I am quite pleased to tie down J.Junior Page for a quick interview, it only took a large amount of pleading and Jack Daniel's to ensure completion. J.Junior is the author of the first book of "The Sons of Asgard" series which has started to sell a decent amount of copies via the Amazon Kindle E-Book format. J.Junior was able to wrestle himself away from the mystical realm in which his mind exists, to answer a few questions for me.
So J.J, how has Call of the Blood fared so far?
-I am quite pleased with how Call of the Blood: Part One has been received and I believe that it will continue to hold people's interest for the foreseeable future.
Why did you choose to write about the turmoil and upheaval in Dark Age Europe?
-The period of history is often overlooked and the records at the time shed very little on the period. A lot of the information came from slightly biased sources written a number of years after the pivotal events.
There is a strong theme of Christianity and it's conflict with the faith of the Europe's post Roman paganism. Is this a story of religious conflict or a mythological adventure?
-I think it could be argued that it falls into both categories, there was conflict of a religious nature within Europe at the time. There was a huge effort by king Charlemagne of the Frank's to convert the Saxon's, Frisians and other Germanic people's to his faith. But there was also the spread of Islam into the southern area's of Europe and the inclusion of the twins Raheem and Sayrah are a nod to that.
Without giving too much of the plot away, can you summarise the main story of Part One of the Call of the Blood?
-As opposed to the blurb on the book and description on Amazon? Okay here goes.
"The two kinsmen in the small hamlet of Madeby are shaped by an event when they were children. They grew up to serve as guardians of the surrounding area under the command and pay of the local Jarl. The gods of Asgard and their otherworldly foes are in a state of cold war which is slowly forcing all parties to fulfil their destiny and initiate Ragnorak (The Norse version of a biblical Judgement Day!)
The guardian of the dead, upset with her station in the hierarchy of the gods, notices an opportunity to ascend to power after the fatal end of days and devotes much of her time in advancing the timetable to the destruction of the nine realms. Raif, Magnus and Theodore are tasked to help end the dark plans of shadowy powers, because the gods of Asgard are unable to act!"
Having read the book, I note that Theodore is a Christian who is allied with two pagan warriors in the lands of the Danish. It is strange to read of allies working well together against a backdrop of religious turmoil, what was the thinking behind this?
-I think the alliance between the three faiths mentioned in the book is a message that good people working together against a common enemy can transcend those rivalries. Also Europe needed common mortals to act as one against darker foes than over zealous kings and warlords.
By overzealous king, do you mean Charlemagne?
-Yes, I suppose I do. I feel a bit bad that I have almost demonised the Carolingian Emperor. King Charlemagne did much to secure the stability of Europe and he created the foundations for the modern day countries of France and Germany. The events of the Saxon Wars and the forced baptism's of pagan Saxon's were initiated with great violence.
I also notice that the book portrays Loki and Odin differently to modern versions of the rivals, is this artistic licence?
-I have tried to avoid the Marvel version of Loki and Odin. I have kept as true to the original sources we have at our disposal. I concentrate on the Chaos versus Order of the two, it is their blood brother bond which maintains relative harmony. I have elected to keep Thor out of the main crux of the story, the god of thunder attention by the good folks at Marvel Comics.
Why is the book only available on Kindle?
-In truth it was the easiest way to get my story out, I may spread it onto other E-Book readers in time; I just wanted to do a book before hitting 40!
Why is the book in two parts?
-I didn't want to write a 100,000 word epic as my debut, I originally wanted to do a 40,000 word book but the idea sprawled out of control.
 |
| Call of the Blood Part One Paperback version. |
What are you working on at this moment?
-I am preparing part two to conclude the Call of the Blood story and hope to release before Christmas 2013. I am also attempting to get Call of the Blood: Part One out in paperback form as soon as possible.
Is there more in the pipeline for this series?
-I have two further sequels in final working stages and book five is work in progress.
You released the book and gave it away free on Kindle for a few hours. Why do that?
-I wanted to get the book out there and spread the story around those who may enjoy it. As much as earning from it is good, knowing people enjoy it is just as gratifying!
Would you do it again?
-Yes, I believe I will offer future books free of charge to drive interest.
The Sons of Asgard: Call of the Blood Part One is available to download from Amazon Kindle for one day only on the First of December 2013.
Thank you for your time J.J and good luck for the future.
For further information about
The Sons of Asgard series keep checking this blog.
https://www.createspace.com/4515894
Read an Ebook Week is an international celebration of ebooks in which thousands of authors, publishers and retailers feature free and discounted ebooks to help promote the joys of e-reading to the world's readers. Each year, Smashwords authors are the most active participants, and our store features the largest selection of participating titles. It's a fun promotion, because the more the participating authors promote their involvement, the more readers then go on to discover new Smashwords authors.
