Joel M. Andre was born January 13, 1981. At a young age, he was fascinated with the written word. It was at fourteen that Poe blew his mind, and Andre began to dabble with darker poetry.
Between the years of 1999 and 2007, Joel was featured in various poetry anthologies and publications. In 2008 he released his first collection, Pray the Rain Never Ends.
Knowing there was something deeper and darker inside of his soul, Joel decided to take a stab at commercialism. Releasing the dark tongue-in-cheek A Death at the North Pole, he created a dark world among the death of Kris Kringle. Ultimately providing a tale of redemption.
October of 2008 saw Joel release his second book, Kill 4 Me. A tale in which a woman is haunted by a vengeful spirit through text messages and instant messaging.
Taking some time off and doing a lot of soul searching, Joel took things in a new direction and dabbled in the Fantasy Genre with, The Pentacle of Light. The tale dealing with five major races battling for control of Earth, and the acceptance of their God.
Finally, after missing his detective Lauren Bruni, he released the book The Return in October 2009, this time moving the action from the North Pole and placing it in the small Arizona community he was raised in.
Andre’s latest book is The Black Chronicles: Cry of the Fallen about a dead man who seeks revenge on the woman that tormented him in peaceful Northern Arizona.
Currently, he resides in Chandler, AZ.
You can visit his website at www.joelmandre.com.
Q. Thank you for this interview, Joel. Can we begin by having you tell us why you chose to write fantasy horror?
My pleasure, I am pleased to be visiting DivineCaroline again.
There has always been a passion in me to write horror. My father used to read a number of horror books growing up. He is a brilliant man and I loved watching scary movies when I was supposed to be in bed. This was my chance to catch movies like, The Howling and even It. Of course, I would rush to bed scared and never say a word about doing it.
Q. Did you outline before you wrote your book or did you just go with the flow?
I prefer to go with the flow. It is important that each character has a chance to shine in a tale. My goal is to allow the characters to tell the story and guide them to the end of the book as needed.
In the new book, there were quite a number of chapters that were cut … mostly because they didn’t add to the story. I’m proud of the final tale and I believe people are going to get a good story when they read it.
Q. Who was your favorite character in The Black Chronicles and why?
Most people will expect that I say Lauren Bruni. I love Lauren, but I think Maureen Rogers is a scene stealer. She was probably my favorite character to write. There was something about her wit and her darkness that made her fun.
Q. Who was your least favorite character?
I love every character I write, but I think Carl might be my least favorite. That doesn’t mean anything negative about him and each character has a purpose.
Q. Can you tell us about the setting and why you chose it?
I set the book in Arizona, a small town called Cottonwood. I grew up there and it is a part of me. I felt it was a good idea to nod my head in homage to it. There are some real areas in the book mixed with ones that are total fiction.
Q. What was the hardest part to write?
I always find the murders to be the most difficult part to write. I don’t want them to be too cruel and violent, but I also don’t want it to be a quick stab. The balance is difficult and I am a very compassionate person, so I tend to find this part difficult.
