MEET NATALIE J CASE's CHARACTER - Mason Jerah

MEET MY CHARACTER

1.      Who are you?

o   What is your name?

·   Mason Jerah

o   Are you a fictional or historical character?

·   Completely fictional

o   What should we know about you?

·   I am a Shade, but you probably don’t know what that means.  Shades have certain gifts, the ability to heal themselves, and others, though it doesn’t make us indestructible.  We also have certain weaknesses that make our lives difficult, like the sun and salt can kill us.  Makes it hard to live in a world that lives in daylight.

2.      Tell us about your story:

o   When and where is your tale set?

·   It begins around 2015, in northern California where I live with my Nana, but it encompasses a good amount of the US, including time in Washington D.C. where I find myself in a bit of trouble.

o   What is your personal goal?  I mean, what do you ultimately want?

·   I start out just wanting my Nana not to die, but even Shades can’t fight off old age. I’ve lived a long time with just my Nana for company.  What I know about the world outside our mountain, I’ve learned from television.  What I know about being a Shade was limited by my Nana’s fear. 

·   As I leave that sanctuary on a mission to follow ancient Shade tradition, my immediate goal is to get to my ancestor’s grave in DC and retrieve my Book of Line so that I can learn more about what I am.  But the further I travel from that mountain, the more I realize that the world is changing.  There are people who would kill me for nothing more than the fact that I was born a Shade.

·   As I face up to that, I’m not sure what I ultimately want.  A safer world to live in maybe and to be a part of making that happen.  That would explain why I end up working where I do and how I find myself neck deep in a countrywide conflict.

o   What is standing in your way?  What conflict(s) do you face?

·   I think if I really knew the answer to that, things would go much better for me.  The easy answer is the 8^th Battalion, a militant group that wants to eliminate Shades, along with other groups they disapprove of.  More generally, the fear of the general population, and the political climate that is encouraging the violence. 

3.      How do I get a copy of your book?

o   What is the title or working title for this piece?

·   Through Shade and Shadow

o   Is it available now or when can we expect to see it released?

·   The paperback is available now, and the Kindle version will be available on Feb. 1, 2017 (though it can be pre-ordered).

Ø  If yes, do you have a link available for buying it or how can a reader purchase it?

·        Paperback

Ø  You can ‘special order’ a hardcopy from any bookstore using  the ISBN numbers

·   ISBN-10: 1542624851

·   ISBN-13: 978-1542624855

·   KINDLE version