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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Blog Tour: Interview and Review: Consumption by Heather Herrman

Today we welcome author Heather Herrman as she promotes her debut novel, Consumption.  Enjoy her interview after my thoughts on the book!


Author: Heather Herrman
Publisher: Hyrda (Random House)
Date of publication: May 2015


In the wake of tragedy, John and Erma Scott are heading west in search of a new life. So when car trouble strands them in sleepy Cavus, Montana, they decide to stay for a while, charmed by the friendly residents and the surrounding ambiance. Here, they hope, is the healing balm that their marriage needs.

Then John and Erma find themselves in a fight not just to save their marriage, but their very lives. For this is no ordinary town. Its quiet streets conceal a dark and bloody secret that has slumbered for centuries. Now, that secret is awake . . . and it’s hungry.


Like a slow infection, evil is spreading through Cavus. Soon John and Erma—along with the local sheriff, an undocumented immigrant, a traumatized teenage girl, and an old man with terrible secrets of his own—must join together to battle an all-consuming force that has set its sights on its prey: the entire human race.

My thoughts:

Consumption is being marketed to fans of Stephen King and Joe Hill. So when I started reading it, all I could think was I hope the book is like old school Stephen King and not like his latest offerings.  The book didn't disappoint.  I found Consumption well written, disturbing, and very much like old school Stephen King.  I found myself flying through this book to see who would make it out alive in the end.


Basically, there is a murder in the beginning of the book that awakens an ancient evil.  The evil slowly begins to consume the inhabitants of the small mining town of Cavus, Montana.  John and Erma are unlucky enough to break down on the outskirts of town.  They quickly begin to realize that things are not normal in small town America.


Gruesome in parts, I found myself cringing often. If you don't like blood and guts, I wouldn't recommend this one.  I liked it because it's one of those books where you don't really know who to trust.  Being a horror fan, I thought this would make a good movie.  It was kind of like a  mix of The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Desperation.  I definitely recommend this one if you are a horror fan! I also look forward to see what this author writes next!





Kari& Autumn: What inspired you to become a writer?

Heather: Reading. As a kid reading was my greatest pleasure. I read so much that my parents had to tell me to stop and go outside. Which I did, only to ferret out the books Id stashed elsewhere and then go hide in our family vanusually smolderingly hot in a Kansas summer or freezing cold in the prairie winterlie down on the floor so as not to be seen, and keep reading. There was such possibility in being transported somewhere completely other. I wanted to be able to do that. It was like being a magician, having that kind of power, and as soon as I could, I started writing really terrible poetry and kept going from there.

Kari& Autumn: Where do you come up with the ideas for your books?

Heather: Usually, its an image. Something I see or something I dont see but think I do, that just stops me, and Ill build a scene from there. Other times its from something completely random.

For example, the idea for CONSUMPTION came about when my friends came to visit. My girlfriend grew up in Wisconsin, but shed been living on the West Coast for a long time before returning. Shed become used to all the local produce and active lifestyle of Portland, OR, and was shocked to see how, as she put it, different everybody from her hometown looked from what she remembered. She also marveled at how hard it was, despite being immersed in farm country, to actually eat anything grown on any of the numerous neighborhood farms, most of which produced corn that wasnt edible for human consumption.

Its like, my friend said, were making ourselves sick.

And I immediately thought, what if we really were?

Kari& Autumn: What exciting projects are waiting in the wings?

Heather: Ohhh, so excited to answer this one! Im sinking my teeth into the juicy topic of madness, specifically the madness of women, or at least what gets called that. My newest book is tentatively titled BLUEBIRD, and its a good old-fashioned gothic novel set in Nebraska.

Kari& Autumn: Who is your favorite literary character and why?

Heather: Im from Kansas, so I really cant help this one: L. Frank Baums version of Dorothy Gale. I so wanted to be her as a child. Not the Judy Garland version, but the spunky feminist in Baums books who has this fabulous energy that just draws adventure to her.

Kari& Autumn: Just for fun, if you could be any animal, what would it be and why?

Heather: The human animal. Were the most beastly, mysterious creatures of all ;)

To hear more from Heather Herrman or to check out her work, visit her website www.heatherherrman.com. There, youll find a schedule of the other stops on the CONSUMPTION blog tour along with exclusive videos exploring the topics of writing and horror.


About Heather Herrman


Heather Herrman explores American society through horror fiction. She holds an MFA from New Mexico State University, and her work has appeared in such publications as Alaska Quarterly Review, The South Carolina Review, and Snake Nation Review. Herrman’s fiction has also been honored with a Frank Waters Fiction Prize and a scholarship to the Prague Summer Program for Writers.

Connect with Heather


Heather Herrman’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, May 25th: It’s a Mad Mad World
Tuesday, May 26th: Peeking Between the Pages
Wednesday, May 27th: 100 Pages a Day
Monday, June 1st: Sweet Southern Home
Tuesday, June 2nd: Kahakai Kitchen
Wednesday, June 3rd: From the TBR Pile
Thursday, June 4th: Bell, Book & Candle
Friday, June 5th: Books that Hook
Tuesday, June 9th: Bibliophilia, Please – Author guest post “Why the Best Horror Authors are Fem”
Tuesday, June 9th: The Reader’s Hollow
Wednesday, June 10th: Bibliophilia, Please
Thursday, June 11th: The Best Books Ever
Friday, June 12th: Open Book Society
Monday, June 15th: Bewitched Bookworms – Review & author guest post “Why Women Should Read More Horror”
Tuesday, June 16th: Life is Story
Wednesday, June 17th: Bibliophiliac
Wednesday, June 17th:  No More Grumpy Bookseller – Review & author guest post “Writing Through”
Thursday, June 18th: The Road to Here

Friday, June 19th: Bibliophilia, Please – author guest post

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm very pleased to see that this lived up to the old school Stephen King that you enjoyed so much. Thanks for being a part of the tour!