V. J. Chambers interviews herself about The Stillness in the Air, book one of the new Jason and Azazel trilogy. Note: Minor SPOILERS for Tortured are revealed. You have been warned.
Interviewer: Hello there everyone, and welcome to the blog. Today, we have with us the very talented and extraordinarily beautiful V. J. Chambers. V. J. tell us, how do you get your hair that arresting shade of blonde?
V. J. : I dye it.
Interviewer: That’s amazing. You are so creative.
V. J. : Well, I try.
Interviewer: So, what can you tell us about the new book?
V. J. : Right now, I’m still working on drafting it. I don’t know when you’ll be going to press with this interview, so maybe by then I’ll be done. Currently, though, while I’m pretty sure I know where it’s going, I could get surprised at the end. That happens.
Interviewer: What is the most important thing readers should know going into this book?
V. J. : Well, I guess the biggest deal about this new trilogy is that Jason and Azazel have broken up. It’s a bad split. Azazel is pissed at him, but she isn’t real forthcoming with the details of why. Also, Jason is acting like a psychotic person.
Interviewer: And Jason is different how?
V.J. : Well, good point. Jason’s always been a bad boy, but in a sexier way. Admittedly, with every book he’s pushed the envelope a little further. I think part of the reason I keep writing these things is I’m just testing myself to see how far the guy can go before I stop loving him.
Interviewer: Hmm. So, even though Jason is psychotic, you still see him a viable romantic lead?
V.J. : I don’t know about that exactly. He’s being a real jerk, actually. In this trilogy, Jason is kind of like Darth Vader, and Azazel’s kind of like Luke Skywalker. Only instead of being father and son, they’re ex-lovers.
Interviewer: Cool. I think. There aren’t lightsabers or jumps to hyperspace, are there?
V.J. : Well, no, but this trilogy is more science fiction than the first, which owed much more to the kind of espionage-thriller genre. In this trilogy, we’re in early 2013. Six months ago, in October of 2012, a solar flare struck the east coast of the U.S., knocking out all the power and frying the transformers at power plants.
The east coast is cut off from the west coast, since without electricity, there’s no way to pump gas, there’s no phones, there’s no water. Everything’s a mess.
Interviewer: So this is post-apocalyptic Jason and Azazel.
V.J. : Exactly. Azazel, Hallam, and Marlena work for the government. They’re using their special skills to try to get west. Jason, on the other hand, is trying to stop them, because he hates authority and has become power hungry and increasingly violent.
Interviewer: We’ll see more of Hallam and Marlena, then. What about any of the other characters from the earlier books? Let’s see, who’s not dead?
V. J. : Lol. I do tend to kill people off with a vengeance, I must admit.
Interviewer: What about Chance? Mina? Sutherland? Edgar Weem? Agnes? Cornelius Agricola? The Weem twins?
V. J. : I don’t want to give too much away, but I wouldn’t write anyone off. Except Edgar Weem, of course. He was one of the Sons. He’s dead.
Interviewer: I don’t know. I thought he’d been kicked out of the Sons or had stepped down. At any rate, he was working to destroy them, wasn’t he? Did Azazel’s mind trick at the end of Tortured work on him?
V. J. : Currently, I’ve got no plans for Edgar Weem. But, well, I guess we’ll see, won’t we?
Interviewer: Okay, then, are there any new characters you’d like to talk about?
V. J. : Pretty much the newest and neatest edition, I think, is Kieran. He’s my Jacob. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. See, when Jude was still alive, a bunch of people were comparing Jude to Jacob, and I had to set them straight. Jude was never intended to be a love interest for Azazel at all. In my book, Jason was always Jacob. Sorry Team Edward-ers, but I think it’s pretty clear who Edward was in the books: Toby. Weird about sex, controlling, and always trying to keep Azazel “safe.” I already killed that douchebag off.
So, let’s try another analogy, shall we? So Kieran is like Luke Skywalker and Jason is like Han Solo. And Azazel is Princess Leia. Except this is before we know that Luke and Leia are related.
Interviewer: I thought Azazel was Luke Skywalker and Jason was Darth Vader.
V. J. : Damn it! Screw the Star Wars references then. Jason is Logan. Azazel is Veronica. And Kieran is Duncan.
Interviewer: This is Veronica Mars now?
V. J. : You want me to try to figure out a Buffy one?
Interviewer: Um…that’s okay. What you’re saying then, is that Kieran’s a nice guy.
V. J. : Exactly. After all the dark, brooding Jason-ness, I thought Az could use someone a little more apple-pie and wholesome-y.
Interviewer: You know, for a writer and an English teacher, you sure do take a lot of liberties with the English language.
V. J. : Shut up.
Interviewer: Who’s running this interview, me or you?
V. J. : I am you. Now, where was I before I was so rudely interrupted? Right. Kieran’s a good guy. He’s tall, with enormous muscular shoulders and shoulder-length, sandy-colored hair.
Interviewer: Long hair? Big muscles? Sounds like Jacob to me.
V. J. : Yeah, well, he’s not Jacob okay? He’s completely normal. No supernatural abilities whatsoever.
Interviewer: Ah, speaking of the supernatural, that’s got a much stronger place in this story, right?
V. J. : Right. Azazel is pretty powerful, as we learned in Tortured, but by this time, she’s figured out that her magic is not exactly what she thought it would be, and it’s causing her some problems.
Interviewer: You know, in regards to the first trilogy, since you keep making all these references to other works of fiction, I wondered if you’ve ever noticed the uncanny similarities between Breathless and The Bourne Identity. The movie, I mean. Their names are both Jason, for Christ’s sake.
V. J. : Um, yeah, actually, it’s weird. I hadn’t seen The Bourne Identity until after Breathless was published. But I was kind of disturbed at how oddly similar they were. I did not intend it at all. It made me actually believe Stephenie Meyer when she said she’d never seen Buffy before writing Twilight.
Interviewer: Anything else we should know about this story?
V. J. : That about sums it up. Well, I guess there is the fact that Azazel might be pregnant.
Interviewer: WHAT?!
V. J. : Um, yeah.
Interviewer: Okay, detail us. When is the book going to be available? How can we get it? All of that.
V. J. : The book will begin serializing on this site on October 19th. It’s possible that I’ll have the ebook available for purchase a little earlier than that. As always, people who subscribe to my email list (check the upper left corner of this page), will get the first crack at everything. Facebook and Twitterers are next up.
Interviewer: Thanks so much, V. J. We’ve enjoyed having you with us, and we hope you earn enough money from this book that you can pay your electric bill for a month or maybe even your car payment.
V.J. : How about my rent?
Interviewer: Let’s not get too excited. You didn’t even GROSS enough last year to pay your rent for a month.
V.J. : Right. Well, the fact that a few people would read it and leave tons of comments would be enough for me.
Interviewer: Excellent. Perhaps we can get those comments rolling right here on this blog entry. What do you think about what’s been revealed here? Are you pissed off that Jason and Azazel aren’t dating? Do you already hate Kieran with a fiery passion? Whose baby do you think Azazel could possibly be pregnant with?
Thanks again, and to all those of you out there in blog land, the book is The Stillness in the Air. It’s coming soon to a computer screen or ebook reader near you.
