Janis grew up in and around Darwin, Australia, and its rural surrounds. As a child, she spent a lot of time around 'science geeks' at the Darwin University, where her father was a lecturer for many years. It took her a long time to realise that not everyone got to grow up like that or could relate to all the Science Labs scenes in the old Dr Who.
Janis now lives in the Adelaide Hills with her husband and 3 children, lovingly referred to as the ‘Demonic Hordes’. She is a semi-retired ICT Support Officer who, when not writing, takes pride in her work as a Haus Frau while dabbling in the art of translating century old cookery books into modern recipes to experiment on her family with.
@Janis_Hill
https://www.facebook.com/JanisHillAuthor
http://janishill.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BonniesStoryABlondesGuideToMathematics
Too late to save her sister’s life, Stephanie Anders must now try to save her soul from the vampire who has possessed her, Branwyre, eighteenth vampire Lord of the Aegean.
With only the aid of the ghost of a pissed-off Buddhist monk with a potty mouth and the modern day Priestess of Isis, Stephanie must take on demons and other denizens of a world she knows nothing about if she is to succeed in banishing Branwyre.
But even more difficult than that, she must learn how to forgive her sister Estella for what she did to her if she is to have even half a chance of saving her soul. Welcome to a world within our own – the Other World.
Book Trailer
Available at Hague Publishing
Q) What inspired you to write this story?
I’m a huge fan of the supernatural, have been for most of my life. And some of the older stuff is the more interesting. Sadly a lot of that older stuff just isn’t used in modern day representations of the supernatural/ paranormal. Nor is it often seen in mainstream Urban Fantasy. So I thought it was time to go a bit old school and get away from the ‘Disneyfied’ version we seem to be stuck in right now.
I know not everyone is going to enjoy it, as they like the modern version, but I also know there are a lot of people wishing to go back to old school… so I’m doing my best.
Plus, I have had the storyline of Stephanie going to an old church, now run by Isis, to find her sister isn’t so dead as she believed, rattling around in my head for some years now. Possibly my view of old churches changed into new things, my mild Pagan faith, and my love of the supernatural just snowballed one day and this is what came out. I also never planned to make it into a series, but now it is.
Q) How long did it take you to write?
Roughly eight months, give or take real life, paid jobs and child rearing getting in the road. But I’ve had parts of the story racing about in my mind for almost ten years now.
Q) What is your favorite thing about writing?
Watching the story unfold and just letting the voices loose to do their thing. Although I have parts of the story already in my head, stewing away and screaming to be let out… there are other parts of the story I know nothing about until they happen. So getting the chance to just sit down and let the story take control and write itself is very enjoyable. I just wish I had the time to do it more often.
Q) What is your least favorite thing about writing?
The editing. Urgh. Especially by the time you get to the final edit before publication. As, by that time, you may have read the story several times over a short period of time and it just becomes a repetitive blur. No matter how much you enjoy writing and reading a story, the edits can put you off it… even if for just a short time. There is also the confrontation of accepting edits and changes by the publisher/ editor and the nail biting worry you’ve left an error in the final edit and every review is going to point it out in big red letters. “What an idiot, she said here instead of hear.” That sort of thing.
Q) If you could be any famous person for one day, who would you be and why?
Hmmm, I really don’t know. Possibly a politician and just spend my day apologizing for all the dumb things my party and I have just been saying and doing?
If I have to name someone, maybe Angeline Jolie because of her works with the United Nations and children in need. I’m not a fan or hers or Brad Pitt, but do admire the work she does and I have a very strong maternal instinct and so would love to speak out and encourage others to think not just of their children, but of others also in need of our help.
Q) What is the oldest thing in your fridge and how old is it?
As we eat a lot of fresh food made from scratch, there’s really not a lot of old stuff in my fridge. I’d have to say either the vegetable stock I made a couple of months ago (it keeps well and I use it all the time), or those odd stains at the back that were probably some sticky dessert that spilt and wasn’t noticed at first and has now seemed to have solidified into a shelf accessory.
Actually, the oldest things in my fridge are the shelves. They came with the fridge. :-D
Q) What can readers expect from you in the future?
I’m currently working on the second book in the Other World series titled There’s no place like Hell. It will shortly be followed by We represent the Demon Guild and If I only had a brain. I’m still working on a Wizard of Oz like title for the fifth book in the series though.
Another series in the works is my first attempt at ‘cozy crime’ writing and will be a murder mystery series set here in the Adelaide Hills called The Mount Loxley Murder Mysteries. I’m going to try and write twenty six books in the series, one for each letter of the alphabet. The book in progress right now is the Autumnal Artist.
Other than that there are always different stories whirling about in my mind, semi-finished, barely begun and I basically want to get a chance to sit down and write them when I have the time. I am a prolific writer and just need to find the time to turn that into being a prolific author.
