Awakening Cocijo by Thomas Juarez Book Tour and Giveaway :)
Awakening
Cocijo
by
Thomas Juarez
Genre:
Metaphysical Fiction
Chaotic
skies reveal untold prophecies. A storm rises. Can a boy quell the
fury of a god?Join the Zapotec on a journey through time and across
generations.
Referring
to themselves as the cloud people, their fierce warriors conquered
and ruled the Oaxaca for centuries. Witness rites, rituals and
incantations aimed at appeasing the divine in an attempt to gain
favor; favor that would grant them greatness. So, where did it all go
wrong? Why would such powerful gods allow their disciples to be
conquered? These answers and more would be offered many centuries
later by their descendants. Descendants of a civilization whose glory
can only be revived by the awakening of the most powerful deity in
Zapotec lore: Cocijo, the god of lightening and rain.
Beedxe’ felt as if his bones were
bending. Crushing pain overwhelmed his jaws where he felt large
canines forming in the front of his mouth, tormented in their need
rip and tear flesh. His molars became enlarged, jagged and sharp.
Eyes became fiercely dominant, while whiskers erupted through his
cheeks.
Thomas (Tom) Juarez is a retired United States Army soldier with about twenty-one years of active federal service. Hailing from Wetumpka, Alabama, Tom currently enjoys his military retirement with his wife in Sterling, Oklahoma.
What are your top 10 favorite
books/authors?
I love the Altered Carbon trilogy by
Richard K. Morgan! Fair warning, this masterpiece is very violent,
sexual and in your face. Typically, I do not read such progressive
books, but the storyline is just so unique that I could not help
myself. Mister Morgan has a way of piling adjectives on top of other
adjectives while leaving you wanting even more.
What book do you think everyone
should read?
Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The
imagination required to fabricate such a story still baffles the
senses.
Do the characters all come to you at
the same time or do some of them come to you as you write?
I feel you must develop the main
characters before you begin. The “small players” can be revealed
to you as continue to develop your story.
What kind of research do you do
before you begin writing a book?
Study the terrain and surroundings of
the area you will be portraying. Learn about the people and wildlife
in that area,
Do you see writing as a career?
I truly hope so; I could use a new
reality.
What do you think about the current
publishing market?
The publishing landscape is tricky at
best. Mainstream may take the glory, but as an independent author I
can choose to ignore editorial advice. Having said that, I used 99%
of the editorial advice I received.
Do you read yourself and if so what
is your favorite genre?
I love Fantasy and Science fiction, but
I am a sucker for history books (specifically ancient cultures).
Do you prefer to write in silence or
with noise? Why?
I need silence! I get side tracked too
easy.
Pen or type writer or computer?
Definitely computer!
Advice you would give new authors?
Hire an editor; trust me, you need it!
Amber Byers of https://www.tadpolepress.com/
helped me in so many ways, I truly would have been lost without her.
What is your writing process? For
instance do you do an outline first? Do you do the chapters first?
First you need some form of inspiration
to make a story from. Then begin studying some of the information
you think may pertain to your story. After you have a basic premise,
develop an outline along with character names. Take at least a day
to define the characters and picture them in your head. How do they
look, act and talk? I use my outline as a sort of living document
because it changes so much. For example, the ancient part (part one)
of my story was going to be a prologue. I found there was too much
of a story to tell there to leave it as a prologue…so there is no
prologue.
What is your writing Kryptonite?
Noise! I wish I could make a sound
proof room to write in. This soundproof room would need color and
smell though…continue to tickle the senses.
Do you try more to be original or to
deliver to readers what they want?
I try to write in a manner in which
people do not feel the need to grab a dictionary mid-read. If the
word is too big or complex, I feel it takes away from the story.
If you could tell your younger
writing self anything, what would it be?
Smell every flower without a bug on it.
Breathe life in slowly, allowing you to exhale your observances into
your story telling.
What’s the most difficult thing
about writing characters from the opposite sex?
Nothing…it’s fiction lol. I have
found that trying to make someone act predominantly male or female
sets a type of stereotype. I tried hard not to make my characters
robots, but I did want traditional family structure in this story.
There are stories which demand you stray from mainstream family
thinking, and I get that; but this story demanded what I envision as
a traditional family. Keep in mind, my normal is not necessarily
your normal. I believe that is because there is no such thing as a
universal norm, and that is a very good thing.
How long on average does it take you
to write a book?
This was my only book. I researched
for months on end, then wrote the book in a month. After all of
that, it took 3 months to finish editing.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
Yes! Writers block is real. Sometimes
you may have to just take a day off…try not to make it two.
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