Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Hunter Blain. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hunter, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
The tale of my beginnings, and how I ended up a successful author, is one I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies. Let me explain.
It begins with two best friends who grew up together, breaking rules and raising hell as they shaped each other’s personalities into the shameless assholes they are today. Well, at least for one of them, but I’ll get to that in a moment. These two boys—let’s call them Hunter and John—were all but inseparable. John excelled at creating music powerful enough to make angels weep and being the funniest asshole in Texas while Hunter dabbled—poorly, I might add—in his humble writings. Because they were self-declared brothers from other mothers, John respected Hunter’s humble writings as much as I—I mean Hunter (stupid third person perspective)—respected John’s musical magic.
One fine day, after reading one of Hunter’s horrifically detailed short stories about a serial killer, John asked Hunter to write a story about him.
“Hell yeah, dude! What do you want to be?” Hunter asked, brimming with honor and biting back a very manly squee.
“A vampire,” John responded with a mischievous gleam in his eye. “But not one of those sparkly ones. A true bad ass!”
“Done!” Hunter proclaimed with a smile and an accompanying high five.
“No, dude. Promise. Promise you’ll write and finish a book about me. You are the most prolific writer of our generation!” John said. (Something like that. I might be paraphrasing a little, but you get the gist of it). “I would consider it an honor to live on for eternity with your words as my life’s blood.”
Hunter agreed, never to realize the weight of that promise until one Sunday morning when he received a phone call that still makes his blood run cold to think about, even as he writes this.
John…had died.
Hunter was left in a cold world without his best friend and doppelgänger. He still thinks about that moment to this day. How the morning light crept through the bedroom window while Hunter stared at the ceiling, noticing how the popcorn texture created cruel, jagged shadows. How everything started to blur as his chest was crushed beneath the weight of what he was hearing, each word stacking heavily upon the other until only shallow, ragged gasps of air could escape his throat. Nothing but a fiery anguish existed, especially after the horrific realization that Hunter now had to make some of the hardest phone calls of his life to the circle of friends who orbited around John’s solar pull.
Their star was no more, leaving their universe a colder and darker place.
John not only left Hunter, but a friend named Valenta as well. There was also Nathanial and Depweg. The friends were each stricken numb with the loss of such a beloved flare of life. But…
When the three found out that Hunter was keeping his promise to write the greatest story ever told—starring their dear friend, John—they demanded to be a part of the adventure. Each of them immediately knew what type of supernatural character they wanted to play in this urban fantasy eulogy. It would be a funeral pyre of words, and their fictional personas would be John’s pallbearers.
So please, if you decided to give John’s series a chance, feel free to laugh. Laugh at the situations John is placed in and his dickish dialogue to those around him, because John is 100% in this story without alteration (albeit he is a vampire). Laugh and let his memory live on inside the theater of your mind. Like he does in ours.
Hunter, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My book series has been repeatedly described by reviewers as, “Deadpool as a vampire,” and I am completely for that consensus.
The elevator pitch would be, “A snarky vampire, holy priest, and the apocalypse walk into a bar…”
The “Preternatural Chronicles” is an Urban Fantasy series available on Amazon, including Kindle Unlimited, and Audible. The voice for the audiobooks is Audible Hall of Fame Narrator, Luke Daniels, who has lent his talents to such great works as “The Iron Druid Chronicles,” and countless more.
I have 13 books planned with 9 out, as of the date of this article, along with a 0.5 novella (available free on my website, hunterblain.com) and stand alone horror novel that is considered book 3.5.
For those that are unaware, Urban Fantasy is an increasingly popular genre that revolves, in my opinion, around realism. Whenever I explain the difference between Urban Fantasy and Fantasy, I mention Harry Potter. When Harry and gang are in the castle, there is no modern technology, and the story could be set anywhere in time. Where things change is when the hero and friends travel to modern day London. City buses are now magical, along with modern homes and situations, such as being forbidden to perform magic in front of everyday people. THAT’S Urban Fantasy.
For my series, I wanted to create a realistic vampire, set in today’s world, that was also different than anything that has been written before; and I do believe I have achieved that goal. My universe feels real, with dynamic characters that have preternatural gifts, as well as severe drawbacks to using said gifts.
Lastly, my fans agree that my work is a welcomed, humorous escape from reality, with absolutely zero ulterior motives or hidden political messages. I am an artist, not a politician, and will never force my beliefs down my reader’s throats. So if you are looking for a fun series to help forget about the evils of the real world, then give my books a try.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The fans.
On Facebook, I have an official author page (Hunter Blain- Author) and a private group (Hunter Blain’s Abattoir of Johniacs), where I get to interact with fans on a daily basis. People tag me in funny posts or ask questions, and I make it a point to respond to as many as I can. I have also started a private Discord where fans can chat over voice with me on a daily basis (which is always funny, and humbling, as they can’t believe it’s actually me). Heck, because my private group got over 900 members, I am planning a streaming watch party over Discord in the coming weeks. It’s just a cool excuse to get to hang out with fans.
I’ve also hosted a handful of live events, such as renting out an entire theater and hanging out with fans before watching the cinematic masterpieces, “Batman,” and “Batman Returns.”
It’s crazy to me, that I get to wake up everyday and do what I love for a living, all while interacting with awesome people who dig my work. If life is a simulation, then I must be using a Game Genie.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
For my entire adult life, I have been in the corporate world. Starting as a part-time, seasonal associate at GameStop, and crawling my way up the ladder until I became a District Manager for various Fortune-500 corporations. But corporate life SUCKS (intentional vampire pun…I’m sorry, I’ll stop now), and I decided to try my hand at being an entrepreneurial (shout out to autocorrect for spelling that for me).
To sum up what could fill an entire book, I’ve owned a pizza restaurant, supplement manufacturing company, and ended with a successful nutritional store, where I’ve personally helped thousands of people reach their health goals. I have to admit, nothing feels quiet as amazing as someone telling you, with happy tears in their eyes, that you’ve changed their life for the better.
As of now, I am taking all the years of experience that have been accumulated in the sink-or-swim corporate world, and using that knowledge to push my brand and grow an empire, brick by brick.
So for any of you out there reading this who thinks it is too late to do what you love…think again. Use everything you’ve learned working for someone else and apply it to your own endeavors. A year from now you’ll wish you started today.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hunterblain.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HunterBlainAuthor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWSvueZeEzj9ct_oOJgtO5Q/featured