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Interview with 'And Then There Were Crows' Author Alcy Leyva

2/19/2018

@SmilingDarkly

"Pen your characters based on who they are and not what they are expected to be."

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

Research is everything. I draw inspiration from any and all spaces, but I particularly love studying history and philosophy for social context. I have specific book music playlists that I create and listen to while writing—sometimes I even have albums dedicated to entire chapters. They range from acid jazz, to classical to death metal, to whatever Mumford & Sons is categorized as (I’m leaning toward “sad elven banjo music”).

I also setup image galleries on my phone. These are filled with picture of artwork or actual photos that help me envision the space I’m trying to create. While writing about the different layers of hell, for instance, I had dresses by Alexander McQueen shifting on my wallpaper. For photographs, I love long shots of churches, mountains, and cityscapes to picture my characters navigating them.

I also binge on popular culture: reality TV, memes, anime, Twitter. That’s why I feel like research doesn’t end, especially when I’m poking fun at what we consider “normal” in our everyday lives. It’s a daily cycle of seeing what’s trending and then jotting down notes.

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

It’s something that I’m mindful of. There’s a balance—a “literary sweet spot,” if you will— that you need fall into.

First, I feel you need to acknowledge that there are things that you absolutely do not and will not understand of the opposite sex. Just come to terms with that. Rest your head on a pillow at night and don’t let it haunt your dreams. Trying to solve everything that makes one “male” or makes one “female” (and even locking it to within those binaries) is something that writers have been exploring for decades, though very few—if any—have the lifespan to fully answer. So I say: don’t. Be aware of the differences, write responsibly, and pen your characters based on who they are and not what they are expected to be.

Since most of my writing focuses on social constructs and cultural habits, I usually define my characters, male or female, by what their adversity looks like and how they are able to cope. I write on the train and I see it all the time. Trust me: the NYC transit system teaches you a great deal about gender norms and sexuality.

You can easily sidestep tropes of writing the opposite sex by keeping in mind how a character would react in stressful situations. A male or female character saying nothing and doing nothing are primarily the same. There’s no pressure to be who they are, no approaching threat to challenge them. But a woman going to buy milk at a supermarket experiences the event completely different from a man. Even if it’s the same time of day, same supermarket, same carton of milk—the nuances and micro aggressions bombarding them as they push through this dimension attempting to satisfy their dairy quotient are worlds apart. For instance, of the six or seven characters I’ve developed in And Then There Were Crows, each one would react differently to, say, almost getting hit by a bike messenger when crossing a street or finding a finger in their hotdog. Then, factor in not just gender, but also age, race, values, experiences…and it gets even more complicated. My motto is that if you know the string of decisions that have led a character to this given point in time, and you truly understand their stressors, then you can build credible experiences and—even in worlds of the fantasy or absurd, believable characters. Treat every character on their own merit. What song would she listen to? What would be her social media post for today? Once you have this in mind, always know that it’s not enough to write a female character different from a male character. You also need to make sure that you’re writing her different from all of your other female characters. You have to be mindful of each character’s story.

Do you believe in writer’s block?

Wait, people don’t believe in writer’s block? I do, absolutely. Stephen King had a really great philosophy about writing while creating the Dark Tower series in that writers look through “doors” into other dimensions. Sometimes the door is wide open and we can see/hear/smell/sense everything in that world and connect with it. Sometimes it’s barely open. Sometimes it’s shut. I’ve always thought that writer’s block is the act of a writer banging their knuckles bloody on a door that might open tomorrow, fifteen years from now, or never.

I feel like it’s possible to search for another door until the one you want reopens. Last year, I published over twenty pieces [of writing] both online and in print. I wrote four to six hours per day. I hopped genres and styles: poetry, non-fic, fiction, horror, satire, politics. I wrote without breaks for nine months and never stopped chasing a new narrative. This is what we in writing, both in culturally creative circles as well as in the foundations of academia, unaimously dub “maniac.”

Writer’s block most definitely exists, but if you know yourself and put your energy into your strengths, it doesn’t have to put out the fire in your gut.

Preorder Alcy's upcoming book here.

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Author Alcy Leyva Joins Authors at Bronx Book Fair

2/16/2018

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We are excited to share that Alcy Leyva, author of the upcoming And Then There Were Crows, will be speaking at this year's Bronx Book Fair in Bronx, NY.

Launched in 2013, the Bronx Book Fair is dedicated to engaging and growing the community of poets and writers in the Bronx and to connecting literary artists to readers and book lovers of all ages. Through readings, workshops, and presentations our goal is to engage the community with a variety of literature and programs that will broaden access to Bronx literary artists, increase library usage, and encourage a love of books and reading.
Check out the event here or on Facebook and come snag an early copy copy of Crows!

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#Giveaway - Win THREE Awesome Summer Reads!

2/12/2018

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Press Release: And Then There Were Crows by Alcy Leyva

2/8/2018

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Shades of Hell Series, Book One:
And Then There Were Crows

URBAN DARK FANTASY FILLED WITH ANGELS, DEMONS, BITING SOCIAL CRITIQUE, AND WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN WHEN YOU FIND A ROOMMATE ON CRAIGSLIST

With an antisocial angel and a roommate with aspirations to enslave humanity, Amanda Grey goes from a woman worried about her own personal demons to humanity's last hope as she faces New York City's devils, curses and cults.

"A rocking adventure of a story that made me smile more than once, laugh out loud (literally a few times), and snort unattractively (many, many times)." - GoodReads Reviewer

New York City has always been a big fat sack of stress attacks for Amanda Grey. From turning herself into knots to evade rubbing ass cheeks with strangers on the train, to round housing public bathroom door handles to stave off plague contaminations, Grey has always found the simple technique of avoidance best in dealing with NYC. What's always saved her—what’s always served as her bastion from the City’s bright lights and cat-calling construction workers—was the little one-bedroom apartment in Queens she’s shared with her parents. Of course, that’s all about to change.

When her parents go on an extended vacation and leave Grey to her own devices, she quickly manages to screw everything up, soon finding herself broke, behind on rent, and facing eviction. That’s how fast life in the city goes: One second, your biggest concern is rising Metrocard costs and avoiding eye contact with creepy looking children. The next, you’re nearly murdered by a man infested with demons, one of which you’ve rented your bedroom to, and before you know it you’ve set into motion the biblical apocalypse prophesized in the Book of Revelations—literally.

In Alcy Leyva’s debut dark urban fantasy novel, And Then There Were Crows [Black Spot Books, July 3, 2018] Grey goes from a woman concentrated on clamping down on her own personal demons to the woman responsible for recapturing the six Shades she’s unleashed on the city. To accomplish this, she must venture out into a society even more alien to her now than before—oh, and try to stay alive, too. She manages to survive by accepting the help of Barnem, a seraphim who just happens to reside in an upstairs apartment and also just so happens to be equally terrible at human interactions as she is. Oddly, the demon Grey now shares an apartment with also steps up to help her vanquish the Shades, though she can't be sure if it's out of roommate loyalty or a secret plot to enslave humankind. Probably the latter.

Together the unlikely trio faces a bevy of social demons, from navigating political warfare, to breaking the curse of infomercials, to figuring out exactly how Grey becomes the leader of a cult. For Grey, it becomes harder and harder to tell the difference between the ills of society and the influence of the Shades. She begins to notice that living with her social anxieties makes her more sensitive to the oddities around her, which, ironically, seems to make her the perfect person to deal with the world's mounting weirdness. As Grey comes to be part of a society that has accepted the strange ways we communicate with each other, she questions if the “social sanity” she felt excluded from her entire life ever really existed in the first place.

And Then There Were Crows is dark, satirical view of the apocalypse, where we find that
the balance between good and evil, black and white is sometimes, well, a little more Grey.

“At its core, And Then There Were Crows explores the ways our personal hells become public nightmares,” says Leyva. “Amanda Grey’s journey is bloody and violent, but it's also severely tongue-in-cheek. There are angels and demons—there's even a visit from the pope—but even armed with sarcasm and skepticism Grey finds it difficult to discern the demons she’s let loose from the ones here already. She is a flawed yet relatable character that has had a hard time saving herself and suddenly she has to save the world.”

“And Then There Were Crows is also a love letter to the city I grew up in. New York can dazzle you with her lights and she can chew up and spit out even the most seasoned city dwellers. Though exaggerated, Grey lives by the prototypical New Yorker philosophy: ‘find a place with lots of sunlight, with at least a 1:4 rat to roach ratio, and within walking distance to a supermarket and/or train and/or bus.’ You never know what New York is going to throw at you, be it transit hikes, traffic on the George Washington Bridge, six-foot tall roaches, or demons hellbent on world domination. It's just that kind of town."

About the Author
Alcy Leyva is a Bronx-born writer, teacher, and pizza enthusiast. He graduated with a B.A. in English and an MFA in Fiction from The New School. His personal essays, poetry, short fiction, book reviews, and film analysis have been published in Popmatters, The Rumpus, Entropy Mag, and Quiet Lunch Magazine. Follow Alcy on Twitter, and Instagram.

And Then There Were Crows will be available in paperback and e-book formats through all major retailers and distributors on July 3, 2018.

ISBN (print): 978-09997423-2-7
ISBN (ebook): 978-0-9997423-3-4

Pre-order And Then There Were Crows today from Black Spot Books or on Amazon.

ADVANCE REVIEW COPIES OF AND THEN THERE WERE CROWS AVAILABLE ON REQUEST AND ALSO ON NETGALLEY.

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Join the #SlootSquad!

2/6/2018

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Calling all Instagrammers! We’re looking for avid bookstagrammers with a robust following of 500+ who would be interested in doing a storygram tour for the #SlootSquad.

What do you have to do?
We’ll send you the books (either print or ebook). For one day, on your scheduled date, all you need to do is post an original decorative picture like the one above, along with the content you provide in your caption. You will also need to add a preorder link in your profile.

Again, this is one day only. It must be posted by 10 am EST and it’s must remain your most recent post for at least 3 hours. While it’s not required, it would also be great if you shared the post on your story during that time!

What else?
If you’re interested in participating, send us a quick email with your Instagram handle and date of choice between March 1 and May 30. We will contact you by email if selected!

Thanks so much and we look forward to hearing from you!

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Interview with 'And Then There Were Crows' Author Alcy Leyva

Preorder Alcy's upcoming book here.

Author Alcy Leyva Joins Authors at Bronx Book Fair

#Giveaway - Win THREE Awesome Summer Reads!

Press Release: And Then There Were Crows by Alcy Leyva

The Shades of Hell Series, Book One: And Then There Were Crows

With an antisocial angel and a roommate with aspirations to enslave humanity, Amanda Grey goes from a woman worried about her own personal demons to humanity's last hope as she faces New York City's devils, curses and cults.

"A rocking adventure of a story that made me smile more than once, laugh out loud (literally a few times), and snort unattractively (many, many times)." - GoodReads Reviewer

Join the #SlootSquad!

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The Shades of Hell Series, Book One:
And Then There Were Crows