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
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?
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
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 I’d stashed elsewhere and then go hide in our family van—usually
smolderingly hot in a Kansas summer or freezing cold in the prairie winter—lie
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, it’s an image. Something I
see or something I don’t see but think I do, that just stops me, and I’ll
build a scene from there. Other times it’s
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 she’d
been living on the West Coast for a long time before returning. She’d
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 wasn’t edible for human
consumption.
“It’s like,” my friend said, “we’re
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! I’m
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 it’s a
good old-fashioned gothic novel set in Nebraska.
Kari& Autumn: Who
is your favorite literary character and why?
Heather: I’m from Kansas, so I really can’t
help this one: L. Frank Baum’s version of Dorothy
Gale. I so wanted to be her as a child. Not the Judy Garland version, but the
spunky feminist in Baum’s 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. We’re
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, you’ll
find a schedule of the other stops on the CONSUMPTION blog tour along with
exclusive videos exploring the topics of writing and horror.
Tuesday, May 26th: Peeking
Between the Pages
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
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
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!
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