The most powerful wishes aren’t said with words.
The
ring speaks to Bax in a dream, tempting him with a vision of a powerful djinn.
Desperate to make his fantasies a reality, Bax unleashes a creature called
Ifrit, but soon learns this djinn isn't what the ring led him to believe.
Feeding off the depths of his subconscious, the sinister demon fulfills what he
thinks Bax wants by manipulating, threatening, and murdering.
With
everyone he loves in danger and a trail of crimes pointing back at him, Bax
must scramble to solve the puzzle that will banish Ifrit forever.
Tell
us a bit about From Brick & Darkness. Well, a creepy old dude shows up outside of my
building one night wanting to give this ugly ring to my dad. Oh, and by the
way, my dad left Mom and me when I was two. Haven’t seen him since. So like an
idiot, I take the ring out of curiosity. Then, when I’m showing it to my best
friend, we discover that if you rub it, a genie is unleashed. That’s when my
life started spiraling out of control.
What
are your plans for a future profession or career? I’m not sure. Mrs. Bronson--my school counselor--says
I need to start thinking about colleges even though I’m only a sophomore. I
think maybe I’ll get into video game design. Make a totally kick-ass game like Archer
Annihilation.
What
is your biggest fear? Speaking in
front of people. I hate it. I have this thing where I pass out when I get too
nervous. My mom calls it an episode. Doctors say that it may go away any
day or it may never go away. Isn’t that a great diagnosis to get from your
doctor?
Who
is your favorite fictional character and why? Superman. Who’s cooler? He has the best superpowers
because he can pretty much do anything. But he still does the right thing with his
powers, and people love and respect him for it.
What
is the best piece of advice you ever received? “Always have a plan.” My best friend Jason always says
that, and he always has one. I try, but sometimes I remember to have a plan
after I’ve already jumped into the middle of something.
Thanks for taking time to speak
with us, Bax. Now, we’d like to chat with your creator, J. L. Sullivan.
Which writer or
character[s], from either books or movies, [or both] have had an impact on your
writing? While I’m drawn mostly to
fantasy and horror young adult books, I always try to channel a bit of John Green
when I’m writing. His books are straightforward contemporary YA, but his characters
are so deep and compellingly flawed, that they make you keep reading when the plot
of the book may not be something you’d typically read. So I always try to create
that depth when developing characters to keep my magical storylines grounded in
reality as much as possible.
With regard to research,
where did you start for this novel? Did that lead you down different paths,
thereby changing the original concept? I
began this journey wanting to write a fairy tale retelling. I researched Grimm
tales and eventually started reading One Thousand and One Nights, which
is the source of the original Aladdin story. However, when I started writing From
Brick & Darkness as an Aladdin retelling set in a modern American city,
the work evolved further and further from the source material. It still has djinn
at its core, but eventually, my novel grew into something vastly different from
Aladdin’s Lamp. So when people ask if this is a retelling, I usually say
it’s a very very loose retelling.
Tell us a bit about your
publisher. How did you hear about them; what influenced you to submit to them;
how is the submission process; what is the turn-around time from date of query
to date of release? The Wild Rose Press
attended a writers' conference in St. Louis in early 2021 where they were accepting
pitches. I went to sign up, but their spots had already been filled, so I decided
to submit to them through their website. I explained I wanted to pitch at the conference
but had missed my opportunity. They liked my query and eventually, I signed
with them in May of 2021. From signing until the release date, it was right at
one year.
What are you reading right
now? I just started the Witches of
Vegas by Mark Rosendorf, another Wild Rose Press author. I think he’s on the
third book now, but I’m just starting his series.
What's next for you? I am hard at work on a sequel to From Brick &
Darkness that goes further into the djinn-verse that Bax and his friends opened.
I’m excited to bring back characters from the first book, introduce some new ones,
and more importantly, feature lots more magic gone wrong.
J. L. brought an excerpt for
us:
Neck bones popped as his
head rotated toward me, his face eclipsing the rays of the streetlight. His
irises were dull purple, glazed over with a foggy film, and deep-set wrinkles
radiated from the corners of his eyes like arrows drawing attention to them.
A shudder caused the keys
to slip from my hand and clank on the ground. My face burned with shame that
the poor man’s appearance had startled me. My rudeness would have disappointed
Mom.
“I’m sorry, but really—” I
snagged my keys.
His hand slithered out of
the brick-colored sleeve as his arm rose, trembling as he strained to hold the
weight of his own limb. Gloved in loose, veiny skin, his skeleton hand had yellowed
fingernails so overgrown they grew in on themselves like curly birthday
ribbons. As his fingers unfurled, he revealed a ring nestled in his palm.
It was large. Too large.
The ring resembled the toy jewelry Jason’s sister played with or something from
a Halloween costume. Grimy gold with a single dull purplish jewel that matched
his eyes.
His hand trembled under the
heaviness of the ring. “Take it.”
Shifting my backpack to my
other shoulder, I took it. “What is this?”
The corners of his thin
lips curled into a grin as a gust of warm, dry wind cut through the chilly
October night and swirled around me.
Twitter: @jls_author
Instagram: @JLS_author
Facebook: @jlsullivanauthor
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Brick-Darkness-J-L-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B09THQ24TC
Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60508978
Bookbub:https://www.bookbub.com/books/from-brick-darkness-by-j-l-sullivan
