Book Featurette: Mayan Blue
Xibalba, home of torture and sacrifice, is the kingdom of the lord of death. He stalked the night in the guise of a putrefied corpse, with the head of an owl and adorned with a necklace of disembodied eyes that hung from nerve cords. He commanded legions of shapeshifting creatures, spectral shamans, and corpses hungry for the flesh of the living. The Mayans feared him and his realm of horror. He sat atop his pyramid temple surrounded by his demon kings and demanded sacrifices of blood and beating hearts as a tribute to him and his ghostly world. These legends, along with those that lived in fear of them, have been dead and gone for centuries. Yet now, a doorway has been opened in Georgia. A group of college students seek their missing professor, a man who has secretly uncovered the answer to one of history’s greatest mysteries. However, what they find is more than the evidence of a hidden civilization. It’s also a gateway to a world of living nightmares.
Mayan Blue according to reviewers:
“Mayan Blue is my first exposure the authors, who seem to have built up their reputation far prior to my reading of this. Frankly, I’m kicking myself in the butt for it. I’m not sure if anyone has seen the Fred Olen Ray film SCALPS, but if that film had been made with some artistic ability, 20 times the budget and production value…I am pretty sure we would have Mayan Blue. This is a very, very good thing. I love the hell out of this book, and if you’re a fan of the gorier, faster-paced stuff, I’m pretty sure you will too. Subtle and gentle horror? It’s not for you. For me, MAYAN BLUE has me anxiously awaiting the sister’s next book!” -Brandon St. Pierre
“I thoroughly enjoyed Mayan Blue, the debut novel from sisters Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason. This fast-paced, action-packed thrill ride is guaranteed to entertain and scare readers. The characters are well-developed and relatable, especially Wes. His desire to protect Alissa is heartfelt and compelling. I loved the detail and effort put into creating the mythos and creatures. The gory details are what make horror lovers like me smile. I can’t wait for their next release” -Amazon Reviewer.
“Let me start off by saying, this book is bonkers. And I mean that in the best possible way. Quick synopsis: A small group of students search for their missing professor, who has opened a portal to the Mayan Underworld somewhere in Georgia. Mayan Blue is a lot of things. It’s horror, dark fantasy, and adventure all rolled into one kick-ass, balls-to-the-wall action story. It’s like if Tomb Raider and The Ruins got frisky with Nightbreed and the three of them had a baby. If there’s one thing you need to know going in, note that it’s a bloodbath. You’d think the Sisters of Slaughter would be a dead giveaway, but just when you think there can’t possibly be more blood to spill, these authors find away to cut and slice, rip and mutilate. While the story borrows some cheesy 80’s slasher cliches (which I love), the book manages to stay fresh and imaginative, and that’s due to the writers’ keen eye for world-building. I loved the way they painted the Mayan underworld, Xibalba, with such detail. Rich descriptive narratives and beautiful dark prose elevate what could have been a very routine, gore-reliant killfest into one of the most impressive debut novels I’ve read in quite some time. Debut novels often sport flaws, and while Mayan Blue isn’t perfect, it’s a damn fine story with great pacing, perfect for killing off an afternoon or two. I enjoyed Mayan Blue and recommend it to anyone who’s a fan of old-school Brian Keene novels, horror that goes for the throat instead of chills. There’s not many lulls between the action. Bloody entertaining. I can’t wait to see what the Sisters of Slaughter come up with next. So, in all – READ THIS BOOK. Just remember to bring a barf bag. You might need it. This book is metal” -Tim Meyer.
Interview w/ Sisters of Slaughter, Michelle Garza & Melissa Lason
The best thing about horror (for me) is how much of a community it has become over the years. And it is a community that has flourished. Some of the best examples for me started back in the 1980s (my awareness to horror), how the inventors, writers, film makers, and gore masters we hold in high esteem today, started out from nothing, but worked together in many collaborated projects, movies like Creepshow, where George A. Romero and Stephen King teamed up to bring one of the best horror collections to film, or Sleepwalkers, teaming up Mick Garris, Stephen King, Doe Dante, and Clive Barker all in one movie. Or how about Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright cameoing as zombies in Land of the Dead (2005)? And probably one of the best with Wishmaster (1997) that cameoed Tony Todd, Kane Hodder, AND Robert Englund. And there are many more examples of how the horror community has worked together and collaborated over the years, each partaking in the work of a colleague, or even better, becoming entwined in the work itself. In the world of literary horror today, we’re seeing more and more of this foundational testament to community. Where before it was only a conjoined name here and there, like Stephen King and Peter Straub publishing together, among others, The Talisman. Now, there are more up and coming writers taking a cue from the book we call communal horror. This brings us to our interview today with Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason, aka The Sisters of Slaughter, and the continuation of collaborated works. So sit down. Relax. And see what these awesomely talented writers have to say about horror and the release of their new book, Mayan Blue.
Before we begin, some abbreviations ought to be clarified.
TSF = Thomas S. Flowers
M&M = Melissa and Michelle
TSF: Let’s get some basic introductions out of the way, shall we? Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves? What got you into writing? What brought you into the genre of horror?
M&M: We are twin sisters, we write horror, dark fantasy, and science fiction. We’ve been horror fans since we were little kids and our writing started when we were eight years old. Since then, it never stopped. Horror has always been a part of our lives, starting from the universal classics that our mom is a big fan of on up to present day and everything in between. Halloween has always been our favorite holiday, probably not a big surprise. It’s just like some kids becoming obsessed with dinosaurs, we latched onto spooky stuff, and we’ve just always enjoyed it.
TSF: What’s your favorite book and why?
Melissa: Moonbane by Al Sarrantonio, because I’ve always dug the premise of it being a lifelong werewolf fan. I think it is a unique take on the monster.
Michelle: There are too many. I guess Cycle of the werewolf by Stephen King. It has always ranked in my top three. I love the artwork by Bernie Wrightson, the story is totally awesome, and it spawned one of my all-time favorite movies.
TSF: What are you afraid of? Is there any subject matter you wouldn’t touch? Or write about?
Melissa: Being a mother, I would say anything terrible happening to my child is my greatest fear. Other than that, I am afraid of heights and deep water.
Michelle: My first biggest fear is something bad happening to one of my kids. I am also notoriously known for being terrified of cockroaches, so much so that I actually jumped into broken glass with bare feet, thinking I was avoiding one.
M&M: As far as writing goes, we don’t really have anything we won’t write about but certain subjects, like someone molesting a child would be eluded to and not graphically depicted. That’s just us though, we don’t bash people who do go into detail about those topics in their writing.
TSF: You call yourselves, or have been called, The Sisters of Slaughter. Can you tell us a little bit about that? How you got the nickname? How it started? Why?
M&M: That was all started by the editors at Fireside Press. It describes the brutality of some of our writing and it’s also a kick ass name for twin sisters. ;D
TSF: As The Sisters of Slaughter, what does your writing routine look like? Do you find it difficult to write a story as a pair? Do you both have similar styles of writing?
M&M: We write eerily similar; it feels like we share the same brain sometimes. We definitely have the creepy twin thing going on. We see each other four or five days of the week and we also email and text a lot. We basically have notebooks that we keep story ideas, notes, rough drafts in. Depending on which submission call or invitation is next on our calendar, we brainstorm the whole story, outline it, and start dividing up the work load. We write chapters both separately and together depending on our schedules, then we put it all together and viola! We prefer writing together but on occasion we do write on our own, something coming out very soon will actually demonstrate that.
TSF: Your last published work was “Double Barrel Horror: Just a Few/Tenant’s Right,” can you tell us a little bit about that? Motivations? Was this your first publishing venture together as The Sisters of Slaughter?
M&M: This was the first time we wrote under the Sisters of Slaughter moniker, but it will more than likely happen again in the future. Double Barrel is two of our short stories, one dealing with a tenant in her new rental home, where strange things happen there. She doesn’t even begin to think that it could be something supernatural until it all comes to a head. The other story was written after a very scary experience Melissa had with discovering a guy had broken into her house in an attempt to find prescription pain medication. Luckily he was a coward and ran away before she had to show him why we are called the Sisters of Slaughter.
TSF: What’s it like working with Sinister Grin Press?
M&M: We LOVE it! Sinister Grin has been really good to us, even gave us a lovely publicist, Erin, to help out with promoting Mayan Blue. We have always been fans of the stuff they put out and it really was a dream to have them accept our first novel. The whole staff is so helpful and we literally cried tears of joy when we saw the cover artwork for Mayan Blue. They also have so many other talented writers in their crew that have also been so supportive, it’s a fantastic family to be a part of.
TSF: Okay, let’s talk about this new book coming out, Mayan Blue. Can you tell us about some of the main characters and situations they find themselves in? I don’t want you to spoil anything, but curious minds want at least a hint of what to expect!
M&M: We have a group consisting of an associate professor and some students who are going out to meet up with their professor that has made a mind-blowing archaeological discovery- proof that a group of Mayans migrated to Georgia after the collapse of their society. The professor has discovered a doorway in a system of caves, and it turns out to be a gateway to Xibalba, which is the Mayan underworld. Brutality ensues…There are shapeshifting creatures, the lord of death and his putrid kings, a character named Blood Maiden and did we mention brutality?
TSF: Would you consider Mayan Blue to be historical fiction? Did you have to do any research for the novel? About the Mayans? Locations?
M&M: We did a lot of research into the Mayans, their reasons for human sacrifice, their mythology concerning evil spirits, their version of hell, their way of life. Is it historical fiction? In a way, yes, because of the factual information about their society that we incorporated, but the part about the Mayans being in Georgia has not been founded. It was actually on one of those mystery shows; some people believe it while others say its bullshit but we thought it would be an interesting premise for a horror book.
TSF: The book cover for Mayan Blue looks amazing. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Who designed it? Did you both get any say in the creative process?
M&M: The artist is Zach McCain; he’s done a lot of other horror covers. His work is just fantastic and everyone needs to check him out. We were asked what we ideas we had for a cover and relayed a few things to Tristan, Matt and Travis. We were given updates, first the sketches, just seeing those made us extremely happy and excited but when we were sent the final copy, in color…we nearly crapped our pants. It is so amazing, so beautiful, we couldn’t have dreamed of anything more awesome!
TSF: Besides putting out sinister looking books, what else do you two have going on?
M&M: We are both mothers so our kids keep us really busy, our writing office is in the car, in the backyard, the school parking lot, on the top of a bunkbed, on the couch in the living room, etc. We love reading horror, fantasy and sci-fi. We love watching horror movies, sci-fi flicks, fantasy movies, and gaming. We are also into all kinds of music from heavy metal to Celtic music and we love getting away to the outdoors.
Melissa Lason and Michelle Garza have been writing together since they were little girls. Dubbed The Sisters of Slaughter by the editors of Fireside Press. They are constantly working together on new stories in the horror and dark fantasy genres. Their work has been included in FRESH MEAT published by Sinister Grin Press, WISHFUL THINKING by Fireside Press, WIDOWMAKERS a benefit anthology of dark fiction. Find them on Facebook!
GET YOUR COPY OF MAYAN BLUE TODAY!!!
Xibalba, home of torture and sacrifice, is the kingdom of the lord of death. He stalked the night in the guise of a putrefied corpse, with the head of an owl and adorned with a necklace of disembodied eyes that hung from nerve cords. He commanded legions of shapeshifting creatures, spectral shamans, and corpses hungry for the flesh of the living. The Mayans feared him and his realm of horror. He sat atop his pyramid temple surrounded by his demon kings and demanded sacrifices of blood and beating hearts as tribute to him and his ghostly world.
These legends, along with those that lived in fear of them, have been dead and gone for centuries. Yet now, a doorway has been opened in Georgia. A group of college students seek their missing professor, a man who has secretly uncovered the answer to one of history’s greatest mysteries. However, what they find is more than the evidence of a hidden civilization. It’s also a gateway to a world of living nightmares.
Praise for Mayan Blue
“From the outset, Garza and Lason let the blood spill, plunging their small cast of characters into the depths of Mayan hell. There’s plenty of action to go around as the group is confronted with a number of horrors, from the labyrinthine and booby-trapped maze of the newly discovered Mayan temple to the angry gods and their owl-headed, sharp-clawed servants.” –Michael Hicks, Author of Convergence
“Their short works are wonderful to read. However this book proves that they can tackle longer works without missing a beat.” –Tom, GoodReads
”These two show no quarter dragging the characters–and by extension, the reader–into the depths of the Mayan version of Hell. There’s vividness to the scenes they craft that made me want to make sure I was reading in full daylight, or at least with most of the lights on.” –John Quick, Author of Consequences
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