Trick-or-Treat Thrillers is very pleased to present our interview with Toneye Eyenot, winner of JEA’s Author’s Choice Award, for his exciting, action-packed novella The Scarlett Curse: The Sacred Blade of Profanity Book 1

Book Description:

Scarlett, bearer of The Sacred Blade Of Profanity for nigh on three hundred years, untouched by linear time, unhindered by the confines of space, nevertheless has grown weary. The ancient dagger, crafted in sorcery over eight thousand years ago, requires the blood of the profane to sustain its power. Scarlett has killed scores over the centuries and will continue for as long as she possesses The Blade.
Her chance meeting with young Dera, an 11 year old mute from the outskirts of town, throws both of their worlds into chaos, as Scarlett returns to the busy town of Mills Wall, to complete a failed attempt on her most elusive target to date. Could this child be the downfall of Scarlett? The demise of The Sacred Blade Of Profanity? Dark and troubled times are all that is foreseeable for both Scarlett and the mysterious little girl. Indeed for all of Mills Wall.

How did you feel when you learned you won the Author’s Choice Award?

When eye logged in and saw that eye had won the Author’s Choice Award, eye was stunned, to say the least! Eye felt so grateful and humbled, that my book was chosen by my peers. Eye am in awe at the talent of the JEA authors, and to have The Scarlett Curse chosen over the others was a shock. It gave me a great boost in confidence and inspiration.

What gave you the idea for your book The Scarlett Curse: The Sacred Blade of Profanity Book 1?

Eye had been Facebook friends for some time with a woman named Scarlettt, tho we had never interacted, until one day eye came across a poem in my newsfeed that she had written. Eye really liked it, and we got to talking. Eye showed her some of my poetry and she asked me if eye had ever written a book. Eye told her no, and she told me, “well, you should” in so many words and we started throwing around ideas. The Sacred Blade Of Profanity is a song eye wrote for one of my bands, Chaotic Impurity. Eye decided to base the story around The Blade, and asked Scarlett if eye could use her name for the main character, to which she agreed.

What is the writing process like for you? What is your writing day like?

Each day differs in terms of how prolific eye might be in writing. Eye have plenty of days where eye sit and look at a WIP for ages without any results. Then there are days when the words just pour out. Some days, eye wake up determined to make some progress and get nothing, then there are other days when eye really can’t be bothered, but an idea will come to me and eye make myself sit down to write. Once eye start in these instances, eye can really surprise myself with what eye come out with. Eye took the advice of fellow writer and Metal brother, Jim Goforth, who always has several stories in play, to counter writers block. It works for the most part. If eye get stuck on something, eye will go to another project, and come back to my original story, fresh.

What got you into writing sci-fi/horror?

Metal and Horror have been a major part of my life since eye was young. Eye began writing song lyrics in 1990, influenced by a band eye was in back in 1988, called Nomenclature Diablerie. Eye didn’t write anything for that band, but wanted to start my own band a while after Nomenclature split, so my writing began. That continued sporadically over the years, until eye joined Chaotic Impurity as vokiller in 2001. Eye wrote/write all the lyrics for the band, which are all dark and horrific. Since writing The Scarlett Curse, and being introduced to the online world of writing and publishing, eye discovered “anthologies”. That’s when eye began toying with short stories. Only one of those, eye would term sci-fi. A short story eye wrote for an antho called The Grays, which had the theme of aliens and ufos, through James Ward Kirk Fiction. Everything else eye have written has been Horror, tho my short story for the Grays antho was pretty horrific for a sci-fi tale. Eye enjoy writing fantasy, as long as it’s dark. The Scarlett Curse would fall in that category. A blend of Dark Fantasy and Horror.

 What is your favorite book (other than your own book, of course) and why?

Not sure if eye can answer this with just one book. Eye have been reading a lot of books lately by current authors, such as Jim Goforth, T.S. Dann, Catt Dahman, to name just a few, which have literally left me gobsmacked haha! Eye also read a lot of books on magik and the occult. Carlos Castaneda’s books have had the biggest impact on me. When eye was a teen, my favourite author was S.E. Hinton and my fave book of hers was The Outsiders. It resonated deeply with me, as back in the 80’s, being a Metalhead was a dangerous life choice where eye grew up. We were indeed the outsiders in society back then.

I saw your book is “book 1.” When is your sequel coming out?

“Book 2”, Joshua’s Folly, is actually the prequel to The Scarlett Curse. It is already at J Elington Ashton Press, in line to go through the process. Eye don’t have a definite release date, but am hoping to see it out if not by the end of the year, then early next year sometime. JEA has a lot on it’s plate right now though, with many anthologies in the works and a lot of books by incredible authors submitted and waiting along with mine. T.S.C. is still pretty fresh of the press, so we will have to wait and see how things pan out. In the meantime, my short stories and poetry are in quite a few of these upcoming anthologies, and eye am maybe 1/3 of the way through writing Book 3 in the series.

What advice would you give aspiring writers?

 Eye hear it a lot from people who eye know have a real talent, that they don’t believe in themselves enough to dare attempt to write that bestseller. If there’s any advice to give, it would be to believe in yourself. Believe you can write that masterpiece, sit down, and start writing it. You may really surprise yourself. Another piece of valuable advice is, don’t be afraid of rejection, or be discouraged when it happens, because it will happen at some point in your career. Maybe even a lot more than you’d expected. Learn from it, grow from it, and most importantly, persevere.

Thank you, Roma, for the chance to share my thoughts with you, and everyone who reads this. Eye have enjoyed it immensely! Anyone who wants to connect with me, you’re most likely to find me on facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Toneye-Eyenot-Dark-Author-Musician/1128293857187537

My website is: http://toneyeeyenot.weebly.com