Blood Feud looks like an exciting story. Can you tell us a little about it?
Absolutely! Stephen
Kalinski is trying to find closure and maybe a few answers about his mother's
recent untimely passing. Searching through boxes in the attic, he finds a series
of diaries that apparently belonged to his mother but it doesn't make sense.
Although the handwriting seems to be the same in all of the diaries, it's not
possible it could be his mother because the diaries date back to the 1800s.
Stephen decides to
follow where the diaries lead and take a trip to rural West Virginia where he
begins to research his mother's past. Stephen finds out that she was related to
"Devil" Anse Hatfield, the leader of the Hatfield clan from the
famous Hatfield/McCoy Feud.
Things quickly go
south when Stephen is attacked by some sort of creature. It tells him that
others will be coming for him and he doesn't stand a chance of beating them. To
complicate things even more, Stephen rescues a woman named Callie from one of
these creatures and he begins to fall for Callie. Problem is, they are both
headstrong and feel like they have something to prove. During this war against
these monsters, Stephen learns that his father may be involved with these
animals and may have lied about his mother being dead!
An all-out war ensues
and Stephen battles against all odds to defeat the creatures and finally find the answers he's looking for. Problem
is, the more answers he gets, the more questions arise.
How many books do you have planned for the series?
This will be a three
book series with book two coming out before the end of December.
How long did it take you to write Blood Feud?
Well, I came up with the idea about 20 years ago but when I actually started writing it took about 6 months.
What inspired the idea for your book?
I actually came up
with the idea from my ancestry and where I grew up in Matewan, WV. On my Mom's
side of the family, I'm a direct descendant of "Devil Anse Hatfield. He's
my great great uncle. On my Dad's side of the family, I'm Hungarian and Polish. Many Europeans settled
in WV to work in the coal mines. That's how I came up with "Hillbilly
vampires" and a European to be the
main villain.
How did you come up with the title to your book?
Blood Feud Book One:
Blood is Thicker Than Water came from combining Blood Feud for The
Hatfield/McCoy Feud and the second part, Blood is Thicker Than Water because of
the family element involved in the story.
What part of the book was the most fun to write?
I loved writing the dialog, especially between Stephen and Callie. They are both wise cracking characters that are very sarcastic and competitive so they have some great dialog!
Did anything stick out as particularly challenging when writing Blood Feud?
Staying in the timeline which is 1965, and trying to write a
book that reads like a movie. Honestly, I love a good challenge and I hope you
feel like you've been taken on a fantastical journey when you're finished.
What do you like to do when not writing?
My hobbies include
hiking, singing, magic, martial arts. I also love to read.
Where can readers find out more about your work?
The best place right now is my Amazon
Author Page under J. Michael Vagott, or on Goodreads under J. Michael Vagott.