BooksChatter: ℚ The Hotel Series [1-2]

Today we have the pleasure of meeting up with author Michael James to talk about The Hotel Series, which currently comprises The Hotel at the End of Time and The Well at the Bottom of Everything.

"Witty humor and explosions! A group with special abilities to manipulate energy are running from a hotel where they have been imprisoned that is outside space and time. Constantly evading evil clones and trying to outsmart the main bad guy while cracking jokes, and explosions, this was a fun read and made me want more." ~ Amazon Verified Purchase

"Highly recommend, very entertaining! Loved reading [The Hotel at the End of Time]! The writing style is great and I was pulled in right from the start. Full of action yet a perfect amount of humor that lands so unexpectedly but well timed that it would lighten up the intensity." ~ Amazon Verified Purchase

The Series || The Books in the Series || Author Q&A || About the Author || Giveaway & Tour Stops ||

A very warm welcome to Michael James; thank you for joining us on BooksChatter!

What was the inspiration for The Hotel Series?

"The cat who lives in my basement (not my cat) won’t stop eating my food and yells at me. I’ve tried everything to get rid of this cat. Exterminators, priests, the police (both the band and the municipal service), but nothing works. This cat is here to stay. I cannot emphasize strongly enough that this is not my cat.

Finally, I said, hey, why not write a series about a group of people who escape a Hotel outside of space and time, and their adventures to try to stop it forever? It couldn’t hurt.

PS it did not get rid of the cat. I don’t even think it’s a real cat."

How much of yourself is reflected in this series, and how?

"Not as much as you’d think.

For starters, the main character, Vain, is a woman, has no memory and is hilarious. I am not a woman, I have a ton of memory and I’m only sort of funny. So boom, right off the top, you can see where it’s different.

Second, I’ve never escaped captivity from a time-displaced Hotel that turns humans into batteries.

One time, I ate oysters, but not a single character in the book eats a single oyster."

The first thing that draws me to a book is its cover. Can you tell us about your covers for The Hotel Series?

"The covers were created by the geniuses at Damonza.com. They are absolutely brilliant. No jokes at all for this question. They are wonderful and deserve insane amounts of credit."

Why should we read The Hotel Series and what sets it apart from the rest?

"Well for starters, my book has been known to make people sick from laughing so hard. A lot of books claim to be funny, but they’re not.

Second, I’m honestly hoping that the more people that read the book, the better my chances of getting rid of that effing cat in my basement.

I know what you’re thinking – Mike, you already established in question one that there is no relationship between the cat in your basement and the series. Okay, fair point. But consider this – what if there is?"

Can you tell us something quirky about The Hotel Series, its story and characters?

"God, this series is basically the same stuff you’ve read before. The characters have normal names (Vain, Trick, Calm, Charm, etc), the same old stuff happens (ordinary objects turned into objects of wonder, humans paired to one another for eternity, yawn) and it’s your standard “boy meets girl or more accurately boy and girl are kidnapped, memory-wiped and taken to a time-Hotel that sits outside of space)."

Who would you recommend The Hotel Series to and what should readers be aware of (any warnings or disclaimers)?

"I’d recommend this series to Business Analysts working for small to mid-sized productivity software firms.

Readers should be aware that reading the books aloud, cover to cover, will summon the ghost of John Milton and oh my god he simply will not shut up about Paradise Lost. Honestly dude. You wrote a classic. I get it."

If you could / wished to turn The Hotel Series into a movie, who would be your dream team?

"In a perfect world, every single role would be played by Tom Hardy. Every single position on the movie – from Director all the way down to second key grip – would be filled by Tom Hardy. The catering would be done by Tom Hardy. It would be filmed in Tom Hardy’s house. The movie would be called Tom Hardy by Tom Hardy.

Sadly, he’s unavailable. Oh, I checked."

What do you like to write and read about? Do you stick to a particular Urban Fantasy or do you like to explore different ones?

"At this point I find myself writing a lot of “can anyone help me get rid of this cat” posts to Reddit. When I’m not writing, I like to read books about how to get rid of mystery cats that live in your basement.

Note – there have been ZERO books written on this topic, so if anyone is feeling entrepreneurial – there’s an untapped market there."

What is your writing process?

"First, I yell at the cat to please leave my house. It doesn’t, and sometimes it yells back using the voice of my dead Grandfather. I don’t care for this.

Then, it’s writing time. I normally write a couple words at a time, become extremely discouraged and quit writing forever. This can happen a couple times a day. The cat is always laughing at me. Judging me."

What is in store next?

"Well so at first, I thought I’d work on the final book in the series, but the more I think about it, why not write that book about how to get rid of cats that live in your basement and yell at you in the voice of your dead grandfather? I mean, there’s a built-in market for that. I can’t be the only person dealing with this. Seriously. Can I?"

And as a final quirky thing, to get to know you a little bit better... do you have a pet or something that is special to you that you could share with us?

"Is this sarcastic? I literally just told you about my cat problem. I have tried to photograph the cat before, but every time I take a picture of it, my phone melts. I am on phone number three!"

Oh, dear...

We hope you are having a great tour, despite your cat problems!

"I'm looking for exceptional experiences in remarkable destinations especially in iconic, hard to get to places"