Fantasy author Alex Stevens is chatting with me today about Stairway to Heaven.
During his virtual book tour, Alex will be giving away a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!
Bio:
Alex Stevens is a Marine Corps Veteran with two deployments and a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Interdisciplinary Studies program, a unique undergraduate degree that caters to students with various interests of study. He is also an advent traveler and philosophy enthusiast who has spent a lifetime studying religions, with a focus on Non-denominational Christianity. Alex spends most of his time going for walks, spending time with loved ones, and when the juices are flowing, writing. Fantasy fiction is his great escape from the mundane and he likes to create fantastical realities that are blended with non-fictional people, places, and events.
Welcome, Alex. Please tell us a little bit about your current release.
Corporal Jack Graven should be dead. Murdered by a vengeful angel at his own father’s funeral, Jack is resurrected and returns to life carrying a terrible secret: he is the Archangel Gabriel reincarnated.
Jack’s not the only one with secrets. His older brother, Lieutenant Colonel Tyler Graven “Demon of Kyoto”, has just inherited his father’s fortune and legacy as Lord of War, with no intention of stopping there: Tyler will someday rule the world.
The brothers reunite their elite military unit, “The Four Horsemen,” with Tyler’s longtime flame Colonel Diana Levitas and the mysterious Lance Corporal Jin Xialong. Together they seek to uncover the truth of Jack’s past life and propel Tyler to his impossible destiny.
Thrust into a supernatural war, the Gravens find salvation through the Black Muramasa, a cursed black katana and the only weapon that can destroy immortals. As they uncover more mysteries behind the ancient blade, they come face to face with the Devil himself, but in the most familiar of faces. Their pasts, presents, and futures all linked, the Four Horsemen must end the war once and for all to survive with their souls intact. Failing could mean the end of the world.
A follow up to the explosive first book in the Ballad of Fallen Angels series, Sympathy for the Devil, Book 2 is an action-packed, gun-slinging adventure that packs the punch of a military thriller with high-stakes supernatural intrigue.
Excerpt from Stairway to Heaven:
Before the man could blink, I pulled the twin Berettas from their holsters, my fingers hammering the triggers. Time for a bloodbath.
I had died once, and it wasn’t pleasant. An angel had swooped from the sky and smashed through my chest as if it were thin wallpaper at my father’s funeral. Since then, I realized, amongst other things, that I could move with godlike speed as necessary, which saved me from anguish on most occasions. The drug dealer’s trigger squeeze stretched longer than the instant it took me to draw and fire, as I rolled to the right while dodging the threat of the man’s final shots. I fired several more times before he could accomplish the same feat.
He was the first to die.
I could feel the rounds closing in on me furiously, like an angry storm of tiny projectiles absent of remorse. I leapt forward into a dive and rolled to dodge several of them, sprinting to cover behind a cluster of barrels in the room’s corner. I would regenerate if anything pierced my armor, but after taking quite a few rounds over the years I realized pain was never enjoyable. A roomful of men would soon learn a powerful lesson: everyone is a hero until it’s time to reload. Unfortunately for the amateurs before me, they had begun firing simultaneously, and thus would be incapacitated in tandem while reloading.
A few seconds could stretch into a lifetime.
How did you come up for the title of this book?
I have no idea. This was not the original title. I think I must have just heard the song one day and said, ok, that’s what we’ll do.
If you were to write a series of novels, what would it be about?
I just so happen to be writing a series of novels, about angels and demons.
Is there a writer you idolize? If so who?
Patrick Rothfuss. I think he’s absolutely brilliant. I think we all would like to finish the Kingkiller Chronicles as soon as possible, though.
What are your favorite TV shows?
Peaky Blinders, The Boys, Game of Thrones
What is your favorite meal?
Mexican – Carne Asada, Japanese- sushi,
Thanks for hosting!
Thanks so much for hosting!