A scholarship, Alternative Science, will change Malcolm Drake's and several other junior classmates lives forever. Author Joana James visits my blog Feb 13 on her VBT Pit Stop.

Click on the image to visit the Meet & Greet with Joana at VBT Cafe

Today I welcome Joana James, author of Nightmare at Emerald High, a Christian thriller. This book sounds fascinating not only for teens but also for adults who love to read a mystery. Before we get to the Q&As, here's a little bit about Joana.

Joana James is a 28 year old author from the island of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. She is an I.T. professional by day but in her free time she escapes from the logical world of technology into the artistic world. She is an avid reader and her kindle is her favorite piece of technology. Music is her best friend and that manifests itself through her love for dance and singing.

Joana writes stories that portray the reality of her world. Her first book, a two-part short story series called Rise from the Ashes featured the lives of two young girls struggling in dire circumstances.

Her latest book, "Nightmare at Emerald High", brings to the fore a world that everybody knows exists but no one talks about.

Louise: Joana, welcome to my blog! I’m so excited you could join me for a chat. When did you first decide to submit your work to be published? Tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step.

Joana: I’ve always wanted to be a published writer and I pursued the dream vehemently as a teen. Eventually, after not succeeding at being noticed at all, I gave up and got a “real” job. Fast forward to ten years later, I realized that I was getting older and began making a conscious effort to fulfill some of the things on my life’s bucket list. Being a published author was the first on the list, so dived in headfirst.

Louise: Please tell us a little about your new release Nightmare at Emerald High without giving too much of a spoiler away.

Joana: Malcolm Drake is one year away from the end of high school when a tantalizing scholarship offer comes his way. Malcolm and several other classmates eagerly join a program called Alternative Science that promises to open their minds to new ways of thinking and of course, help them win that scholarship. They never realized that this program would change their lives forever. The class is riddled with eerie seances, encounters with spirit guides and a slow desensitization of the teens towards everything evil until they become completely entangled in the world of the occult.

With the program being run by the town's most influential people, the kids have a hard time getting out. Teachers that they trust hold them against their will and try underhanded tactics to convince them to remain in the program. Will good prevail over evil? Will the kids escape with their innocence?

Nightmare at Emerald High Blurb:
Genre – Christian Fiction

Malcolm Drake is one year away from the end of high school when a tantalizing scholarship offer comes his way. Malcolm and several other classmates eagerly join a program called Alternative Science that promises to open their minds to new ways of thinking and of course, help them win that scholarship. Little do they know that this program would change their lives forever. The class is riddled with eerie seances, encounters with spirit guides and a slow desensitization of the teens towards everything evil until they become completely entangled in the world of the occult.
 

With the program being run by the town's most influential people, the kids have a hard time getting out. Things take a turn for the worst when Malcolm is summoned to his school where he is bound and drugged in an effort to convince him to remain in the program.  

Louise: Do you plan all your characters out before you start a story or do they develop as you write?

Joana: I start my books with a plan for my characters but along the way some fall out of the story and others made surprise appearances. I also try to start with a plan so that I know where my book is headed but I don’t let that plan restrict my process.

Louise: How much research do you do for your books? Have you found any cool tidbits in your research?

Joana: I spend lots of time scouring the internet researching simple things so that my books, even though they’re fiction, will be as accurate as possible. With Nightmare at Emerald High, I did research on secret societies and organizations and found out some interesting stuff. However, to limit controversy, I decided not to add some of it to the book. 

Louise: What is your writing process? Do you outline, write by the seat of your pants (Pantser) or a combination of both?

Joana: I use both methods. Sometimes I may outline the entire book just so that I know where I’m going, or if there’s a story worth telling before I actually begin writing. However, I find that once I begin to write, the story may take a path that is entirely different or, it may veer off course and return to the original path somewhere along the way. I like to allow the story to tell itself.

Louise: Do you write full time? What did you do before you became a writer or still do?

Joana: Writing is my passion but for now, it’s still a hobby.  I have a day job as an I.T. professional; however I yearn for the day when I can wake up, kick back and just write.

Louise: Do you have a ritual when it comes to writing? Example….get coffee, blanket, paper, pen, laptop and a comfy place.

Joana: When I’m ready to write, I tune out the world, lock myself in my room, turn on some music and break out my laptop. I keep a bottle of water handy but no food, I find that stopping to eat breaks my flow. I don’t let myself leave the room until I reach my word count goal (or my bladder holds me accountable for drinking all that water).

Louise: Describe a typical writing day for you.

Joana: I’m a morning person, so I wake up at about 4:00am and head straight for the laptop. Most times, the story would have been stewing in my head for practically the whole night preventing me from sleeping. I’m a binge writer, so I spend three or four hours at the laptop (mostly on weekends) pounding away and then after that, I don’t look at the piece for the rest of the day. On rare occasions, I may come back to put a couple more hours but hardly ever.

Louise: Please give us a sneak peek at your future books. What’s on the horizon?

Joana: I’m about one third of the way into my next release, Paranormal, but I’m way off schedule with this one. It’s needs to be perfect before I release and for me, it’s not perfect just yet. There’s also a romance novel stewing in my head but it won’t be the typical romance novel where guy meets girl, girl finds guy annoying, guy wins girl over and they live happily ever after. I like stories of the heart to show the reality of life so this one will feature circumstances that I have faced myself with an added dose of fiction for taste.

Louise: What is your favorite genre to read and who is your favorite author?

Joana: I love Christian thrillers and my all-time favorite author is Frank Peretti. He’s like the mentor I’ve never met!

Louise: Is there anything else you would like to tell the readers we have not touched on?

Joana: Nightmare at Emerald High was a book that perfect sense for me to write. I live on an island where secret organizations are rampant and several rumors circulate about their nature and their activities.  The book is set in that atmosphere. It is totally and completely fiction and is meant to entertain and should be treated as that.

 

Louise: Where can the readers learn more about you and find your books on the web?

Joana: My blog may be found at http://JoanaJames.blogspot.com

To purchase Nightmare at Emerald High: Amazon

I have one other title available for sale: Alana & Alyssa’s Secret: Rise from the Ashes and it is available here: Amazon

Both books are available on Kindle and in paperback. 

Louise: Joana, thank you for visiting my blog today and good luck with your book tour!
Readers, Joana will giveaway an eBook copy to one lucky commenter!