Make
sure you check out Mike’s website for his KindleLight Vigil! You don’t want to miss out on the chance to
win some amazing prizes, while getting to know Mike and his book!! Check out his website here SEVEN-X Make sure you download your FREE copy of SEVEN-X Right now on Amazon until the 31st!
Review
(Be prepared for fear!)
I
am always on the lookout for a book that can curl my toes, make my hair stand
on end (worse than normal), and ultimately make me wake up in a cold sweat
every night for a week. In other words:
I love to have the stuff scared out of me! And that is exactly what I found in
this book!
SEVEN-X
introduces us to Los Angeles Times Investigative Reporter Eddie Hansen who is
on a mission to find out the truth about a missing death row inmate by the name
of Annette Dobson (known as the SIDS Killer).
He follows his lead to a remote area on the outskirts of Dell City,
Texas, to Uphir, a psychiatric facility that seems to be recruiting notorious
killers who are supposed to be dead.
While
Eddie investigates the facility and the men who run it, he begins to experience
things that shouldn’t be possible.
Things that the Reverend Billings has determined are demons. These demons are possessing individuals, but
the Reverend and Dr. Haworth both believe that they can be exorcised...which
brings us to the title of this book.
According to the theory, when a demon is exorcised, it will return with
7 more demons in tow. Can you imagine how torturous it would be to have 8
demons inside of you at one time? All of them controlling your thoughts and
feelings...yea, Eddie gets to see these occurrences for himself.
Now,
I think that’s enough to whet your appetite and get you ready to read this
spine-chilling novel. I was literally
glued to this book, shaking and wanting to yell at Eddie to run like
hell!! The ominous shapes that hover above
a sleeping man...those made my own imagination start running wild. Let’s just say that this book has exceeded my
expectations and then some!
If
you are a fan of both horror and psychological thrillers, then you NEED to
check out this book. There is no reason
not to! It’s free on Amazon until Halloween, when Mike will be doing a
KindleLight Vigil online for all of his readers! Make sure you download your copy and get
ready for a night filled with terror! I’ll be there! Will someone hold my hand?
Please?
Interview
with Mike Wech:
Can you tell us an
interesting fact about you, your writing, or anything at all? Or, is there anything in particular you want
the readers to know about you?
Writing SEVEN-X was
a challenge from the mental, physical and spiritual aspects of writing a story.
Most of the book was written during the night. I usually spent all night long
working through until the morning. There were times when my wife would run out
of the bedroom in the middle of the night screaming that she had a nightmare or
the bed shook so hard it woke her up. We
felt like it we were being attacked at times and all kinds of crazy stuff was
happening during the writing of SEVEN-X.
Another interesting fact is that the death scene in SEVEN-X is based on
my real life or should I say real DEATH experience. I was stabbed through the
chest in Medellin Colombia and left my body after I suffered severe blood loss.
The knife bounced off my heart without puncturing it, but it collapsed my lung
and I couldn’t breathe. I was rushed to the emergency room where they blew my
lungs back up with a straw. I passed out watching the blood spurt out and woke
up a couple of days later in the hospital bed.
Full details on the event will be told soon.
When did you first know
that writing was what you wanted to do as a career?
I started writing
stories when I was about five. I used to write poems and tell stories to my
friends. In school, I always liked writing and began to purse it professionally
after college. I wrote plays, skits,
spec television scripts and film scripts, before finally getting paid to
write. Writing then became a full time
job and I was always writing for clients, commercially and corporately,
neglecting the stories I wanted to tell. Finally, I took enough time out of my
schedule and decided it was time to do my thing. I took twelve weeks off work and wrote
SEVEN-X.
When you are working on
a book, do you plan ahead, or do you let the story flow as you write?
Usually I
meticulously plan ahead and create an outline; along with character bios and a
flow chart for plot and structure. SEVEN-X was completely different. I felt
inspired with the story and it was all in my head. I did a lot of research and
consulted with psychiatrists, medical doctors and exorcists before writing. I
also went to a few exorcisms. Then with all the knowledge and story in my head,
I sat down and interpreted the vision I was given it. I wanted to go inside the asylum as Eddie and
discover what happened as he did without any pre-ordained thought. My
characters were created and I knew who they were, so then I let it all flow
out. For ten weeks straight I sat in my writing chair and dictated what I saw
and felt. And as needed, I would continue researching and asking questions to
make sure everything was authentic to the experience.
Is there a special place
in your home that you work at?
I have a great
therapeutic massage chair that I love to write in. I plant myself on that baby
and write away.
Are any of your characters
in your books based on people that you know in real life?
Usually my
characters are hybrids of people I know and people I observe. I take their most interesting traits and
insert them into the character I am constructing. There are also varied traits
of my own personality spread across various characters. It’s taking what I know fits into the essence
of a person and building the character from the emotional, mental, physical and
spiritual aspect of what that character sees as truth and is authentic to their
behavior. Then I put then into the situation and let them live out the story.
Do you have an
interesting writing quirk? Maybe something that you have to do while writing,
or something that you have to do before you start writing?
I like to do a lot
of research before writing. I need to know as much as I can about a subject
before I get started. I need to know as much as I can about my characters too. I
need to get to a place where I can think and act like them before I begin
writing. I also like to pray and ask for inspiration before I begin each writing
session. I feel being inspired trumps being creative any day. The best works of
art are inspired.
What is your opinion on
Indie publishing versus mainstream publishing?
Indie publishing is
much quicker in reaching and testing an audience for a product. It also gives
the author an opportunity to refine the work and take into account the public
opinion, then make changes as needed.
Mainstream publishing is trying to fight your way past all of the “no’s”
and place guards put in place to keep new talent out. Mainstream publishing is
great for all the promotion, and marketing you get, but the time it takes to
reach the market is lost time. Indie
publishing takes a lot more work, but the control and reward is in the hand of
the author.
Do you hear from your
fans a lot? If so, what are some of the best & worst things that you have
heard?
Fans are mostly
positive and support my work. Some reviewers can be harsh, but I take all
criticism into account and try to put myself in that person’s shoes to see
things like them. I use the negatives to
make positive changes. I never take it personally. It’s too much of
a roller coaster. I’m either the next great writer or some hack idiot who sucks
and can’t write.
What does your family
think of your writing?
My family is great.
They support me, but they really don’t understand the business or what it takes
to get a product to market. I personally don’t blame them. This is a rough and
crazy business that any sane person should avoid at all costs. My wife hasn’t
been able to finish SEVEN-X yet. She got too scared about 80 pages in and it
was too intense for her to handle. But she fully supports me and the book.
How has being published
changed your life, if any way?
Publishing SEVEN-X
has been a great stepping-stone for me. It was the right path for getting this
story to the public and preparing for the film version of SEVEN-X. The real change came from my realization that
I don’t need to only write screenplays, if I want to make films. A novel is the
best way to premiere a story. It allowed me the freedom to take off the
barriers of film writing and opened up a new way of telling stories for me. I
really enjoyed the process of writing a novel.
What are you currently
working on? We would love to know what
is coming next from you.
Right now I am
editing a TV show for a client and a feature film entitled, “Dead Drop Sugarcane.” I’m also beginning prep for the SEVEN-X
film. I wrote my business plan, secured the location and am in the process of
attaching investors and talent to the project. Next I’ll adapt SEVEN-X into a screenplay
and begin work on the next book after filming. Volume 2 of SEVEN-X will be out in 2013.
What advice would you
give to someone who wants to be a writer?
Write!!! Forget everyone else. Don’t worry about anything.
Just write. Let it all out, and then take all feedback and criticism you can
get into account. Figure out how to make your work better, then re-write. Learn all you can from any writing resource
you can find. Then write again. Keep learning. Keep getting better. Keep
writing and never stop doing it, if this is what you really want.
What was the hardest
part of writing your book?
The hardest part of
writing SEVEN-X was coming out of it. I
took Eddie’s journey into insanity and lived through him, feeling his despair,
pain and torment. Going into such a
deep, dark place was excruciating and terrifying. I scared the crap out of
myself and coming back to reality was a process of having to ease in and out of
living through Eddie. If you read this book alone at night, you will begin to
understand where I went to write SEVEN-X.
My body also had bad reactions. I almost went into cardiac arrest twice
and felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest on several
occasions. I had to go to the hospital
to get checked out. Thankfully my heart tests came back fine, but the stress
and pain of writing this book took its toll. If it weren’t for prayer and
mercy, I might not have made it through.
What hardships have you
encountered while writing your books?
Anytime you write on
spec, the biggest hardship is the loss of time and money. You are sacrificing a
big chunk of your life to get a story out. So for me, I better be inspired and
the story better be worth the sacrifice.
In other genres, like comedy, the writing is a lot more fun. And the sacrifice of time is offset by the
fun of the work. SEVEN-X was not fun to write, but it was a story that I needed
to write. I felt like I was in a battle from the beginning to get SEVEN-X
completed. I experienced physical pain,
mental anguish and spiritual warfare to finish.
But I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I am very happy with the result. Nothing
good comes without sacrifice and hardship.
What books (or authors)
have influenced you the most during your career?
Writing horror was
something completely new to me, so I read The
Exorcist and The Shining before I
started writing SEVEN-X to get a feel for what made them so popular and such
good movies. SEVEN-X was always intended to be a film and was written to be easily
adapted into a screenplay. I decided it was a better business decision to start
with a novel and I want to write a series of novels to support the films. Other
books that I read before writing were One
Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest and The
Lovely Bones. All great books from
great authors, which made great movies. I’m hoping to follow in their
footsteps.
Fun Questions:
Favorite flavor of ice
cream: Mint chocolate chip.
Favorite color: Blue
Favorite animal: Tiger
Favorite season of the
year: Fall
Favorite Author:
STEPHEN KING
Favorite drink:
Beer
Favorite food:
Sushi
Favorite Halloween Candy:
Chocolate
Author
Bio:
Mike
Wech is a writer, director and editor living in Los Angeles CA. Originally from
Buffalo, Mike began his career in New York as an actor with appearances on
Liquid Television, America's Most Wanted, One Life To Live and All My Children
as well as numerous stage plays.
Moving
behind the camera Mike began work as a writer crafting television commercials
and shows like VH1's Fairway to Heaven. Mike worked as a writer, producer,
director, editor, camera operator and in various other capacities learning his
craft as he moved into feature films.
His
first feature, the post apocalyptic "The Moment After2, TheAwakening,
directed by Wes Llewellyn sold over a million dollars onDVD. More features and
television shows followed including the critically acclaimed docu-drama
"South Dakota" with Star Wars Producer Howard Kazanjian and Director
Bruce Isacson, and the gritty crimedrama, "The Exodus of Charlie
Wright" starring Andy Garcia, Aidan Quinn, Gina Gershon and Luke Goss,
directed by R. Ellis Frazier.
Mike's
goal of creating his own original content was realized with Seven-X, his debut
novel. While reading the Bible, he noticed a scripture about demons written by
two separate authors with the exact same words. The story immediately came to
him and a few months later he was able to write for ten weeks and finish the
novel. Seven-X is Mike's debut novel and the first in the forthcoming Seven-X
series of books and films.
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