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Monday, 11 April 2022

Matthew Erman Discusses the Inspiration for Witchblood

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the WITCHBLOOD by Matthew Erman & Lisa Sterle Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: WITCHBLOOD: The Complete Series (Witchblood #1-10)

Author: Matthew Erman, Lisa Sterle (Illustrations),Gab Contreras, Jim Campbell

Pub. Date: April 12, 2022

Publisher: Wonderbound

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 128

Find it: GoodreadsAmazon, Kindle, B&NiBooks, KoboTBD, Bookshop.org

A non-stop supernatural action adventure bathed in magic, blood, motorcycles, mayhem, vampires, and an unconventional. 1,000 year-old witch named Yonna.

MAGIC IS IN THE BLOOD

A modern, Wild West road trip about a witch named Yonna cruising the Southwest as a band of bloodthirsty biker vampires, The Hounds of Love, hunt her scattered coven for the source of all magic: witch blood. From the critically acclaimed creators of The Modern Witch Tarot Deck and Long Lost comes Witchblood, a blend of action, lore, and Americana—perfect for fans of Buffy and American Gods.

Reviews:

"Loud and brash and high-energy, the kind of thing that makes readers yearn to see what will come next...[packed with] gripping, stylish thrills." ― Women Write About Comics

"A mixtape in comic form, that blends familiar lore, with the roughness of the Wild West...the creative team has successfully given us a character who although vulnerable, packs some serious attitude, you can’t help but root for her, and with the dangers she has stumbled upon and the revelation of her WITCHBLOOD, we are on our way to be treated to some action-packed, magic in the making." ― Geek Network

"Witchblood #1 is a fun, splashy start to a stylish series." ― AV Club

"Want a chaotic, fun time? Witchblood is just the levels of chaos you need in your life." ― Wandering Nerd Girl

"Witchblood is the most beautiful form of a passion project...This comic really is something special, not just for fans of witchcraft and vampires, but for anyone who loves colour, representation, and the craft done right." ― The Valkyries

Named one of "the comics and graphic novels worth mentioning from 2021" ― THRILLIST

 

WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION FOR WRITING YOUR GRAPHIC NOVEL?

Matthew: Witchblood is inspired by a love of campy, high-fantasy genre. I love big worlds. Big worlds with so many stories that it can’t possibly be contained in a single thing. Witchblood is that expansive big thing for me — a huge world with limitless possibilities. It’s really freeing to write in a world like that, and working with Vault to make sure its good and it is quality makes it even more fulfilling.

I think when I look at Witchblood, I can definitely see certain influences — you know I try make sure the obvious references and inspirations are there and easy to spot. I’m not trying to hide anything. Lisa and I love the movie Near Dark and that kind of shares some DNA. It’s obviously pretty different, but that world and that vibe was so cool. I think looking at Shonen Jump, and popular manga was also a big influence. Sailor Moon and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. How character introductions can be an event, and how switching the tone and the genre can be a narrative twist. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure goes from regency vampire story to globetrotting sunlight kung-fu to a story about the sicilian mafia. It all makes sense when you have all the context, but there is something we loved and tried to do with Witchblood. Wild West Roadtrip to Bloodsoaked Dystopian Fantasy. It was super fun to try and do, and I think we really succeeded.

We’re also hugely influenced by music. We made a huge playlist that contained all the mood and vibe and tone that we wanted to have our story mirror. Townes Van Zandt and Danzig. Fleetwood Mac and The Cambodian Space Project. Blue Oyster Cult and Bill Orcutt. A really wide range of music has influenced the story and we tried to include as many references to them in the titles of Yonna’s various alchemical potions that she concocts.

About Matthew Erman:

Matthew Erman is a comics writer from Columbus, Ohio. Alongside Lisa Sterle, he co-created the critically acclaimed comic horror series, Long Lost, which was optioned for Film/TV by Producer Jenny Klein (The Witcher, Daisy Jones and The Six). Erman has since worked on the comic book series Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and graphic novel Power Rangers: Sins of the Future with BOOM! Studios, series Care Bears: Unlock the Magic with IDW, the upcoming  science fiction/ horror / humorous romance original graphic novel BONDING, with artist and co-creator Emily Pearson for Vault Comics, and the smash supernatural action adventure comics series (with artist/co-creator Lisa Sterle) from Vault Comics, WITCHBLOOD. His short work can be found in anthologies such as Corpus (2018), Dead Beats (2019) and Everything is Going Wrong (2019).

 

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads | Amazon

 

About Lisa Sterle:

Lisa Sterle is a Columbus artist with work spanning from comic books to concept design to pop-culture-fueled illustration. Her work is often bright, expressive, and occasionally tinged with horror— marrying her two favorite themes: the beautiful and the grotesque. She has worked with HarperCollins, IDW, Image, Archie Comics, Vault Comics, BOOM! Studios, and many others. She is the co-creator of monthly comics Long Lost and Submerged (Vault Comics), and Witchblood (Vault comics), as well as creator of The Modern Witch Tarot Deck, a modern and diverse interpretation of the classic Rider-Waite tarot deck. Currently she is working on the graphic novel Squad with writer Maggie Tokuda-Hall for Greenwillow Books.

WITCHBLOOD is the first time Lisa Sterle’s wider (witchy/tarot/occult) audience has access to her all-new  book (to be found in book stores in which they frequent), and it is her first creator-owned project since The Modern Witch Tarot.

As the creator of the smash, best-selling, The Modern Witch Tarot, Lisa has a super rabid fan base, and with over 16K Twitter followers, she is known as one of the most “influential witches in the world!”  Further, Lisa was voted by Watkins Body Mind Spirit Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Spiritually Influential  Living People  (Pope Francis is #1, Dalai Lama is #2; Lisa is #92 – Neil de Grasse Tyson is #93!)

Here’s more about Lisa Sterle’s  diverse, all-female, Modern Witch Tarot:

    • The Modern Witch Tarot has sold over TWO MILLION UNITS since its release on October 1, 2019
    • The Modern Witch Tarot is the #1 Bestselling Tarot in the world – ever!
    • It is the #1 BESTSELLER in Amazon’s Tarot category
    • It is the #2 BESTSELLER in Amazon’s Fortune Telling category
    • It is the #4 BESTSELLER in Amazon’s Witchcraft Religion & Spirituality category
    • The Modern Witch Tarot has over 13,000 reviews
    • The Modern Witch Tarot is rated 5 stars on Amazon
    • The Modern Witch Tarot has been in the TOP 500 Books on Amazon since release
    • The Modern Witch Tarot reinvented the Rider-Waite deck for modern use

Website | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr | Goodreads

 

Giveaway Details:

2 winners will receive a finished copy of WITCHBLOOD, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

4/11/2022

Writer of Wrongs

Excerpt or Guest Post

4/12/2022

Wottaread Blog

Excerpt or Guest Post

4/13/2022

BookHounds YA

Excerpt or Guest Post/IG Post

4/14/2022

Sadie's Spotlight

Excerpt or Guest Post/IG Post

4/15/2022

#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog

Excerpt or Guest Post

4/16/2022

See Sadie Read

Review

Week Two:

4/17/2022

A Court of Coffee and Books

Review

4/18/2022

@thebookishfoxwitch

Review

4/19/2022

The Momma Spot

Review

4/20/2022

Celia's Reads

Review

4/21/2022

Bri's Bookish

Review

4/22/2022

A Bookish Dream

Review

4/23/2022

Lifestyle of Me

Review

Week Three:

4/24/2022

Fyrekatz Blog

Review

4/25/2022

Eli to the nth

Review/IG Post

4/26/2022

Nerdophiles

Review

4/27/2022

The Clever Reader

Review/IG Post

4/28/2022

Nonbinary Knight Reads

Review

4/29/2022

Two Points of Interest

Review

4/30/2022

Vamplit

Review

Week Four:

5/1/2022

My Fictional Oasis

Review

5/2/2022

Pages_and_Procrastinaton

Review/IG Post

5/3/2022

Bookish Rantings

Excerpt or Guest Post/IG Post

5/4/2022

Emmiepooh2

Review

5/5/2022

Two Chicks on Books

Excerpt or Guest Post

5/6/2022

@jaimerockstarbooktours

IG Post

5/7/2022

@lexijava

Review/IG Post


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