Interview with author Jody Summers

Author Jody Summers joins me today to talk about her supernatural thrillers, Dark Canvas and its sequel, The Mask Maker.

Bio:

Born in New Orleans, Jody Summers' life has been filled with unconventionality. The adopted son of a prominent Texas restaurateur, Jody grew up in New Orleans, Memphis and then Houston, learning the restaurant business while he built a career as a competitive gymnast that propelled him to a scholarship at the University of Kansas.

After college, Jody followed in his father’s footsteps owning, at one point, three 24-hour restaurant franchises along with four tanning salons in Tulsa. Finally leaving that business, he turned his entrepreneurial skills to everything from a patent in the Pet Industry to a Single’s website.
 
A restaurateur, a gymnast, a stunt man, an entrepreneur, a pilot, skydiver, scuba diver, and an accomplished martial artist for twenty-five years, Jody Summers has tried it all. Now he brings all those experiences to paper in his first novel, the supernatural thriller, Dark Canvas.

Welcome, Jody. Please tell us about Dark Canvas.

When artist, Kira McGovern mixes paints with the ashes of the dead, she discovers her extraordinary gift, but it also leads her to some horrifying crimes in this psychological thriller of a novel.

It seems innocent enough at first, thought Kira McGovern---mixing her dead mother’s ashes with paint to create a tribute painting. What a way to personalize and immortalize her mom’s memory! The idea so ensnares her that she forms a new business, Canvas of Life, to do just that for others. As she begins with her first clients, something inexplicable occurs: Kira experiences segments of the dead person’s life. In dreams and visions, she begins to receive images, some are gratifying, some unpleasant and some of them are downright deadly.

Sean Easton is a Kansas farm boy with a special talent he is just beginning to understand. His father, too, has recently died, but something sinister still lingers on the farm. When he takes his father’s ashes to Kira as a pretense to meet her, he not only falls in love but makes some startling discoveries about his own life as well, and as Kira begins to paint with Sean’s father’s ashes the real terror begins….

                                    Sometimes Secrets Don’t Stay in the Grave.

The sequel, The Mask Maker picks up where Dark Canvas left off and as a result of their previous experiences; Sean and Kira find themselves involved in a deadly chase for a unique and gruesome arsonist with unpredictable results.

I have another book I am about to release which is also a thriller, however with a bit less supernatural tilt than Dark Canvas. It is called The Mayan Legacy.

I am also finishing the first draft of Mental Marauder which is the third installment in the Dark Canvas series.

What inspired you to write Dark Canvas?

A lovely lady I had a chance date with was actually painting with the ashes of the deceased, cremains, as she calls them, and it occurred to me that as much as I’ve read (and trust me that’s a lot) I had never read anything like this before, and the notion of writing something new under the sun fascinated me so that I just jumped on it.

What exciting story are you working on next?

I believe my next endeavor will be a Sci-Fi novel tentatively entitled “The Amazing Enigma of Aiden Quiver. His name is an acronym that I will share with everyone at a later date.

Stay tuned!

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

LOL. Somewhere AFTER I finished Dark Canvas. Even though I’ve written hundreds of poems over the years

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I am currently making a living in the oil and gas business as a permit agent. Therefore, most of my writing comes early in the morning or is dictated when I’m driving. I hope for that to change in the near future.

I also have a number of producers evaluating Dark Canvas for a movie. Fingers crossed.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I like to change perspective frequently, even within a paragraph. I like offering the observations from more than one person in a scene while still keeping it abundantly clear who is speaking. This little quirk gives editors fits.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I had no clue as a child. Later, I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast.

The next thing I KNEW I wanted to be when I grew up was a writer….figured that one out at age 50.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

My books are going to keep coming but as you can already tell in addition to the Dark Canvas series, I’m jumping genres, I already have a sci-fi plot that I mentioned earlier which I intend to tackle right after I finish the third book in the Dark Canvas series, which means later this year or early next year.

I already have the first draft of another novel, a religious thriller I plan to edit and finish entitled The Note from Christ.

I don’t plan to abandon the Dark Canvas series, though; I have plots in mind for at least two more in the series already.

As Robert Jordan, one of my favorite authors, said, “I intend to continue writing until they nail my coffin shut.” Which he did by the way with his brilliant Wheel of Time series.

Also, along with my hero Dean Koontz, I love to read Clive Cussler novels and would love to write a story someday to emulate his style of fast paced action and adventure comingled with a touch of history.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon

Thank you for being here, Jody!