Interview
with Janie McCabe
Janie
McCabe captured the first series of official Edge of the Known band
photos, one of which also graced the cover of their first album.
She’s the girlfriend of the band’s singer/guitarist Brandon
Chane.
Interviewer:
How did you first meet Brandon?
Janie:
It was at the Pumpkin Festival in Jennes. His band was playing;
but they weren’t called Edge of the Known back then. They were
billed as Witch with a Hangover. I was working a jewelry table at one
of the tents, and I was so intrigued by what I was hearing that I
left for a while to check them out.
Interviewer:
What was it that intrigued you about them?
Janie:
Well, it was him, mostly. I don’t mean to take anything
away from the other two guys. But you know how you can listen to,
like, a hundred bands, and yet there will be just a handful that you
really take to your heart and cherish – like, the music becomes a
part of your life that you’d never want to be without? I was moved
by this music in that way, right away, and particularly by the way
Brandon sang and his presence onstage. He was so passionate; and yet
he didn’t flaunt it in any way. He’s not a showman. In fact, he
seems to drift into his own world when he plays. And yet somehow that
was more captivating to me than someone up there doing acrobatics.
Interviewer:
And then the two of you became romantically involved shortly
thereafter.
Janie:
Yes. And I don’t know what kinds of stories he puts out about
it, but I’d just like to say for the record that I made
all the moves. [Laughs] I knew he wasn’t going to, though I could
tell that he wanted to. My man is chivalrous to a fault
sometimes. And that just drew me to him all the more. Plus, I’d
just had an encounter out in that audience with a creep with
absolutely no sense of boundaries, so… It was
probably the perfect moment for me to meet someone kind and
respectful, someone who thinks with his heart first. He’d probably
get embarrassed and deny that; but that’s how I see him.
Interviewer:
You’re blushing.
Janie:
Yes, well, if that’s a problem for you then you’d better
change the subject!
Interviewer:
Fair enough. You mentioned your jewelry table. Is that a hobby of
yours?
Janie:
Jewelry and clothing, I make. Yeah, it’s a hobby; but of course
I’d love to just devote my life to it if I could. It’s all
inspired by crafts of Native Americans and other indigenous peoples.
Not that I want to copy anything. I take their visions,
and work as closely with the same materials as possible, and try and
create something new that still pays homage to the past.
Interviewer:
So it’s your dream to make this your livelihood someday?
Janie:
I’d like to have my own shop someday where you could walk in
and, by the time I was through with you, you’d be decked out from
head to feet like a tribal shaman. And not only would you look
completely authentic, but I’d be able to tell you all about the
symbolic significance of everything you were wearing, too. You won’t
get that from any costume shop!
Interviewer:
That’d make for an interesting image for Edge of the Known,
too…
Janie:
Believe me, I’ve thought of that and have already mentioned it
a few times. Not that I’d want to go completely tribal…
but I do think that something with that influence would suit them
well. Their music sounds shamanic to my ears anyway. But Brandon, you
know, he can be hesitant about trying radical new things. I’ll just
keep giving him gentle nudges until he finally gives in!
Blurb
A
troubled young rock musician, a mystic mentor, and a generation of
lost souls longing for a new voice to emerge from the wilderness...
When
an altercation outside of a performance venue nearly proves fatal,
Brandon Chane begins to realize how far his life is spinning out of
control. His efforts to channel his pain, frustration and thwarted
loves into his music may not suffice to save him. Then he meets Saul,
a crisis counselor with the soul of an ancient medicine man, and a
far-reaching journey of healing - one that may teach him how to steer
away from the very edge of the abyss - begins.
Excerpt
I
suppose you could compare it to driving on a high mountain road. You
don’t realize how close you are to free-fall, or how sheer and far
is the plunge, until you go around a bend where one side is exposed
to open air and then there it is: The Abyss.
There’s
this edge that you can come to – I imagine it’s a different place
for each of us – and you just know that once you get swept over it
you won’t be coming back. By the time you’re close enough to see
it it may already be too late. You could find yourself teetering,
suddenly hearing the warnings that life had been giving you all
along, knowing that it’s become impossible to step back; because by
that time, those other forces – the ones pounding like the rapids
at your back, always trying to push you towards that edge and then
over it – have grown too strong.
Tommy
and I first talked about forming a band together before either of us
had learned to play an instrument. We both perceived music –
particularly, its heavy, extreme underside - as the ideal vehicle for
our personal salvation. The first guitar that I purchased, a Fender
Telecaster that I immediately spray painted black to my father’s
horror, became my refuge. It was my best friend and confidante. It
gave me a convenient excuse to avoid social situations that, more
often than not, would only remind me of how far off the beaten path I
really was.
About
the Author
"Probably
the most valuable thing that I learned throughout my spiritual
journey in this life is the importance of trusting in one's self.
Many of our cultural lessons encourage us to ignore or even fear our
inner reality. And yet it is this realm that really does hold the
answers to all of our questions, and can point the way towards the
most fulfilling life experiences possible for us."
Mr.
Mullins has lived in Maine, Connecticut, New Mexico, Oregon and
Vermont.
http://www.humanityswayforward.com
(Humanity's Way Forward - my website)
http://frontiersofconsciousness.blogspot.com
(The Edge of the Known by Seth Mullins - my blog)
"What
Casts the Shadow?" (The Edge of the Known) on Amazon:
http://amzn.to/1rkhffS
My
Amazon author page: amazon.com/author/sethmullins
20 comments:
Welcome to Beyond Romance, Seth. What Casts the Shadow sounds like a distinctively different book from the novels my guests usually bring out to share. I wish you the best of luck with the book and the tour.
Thanks for hosting!
This book sounds intriguing...it's definitely going on my wish list!
I enjoyed reading the interview. I love those.
I like in the interview when she says she's inspired by Native Americans. I also like the excerpt at the end, I'm sometimes not sure about a book and can't get enough info before I buy or read it.
Thanks so much for hosting me, Lisabet. I'm glad to see this character interview go live, as it provides a little window into the romantic elements within the book, which is something I'd not gotten a chance to show thus far. Yes, I think "Shadow" is pretty unique, which makes it a bit more challenging to expose to potential readers; but it's well worth it. :)
Thanks so much for stopping by. I do hope you enjoy it if you get around to reading it. :)
Thank you :) This one was lighthearted and really fun to do. It helps to have a character who's both sassy and sincere in equal measure.
When I was 20, I moved from Vermont to New Mexico, where I lived for several years. It was a dramatic shift not only geographically but also culturally. The Native jewelry on display in the Santa Fe plaza, the rugs and tapestries in the markets, the clothing...all of this made a deep impression on me. This excerpt is from the very beginning of the book, the narrator reminiscing about the darkest place from where his journey towards healing began. Thanks for visiting and commenting!
congrats to Seth on the new release!!! Thanks for sharing :)
Thank you Erin :) Sharing is what writing is all about...
I didn't get a whole lot from the blurb. It actually left me with more questions. It sounds mysterious in a way. I'm very intrigued and want to read what its all about.
It is a mystery, at this point. The sense I get from it is the narrator realizing that, for his story to be told right, it must begin by describing how close his life came to going off the rails. And he's groping around for a place to start. Mostly what he has to go on is how it *felt*. Thanks for visiting and commenting. I'm glad to inspire a bit of intrigue :)
I always appreciate a character interview that doesn't give spoilers--it's tough to do!
Trix, vitajex(at)aol(Dot)com
Thank you :) I basically just tried to imagine her in a context outside of the story-line, while still being "herself".
Thank you for the character interview. I always like reading them since they give readers a sense of who the character is or how they behave.
What I liked best about the post is that the guest is a man. So many romance authors are women so it is refreshing to see a gentleman being featured. Thanks for sharing Seth!
lringel(at)comcast(dot)net
I am always looking for new authors to read. This book sounds like the kind I enjoy reading.
Jwisley@aol.com
I like writing them, too. You get to explore them in a different context, where there's no pressure to make anything fit into a plot structure. And Janie's a spirited gal; she's fun to write. Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for visiting and commenting :) I hope you do enjoy it if you get around to reading it.
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