Interview with Ronald Griffin and his new book Blood Stained Lives

Bio:

Ronald Griffin is a 31 year old Author who grew up in Georgia and still lives there today. His current writing style includes paranormal fantasy and horror. He has been writing since he was 9 years old when he wrote a Tiny Toons Adventure skit for his class and it was well received. From there, he was absorbed with writing about Superheros but once high school hit, the supernatural started calling him, especially the werewolves. This is where his latest The Blood Lives Saga was born. You can either find him locked away in his writing cave or at his local Cracker Barrel where he supports his fantasy genre reading habit. His Author idol is the husband and wife writing team Ilona Andrews. He has thoroughly enjoyed their magic series novels and feels encouraged that they are from his same state. When not writing, you can find Ronald spending time with his daughters (ages 3 and 9) and his son (age 7). He can be found spending time making precious moments with them and hopefully passing along his writing bug to them.

Author Interview Questions

1. What is your name? Do you use a pen name (if so, why?)? 

Ronald Edward Griffin. No I do not

2. Tell me a bit about yourself: 

3. What type of genre do you write? Paranormal Fantasy

4. What genre to you personally read? Paranormal Fantasy, Fiction, and Horror

5. Tell me about your latest? Well it is a paranormal fantasy about this one mans journey to become the hero he was born to be. He has many trials along his way that he must make his way through.

6. What sparked your passion for books and the art of a good story? 

My Mom always had a passion for reading and we would always watch movies together as well. We would watch mostly fantasy movies like Legend, Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, Krull, and many other movies and I believe growing up with such movies sparked my imagination. I started writing short stories when I was in kindergarten but they were usually based on cartoons. In middle school I started writing my own superhero story. It wasn't until highschool until I started writing supernatural stories. It was then that I started writing some of the elements of this particular novel. Over the years I wrote many short stories and always wanted to write a novel but certain life events caused me to post pone. I have kids now and decided that I want to leave behind something that they could be proud of.

7. Is there a particular book that changed or affected your life in a big way? Not that I recall.

8. Is there a message in your book that you want readers to grasp? 

The importance of friends and family. When you have them on your side anything can be done.

9. What challenges have you faced in your writing career? Getting it started. I didn't realize there was so much work in self promoting. I am just glad I have made some wonderful friends along the way. 

10. What has been your best moment as a writer? The feeling of love and support from everyone around me along the way.

11. Who is your author idol? The writing team Ilona Andrews. They are also from Georgia and the stories they write take place in the state as well.

12. Do you see yourself in any of your characters? I see certain aspects of myself in all of my characters.

13. Do you feel like your dream has come true or is there much more to do? This is my first novel and although yes my dream is going to come true, but I believe there is much more to do to keep that dream alive.

14. What does your workspace look like? My work place varies, sometimes I write from my bedroom, the dining room where I can look out the sliding glass doors, or the locations that are mentioned in my novel. Sometimes it is good to write from the actual locations.

15. Have you ever had a day when you just wanted to quit? There were times I felt that maybe I wasn't cut out for this but I kept pushing through it and well here I am.

16. What do you do when you’re not writing?working or watching movies. I enjoy a good movie every now and then.

17. What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer? Take time for yourself every now and then. Do not let the writing consume you all the times because it can cause you lots of unnecessary stress and your story could suffer from it.

18. Did you have a moment when you realized you were meant to be a writer? Not really it is just something I have always enjoyed doing in my spare time.

19. What advice would you give to aspiring authors? Don't be afraid to ask friends for help if going at this alone.

20. After this book, what is next? Writing a series of origin novellas building up to the release of the second novel for this series.

21. Do you think the first novel may be a little bit rushed? Do you think you should have put more detail into your characters?

• Rushed? No I do not think so i wanted a novel that was gripping and fast paced from start to finish. As for the more detail into my characters. Yes I did leave a lot of questions unanswered and add characters into the story before giving them much of a grand appearance and such. All for a reason. The story I have in mind is much too grand to add into one book. I will be releasing two series branched off of this novel. Blood Stained Lives is the first in the Blood Stained Saga series which will be four novels. I already have the titles, and plots picked for the novels. I will also be releasing a series of Novellas online titled Blood Stained Origins which will focuse on the individual character histories. So expect more back story on every character you have across.

  
  

Namon is a young man with a destiny that has haunted him since his birth. His parents were murdered to protect his existence a secret from those that would cause him harm. His godmother Katrina raises him to the best of her ability. Months before his 18th birthday though events occur that force her to reveal his destiny. He is one of the last White Wolves a rare secret race of werewolves blessed with holy powers that enable them to protect humanity from all creatures of darkness. During his journey he must learn to control his abilities and prepare himself for the inevitable confrontation with the vampire responsible for his parents' deaths Cyrus. It is Cyrus's goal to put together an ancient amulet that will enable him to summon the demon dragon Galamythe to carry out his lost love's final wishes.
During his trials Namon did not think he would ever see a light in the shadow of his destiny until he met a mysterious and beautiful vampire called Aluana. She has no memory of her past and even though their union is forbidden there is a strong connection between the two of them that they cannot understand. Can Namon help bring back her memory and they can discover what connects them? More importantly will their love help them both to survive both his destiny and the possible upcoming apocalypse?
This book is filled with action, drama, mystery, and just enough humor to make anyone with a sense of humor chuckle. I look forward to hearing feedback on my story from those who have and will read it.

Your website? Www.BloodStainedSaga.com

Your blog?http://ronaldgriffin.blogspot.com/

Other websites? Www.facebook.com/BloodStainedSaga

Where can your book be found? 

Amazon / Barnesandnoble /  Smashwords

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