Author Spotlight # Lucien Black



Wanting a series of awesome Short Stories to read , ones that will keep you entertained and holding on to the edge of the seat by your pants as you read the thrills of the stories.

Author Lucien Black has released a 4 Volume Collection of Short Stories called "No Vacanies" , Whenever I think of the words "No Vacancies" it gives me chills as though the movie was called Vacany , I always think of the horror film starring Luke Wilson at the hotel , as a matter fact what springs to mind is any basic horror movie that has a setting at an hotel, motel etc. It makes you even debate whether or not it is wise to stay in one after watching some of those movies.

Volume One : No Vacancies :

The No Vacancies Adventure Series starts here in Volume 1. Using short tales, Lucien Black introduces readers to his episodic on-going series of short tales offering various genres of storytelling including action/adventure, horror, mystery, superhero and fantasy.

Volume 1 introduces two episodic adventures; the action packed High Stakes and the supernatural Outcast. Set in an alternate universe, High Stakes follows Jack Ander, a coward forced to confront his own fears and join the resistance against a powerful super villain group known as the Protectorate. Outcast, set in Hudson, NY, introduces readers to Nathaniel, a wanderer with a hidden secret, following the trail of a murderer leaving mutilated bodies in his path.
One More Sunday, a standalone adventure, follows Hudson's Detective Sam Arkwright as he attempts to put together the missing pieces of a murder; the victim being one of the city's renowned super heroes, The Protector.
Finally in Devotion, Dr. Alastair Cromwell struggles to resurrect his late wife, Annette. Does he succeed in bringing her back from the dead or creating a monster

Volume 2 : No Vacancies :

In the first volume, Black introduced two multi-part tales; Outcast and High Stakes, continued in this volume of No Vacancies. In part two of Outcast, Nathaniel faces his past as he goes toe to toe with Stephen Taxton and his pack of werewolves. But old friends come to his aid. Will they be able to fight off the werewolves and what role does Adrian Vandenberg play in their lives. In High Stakes part two, Jack Ander joins up with the resistance but will they be able to escape from the clutches of the Protectorate. Black introduces a new multi-part adventure in No Vacancies part two. The Independent Initiative introduces Cassie Matthews, a former FBI field agent recruited for a secret assignment; one that just may get her killed. With three multi-part stories and one new standalone short story, Black continues to take fans on a wild ride of action, suspense and horror.

Volume 3: No Vacancies :

In Volume 3, Black continues the action packed High Stakes, the horror tale Outcast and the espionage thriller The Independent Initiative. Black also offers another stand alone short story called Harvest.

In Outcast Part 3, Nathaniel has fallen into the hands of Adrian Vandenberg and is now a prisoner in Vandenberg Towers. Adrian Vandenberg reveals his secret plan and unlocks the secrets trapped inside Nathaniel. Meanwhile, Nathaniel’s friends come face to face with a pack of werewolves and must fight to the death to stay alive.
In High Stakes Part 3, The Protectorate is hot on the trail of Jack Ander, Sara Scott and the rest of the Resistance. Down in the sewers, Jack and friends are cornered by a giant alligator, but find their new enemy may just be their salvation. Carl Hunter escapes the city and heads to the rendezvous with Sara only to find a squad of Protectorate Agents and a new threat that has yet to reveal which side they are on.
The Independent Initiative continues with Part 2. Cassie Matthews returns home from her meeting with the head of the Independent Initiative only to find herself confronted by a group of hit men hired by the very same men that killed Dmitri Vostock. Now she finds herself thrust in the middle of a government conspiracy and is forced to take action.
In the short story Harvest, Black delves into the law of attraction between a man and a woman with a surprising twist.

Volume 4 : No Vacancies :

 In Volume 4, Black delivers the final episodes of both the High Stakes and Outcast stories, continues the Independent Initiative and introduces a whole new series, Myth.
In the last installment of Outcast, Nathaniel and Ramuel have united as one and now stand together against Adrian Vandenberg. Will their combined strength be enough to stop the magical prowess of Adrian Vandenberg? Will Nathaniel’s friends make it out of Vandenberg Towers alive? Find out in this last action packed episode of Outcast. In High Stakes, Part 4, everything comes to a head. Jack and the Resistance come face to face against the Protectorate in battle. Will the Resistance be able to escape and free the children? The first in the trilogy of the High Stakes saga comes to an end with a mind-blowing secret about
the Protectorate and their origin.
The Independent Initiative continues with an action packed episode. Cassie Matthews heads to Washington DC to track down the Independent’s killer. When she arrives Cassie comes face to face with another squad of insurgents that are hell bent on ending her life and a Russian operative on a vengeful mission.
In Myth, the first in a new series, Lucien Black introduces Nick Maverick, an A list actor that can’t seem to find work worth his mettle. Instead he slaves away on the set of a television series called What Lies Beneath waiting for his next big break. What Nick doesn’t know is that he comes from a very powerful and noble family that lives in another realm. Mount Olympus. His father, Zeus, has gone missing and the Gods turn to Nick for help.

Lucien Black's writing style and stories are the type that once you have read and devoured Book One of No Vacancies you will be literally dying to get your hands on Book Two-Four to find out what is happening to the characters that you and me readers have come to love and adore.


Interview With The Author :

1) Tell us about your book series?


The concept of No Vacancies started with a profound love for all things comic book related. My early writing aspirations including becoming a regular writer of a comic book series. I attempted to break into the industry, but always found that the doors were closed. For those of you unfamiliar with the comic space, the industry is very tough and breaking in can be an insurmountable task. Artists journey from convention to convention, hoping for two minutes in front of an editor that will catch a glimpse of their work and give them a shot. Writers have a much harder time, since an editor does not have the time to read a script or a summary, while perusing portfolio after portfolio of artists. Eventually, I continued writing, but found myself writing for my own benefit rather than to seek publication.

Eventually, my wife challenged me to adapt a different style of writing to my scripts and convert them into short stories. I argued at first, but eventually found myself slipping easily into this new routine. What I needed was an idea that would convey the type of story I wanted to write, but for a while new medium. Taking some cues from the old movie serials, comic books and the old pulp magazines, I developed the concept of No Vacancies.

Two volumes of No Vacancies are released each year and each book contains four short stories. At times, the stories are stand alone, or appear only in the one volume of No Vacancies. These are ideas or concepts that I felt I needed to convey, but were not necessarily part of a bigger series or story. The first volume of No Vacancies contains a story called “One More Sunday”, which tells the tale of the events which led up to the death of the city’s primary superhero. In this noir thriller, Detective Sam Arkwright finds himself wrapped up in a case that is beyond his imagination and takes him to the edge and back as he uncovers not only how the Protector died, but secrets hidden away long ago but the reclusive superhero.

The other stories contained in the series are serialized or episodic tales, told over multiple volumes of the No Vacancies series. So, each volume of the series, contains a part or episode of the titled story. Outcast, for example, starts in No Vacancies Volume 1 and ends in No Vacancies Volume 4, with some heavy cliffhanger endings along the way.

2) Are you a fan of the Genre you wrote and if so what are some of the books that you have enjoyed in this genre besides your own lol ?

Very much so. I always enjoy a good speculative fiction tale.

3) What gives you the innovation to write a particular genre?

Many of my stories come from dreams I have. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and start jotting down notes from what I can remember. What is funny is that sometimes the story is so intense and it’s like etched in my mind, but within minutes it disappears. So I have to move quick.

4) Has your characters or writing been inspired by friends/ family?

Any similarity to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental.

5) Did you experience writers block? If so, what did you do to get rid of it?

With the format of the No Vacancies series, I can be working on one of any four stories at a given time. If I am stuck on a particular story, I skip over to another and then come back to the blocked one. I usually find that when I go back to the blocked story, I have a renewed energy that allows me to break through. Now there are times when I just feel like I have written myself into a corner and sadly, I tend to scrap everything and start over. With the Independent Initiative, I had the story following along a path that just shut me down. I had to go back and replace almost 6 chapters of the 3rd installment in order to reset the direction. It worked, but it was very cumbersome.

6) What are you working on now?

Right now I am working on No Vacancies volume 5. I am very excited about this installment in the series as I am exploring a completely new series called Seven, which explores a dysfunctional superhero team and the challenges they face in everyday life, ten years after their formation. These heroes started together as a team of amateurs and over time, they grew to be a very formidable group until a sequence of events dismantled their membership and lives.

7) What is your favorite scene in your book?

There is a scene in Outcast where Adrian Vandenberg (antagonist) sends his henchman Nicholas Caster to pick up a package. When he arrives, he is greeted by a contingent of middle eastern warriors and a pretty nasty battle emerges. I think that’s probably my favorite scene from that series. In the series High Stakes, there is a fight between the two strongmen on either side of the battle. That was fun to write.

8) Were there any scenes that were cut in the editing process you wish had made it into the book?

No scenes were really cut from the story. As a writer, I am my own worst critic, so there are many times when I will scrap a direction rewrite an entire section of a particular story. Thankfully, once the book is published, I can’t go back.

9) How did you get into writing? Did you always want to become a writer?

I did always want to be a writer. I started writing at 18, scripting comic books. Many of the stories you are reading today, were stories created then. I wrote thousands of comic book scripts that still need to be converted today.

10) If you were stranded on a desert island, what are three material things you couldn't be without?

Pen and paper of course. And a good chef’s knife. I’ll need to eat .

11) What are you reading now?

Orbit by John J Nance.

12) Which author has inspired you most and why?

I’ve been inspired by many storytellers but prominently Chris Claremont, Lee Child, Lucas and Spielberg. I tend to write very cinematically, which I think comes from the no limits approach of Steven Spielberg. Star Wars inspired many people over the years and I’m talking episodes 4-7, not 1-3…just a travesty. Lee Child tells a no-nonsense action packed story, which I tend to lean towards. Chris Claremont created much of the interconnected story of the X-Men, which were some of the first comic books I read as a kid.

13) What advice would you give aspiring authors?

Write what you want to read. I don’t like it when people get too demanding about how something should be written. The reader needs to get what the author is trying to accomplish. You don’t have to change the world…just entertain.

14) As a Quotes Person I always like to ask To finish off, do you have a quote or poem that has stuck with you over the years and what is the story behind it?

My favorite all time poem was by Shakespeare and it is Sonnet 29.

When, in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least,
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings,
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.


Readers : You Can check out Lucien Black's series "No Vacancies" on his website - www.lucienblackbooks.com

Books are available for Purchase on www.amazon.com

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