Recently I received an email about these books, two of a planned trilogy, and thought you might find the theme as interesting as I did.
I’ll let Jason tell you about them. Go, Jason!
A Guest Post by Jason Yachanin
I certainly never thought of myself as a writer. After graduating from a small Liberal Arts college in Ohio with a degree in Theatre, I moved to New York City with only one goal in mind: To become a working actor. From 2003 - 2015, this is exactly what I attempted to do. I had some success, but nothing that ever broke me through to that next level. The last job I booked was in 2015 when I landed a guest appearance on the popular CBS TV drama, Blue Bloods. I only had one line, but it was in a scene with Tom Selleck. That’s right… Magnum, P.I. himself!
This is it. This is how I finally break through. Or so I thought…
Fast forward two years later to 2017. Not a single acting job in the last two years, no auditions, and every agent I was freelancing with at the time decided to drop me from their roster. Needless to say, I was in a pretty dark place. It was my wife who finally encouraged me to go talk to someone professionally about this hole that I could not seem to dig myself out of. Thank GOD I listened to her, because It was the BEST decision I ever made. To quickly sum up my therapy sessions, he presented me with a challenge:
If you really think you are meant to be doing something creative, but no one is hiring you, then you need to make a choice: Continue to wait for the phone to ring and, if it doesn’t, be miserable, or decide to create something for yourself. What’s it going to be?
And this is how The Mysterious Happenings at 2 Morningview and The Mysterious Happenings on Hyde Avenue came to be. (With one more currently being written to complete the trilogy).
As nervous as I was to create something entirely on own, there was something so freeing in the process. Not only was it great for my own mental health and keeping those creative wheels greased, but suddenly, I had total artistic control. This was something as an actor I was not really used to. I was so accustomed to getting my sides, going into the audition room, reading them a few times, and then waiting to see if I got a callback or not. I could have been the best one to audition that day, but it didn’t always matter. The final decision was never up to me. I could simply be passed over for a job because they wanted someone with curly hair and I have straight, spiky hair. Or, they wanted someone who was 5’10” and I am 5’9”. You just never knew why you did or didn’t get something - which could be frustrating. But now, for the first time ever, I wasn’t relying on anyone or anything other than my own imagination. And THAT has been so rewarding from a creative standpoint.
The whole core of the story is based around my actual mom and dad’s strange nocturnal habits of staying up until around 4AM every single night. As a kid, and even as a teenager, I would always wonder: what the hell are they doing downstairs all night? Using this as the springboard to create my supernatural mysteries, book 1 (Morningview,) begins with my attempting to sneak downstairs one evening to spy on them, only to find that they are both inexplicably absent from our small suburban home. In fact, upon further investigation, my brother and sister are both gone as well. The only thing I can find is a strange eerie blue glow coming from under the door of my brother’s bedroom, and my father’s wedding ring, etched with strange markings that look like symbols of some lost, forgotten language…
I don’t want to give too much away, but I hope this will be enough to entice you to unravel the mystery for yourself. The trilogy is a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, set in 1996, my sophomore year of high school. If you are a fan of 80’s & 90’s pop-culture, punk music, skateboarding, and even a little bit of high school romance tossed into the mix, I really think you’ll enjoy my series.
If you are a fan of horror films and would rather experience some of my work in that medium, you can find me in the indie-horror anthology, V/H/S, or the cult musical comedy, Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.
I want to thank Sue for allowing me to share my story with you.
Stay Spooky!
~ Jason Yachanin
Instagram: @jasonyachanin23
Here are some links to sites where you can buy the books!
https://perspirology.wixsite.com/actor
Barnes and Noble:
More Barnes and Noble
Amazon:
Wishing you the best of luck, Jason! Congrats on reinventing yourself creatively!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Debra! Something else I left out of the blog - I had three separate psychics ask me if I had ever written something, and if I had not, to give it a try. I took that as a good sign!
ReplyDeleteI can say with full enthusiasm that I had a total and complete blast reading the first book, and am looking forward to reading the second. Also, Jason was cool enough to sign both of my books, and work around a Venmo that seemed to hate me... but in all seriousness, this is a MUST for people who were coming of age in the 1990s, and who love speculative and horror fiction. I have seen people call it "Goosebumps for an older crowd", and I think that is spot on--- and I mean that as a HUGE compliment.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bobby! Goosebumps for an o,der crowd, eh? I hope people who read Goosebumps for kids will read and enjoy. Those were very popular in my school library.
ReplyDeleteGreat Read! Having spent much time chatting with Jason about the book & other thing's I learned some thing's I didn't know. I'm stoked for book 3!!!
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed the first two books. Supernatural adventures mixed in with relatable coming of age strife all with fun, nostalgic callbacks? What a fun read. I shared them with my teen son who enjoyed the stories as well. Hearing how these books came to be and the way Jason pushed himself to use his creativity in a new way is another great thing I'll share with my son. Looking forward to book 3!
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is Jason’s books are destined to be classics! A lot of authors this day and age don’t focus on what makes a great story or read. Jason has a natural talent of spinning an interesting story that hooks you in immediately but also crafts the best elements or horror, sci-fi, pop culture, what it’s like to be back in high school and even manages to fuse some action and romance into what I would like to say is some of the funnest times I’ve spent curled up with a book that I can remember!
ReplyDeleteJasons story draws you in quick and fast and it soon becomes a page turner that leaves you wanting more! Don’t sleep on these books! You won’t be disappointed! If you do not get these now, you’ll be doing yourself a great disservice! Catch up before the third and final part drops! I really hope these are just the beginning of a long and successful career from this up and comer who I know has lots more stories to tell and entertain us with!