Meet the Author: Montre Bible
Happy Tuesday Everyone!
I hope your week has started well and that you’re taking care of yourself. It’s easy at this time of year to sweat the small stuff, but take a second for you today to get through the day. Self-care, people!
Anywho, I’m happy to share my brief digital interview with Montre Bible today. Last week I finished his debut novel Heaven Sent (review here), and man was I blown away!
Without further ado, let’s get into this interview!
Montre Bible
Bio:
Montré Bible is a native of Dallas, Texas and published his first novel in 2005 called Heaven Sent. That novel spurred into a series of novels about a hidden supernatural war with the fallen angels and one particular family who find out they are blood-related to one angel.
Although Montre writes fiction he enjoys non-fiction related material that deals with the supernatural as well. He also loves anything paranormal or alien-related. He was first inspired by the fantasy world in the books of C.S. Lewis as a child.
The Interview
Hi Montre, thanks so much for stopping by. To keep things interesting, I like to ask my interviewees a random question to get the blood flowing. Here’s yours!
You unearth a time machine in the ruins of an ancient civilization unknown to man. What era do you visit first and why?
Hmm, if I had access to an ancient time machine, I would love to go back and be in New York during the Harlem Renaissance 1925. I imagine it must have been a massive creative time for African Americans. To see the clothes, hear the music, and just experience the atmosphere would be something. So many black writers excelled during that time and creativity was at an all time high.
I really like your answer to this one. There are so many great eras to explore, and I totally agree with you!
My go to is the 80’s. I’d love to experience all the great music and see all the fashion trends and big hair.
For starters, tell us a little bit about your writing.
I write what I like to consider urban fantasy. All my characters are in the present but they interact with supernatural forces. When I first decided to write a novel I thought about doing the typical vampire novel but then I thought that it was overdone. I knew a whole lot about religion growing up Christian so opted to do angels and fallen angels. I went a step further and added the Nephilim (children of the fallen angels) into the mix. As I wrote more books, I studied more things for content so eventually, I’ve added other supernatural beings like Jinn, demons, and demigods. It’s pretty fun expanding the universe and how these beings interact. If you could compare it to anything it would be similar to the Rick Riordan’s series or the book American Gods. That’s the kind of material I enjoy.
I’m a huge fan of urban fantasy, so your book was a welcome escape from reality into your universe. I myself have an urban fantasy series in the works called The Gifted Chronicles, and I can’t agree with you more. It’s a huge thrill to expand a universe and bring new elements to the table. Not to mention it keeps things interesting.
It’s funny you mention vampires. I too thought of writing a vampire novel, but also ended up nixing the idea because I thought it was overdone. Great minds think alike!
How long have you been writing?
I’ve been writing since I was a kid. I have a little stories about imaginary lands and about my toys coming to life. It’s pretty cool. When I was in 5th and 6th grade I created story books for a school project and bound the books with cardboard. One story was about a talking duckbill platypus coming to America and second was about an android robot gaining human emotions and going to high school. I still have them to this day.
Oh wow, you kept them this long? You are so lucky! The oldest stuff I have are some short stories I wrote during Music Appreciation class in community college, but I still cherish them to this day and will pull them out at random intervals.
Are you working on any projects at the moment?
Working on my 6th novel which is apart of the series. The main character is going to be female but she’s still apart of the bigger series. She’s got a whole lot of powers because …she’s a reincarnated supernatural being….
Oh, that’s wonderful! I’m so glad you’re continuing the series, and that character sounds extremely interesting. I promise I’ll catch up to where you’re at in the series, just give me some time, haha!
Who was your first publisher and what did you learn from them?
I got published by a Christian Publisher for my first novel. It was somewhat limiting and they pretty much control everything about the book after you sign with them. That’s why the first couple of books in the series have a heavy Christian theme. That’s why I self-publish now. I wanted more control over the content.
That’s very interesting. I’ve heard of the tradeoffs, but have not experienced them with a publisher just yet (though I am looking for one for my urban fantasy series). Being a self-published author definitely has its pros and cons, but I’m glad that you made the best decision for you in the end. That’s what matters.
If you could choose to be any supernatural creature, what would you be and why?
That’s a hard one. It seems somewhat stereotypical as a gay man to say a “fairy” but in some mythological folklore the FAE are pretty badass… and they cover a wide spectrum of magical creatures. But if not that maybe a Mermale (yes I made that up) lol …as long as could be a sexy Merfolk.
Nice, I like your choice. The Fae are very mysterious, and I think you’d be a total badass! I mean, you already are, haha.
Personally, I’ll take being a vampire anyday, but I would also consider being a Djinn. I’ve done a little research in the past, and depending on what type you are, you could have nearly godlike powers.
What did you read as a kid? What stuck with you the most?
If you haven’t noticed, I’m big on fantasy and folklore so the writing of C.S. Lewis was big for me as a kid.
Oh yes, that’s what I’m talking about! The Chronicles of Narnia are great (that’s all I’ve read of C.S. Lewis to date), and though I didn’t read them as a child, it was easy to slip into that fantasy world.
Tell us about your new book
My main character, Andrew is the grandson of a fallen angel. He has massive supernatural empath powers to read minds and absorb people’s energy. He joins a group of demon hunters to track and stop a rogue hunter who is killing demons and people. While trying to do that, the leader of the demon hunters believes that Andrew is the reincarnation of ancient Sumerian god. He believes that because Andrew keeps having weird recurring visions. Andrew is just trying to go to college and be normal and now he has come to terms with his new found destiny. In past books Andrew and friends battled just demons, now Andrew is about to be confronted with ancient gods.
Oh wow, that really ups the ante! I can’t wait to read this one and experience the events that lead up to this point.
All right, last question. What kind of research went into writing your book?
I study a lot of mythology about ancient gods and how that relates to our world. Most of my writing is a mix of what I’ve gone through personally with fictional supernatural elements to spice it up . His struggles are my own. All the characters are aspects of my own or people I know (the names have been changed of course) . I wish my life was exciting as Andrew’s though lol.
Very nice! Research can easily be the most fun part of writing sometimes. It can be a huge inspiration factor, and I’ve always loved mythology and all the great stories written about it.
I tend to do the same thing, make characters built on people I’ve known, then over time they really set themselves apart from that person and become a fully fleshed out character of their own.
I can totally relate to wanting that exciting life full of danger and adventure. If only!
That’s a Wrap!
All righty book worms, that wraps up my interview with Montre Bible. I always have a great time reconnecting with him, and I hope you enjoyed the experience too!
If you’d like to learn more about Montre and his work, he can be reached at the social media links provided below.
Thank you for stopping by, and have a great day!
Social Media Links
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