Tell us a bit about yourself.
I hail from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where I work full-time as a respiratory therapist. When I’m not working with my patients, I’m enjoying a fright flick or working on horror and science fiction tales. I often bring my medical background to the printed page, and my short stories have appeared in numerous small press magazines. I’ve published Night to Dawn magazine since 2004. My published books include two novellas, Life Raft: Earth and Close Liaisons; also Twilight Healer, City of Brotherly Death, Infinite Sight, Steel Rose, and my latest, When Blood Reigns. I maintain a presence on Facebook, The Writers’ Coffeehouse forum, and Twitter. Look for the photos with the Mylar balloons, and you’ll find me.
Tell us about your most recent book.
When Blood Reigns is the sequel to Steel Rose. Steel Rose opens with protagonist Alexis searching for a cure for her debilitating illness. Her search lands her in open combat with zombies and renegade aliens, but her weakness prohibits her from using most weapons. Yeron, a Kryszka doctor, develops a drug to control her arthritis, and a romance develops between them. The Kryszka soldiers and zombies who break into the hospital are hungry. So very hungry.
When Blood Reigns continues the story with Alexis, Yeron, and other survivors of the zombie invasion forming a posse to search for the Kryszka underground laboratory responsible for manufacturing the chemical which induces a zombie-like state in humans. In the process, they face assaults by hordes of zombies. She doesn’t realize until too late that the renegades have been tracking her every move. Although Alexis is an adult, she has growing to do if she wants to survive, and through both books, she learns painful lessons about love and war. She must also face unpleasant truths about herself.
Who is the villain or antagonist in your story and what is he/she like?
There are several villains, but the main villain of protag Alexis is Laurel Grant. In Steel Rose, she was a fellow respiratory therapist, and she hated Alexis for acting like “Miss Perfect.” Because she suffers from a chemical imbalance, she hears voices and has an imaginary demon visitor named Abaddon. She’s a serial killer, going after people when directed by Abaddon. She teams up with Kryszka renegade Woehar. Instead, Woehar splices DNA from a dinosaur-like Kryszka creature into her. By the latest book, When Blood Reigns, Laurel becomes half-monster, with a constant hunger for human flesh. In her warped mind, Alexis is responsible for her problems, and Laurel vows to get her.
Is one of your main characters a supernatural creature that is traditionally considered “evil?” If yes, how does this character break that traditional stereotype?
Although my novel is primarily science fiction / horror, there is one supernatural character—the ghost of Zoltar, Yeron’s father. Most people fear the supernatural, but Zoltar watches out for Yeron and his lover Alexis. Sometimes he’ll counsel them about dangerous people or situations, and might intervene to save their lives. Protag Alexis regards him as an angel.
What do you think are the heroic qualities your villain/antihero/supernatural creature possesses?
Despite the DNA fusion’s effect of making her part-monster, it does correct her chemical imbalance, so Laurel’s hallucinations stop. The part of her that is still human can now judge right from wrong, and she comes to hate Woehar even more than Alexis. When Woehar hands her a wounded or sick prisoner, the human in Laurel wants to find a way to help the prisoner. Of course, her bloodlust always overrides any helpful intention, but the desire to help is there.
Is there any respect between this character and the hero/heroine of your story?
Nope. Alexis has always taken patient care seriously. Laurel’s tragedy of errors at the hospital has caused several deaths, and this thoroughly disgusts Alexis. That and Laurel’s lax grooming and body odor. Most health care workers are stressed, so when they see aberrant behavior among fellow peers, it will never cross their mind to send the person to a doctor. Instead, the offending employee gets a warning or dismissal. What’s more, Alexis was close friends with their supervisor and a prominent doctor, who assumed a protective stance over her disability. Their friendship toward Alexis made Laurel insanely resentful, and she assumed that Alexis complained about her work, which she did.
What was the most difficult part of writing about this character?
I thought of Laurel as a horrible person, but a good instructor pointed out that there is good and bad in everyone. How could a serial killer like Laurel have any good traits? The best I could do was make her sympathetic, and this I did by taking the reader through her abusive childhood, particularly in Steel Rose. I also gave her a love of animals – there’s a scene where she buys her dog special treats. She also has a chemical imbalance, which provoked her aberrant behavior, and instead of sending her to a doctor, people just backed away. I feel sorry for Laurel now, but by the second book, it’s too late to help her.
About the Book
Title: When Blood Reigns
Author: Barbara Custer
Genre: Horror / Science Fiction
Marked for death, Alexis accompanies her lover, Yeron, and four survivors of a zombie invasion on a search for the renegades who created a chemical that induces a zombie-like state. On the way, ravenous flesh-eaters attack Alexis’s team; one survivor turns on her. She realizes too late that the renegades have been tracking her every move. When officials capture her, she becomes deathly ill. Can DNA splicing save her? Will Yeron’s attempts at rescue jeopardize all their lives?
Author Bio
Barbara lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she works full time as a respiratory therapist. When she’s not working with her patients, she’s enjoying a fright flick or working on horror and science fiction tales. She’s published Night to Dawn magazine since 2004.
Other books by Barbara include Twilight Healer, City of Brotherly Death, Infinite Sight, and Steel Rose; also novellas Close Liaisons and Life Raft: Earth. She enjoys bringing her medical background to the printed page, and then blending it with supernatural horror. She maintains a presence on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, and The Writers Coffeehouse forum. Look for the photos with the Mylar balloons, and you’ll find her.
To contact her, e-mail her at barbaracuster@hotmail.com.
Visit her at:
Thank you so much for the interview and for having me as a guest. 🙂 ~ Barbara
Fun interview!
Thank you very much for being a guest, Barbara!