DAYS GONE BAD by Eric R. Asher

DAYS GONE BAD by Eric R. Asher

Released on February 8, 2013

Days Gone Bad takes its readers on an adventure that is both exciting and chilling.


Damian is the owner of Death's Door, a shop that caters to the dark arts. He is a necromancer, meaning he can communicate with the dead, not in a clairvoyant way, but more in the way that he sees auras ghosts and other things that those with normal sight cannot. He has a penchant for chimichangas, ale, and kicking supernatural ass.

Sam is Damian's sister. She was the victim of a brutal attack by a rogue vampire and now lives in a Pit with other vamps. She has accepted her fate with grace and lives her new life the best she can.

Frank is Damian's new assistant shop keeper. Frank is a commoner until he is gifted with the sight to see the otherworld by Damian's adopted mom, a fairy named Cara. Frank is attracted to Damian's sister Sam.

Foster is a Fae fairy that lives with his wife and mother in the grandfather clock in Damian's store. He is a miniature body guard to Damian, with the power to grow to seven feet tall.

Zola is Damian's master. She too is a necromancer and is teaching her ward how to use and strengthen his gifts. She has been gone for two years, but unexpectedly returns and that is when things get interesting.

When Zola calls Damian and tells him to meet her at her cabin, he knows their reunion will not be a casual visit. When she produces a demon doll, his training takes on a new urgency. The story takes us on an adventure that introduces many dark elements in this urban fantasy thriller. Steeped with historical interludes of the Civil War, Damian and his band of helpers track down evil creatures and powerful artifacts in order to keep a lid on the doom that is surely inevitable.

Eric does a great job with character development and creates strong bonds between his characters filled with love, loyalty and devoted friendship. He has turned me into a fan of the paranormal/urban fantasy genre.

Eris was gracious in answering my questions regarding this book and its characters. Here is our interview.

RMWTPC – Damian is such an affable character. His easygoing manner coupled with his strong loyalties to family and friends made him quite endearing. Does he bear any resemblance to yourself and how?

Eric R. Asher – Oh, I’ve had one or two folks accuse me of being sarcastic over the years. Family and friends have always been important to me, and I have no doubt that influenced Damian’s personality.

RMWTPC – Damian has some of the most deplorable eating habits I have read about recently. His steady diet of chimichangas, beef jerky, frappuccinos, and moon pies is a gastronomical nightmare. Would it kill him to eat a vegetable now and then?

Eric R. Asher – It might. It could disrupt his delicate balance of, umm, “nutrition?”

RMWTPC – Your story incorporates what appear to be a number of day trips to historical locales in the St. Louis vicinity. Are any of these locations real? Are they places that attendees of Penned Con should be sure to visit?

Eric R. Asher – Actually, all of the locations are real. Historic Saint Charles is about thirty minutes from downtown Saint Louis. Elephant Rocks State Park probably has the biggest wow factor (standing next to a granite boulder bigger than a house is just awesome), but it’s about ninety minutes from downtown. Forest Park, where one particularly infamous scene occurs, is only about ten minutes from the Penned Con hotel. You can find the Art Museum, History Museum, and the Zoo all within the park grounds.

RMWTPC – You take bits and pieces of the paranormal world from various cultures: i.e. cu siths of Scottish and Irish folklore, Camazotz from Mayan mythology, and Gwynn ap Nudd, from the Welsh Otherworld. What was your research process when blending them into your story or are they common entities in your genre?

Eric R. Asher – One of the things I love about various cultural mythologies is shared themes. I’m especially fond of finding subtle, and sometimes blatant, differences in creatures in one culture compared to another. It inspired me to pick and choose (and even alter) characters and creatures that could potentially share a stage, so to speak. Others are just the stuff of my own nightmares, like gravemakers. Even more so than the supernatural elements, finding the right locations that could be tied in to the story at the right time was challenging. Some of the characters have been around a long time. I had to be sure they could have reasonably been at each of those locations in the past so that it made sense for them to be talking about it in the present story arc.

RMWTPC - Your story brings together necromancers, fairies, vampires, demons, cu siths, rogues, zombies, guardians, gravemakers, timewalkers, shapeshifters, demi-gods, werewolves, ghosts and a warlock. Not being familiar with this genre and many of these terms, I spent a considerable amount of time searching them on the internet to be sure I understood what they meant. Do paranormal stories usually incorporate so many different elements and how did you find a way to make them all fit in a way that seemed effortless?

Eric R. Asher – I’ve read several paranormal and urban fantasy stories that incorporated multiple critters into one saga. Days Gone Bad is a single point in Damian’s life. There is much more the reader does not yet know. Already building the history of the characters’ relationships helped me cement Damian’s world together. It was not always a smooth road, though. I owe a lot of that “effortlessness” to my wonderful editor and beta readers.

RMWTPC – As a necromancer, Damian will live at least eight lifetimes. Will readers be able to follow him through all eight?

Eric R. Asher – Well, we don’t know quite how long Damian will live. I certainly hope to spend many more years with him, and explore the past of some of his more long-lived companions. One Cajun in particular.

RMWTPC – The fight scenes in your book were very exciting especially when Damian, Foster, and Zola battled vampires and the zombie horde. Has there been any consideration in transferring this storyline into a video game?

Eric R. Asher – Not until you said that. Now I want to play it, LOL.

RMWTPC – And what can we expect from you next and when?

Eric R. Asher – Vesik, Book Two is coming in October. Wolves and the River of Stone. Watch for it. This may be shocking, but it has wolves in it. ;)

You can follow Eric R. Asher on his blog at:

On facebook at: www.facebook.com/ericrasher

You can purchase his book on:

Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Days-Gone-Bad-Vesik-ebook/dp/B00BDUUXSA

Barnes & Noble at: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/days-gone-bad-eric-asher/1114587408?ean=9781482567434

Smashwords at: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/284028