Blog Tour: Predator by Janice Gable Bashman- Guest Post & #Giveaway

 

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The Creation of Predator By Janice Gable Bashman

 

Predator came to me after I researched and wrote about werewolves in Wanted Undead or Alive (a non-fiction book I co-wrote with Jonathan Maberry). I only had the title for my novel at the time and the idea that it would involve werewolves. Then author Carla Neggers posted photos from her research trips to Ireland on her Facebook page and hooked me on Ireland. I started researching Irish bogs and discovered bog bodies—bodies found in the bogs (many murdered). What’s fascinating about bog bodies is that the properties of the bog preserve the flesh so the body, other than being stained from the peat, looks almost like it did when the person died. The skin is dried out and you can see bones through the flesh—it’s pretty amazing.

So, I tapped into the Benandanti mythology (an actual folkloric belief that certain families of Italy and Livonia were werewolves who fought against evil), gave it a new twist, and combined it with a modern scientific approach to mutation and the science of transgenics. Predator starts off in an Irish bog and continues in the United States. The title I had originally envisioned was perfect because wolves are predatory creatures that must hunt to survive, werewolves take this to the extreme, and the rogue soldiers in the novel become unstoppable killing machines.

The first thing I did was create a synopsis of the book—a working narrative to guide the story. Then I created an extensive outline followed by a character list. Once those were completed, I used a Post-it to represent each chapter and wrote a brief description, chapter number, and main characters for the chapter on the Post-it. The Post-its were then placed sequentially onto a tri-fold science fair display board that stands on the floor of my office. This process gave me a visual feel for the novel and enabled me to see its structure all at once.

My next step was to write character sketches: age, height, weight, hair color, what each character likes to eat, do for fun, listen to music-wise, etc. Then I wrote pages and pages of free thought in each character’s voice, as if they were telling someone about themselves. The characters continued to develop and change as the book progressed and throughout the revision process.

It took me about a year and a half to write Predator from start to finish. The first draft took about six weeks (I write first drafts on my laptop while sitting in an easy chair in the room in my house that I call the library); the rest was editing and rewriting (on the desktop computer in my office). I was sidetracked along the way when my mom became seriously ill, so the book took longer than I had expected.

There was a lot of research involved. I had to make sure all the science was plausible within the plot of the book. Creating super soldiers had to have a scientific base that made sense. Fortunately, I found a world-famous geneticist who was as excited by the science in the book as I was. He helped me figure out how to create the werewolves using modern-day science and how the process can go horrible wrong. Making sure readers understood that science amid the high pace and high action was important. I gave readers only the information they needed and not a bit more so that the science didn’t drag down the story.

Once the book was sold my publisher gave me additional suggestions for revision. They made sense to me, so I made those changes in addition to some other ideas I had at the time. These revisions made the book stronger. I had a lot of fun writing Predator. I hope your readers enjoy it too.

 

 

 

Title: Predator

Publication date: September 16, 2014

Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.

Author: Janice Gable Bashman

 

“Predator is a fast-paced, creepy page-turner! Bashman had me at the opening sentence and she’s still got me. I want more!”

 

Nancy Holder, New York Times Bestselling Author, The Rules

 

The hunt is on!

 

Sixteen-year-old Bree Sunderland must inject herself with an untested version of her father’s gene therapy to become a werewolf in order to stop a corrupt group of mercenaries from creating a team of unstoppable lycanthrope soldiers.

 

When Bree went with her scientist father to Ireland, she thought it would be a vacation to study bog bodies. She never expected to fall in love with a mysterious young Irishman and certainly never expected to become the kind of monster her father said only existed in nightmares. Dr. Sunderland discovers that lycanthropy was not a supernatural curse but rather a genetic mutation. When they return home, her dad continues his research, but the military wants to turn that research into a bio weapons program and rogue soldiers want to steal the research to turn themselves into unstoppable killing machines.

 

Bree’s boyfriend Liam surprises her with a visit to the United States, but there are darker surprises in store for both of them. As evil forces hunt those she loves, Bree must become an even more dangerous hunter to save them all.

 

Predator gives the werewolf legend a couple of new spins by introducing the Benandanti (an actual folkloric belief that certain families of Italy and Livonia were werewolves who fought against evil), as well as a modern scientific approach to mutation and the science of transgenics.

 

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Author: Janice Gable Bashman

 

 

Janice Gable Bashman is the Bram Stoker nominated author of Wanted Undead or Alive and Predator. She is managing editor of the The Big Thrill (International Thriller Writers’ ezine).  Janice lives with her family in the Philadelphia area, where she at work on her next novel. Visit her at janicegablebashman.com.

 

Author Links:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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