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His Brother's Keeper is about many things, but the main character, Leo is at the epicenter of
all of the things going on. He’s a runaway who ended up caught up in this
underworld of gangs fighting for control of the city. This turf war is pretty
serious business since there’s nothing outside of Paragon City. What’s within
its walls-- that’s it. There is nothing else. To make a living, Leo works as a
professional companion; not the most dignified of jobs. Part of the story though
is about how Leo learns to value himself just as he is. He learns that his
worth has nothing to do with other peoples’ opinions of him. Of course, there’s
tons of action too, as the three factions in the Junkyard fight against each
other.
What inspired you to
write this particular story (and/or series)?
I started
dreaming it up over a decade ago, and my inspiration comes from several key
things. I loved video games growing up and those stories within them just as
much as I loved my favorite novels. I knew from early on that I was “different”
and desperately wanted to find characters like me in the same grand stories
that I loved. More often than not, I came up empty handed. I was even further
disappointed when I realized that the majority of queer fiction in the local
library were all historical fiction or slice-of-live type novels. Totally
boring to me-- even though I know that the narratives in those stories are very
important to queer culture, they left me snoring. I wanted to go on adventures
with queer people! I wanted gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and asexual
heroes, wizards, mercenaries, bartenders-- you name it! In the end I realized
that if you wanted something done right, you’d best just do it yourself…
Are your characters
in the book based on anyone you know?
Yes; one
main character is based on the person I was with for six years before they left
me with little or no closure. I’ll leave it up to everyone else to speculate on
which character that is. I can tell you one thing: The character is not a
villain.
What authors inspire
or influence your work?
So, so
many! my biggest influences are definitely Anne Rice, Garth Nix, K.A.
Applegate, and Cassandra Clare.
What project(s) are
you working on now?
I’ve got
two major ones in the works! I’m writing the sequel to His Brother’s Keeper,
The Mark of Cain which is due out on October 13th. The other project is a
supernatural romance/action story for teens based in my hometown of Des Moines
Iowa. It’s a twist on the popular vampire stories floating around out there--
and includes a blood feud between the undead vampires and the immortal
alchemists. The series is called The Sempiternal Soul, and book one is
Amaranth. Look for it this winter, and follow me on tumblr at
hazelblackthorn.tumblr.com for updates on release dates.
Hazel Blackthorn is from Des Moines, Iowa. The author spends most of their time with video games, pets, and of course writing. Hazel graduated valedictorian of their high school class and has been a lifelong activist for LGBTQ+ rights and intersectionality in activism.
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