You might’ve noticed I started that Author Spotlight with a different heading. First –  congratulations! Your eyesight is in tact. Second, this week marks the first (hopefully annual) Fall Fantasy Conclave, a week -long promotion event for Indie Authors by Indie Authors. So what does that mean? It means all the cool kids threw their name in a basket and drew three people to promote and three people who would promote them. Sounds cool, eh?

So who are my lovely authors? Glad you asked. This week you’ll get to meet Chrishaun Keller-Hanna, JL Hendricks and Gabriellea Messina.

Since today marks the first day of Fall Fantasy Conclave, and of introducing my three wonderful authors, I’m happy to hand the mic over and welcome Chrishaun Keller-Hanna with a little Q&A to get started 🙂

Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Chrishaun Keller-Hanna and I am a Story Mother of the Allazar Universe. This magicpunk world is much like our own, but fueled by mageira and full of fast cars, monsters, air ships, and a gladiator fight or two.

I have been writing for the last 3 years and started publishing June of this year. As one of the co-hosts of the Self-Publishing Podcast, I shared the stories of other writers to encourage you on your writing journey. I also help writers build the own universes with Creator of Worlds, my worldbuilding service through the WriterShip.

I love video games, reading, movies and writing one word at a time.

How did you get into writing?

I have been writing since I was a kid, writing my own comics and short stories. I wrote RPG modules in the 90’s and then I stopped when my then husband destroyed all my manuscripts and hard drives. 7 years and a new husband later, I decided that it was time to write in the now stable self publishing arena and I don’t regret a moment of it!

How did you come up with the idea for your story?

Both stories in this series were based on contests through podcasts! Sage’s story (Tales of Allazar) was based on a contest by where I had to write a story about “Charlie going to get milk”. I asked myself “What would a milk run look like in Allazar, especially since dairy was considered a luxury item?” and “What event would prompt someone to make a run for it?” I create a story where a woman has smuggled child assassins to freedom (“Black, Gold, & Sage”). When she gets a bullet in her gut for the trouble, she must relay on her young ward, Charlie to “get milk” (gangsters) and pull the Hunters away into a trap (Spilt Milk).

Duke’s story (Daughter of the Flood) was based on an episode of the SPRT where the hosts were trying to write to market and the requirements were:

• Mystery
• Female protagonist
• The body was in a basement after a flood
• The male MC was investigating the death

So how does this fit in the Allazar Universe? What if the Duke was there to steal an item (the House of Deveron are pirates, after all) found the body and found out that the deceased had arranged the same thing? Then I thought “What if the soul of the deceased thought that Duke was that person?” That’s how I can up with the Coursers, a team that hunts down tokens that the lead the dead back to the land of the living.

Who are your favorite authors?

Stephen King, Erma Bombeck, Janet Evonovich

If you could only recommend one book, which would it be?

I would recommend “Different Seasons” by Stephen King. King is a master of the novella and his non-horror writing is even better than his horror in my view. If you don’t believe me, then perhaps it would help to point out that the movies “Stand by Me” & “The Shawshank Redemption” are based on two stories in this collection.

*BONUS* What one person (living or dead) would you share a meal with? And why?

I want to have a meal with the cocaine addict Stephen King and just talk about the “monster in the corner” that fueled his writing during that time.

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So… what were those books again? Those things Chrishaun was talking about in her interview? Oh yeah!

Find it here

Allazar – a beautiful and dangerous world filled with magiera (partial magic that gives life and sentience to all flora and fauna), human, humaniforms, and monsters great and small.

Tales of Allazar: Black, Gold, and Sage, is the story of the assassins with a changed hearts, fighting for what matters most.

Black – the Black Forest, a forbidding land where every plant and animal can kill – the place that stands between a cruel life and freedom.

Gold – the House of Praina, the former home of the Josi, Fenta, and Monty Toren – full magic humans raised to be assassins, a fate no child should face.

Sage – Sage Allecoure, the Toren’s only hope to navigate through the dangers of the Forest and the Hunters on their heels to safety. Will she be up to the task?

Find it here

Allazar – a beautiful and dangerous world filled with magiera (partial magic that gives life and sentience to all flora and fauna), human, humaniforms, and monsters great and small.

The Coursers – The dead do not want to stay dead in Allazar. To make sure that this condition isn’t permanent, they infuse their magiera into an object that will lead them out of the Ether and back into the world of the living.

Daughter of the Flood – I stumbled into the world of the Coursers when Carmo Tobin hired me to go out in a raging storm to ste- I mean “retrieve”- a family dagger from her home and found her mother Cameron floating facedown in her basement.

A few fights with spitting lizards, an encounter with a ghost and tying up Trent followed… how do I get out of this?

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Thanks for hanging with us, Chrishaun!

And for all you of out there–be sure to drop by tomorrow to read some sneak peeks of Allazar’s The Coursers: Daughter of the Flood and Tales of Allazar: Black, Gold & Sage.

Til tomorrow 🙂