BLOG TOUR: INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY: PELICAN BAY by Jesse Giles Christiansen

Title: Pelican Bay

Author: Jesse Giles Christiansen

Publisher: Imajin Books

Publication Date: July 20, 2013

Genres: Mystery, Suspense

Blog Tour: 26 August to 6 September 2013

Hosted by: Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours

SUMMARY

Some things are better left alone…

After Ethan Hodges discovers an undersea cemetery just off the beach of Pelican Bay, South Carolina, he seeks answers from a grandfatherly fisherman named Captain Shelby. The captain wants the past to remain buried, and he warns Ethan to stay away. But Ethan doesn't listen.

Ethan's best friend and secret love interest, Morgan Olinsworth, joins in the investigation, unearthing intriguing secrets about the mysterious fisherman. When Captain Shelby is suspected of murder and disappears, a manhunt ensues, revealing a truth that unnerves everyone in Pelican Bay.

Watch the video trailer for Pelican Bay here.

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

INTERVIEW

What would your choice of music be as a theme-song for Pelican Bay?

Hmm. Well, I’m also a songwriter and I’ve been working on a theme song for Pelican Bay which I’m considering releasing as an mp3 in the near future. I love the song for my book trailer though, which the very talented Kelly Komm picked, Final Count, by Kevin McLeod. I dare you to listen to it and not get goose bumps!

What sparked the idea for Pelican Bay?

The novel came from a strange dream. I was standing on a Carolina beach, noticing dark, ominous rocks littering the ocean floor just beyond the shelf. I woke up haunted, and later that day my fingers went to work. Ironically, Captain Shelby, the main character, my favorite character that I’ve created so far, seemed to birth himself by his own will right from the pages; he was not planned at all. He roared for room to grow, and, like a good author should, I gave it to him.

How long did it take you to write it?

Great and tough question. I don’t think you ever stop writing a novel, you just reluctantly, like a starving baby relinquishing a lollipop, hand it over. Pelican Bay actually started as a short story in 2011. In 2012, it turned into a novel in an effort to land a literary agent.

How much impact does your childhood have on your writing?

As an avid reader, it seems that childhood seeps into every author’s novel, perhaps less and less explicitly as time marches on. This is no exception with me. For example, my very first novel is based on my childhood, a novel that may or may not ever be unveiled to the world. I often think that Captain Shelby might be this mammoth quilt of father figures who have come and gone for me—an ultimate spooky lovable wise grandfather of the sea. Talking about the sea, I’m much like Ethan in the novel, Pelican Bay, in that I had to literally be dragged away from the beach as a boy. And this has not changed much as an adult!

Have you ever read or seen yourself as a character in a book or a movie?

Interesting question. I often think that Ethan is a semi-autobiographical character, and I can easily see him being played by some young, Matt Dillonish, 21^st century, beach-faring sort of lead in a movie. Oh yeah, and long-haired, sad-eyed, originally handsome—you know, that kind of thing.

Except as yourself, which character would you want to play in a movie about your life, and why?

Hands down, a Johnny Depp creation. What a multi-faceted, versatile, irresistibly eccentric kind of actor. I cross my fingers every day that the universe paints me with a huge stroke of luck and Johnny Depp plays Captain Shelby in the Pelican Bay movie! You never know, right?

What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?

Schedule, schedule, oh, and did I say, “Schedule?” If you don’t know what you’re doing at each juncture of the day, the black hole of social media and marketing will suck you up and you and your future novels will disappear.

Are there any occupational hazards to being an author?

The black hole of social media. To go somewhere without my iPhone now feels like some illegal, delicious, delirious treat.

Do the characters you create ever talk to each other in your head and completely ignore you?

Ha, ha! Once I had characters from two different novels, Captain Shelby from Pelican Bay, and Joel from About: Journey into the Mystic, talking to each other on Facebook and Twitter. My book sales actually jumped during that period on Amazon. Hmm … I look forward to hopefully doing that again soon.

What are you like first thing in the mornings before you’ve had your first cup of coffee?

Like a carp. Then I become a large mouth bass.

What's the most blatant lie you've ever told?

I took my sister’s car for a joyride when I was fifteen years old. When I returned, me and my best friend’s mothers were sitting on the couch with the faces of wives just finding expensive jewelry NOT bought for them. I said, “My sister gave me permission.”

What is the worst “crime” you committed as a teenager, which your parents had to punish you for?

Not sure if this is a crime. Well, maybe. A friend that I was later banned from, and I, somehow ended up with BB guns pointed out of a window taking out neighbors’ windows until someone stopped us. Yes, can we say we were a “bad influence” on each other?!

What is your worst/best memory of high school, and why?

Ok, let’s start with best first. I loved basketball, but I never got to be in the starting lineup, no matter how hard I tried (including basketball camp every summer). Perhaps I was destined to be an artist. So be it. But in the 11^th grade, I was called into the game as the clutch man. Oh, I still see it so clearly. I was fouled just as time ran out. We were down by one. I had two free throws. And made them both! It was Hoosiers all over again. Worst? Hmm … One time a good friend ignored me as I passed through the hall because I wasn’t part of his click. Ouch. That still hurts.

Are you fun to go on holiday with?

I have this really goofy side that comes out when I’m tired or up too late. Many think I’m so serious with all my novel-writing and such, but I can really cutup and be hilarious. Hmm, I could use some holiday right about now!

What makes you laugh?

My sense of humor is like the easiest date in the world. You don’t have to buy it dinner, go anywhere, or do anything!

Any advice for aspiring writers?

Especially now in the 21^st century, an artist has to invest his or her life to the craft. You have to “go the distance” as Rocky would say. Go big or go home. Really, it’s that simple. I suppose in the days of literary yore, a great manuscript might get picked up. You could have that “debut prodigy” that writes his novel and then retires to a beach house. Those days are over. So put your life in it, focus, learn, embrace a good balance of marketeering, and an author career can still be rewarding and fruitful. One of the greatest things I’ve learned from Cheryl Kaye Tardif, bestselling author and owner of Imajin Books, is that there’s a big difference between a “hobby author” and a “career author.” My best advice is to know which you are going into it.

ABOUT the AUTHOR

Jesse Giles Christiansen is an American author who writes compelling literary fiction that weaves the real with the surreal. He attended Florida State University where he received his B.A. in English literature. He wrote his first novel, "About: Journey Into The Mystic" after spending a summer in Alaska working on fishing boats. His newest novel, "Pelican Bay," focuses on a very old fisherman, Captain Shelby, and the mysterious happenings linked to him surrounding a nosy, sea-battered beach town (release date: July 20th, 2013, Imajin Books). One of his literary goals is to write at least fifty novels, and he reminds himself always of something that Ray Bradbury once said: "You fail only if you stop writing."

AUTHOR LINKS

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***GIVEAWAY***

One lucky reader can win a kindle copy of Pelican Bay by Jesse Giles Christiansen. Just complete the below rafflecopter! Open internationally.

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