Interview+Giveaway: Stairway to Heaven by Alex Stevens

An interview with Alex Stevens, author of fantasy novel Stairway to Heaven

Corporal Jack Graven should be dead. Murdered by a vengeful angel at his own father’s funeral, Jack is resurrected and returns to life carrying a terrible secret: he is the Archangel Gabriel reincarnated.

Jack’s not the only one with secrets. His older brother, Lieutenant Colonel Tyler Graven “Demon of Kyoto”, has just inherited his father’s fortune and legacy as Lord of War, with no intention of stopping there: Tyler will someday rule the world.

The brothers reunite their elite military unit, “The Four Horsemen,” with Tyler’s longtime flame Colonel Diana Levitas and the mysterious Lance Corporal Jin Xialong. Together they seek to uncover the truth of Jack’s past life and propel Tyler to his impossible destiny.

Thrust into a supernatural war, the Gravens find salvation through the Black Muramasa, a cursed black katana and the only weapon that can destroy immortals. As they uncover more mysteries behind the ancient blade, they come face to face with the Devil himself, but in the most familiar of faces. Their pasts, presents, and futures all linked, the Four Horsemen must end the war once and for all to survive with their souls intact. Failing could mean the end of the world.

A follow up to the explosive first book in the Ballad of Fallen Angels series, “Sympathy for the Devil,” Book 2 is an action-packed, gun-slinging adventure that packs the punch of a military thriller with high-stakes supernatural intrigue.

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Excerpt from Stairway to Heaven

Her body reclined before me in the soft satin sheets as a pale canvas draped against blood-red curtains. The early morning rays of light warned me that our time together would soon finish, this thought leaving a sadness in me stronger than the sadness of being with her. This sadness rose and fell like her bosom with each breath taken, eating away at my lustful desire to touch her. Instead, I gazed at her slumbering form, wondering if our time together was simply another adventure or if she harbored true feelings for me. Perhaps it was simply revenge for the lies she had been told. Another breath, another desire, then sadness. Then again.

Shame.

The word echoed repeatedly through my mind.

Seconds morphed into minutes, minutes into hours. I stared cautiously at the beauty of her backside, and her lean body inhaling and exhaling. My own breathing harbored a more physical pain than the betrayal I had wrought, the bullet wounds and cracked ribs popping painfully with every exhale. My pain soon blended into a chaos of emotion that swirled within me, a lustful desire for her competing against the shame of betrayal the act brought.

How can I look Tyler in the eye after this?

Perhaps the betrayal came from Tyler himself.

Did he know it was a trap?

Interview with Alex Stevens

-Do you ever wish you were someone else? Who?

If superheroes count, I would definitely be Superman. Why? Who wouldn’t want to be invincible and almost all powerful? I think I’d be able to accomplish so much more with those kind of powers.

-What did you do on your last birthday?

Haha, I cleaned my house. But my family did throw a small party for me not long before the actual day. It was good to see my parents, brothers, nieces and nephews.

-What part of the writing process do you dread?

 I have nightmares about marketing and promotion. The writing itself is mostly quite enjoyable as long as the juices are flowing. It’s never good when there’s a drought.

-Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?

Yes. The only answer to this I’ve found is to keep living life until the words come. Sometimes it requires new experiences or perspectives to give you the next inkling needed to complete your own works.

-Tell us about your latest release.

This story started out as something very close to fan fiction for one of my favorite animes, Cowboy Bebop. I knew I was going to mix the story of angels and demons into it, I just really didn’t know how at first, because they seemed like two completely different stories. Somehow, this tale really seemed to write itself. So the two stories in this novel might seem very familiar to some, but I definitely feel I put my own spin on them.

About Alex Stevens

Alex Stevens is a Marine Corps Veteran with two deployments and a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Interdisciplinary Studies program, a unique undergraduate degree that caters to students with various interests of study. He is also an advent traveler and philosophy enthusiast who has spent a lifetime studying religions, with a focus on Non-denominational Christianity. Alex spends most of his time going for walks, spending time with loved ones, and when the juices are flowing, writing. Fantasy fiction is his great escape from the mundane and he likes to create fantastical realities that are blended with non-fictional people, places, and events.

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Giveaway

A $50 Amazon/BN GC will be provided to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

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