Thursday, October 29, 2009

Yolanda Sfetsos - Faithless

Yolanda is an author from the other side of the world, the wonderful world of Oz. Australia, this is. She's an eclectic author who touches on a number of subjects, all of them “otherworldly.” I decided to consult Merriam Webster on this and found the second definition rather interesting.

2 : devoted to intellectual or imaginative pursuits

Yes, that's Yolanda  – writer, mother and otherworldly.

Her novel Faithless, published with Damnation Books, describes Alyce Kerr's world – a faith healer possessed by a demon. And this made me quite curious...

Interview with Yolanda Sfetsos

Yolanda: Firstly, thanks for having me here today, Lily!

Lily: The pleasure is all mine! What possessed you to write about demon possession? (Sorry, couldn't resist the play on words).

Yolanda: Lol, love the play on words. Well, demon possession is actually a subject that I’ve tackled before in several of my stories. I find it fascinating, scary and totally freaky. So, I decided to take possession and twist it around to another level, because Alyce actually chose to conjure and bind a demon to herself. The demon didn’t force its way into her.

Lily: That's quite a different take on demon possession. What's the inspiration behind Faithless?

Yolanda: The inspiration for Faithless was the act of faith healing. I think it’s a strange, bizarre, yet interesting concept, so I got to thinking... imagine there was someone who could do that for real? But she had to pay dearly for it because the power came from a demon. I mean, it has to come from somewhere, doesn’t it?

I started researching and when I found the demon, Buer, the story took shape in my mind.

Lily: I must say, I love the title – direct and capturing, much like the cover. How did you think of it?

Yolanda: Oh, yeah, I love the cover. It was made by Jessica Lucero and she did a fantastic job!

As for the title, Alyce is someone who helps people by curing diseases and other health issues. With her healing, she encourages faith in others but she doesn’t seem to have much faith in anyone or anything, especially not in herself. Most of her big life decisions were made on a whim and when she was angry or desperate enough to go through with something without thinking. I felt that the word Faithless – lacking faith – was perfect for Alyce’s story.

Lily: I agree, it fits well. Any plans for a sequel?

Yolanda: Yes, Faithless is actually the first book in the Alyce Kerr, Faith Healer Trilogy. Damnation Books will release the second story, Careless, in March 2010, and the final book, Boundless, in June 2010.

They both continue the bleak story of Alyce, Ross, and Buer. Things continue to get a little more complicated for all of them. I'm also toying with the idea for a spin-off featuring a character introduced in Careless.

Lily: Ooh, new characters and spin-offs are always fun. On your website, you describe an interest in “otherworldy” writing subjects. What exactly does “otherwordly” entail?

Yolanda: When I was looking for a tagline for my website, I found it really hard to find a string of words that captured the stories I tell because I write in so many different genres – urban fantasy, paranormal, horror, futuristic, and even Sci-Fi. So there wasn’t anything that I could think of as an umbrella to cover all of those genres. Then I stumbled on the word otherworldly – Not belonging to the real world; unnatural; odd and unfamiliar – and felt that it fit perfectly.

That’s the one thing all of my stories have in common – there’s always something odd, paranormal, and dark about them.

Lily: It definitely fits. So what's in Yolanda's future?

Yolanda: Writing’s in my future. The ideas keep coming, and I’m having a blast getting them out of my head.

As I mentioned before, I’ve got a few upcoming releases with Damnation Books – including a zombie story, or two in December, not related to Alyce Kerr's world. As well as from Samhain Publishing and ImaJinn Books, so I’ll be pretty busy editing and promoting. I’ve also been busy writing a YA novel that’ll probably end up being a trilogy and several urban fantasy ideas that are slowly taking shape.

Keeping busy is the main thing I can see in my future. :)



I wish you all the luck with your endeavors, Yolanda, and thanks so much for stopping by!

For more information about Yolanda Sfetsos, visit her website: http://www.yolandasfetsos.com/

Faithless on Damnation Books: http://www.damnationbooks.com/book.php?isbn=9781615720354

Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Faithless/Yolanda-Sfetsos/e/9781615720347/?itm=2&usri=f



This is the last interview for the October Virtual Tour. Huge thanks to everyone who got involved. This has been a lot of fun! Best of luck to everyone!

Visit this blog tomorrow for an all day party, closing the virtual tour and celebrating Halloween. I'm announcing the upcoming release of Issue 5 of Ethereal Tales, which will have my never before seen short story Bleeding Apple. Stop by this blog anytime to chat, hang out and read an excerpt of Bleeding Apple which I will post here for the first time!

5 comments:

  1. Hi Lily! Thanks for posting the interview, it looks great. :)
    Oh, and congrats on your upcoming release with Ethereal Tales. Awesome!

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  2. Thank you very much Yolanda, and you made this interview so fun and easy :)

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  3. Nice interview, ladies. Yolanda's series sounds fascinating, as do many of the Damnation titles. Keep up the great work!

    Robert

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  4. Thank you very much, Robert. I hope to see you here tomorrow :)

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  5. Thanks Robert! :) And I agree, DB has some awesome books available.

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