L'Immortalite

BLOG HOPPING THROUGH SOME GREAT BOOKS

  For those who are not familiar with a blog hop, it is a lot like a treasure hunt.  One you find something on one blog, you hop over to the next link for more treasure. In this case, the treasure is a wealth of new and exciting books. Some are still being written, some are just being released.  Either way, for book lovers, it is a treasure and I would like to thank author

 Sandra McLeod Humphrey for tagging me to participate. Visit her blog at http://www.kidscandoit.com/blog/

In this particular post, I hope to answer 10 questions and you get to learn about one of two powerful women and the role they played in shaping the history and legends of New Orleans.

Q & A:
WHAT IS THE TITLE OF YOUR BOOK?  L'immortalité: Madame Lalaurie and the Voodoo Queen.

WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM FOR THE BOOK?  Almost every day in New Orleans, hundreds of people pay and line up to take walking tours in order to see the exterior of Madame Delphine Lalaurie's haunted mansion and to visit the grave of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.  A few years ago, I took one of those tours and I loved the story so much, I wanted to read a book about it when I got home.  That's when I discovered there was no book.  Lots of blurbs on the internet, chapters in a few books, references in a couple more, but no book that told the whole history and legend.  After I began writing, two non-fiction history texts were published that covered the factual history of Delphine Lalaurie (lots of footnotes, genealogy, and documentation).  Great stuff if you are a historian, maybe not if, like the hundreds of people who take the walking tours, you're looking for suspense and entertainment.

WHAT GENRE DOES YOUR BOOK FALL UNDER?   It blends genres:  Historical Fiction and Horror.  On another level, it is an irreverent meditation on what people will do to persist beyond their earthly lives.

WHICH ACTORS WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO PAY YOUR CHARACTERS IN A MOVIE RENDITION?
For Madame Delphine LaLaurie, Courteney Cox and for Marie Laveau, Zoe Saldana.  Sahara Garey would be ideal for the Lalaurie's runaway slave, Elise.  I think Robert Pattinson would make a good Philippe, the sacristan protagonist in my story.  Shaver Ross could play Bastien, Delphine Lalaurie's driver, and William Shatner should play Doctor Louis Lalaurie.

WHAT IS A ONE-SENTENCE SYNOPIS OF YOUR BOOK?
In this historical horror story set in antebellum New Orleans, a voodoo queen helps an elite slave owner, a cathedral sacristan, and runaway slave find immortality in ways both macabre and beautiful.

IS YOUR BOOK SELF-PUBLISHED OR REPRESENTED BY AN AGENCY? It is published by Nonius LLC Publishing.

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE THE FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT?  The first draft took about 16 months, most of which was spent in doing research,  talking to sources, digging through libraries, and trying to get a feel for what it looked, smelled, and felt like in New Orleans in the 1830's.  It took another year to finish the story.

WHAT OTHER BOOKS WOULD YOU COMPARE THIS STORY TO WITHIN YOUR GENRE?
Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer.

WHO OR WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS BOOK? 27 years ago, I founded a non-profit organization to provide for orphaned children and I spend most of my time working with our orphanage in Sonora, Mexico.  I wanted to find something to do on my free days that had nothing to do with seeing molested, abused and abandoned children.  I failed.  The book recalls the history of horrendous abuse of enslaved human beings.  I credit the guides at French Quarter Phantoms and Strange True Tours in New Orleans for giving me the subject matter and my two sons for encouraging me to write the book.

WHAT ELSE ABOUT YOUR BOOK MIGHT PIQUE THE READER'S INTEREST?  L'immortalité is based on a true story and nearly all of the characters in the book were real people torn from the pages of New Orleans history. Each of the title characters has had her own cult following for nearly two centuries.  Most of the places mentioned in my book still stand today and has been called a "must read" for anyone who plans to visit the French Quarter in New Orleans.  I am thrilled with all the reviews so far, especially  one  5 star review titled "Couldn't Put It Down" written by someone I met at a book signing. It said that a book "really has to grab me in the first few pages and Mr. Heinan did." http://www.amazon.com/LImmortalite-Madame-Lalaurie-Voodoo-Queen/dp/0615634710/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1352697000&sr=1-1&keywords=l%27immortalite+madame+lalaurie+and+the+voodoo+queen

Here is my list of blog hop buds for next week:

They all write good stuff, so check out their blogs next Wednesday to read about their WIPs and New Releases. Thanks also to Sandra McLeod Humphrey for this interview.

Maggie Tideswell  http://maggiestorm.blogspot.com/

Micki Peluso      http://mallie1025.blogspot.com/

Ronald Cherry   http://www.rlcherry.com/

Mary Firman   http://maryfirmin.blogspot.com/

Dan O'Brien   http://thedanobrienproject.blogspot.com/