Real interview with a virtual (blue) guest

Today I have a very special virtual guest, reluctant inhabitant of a virtual (blue) world. So hang on to your keyboards and I'll pass you over to author R. J. Sullivan as he meets with... Blue.

Welcome to the next installment of the blog tour, this time a topic by request, an interview with Blue, AKA Fiona Shaefer, the protagonist of Virtual Blue and its preceeding novel, Haunting Blue.

RJ: Blue, how would you describe yourself?

Blue: Wow, jumping right in with the tough ones, aren't you? I guess it depends on "when" we're talking about. When I think back to 2010, I was a senior in high school, very sure of myself. I remember being so damned angry at everything. Now I get a little embarrassed when I remember that.

RJ: Why?

Blue: Well, gee, if this is how it's going to go, maybe you should ask me to pull up a couch. [smiles]. It's okay, I've been to therapy, I can call myself crazy.

RJ: Are you crazy?

Blue: Well, *I* don't think so, but then again, I'd be the last person to know, wouldn't I? I suspect I was, for awhile.

RJ: So why were you so angry in high school?

Blue: Well, the answer is all over the first couple chapters, isn't it? I’m angry at my mother. At least that's what I say over and over again. How cliché is that? Anstey punk teen hates parent. Now I look back and I see it differently. My mother was hiding so much from me, trying to protect me from my own past.

RJ: What do you see differently?

Blue: I understand now what I didn't understand then. You ever notice when you were 17 how much it sucks to be 17? We were expected to act like adults, but we're so helpless, really, aren't we? I mean, Mom decided to move me out of Broad Ripple, away from all my friends, away from my boyfriend, to a strange town I just knew would be hostile toward me. And what could I do about it? Nothing.

RJ: Well, you certainly did a lot.

Blue: Yeah, but it made no difference, really. Hateful words. I knew how to push Mom's buttons and she knew how to push mine. So I did. I see now, she thought she was taking me out of a harmful environment, trying to do better by me, so many things we take for granted--food, shelter, a good education. What do they call that nowadays? "First world problems." But you couldn't tell me anything then. I already knew everything, [shakes her head and laughs]

RJ: And now?

Blue: Well...I did my own thing, went off on my own. I tried to help my boyfriend Chip and it caused a huge disaster. We released a ghost on the whole town, for f..[stops herself]. Are we on TV?

RJ: No.

Blue: Oh, well, anyway, it's all in Haunting Blue, which is good, because I don't want to talk about it. But it took me years to get over what happened that night. That's kind of where Virtual Blue picks up.

RJ: Going back to the ghost in Hauntig Blue, some might say that you contained a horrible situation and kept it from much worse.

Blue: You sound just like my shrink. Dr. Churchill, she was always saying the same thing.

RJ: But you don't believe her.

Blue: Well...it's not like I can exactly *confide* in her, is it? I mean, to this day she thinks I chased off a burglar who'd tried to rob the house. If I told her that burglar was a ghost out to kill me, my boyfriend and anyone else who got in his way...I'm sure she'd have made a dive for the sedative needle before I could say "Just kidding."

RJ: Do you still feel helpless?

Blue: No. Isn't that odd? I mean, sure, But Virtual Blue takes place three years later, and I'm in a very different place. I can drive; I have my own money, some autonomy. I still live with a parent who sets rules. And yes, I don't have to obey them, but I choose to. That's a huge change right here. So a lot happens in the course of the novel. I face what Chip and I really did that night and I make my peace with it. I come to realize that what happened then wasn't the worst thing that might happen, because something bigger and more powerful starts to threatens Chip. And I have to decide whether to stand aside or take action.

RJ: Even though it was you taking action that caused so much trouble the first time.

Blue: Exactly. Or...I don't know, maybe not. In any case, I decided I could make a difference, and I challenged myself.

RJ: What made it so different from the first time?

Blue: I'm not sure. I suppose I grew up a lot during these events. I'm not the same person anymore. That's why it's so hard to tell people about me. I'm not that angry kid. But I know now I can make a difference if and when I want to.

RJ: So looking back...

Blue: [shrugs] That's the weird thing. Looking back, I see when I thought I was at my strongest, I was really at my weakest. Now, having been through all that I have, I see myself as stronger than ever. It's because I not only know what I'm capable of doing, but where my weaknesses are. And I know it's okay to admit when I need help. And I know who I can turn to to get that help.

RJ: So after all you've been through, what do you think might happen if someone...or some supernatural force decides to cross you?

Blue: God help it.

Virtual Blue is now available through Seventh Star Press. Haunting Blue, the first book in the Adventures of Blue Shaefer, will be re-released by Seventh Star Press very soon! Learn more at www.seventhstarpress.com or www.rjsullivanfiction.com

About the Author: R. J. Sullivan’s novel Haunting Blue is an edgy paranormal thriller and the first book of the adventures of punk girl Fiona “Blue” Shaefer and her boyfriend Chip Farren. Seventh Star Press released Haunting Obsession, a Rebecca Burton Novella in 2012 and Virtual Blue, the second book in Fiona’s tale, in 2013. Seventh Star will release a new edition of Haunting Blue in early 2014. R. J.’s short stories have been featured in such acclaimed collections as Dark Faith Invocations by Apex Books and Vampires Don’t Sparkle. His newest project is the Red Lotus series of science fiction novelettes for readers of all ages. R.J. resides with his family in Heartland Crossing, Indiana. Check in regularly to learn the latest about the projects of R. J. Sullivan.

Book Synopsis: Did you ever wish you could escape to a virtual world? What if you could...but then couldn’t get out? Two years after her deadly clash with a vengeful ghost, Fiona “Blue” Shaefer still can’t shake off the trauma of that night. Moving to New York with her father didn’t help. Neither did absorbing herself in her college classes. Not even her poetry provided the solace it once did. She convinces herself that ending her relationship with Eugene “Chip” Farren, her long-distance boyfriend and final tie to the horrors of that night, might bring the closure she needs. Blue travels to Bloomington to break the news to Chip in person, but her timing couldn’t be any worse. The Sisters of Baalina, vengeful cultists who practice a new form of “techno-magic,” have targeted Chip’s multi-player videogame as the perfect environment to cast a dangerous spell to free a demoness from the very pits of hell. In the process, their plan may trap Blue in a prison of the mind with no locks, no bars, and no escape.

Author Links:
Website: http://rjsullivanfiction.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/R.J.SullivanAuthor
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5199299.R_J_Sullivan
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rjsullivanauthr

Tour Schedule and Activities
October 28 Jess Resides Here Contest
October 28 Jorie Loves a Story Review
October 28 Come Selahway With Me Guest Post
October 29 Sheila Deeth Blog Character Interview w/ Blue
October 30 Armand Rosamilia Guest Post
October 30 A Haunted Head Special Post Tba
October 30 Deal Sharing Aunt Review
October 30 Word to Dreams Promo Spotlight
October 31 John F. Allen Ivory Blaque Interview of RJ!
October 31 Spellbindings Character Post with Rebecca Burton
October 31 Library Girl Reads and Reviews Character Interview of Rebecca Burton
November 1 Bee’s Knees Reviews Review
November 1 Beauty in Ruins Guest Post
November 2 Azure Dwarf Guest Post
November 3 Angela Meadon Review