Supernatural Favor Author Interview

Supernatural Favor looks like a great start to a wonderful series. How far along is book two, and how many do you plan for the full series?

Thank you for saying so. It is an epic- fantasy adventure for sure. As far as your question, ‘The Angelic Fornication Series’ consists of ten volumes of which three have already been completed. When I started the series I had it in my head that I was writing the first volume in the series, ‘Supernatural Favor’. When I had completed it, I brought it to my agent and she told me that I didn’t have just a single book, but I had completed three. I was surprised; still am today, because I was just telling a story until it was done. So, in my head the first three volumes that I have created were meant to be the story in volume one. I have now mapped out seven additional volumes for this series’ completion. Book two; ‘The Wrath of a Merciless Ex’ will be released this fall 2017 and then ‘The Gathering’ will be released next spring 2018. I will begin working on the remainder of the series this summer. I have plans to release a new volume every six months until the series is complete.

What do you think makes a great story?

Good question. I am an extremist, so I have over-the-top tendencies, so a great story for me is something that will captivate me with fast paced action from the start. I love to be on the edge of my seat from the beginning to the end. I’m sure the ‘Indiana Jones’ series influenced me in my love for fast starts.

And, because I am an extremist I love bigger-than-life scenes, so the more exotic or magical the setting; the better for me.

Then the story line must be so gripping that it has me from the very start and doesn’t let go into the end. In my estimation, a great story doesn’t have to revolve around a lot of guts and gore; elements that are required when constructing frameworks of some drama, but I prefer fantasies. Enchanting stories with riveting plots captivate me.

What inspired you when writing the series?

God. I was over being bombarded with horror flicks. I’m not knocking them. I’m just not into them. What inspired me to write this series was that I wanted to create an entertaining body of work that glamorized the unstoppable powers of God. For too long we mere mortals have been made to believe the powers of the Devil could challenge the forces of God. I mean come on--even the devil knows he’s no match, so I was inspired to write a series that shined the light on the grandeur and might of God; revealing how lacking the Devil truly is compared to the majesty of God.

Can you tell us a little about the characters, theme and plot for book one?
I would love to. ‘The Angelic Fornication Series’ follows the life of Benjamin Arthur Christian from birth until the time he transcends into heaven. He is an enchanting character who was born with an uncanny and unusual desire to love God from the time he was a child. His father was a pastor, so consequently his upbringing was Biblically based and Christian loved it. He lived for his father’s sermons and was fascinated with his messages about the powers that the men of the Bible possessed. To him they became his superheroes, and with his childlike innocence he prayed that God would one day grant him the powers of an old Jewish prophet. He didn’t just pray once and forget about it. He was natural-born genius and continued to pray daily for several years. Because he thought to unceasingly pray without wavering his supplications caught the attention of God and from that moment forward unbelievable things transpire that catapult the story into various realms of Heaven; allowing Christian to be introduced to the vast armies of angels, whom become his friends.

When did you decide to become a writer?
10 years ago, because I have no children, I felt I had nothing to mark my time on Earth. It was the need to leave a legacy which inspired me to write this body of work.

Not to be morbid, but I didn’t want to have a tombstone be my only marker that I was here. In my estimation the only way for a human to become immortal is to become and author. I mean think about it--do you think we’d know the names of ‘Mark Twain’ and ‘Charles Dickens’ if they were plumbers? I highly doubt it. The reason millions of people today know their names close to a hundred years after they have passed is because they were writers.

Writing allows the record of your brain cells to live on in words when your body is gone.

So, again since I have no children I wanted this series of books to be my stamp that I even existed and that is why I became a writer.

When writing, Supernatural Favor did anything stand out as particularly challenging?

As matter of a fact, yes. Time. I set out to write Supernatural Favor full time several years ago. I had been working on it for almost two years and was on the verge of completion when my mother was stricken with mercury poisoning. She was sent home to die and I became her sole caregiver. I didn’t buy in to that “she was incurable”, so I applied my mad research skills and discovered what other cultures have done when subjected to mercury poisoning. I applied those applications and nursed her back to complete health. During those horrible times I would sit by her bed while she tried to sleep and write as much as I could while I kept her under close watch. Every day I’d try to write something. It was my form of escape from an awful situation. So-- “time” was my greatest challenge. I had so little; I just made do with what I was given. I hated that I didn’t have the luxury to just sit down and write without a dark cloud hovering over my head continuously, but I persisted. I remember equating my efforts to trying to fill a bathtub full of water one drop at a time. Although it was aggravating because many days it felt like my efforts were futile, but it did pay off because in the end what I thought was one book, ended up being three complete volumes. So, concerning my circumstances, “time” was my biggest challenge, so I was conscientious not to ever waste it.

How did you come up with the story of Supernatural Favor?

The actual moment I decided to become a writer I had to decide what to write about. From the time I was young I relied a lot on God to be spontaneously creative, so I was instantly inspired to build a story around the rarely spoken of Biblical accounts of Genesis 6. Immediately the storyline fell into my head with the name of the book and the name of the series. I knew that it was going to a magical adventure about a boy who gained such extreme favor or God that God grants him the abilities to converse with his guardian angel, which would somehow lead the plot back to the very real event that happened in Genesis 6. I also knew that this would allow me to create multiple-epic adventures taking place in the various courts of Heaven allowing them to go back and forth through time. I knew if my subject revolved around the splendor and magnificence of God that my story would then become limitless.

What do you like to do when not writing?
Hmmm---writing does encompass my life. I rarely have time for anything else. Occasionally, I will force myself to get out of the house and go and see a movie and have dinner with a friend, but usually nine times out of ten I am at home. So, I try to make my life as comfortable as I can I am a gold-medalist chef, so excellent food is a prerequisite for daily living. Also since I don’t leave my house much, I like to surround myself with as many great things to love as I can, so I keep a close eye on my incredible mother and my awesome pet kids. My pet-daughter, Lilli, a Shih Tzu and three pet-bird sons; King Charles, King Bentley, and Prince Romeo. Bentley and Charles are Green Cheeked Conjures who are blood brothers and then I have Prince Romeo Valentino who is an alabaster Cockatiel. One of the perks about being a writer is that I do work from home which allows me to spend time with my pet kids and they do crave for my attention. All three of my boys help me write as they perch themselves on me as I write every word. In fact, they are on me now through this interview. So aside from occupying my times with the loves of my life, that’s pretty much it. Oh, I take that back. I’m a car freak. A pretty bad one.

How can readers discover more about you and your work?
My website has been set up to always show daily progress of everything that I do. I keep it current with several blogs that are interesting and fact filled lessons on my discoveries I’ve made on angels and the subject of healing. In my personal blog I talk about projects I’m working on, for instance my pet son Loti Bugg recently passed away at 18 years old, so I’m immortalizing him in an enchanting children’s books which is also a series called ‘What Happens When Puppies Pray? The Loti Bugg Chronicles’ which is going to not only be beautiful children’s book is also going to be made into a cartoon series, so I am posting the artwork for them as that project progresses. It is a fun site. I’ve had many fans say that it is a “Disneyland” of sorts and that makes me happy hearing that, because I try to create everything to be fun to the core.

Right now, on my official website all new subscribers will receive a FREE pdf or audio download of the prelude and chapter one. http://www.LantzdeContreras.com/