My guest today is urban fantasy author Merrie DeStefano. The first book in her The Resurrection Chronicles series, Afterlife, hits bookshelves today. Please join me in welcoming Merrie here today to Dark Faerie Tales. You can read an excerpt of the book here.
One lucky commenter will have a chance to win an autographed copy of Afterlife. As always, details are listed at the end of the post.
Welcome Merrie!
The Quest for Immortality
by Merrie DeStefano
I love dark, spooky tales with lots of atmosphere. Think Vincent Price in the ’60s, a castle in England, a fog-drenched movie set, and a story about star-crossed lovers—and a monster. I also love noir mysteries where the story unwraps layer by layer, where a tough detective pursues a hardened criminal and the reader doesn’t know “who done it” until the very end. I love stories with happy endings and dark, twisted middles; I love stories with elements of fantasy and science fiction. And on top of all of this, I’m a sucker for a heart wrenching tale about a dog.
These are the types of tales that I’ve gravitated to my entire life, so it makes sense that I would somehow combine these elements in my first novel, Afterlife: The Resurrection Chronicles.
Set in a moody, near future New Orleans—a city that comes replete with a rich back-drop of voodoo, above-ground cemeteries, Cajun cuisine and Creole culture—my story tells a tale about the quest for immortality. One family stands center stage, the Domingues: owners of Fresh Start, the resurrection monopoly. Their company provides life, and more life, to anyone and everyone who can afford it. Their clients now have the opportunity to live up to nine lives, a total of almost 500 years. Each time Death rears its over-publicized head, you can now download into a custom-designed clone.
The kicker is, in this New World, not everybody wants to jump from death to life. Some people, like the main character, Chaz Domingue, want to live just one life. Called One-Timers, they’re in the minority. So much so, that some Nine-Timers think that One-Timers are a myth.
Here’s a little snippet from the book:
I rounded a corner and found her, kneeling in front of the burial tomb of a legendary voodoo queen. She stared at the stone slab as if it belonged to her; she was running her fingers through a fresh pile of Mardi Gras beads left by pilgrims seeking favors from the dead, a puzzled expression on her face.
I picked her up, checked her pulse, sheltered her in my arms for a moment while my head cleared. “She’s fine,” I said to myself, as if I needed some sort of reassurance.
But deep down inside I knew that wasn’t true. There was something wrong here, too much information was trying to get through. Almost as if whoever did her jump didn’t know what the hell they were doing.
I was too tired to care about another Newbie whose life just got mangled and torn in Fresh Start machinery. Too tired to realize that there might be more going on here than just a rugged jump.
It was the first mistake I would make on this case. But that didn’t really matter. Because I was about to make plenty more.
———————————-
So, here are my questions for all of you today:
If you could live another life in a custom-designed clone, would you? Why or why not? And if you would jump to another life, how many times would you do it?
I want to thank everyone at Dark Faerie Tales for inviting me here today. And to those of you reading this blog post, I’m really looking forward to reading your answers!
Author Bio:
With twenty years’ experience in publishing, Merrie Destefano left a 9-to-5 desk job as the editor of Victorian HomesAfterlife: The Resurrection Chronicles, magazine to become a full-time novelist and freelance editor. Her first novel, comes out on Sept. 28, 2010. She loves to camp in the mountains, walk on the beach, watch old movies and listen to alternative music—although rarely all at the same time. Born in the Midwest, she now lives in Southern California with her husband, their two German shepherds and a Siamese cat.
You can visit Merrie around the web here: Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook
GIVEAWAY GUIDELINES:
One lucky commenter will have a chance to win an autographed copy of Afterlife.
To enter, leave a comment below answering the following question:
If you could live another life in a custom-designed clone, would you? Why or why not? And if you would jump to another life, how many times would you do it?
1. +1 entry for answering the question (required).
2. +2 entries for becoming a follower of this blog and Dark Faerie Tales on Twitter.
3. +3 entries for tweeting about this contest, blogging about it, linking via your sidebar etc…(please tell me where!).
4. Giveaway is open to U.S. and Canada residents only.
5. Please include your email address in your comment.
6. Giveaway ends Tuesday, October 19th at 11:59 PM EST.
7. The winner will be picked with the help of Random.org.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Personally, I would hate postponing heaven for more of this. I’d be singin’ “Let my people GO!” haha Can’t imagine trading the chance to do things better with the chance to experience perfection and seeing God create new things. 
I love time travel, though, and I really want to write a story about it sometime.
on 
on