not to mention how the story resolves itself. What some may see as cliché is really integral to the story and no fantasy or science fiction story is really complete with the traditional “clichés” being used in some way. The greatest stories use the same basic plots and storylines in different and unique ways, but they are still the same in set up. As long as the story keeps you engaged as a reader, it is a great story.
Silverberry: Who are some of your biggest influences as a writer?
Jaysen True Blood: Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Nathaniel Hawthorne, O. Henry, Dickens, Hemingway.
Silverberry: Nice to find another Howard fan! I read and reread his stories from my teens well into my thirties. How do you approach crafting your work?
Jaysen True Blood: Currently, I tend to post chapter by chapter on my blog. It is helpful in making me actually keep up on the writing.
Silverberry: What’s ahead for you?!
Jaysen True Blood: I have three novellas on the way plus another collection of short stories. The Novellas are: “The Devil” (inspired by the Hoyt Axton song of the same title), “The Faust Syndrome” (A modern version of “Dr. Faustus”), and “Bad Company” (A vampire novella). I also intend to find a way to be released from my publishing contract on my first three books and re-release them myself to make them more affordable.
About Mexican Radio And Other Short Stories, Volumes I and II:
Mexican Radio And Other Short Stories, Volume I:
Westerns: “Going Down In A Blaze Of Glory: Being an outlaw in the old west is hell. But when you are being hunted by the fastest draw in the west who also packs a buffalo gun, it’s worse than hell. “Lay Your Money Down”: Guy Marlowe is a gambler with a few surprises up his sleeves as he is called upon to make a wrong right. Psychological Suspense: “I Don’t Like Mondays”: When a prank goes horribly wrong, three friends find themselves where they don’t want to be. “Mexican Radio”: A con turns a murder plot to his own benefit. Fantasy: Narratives Of A Dry Vampire, Part One, On The Wings Of A Bat”: Killing one’s own family is all in a day’s work when you are atoning your life as a vampire. Science Fiction: “Burning Sky”: Ma flees to the colonies after Pa is killed for a mysterious reason by his employers. “Coming Home”: Even extraterrestrials have double agendas. “New Year’s Resolutions”: A futuristic view into the wishes of a struggling divorced man. “The Gift”: Boy meets extraterrestrials, with an extra special holiday twist. “Faster Than The Speed Of Life”: Metaclones are going to take over the earth! Or are they? Contemporary fiction: “Eighteen And Life”: There is only one thing to do when you are falsely arrested and convicted for someone else’s crime. “I Just Want You”: An obsessive love letter tells all about one man’s thoughts. “In The End There’s Nothing”: Disappointment can do a lot of things. Historical Fiction: “The Diaries And Letters Of Niccolo And Maffeo Polo”: Follow the polo Brothers to China on their first three trips.
Mexican Radio And Other Short Stories, Volume II:
Science fiction: Bad Lands: The continuation of the story started in “Burning Sky”; Ma flees the colonies to a region known as the Bad Lands in order to hide from a merciless bounty hunter. Old L.A. Tonight: A member of a colony ship is banished for daring to learn the truth and goes back to earth. The Eleventh Hour: A group of soldier make on last attempt at saving humanity from intergalactic slavery. She’s A Beauty: A bail bondsman on vacation takes a nightmare trip with a vacation planner to a strange planet. Fantasy: Ghost Behind My Eyes: Sometimes going back to fix the past is the only way to live life to its fullest. The Duke’s Treachery: The wrong queen can cause the whole kingdom to suffer. Thorogon’s Dilemma: In a time when death is only a punishment for committing crimes, why is an innocent man going to his death? Narratives Of A Dry Vampire, Part Two: Of Wolf And Man: The painful truth of Lycanthropy and vampire justice is explained by Baraq the vampire-monk. Right Next Door To Hell: A writer trying to start his life over again rents an apartment in the complex from Hell. Painkiller: The interview of a lifetime isn’t always one with a living celebrity. Bad Obsession: The sequel to “Right Next Door To Hell”. Did he get the girl? Westerns: Headed For Destruction: Another adventure featuring Fancy Marsh, the Breeds, the Legends, and the Jacks. this time they’re on the trail of a murderous gang of rustlers. Suspense: No Method To My Madness: De Luka finds that not every hit goes according to plan. One Wrong Move: A group of scientists go to investigate a dark evil threatening a virtual paradise. Mysteries: Murder Rings The Church Bells: Martin Luciano battles his brother for the lives of the people in a small New Mexico town. Vengeance IS Mine: An FBI agent comes out of hiding to lure a deranged serial killer into a trap by playing a deadly game of human chess. Contemporary fiction: When The Crowds Are Gone: An aging musician finds the meaning of true happiness after finding true love. One Shot At Glory: the rise and fall, and rise, of a child prodigy. Suicide Solution: When their mission is compromised and they are betrayed, the surviving members of a mission make the only choice left. Storyteller Blues: Going blind, he has one story left to tell. His own. On The Road: A musician in hiding ponders how long he can continue to run from the woman who almost succeeded in killing him. Owed To Joe: Joe can’t quite understand that the dysfunction in his life was self-made. Yesterdays: Sometimes true love goes deeper than just the heart.
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About Jaysen True Blood:
Born in 1974, Jaysen True Blood (nee, Jason Peterman) found his calling as a writer in the early 80’s through a couple of grade school assignments. He spent much of the late 80’s and early 90’s writing poetry, song lyrics, and plays, but returned to fiction shortly before graduation. From this period comes two of the many stories in “Mexican Radio”. He drifted from fiction again in the mid-nineties, but returned again in 2003 as a serial fiction writer for an e-zine. When it tried a brief print mag version, he tried his hand as a music, movie, and book reviewer as well as a writing/music journalist. When the magazine folded, he was on his own once more.
In 2007, he collected together seven of his best stories and submitted them to a vanity publisher (which he now regrets) and published his first book, “Seven By Jay”. He followed this with “The Price Of Lust: Book One Of Faces In The Crowd”, his first full length novel, in 2008 and finally “So Here’s To Twilight And Other Poems” in 2010.
He released “Mexican Radio And Other Short Stories” initially as a single book, but it did not sell. He was soon told that the file size was too large and it needed to be reformatted. This resulted in it becoming its current two-volume set, which was resubmitted in May of 2014, though the date on volume I remains the original October, 2013 date or publication.
Jay currently lives by himself in a small town in the Midwest and spends most of his time doing freelance writing jobs or working on his many writing and musical projects.
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Mexican Radio And Other Short Stories, Volume II
