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A Novel of Horror by MJ Preston
Book Description:
It has existed for centuries.
A dark curse held captive by ancient ritual, a creature of insatiable hunger possessing the ability to change shape at will. During spring and fall equinox it would break through the walls separating our worlds to feed.
Now it walks among us unrestrained and very hungry.
Banished from the Chocktee Nation and obsessed with vengeance, Daniel Blackbird has been chasing the “Walker” across North America for over 14 years. Bearing a scar from his first encounter, he feels the abomination's telepathic pull and is drawn in whatever direction it moves, but it always seems to be one step ahead of him.
Until now!
Over a thousand miles away residents of the prairie town of Thomasville are trying to come to terms with unspeakable crimes.
In a race against time, Blackbird sets out for the prairie town which, as the Equinox approaches, is destined to become a killing ground where cultures and worlds will collide.
Book Description:
It has existed for centuries.
A dark curse held captive by ancient ritual, a creature of insatiable hunger possessing the ability to change shape at will. During spring and fall equinox it would break through the walls separating our worlds to feed.
Now it walks among us unrestrained and very hungry.
Banished from the Chocktee Nation and obsessed with vengeance, Daniel Blackbird has been chasing the “Walker” across North America for over 14 years. Bearing a scar from his first encounter, he feels the abomination's telepathic pull and is drawn in whatever direction it moves, but it always seems to be one step ahead of him.
Until now!
Over a thousand miles away residents of the prairie town of Thomasville are trying to come to terms with unspeakable crimes.
In a race against time, Blackbird sets out for the prairie town which, as the Equinox approaches, is destined to become a killing ground where cultures and worlds will collide.
The Equinox is available through following distributors
It is available in Print and PDF and will soon be available for Amazon Kindle.
Hello.
My name is MJ Preston and I am the author of the horror novel: The Equinox.
Generally when I am going to do an interview or a guest blog I peruse the target site to get a feel for what to expect. When I wandered over to Mad Moose Mama the first thing I saw was a picture of a young lady who has been missing since November of last year. Initially, this instilled in me a feeling of uncertainty about the content of my book and whether it is appropriate for this site. The main reason is that one of the characters is a child predator named Stephen Hopper.
The main villain in the book is not Hopper, but he is a ghoulish character who preys on and murders young boys. He has become the scope of a police investigation after authorities unearth numerous graves in the cornfield on his farm. Writing about Hopper was a very tough thing to do. Believe it or not, he was not born out of a need to exploit, but in fact was a way for me to exercise a monster that scared me as a child.
In the early 1970's a childhood friend of mine was abducted by a predator in British Columbia. The young boy was found two or three days later, tied to a tree, physically and mentally abused. The monster who abducted him was never arrested for that crime.
I played with that boy all through our adolescence, he recounted some of the details of his ordeal and what I did learn haunted me. As a result, I remember having recurring nightmares about being abducted in a black car,. In an extremely surreal dream I would find myself unable to escape, staring out the back window of the car as it pulled away from the safety of my street all the while knowing I was going to die. Often I would wake and think this ghoul would be hiding under my bed or standing in a shadowy corner of my bedroom. Through squinted eyes I would watch for the slightest tremor, my heart racing, my filled with terror, prepared to run for my life.
Personal nightmares aside, let me tell you a bit about my novel. It is the story of a young aboriginal man named Daniel Blackbird who has been chasing a shape changer known as a skin-walker (Walker) for over 14 years. Daniel has had everything taken from him - his future - his mother, and his grandfather, who was killed by the creature. Bearing a scar inflicted during his first encounter Blackbird has developed a telepathic link with the creature and is drawn in whatever direction it moves, but it always seems to be one step ahead of him.
Leaving behind it a trail of eviscerated bodies, the Walker is a formidable force that has the ability to take any living shape. Often in the form of a ragged oversized raven, it stalks its prey from the skyscrapers and buildings, but its true self is more terrifying than that of any shape it takes.
Like a modern day Van Helsing, Blackbird is relentless, but inside his fears and doubts are delved into as he conjures up the magic of his grandfather and explores the past through vision quests and Chocktee ritual. Traveling from above the 64th parallel to the mean streets of Chicago Blackbird will eventually find himself aligned with an unlikely group of people in the town of Thomasville. It is there the evil he chases decides to stop running and fight.
My thanks to the site owner and fellow Canadian, for hosting my blog and of course to you the reader, who makes the art of storytelling a reality. As a token of thanks I will be giving away a copy of The Equinox in one of the preferred digital formats. Kindle, epub, or PDF.
If hardcopy is your desire you can also purchase my book in soft cover or for your kindle at Amazon or directly from my website MJ Preston - The Equinox
All the best.
MJ Preston
MJ Preston- Author and Artist at Large
MJ Preston is considered by his neighbours to be a bit on the eccentric side. He never puts up Christmas lights, yet during Halloween his yard is adorned with, gravestones, severed limbs, chainsaw wielding maniacs and giant spiders.
An ardent fan of the horror genre, he has been writing since he was a kid. In his early 20's he wrote film reviews for his hometown paper and while serving in the military he penned articles for more than few military newspapers.
In 1999 he founded the newsgroup Canadian Veterans' Alliance which championed the rights of wounded soldiers. This caught the eye of politicians and news media which landed him on the CBC's talk show TALK TV with Anne Petre.
In late 2009 he decided to dust off a half-finished manuscript he started well over a decade before. Originally written on an Olivetti typewriter the manuscript titled: THE EQUINOX came to life and was published in July of 2011.
Along with writing MJ Preston is also an artist using the computer as his canvas and creating digital art that is.. You guessed it, somewhat on the macabre side. From floating mystical orbs, to hungry intestinal eating ghouls, MJ Preston wields the virtual paintbrush of a proverbial madman.
He states, "I like to look at the darker side of human nature, pick at the things that bother us and see what lies beneath the surface."
Living in Canada, MJ Preston is now working on his second novel and producing a graphic series he calls: The Fourth Horseman.
Like a demented child, he waits excitedly for October 31st.
MJ Preston- Author and Artist at Large
MJ Preston is considered by his neighbours to be a bit on the eccentric side. He never puts up Christmas lights, yet during Halloween his yard is adorned with, gravestones, severed limbs, chainsaw wielding maniacs and giant spiders.
An ardent fan of the horror genre, he has been writing since he was a kid. In his early 20's he wrote film reviews for his hometown paper and while serving in the military he penned articles for more than few military newspapers.
In 1999 he founded the newsgroup Canadian Veterans' Alliance which championed the rights of wounded soldiers. This caught the eye of politicians and news media which landed him on the CBC's talk show TALK TV with Anne Petre.
In late 2009 he decided to dust off a half-finished manuscript he started well over a decade before. Originally written on an Olivetti typewriter the manuscript titled: THE EQUINOX came to life and was published in July of 2011.
Along with writing MJ Preston is also an artist using the computer as his canvas and creating digital art that is.. You guessed it, somewhat on the macabre side. From floating mystical orbs, to hungry intestinal eating ghouls, MJ Preston wields the virtual paintbrush of a proverbial madman.
He states, "I like to look at the darker side of human nature, pick at the things that bother us and see what lies beneath the surface."
Living in Canada, MJ Preston is now working on his second novel and producing a graphic series he calls: The Fourth Horseman.
Like a demented child, he waits excitedly for October 31st.
Terrific first novel,and one that I am glad to have a signed copy of my own! Excellent book, MJ!
ReplyDeletei learned that his neighbors think he's eccentric...just because he goes all out for halloween but fails to decorate for christmas...*shrugs* seems normal to me!
ReplyDeletentiveheart@gmail.com
I learned that MJ Preston is also an artist using the computer as his canvas and creating digital art
ReplyDeletecleaningrhouse at yahoo dot com
In 1999 he founded the newsgroup Canadian Veterans' Alliance which championed the rights of wounded soldiers.
ReplyDelete