Photo by James Nedock/Gwinnett Daily Post
Creston Mapes
Interview
by
Gregg Hart
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Creston Mapes Interview |
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| A friend of mine introduced me to Creston Mapes
via email. Creston is one of the most down to earth people I have met,
and a terrific writer as well. Since CoreBeat deals with music, I
thought to myself, "Self, what better author to interview in this section
than Creston Mapes?" He finished the first book in his Rock Star
Chronicles entitled "Darkstar: Confessions Of A Rock Idol." It
is written in a very unique fashion. It is meant to be read as a
memoir. An autobiography if you will. It is also written using a
lot of flashbacks and alternates about every chapter from the "present day"
to the "writer's" past. The "writer" is a rock star from a band named
"Death Stroke" which is practically a household name. In some houses,
the name isn't so good, but in other houses, it was synonymous with
partying, loud music, drugs and women. However, in one house, Death
Stroke's lead singer was the subject of just about every prayer prayed.
I don't want to give to much away as this book is a definite must-read.
I had the opportunity to Interview Creston via email. Read what he has to say, then go out and buy this book. You can click on any picture (with the exception of the book) on this page or click here: www.crestonmapes.com to visit his website. Click the book in the upper right corner to purchase it from Amazon.com. |
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| Gregg Hart: I wanted to start out and tell you that this was a great book. This book interview will likely be different than others you have had, and varies greatly from the "suggested questions" that I received in the mail. In fact, it may focus less on the book itself and more on the scene and even the characters. I believe "Dark Star: Confessions Of A Rock Idol" is your first full length novel, correct? Why did you want to tackle this subject matter? Why a rock star? | ||
| Creston Mapes: DARK STAR is my debut novel, and the reason it's about a rock star is because, ever since I was a boy, I've been intrigued by these seemingly larger-than-life characters. As a teenager, I loved rock n roll. Loved it. My room was plastered with photographs of rock idols. My parents thought I was crazy. I went to dozens of concerts and was quite nifty with the air guitar. And I was always the first one at the record shop to get the new Rush or Kiss album, and the first one at the magazine stand to pick up the new issue of Cream or Circus. I've been writing professionally for more than 20 years and I've been a Christian for about 17 years. So, when I felt God leading me to try my hand at fiction, I thought a rock star's life would make a remarkable story—and journey. That's how DARK STAR was born. |
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| GH: Throughout this book, I found myself caring for Everett Lester in spite of the disgusting things he did. When I was a kid, I used to attend a church that told us not to waste our time praying for rock stars...we should be spending our time praying for those truly in need...children that are starving, our neighbors that are lost, are own family that is lost. In fact, until I read this book, I don't think I have ever prayed for a rock star. I almost wanted to pray for Everett until I remembered he wasn't real. Can you comment on this? |
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| CM: To God's credit, we have heard from many DARK STAR readers who've said they felt the characters in the book were real and that they wanted to tell their friends about them, and, yes, even pray for them. That is quite a compliment and something God must get the glory for. More importantly, as you said, Gregg, many people are feeling led, after reading the book, to pray for the salvation of rock stars and celebrities whom they've never even considered praying for before. To that I say, wonderful! Do it. And continue doing it. You know, rock stars are just people like you and me. They have feelings. They struggle with finding consistent peace and joy and contentment. They probably struggle with being real and transparent. Just like anyone else, we want them to find the well and drink the living water Jesus has shared with us. I hope DARK STAR will inspire Christians to share what we've found with even the darkest of souls. But the key is, we must do so in genuine love and compassion. We must show an interest in people's lives, right where they are. We've got to build relationships with people. If we're only trying to go out and "witness" as a separate thing from who we are, just to say we did it, or out of some kind of legalistic obligation, we may as well not even bother. The people will see right through us. But, on the other hand, they'll recognize love and living water when they see it, and they may just want to drink. |
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| GH: Is there a band in existence today that you kind of modeled DeathStroke's musical style after? Or maybe a combination of bands? Very few hard rock / heavy metal bands have made it as popular as DeathStroke has, so I personally pictured AC/DC, Kiss and Def Leppard as those are three of the more successful hard rock / metal acts of all time. | ||
| CM: In DARK STAR, I was not thinking of one band in particular as a model for the novel's band, DeathStroke. In the book, DeathStroke is more a general combination of a lot of heavy metal bands combined. So, I guess you can say there's a little of every well-known heavy metal group in DeathStroke, including those you mention here. |
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| GH: There are a lot of references to rock band lifestyles in this book. I have read a biography of a current shock rocker and never once did I feel you were making up "sensational" things for shock value. It was dead on believable. I am just curious, have you done a lot of reading or hands-on research in to this subject matter? | ||
| CM: As I mentioned, I went to a whole lot of concerts as a youth and went to see a lot of smaller-name bands at clubs. I also devoured rock magazines. After years of reading those things, you get a very clear picture of how some rock stars live, including the ins and outs of their daily lives. Also, I read books about a number of prominent rock stars in order to make DARK STAR realistic. | ||
| GH: I think my favorite thing of this book were the two timelines you used that eventually came together at the end. I hate to say it, but that kept me up past my bedtime many times. A lot of cliff hangers as the time line changed. I just got done reading another book that used this literary device as well, and I think you accomplished this very well. Do you plan on continuing in this style in the next two books in the series? Are the other books also written from a first person memoir style? | ||
| CM: I really enjoyed writing DARK STAR in
the first person. It was fun. The jockeying timelines just happened. From
the minute I started writing the book, I went from past tense to present
tense, and by God's grace, it all came together in the end. I might add, I
have the most fantastic editor at Multnomah. She poured over the present
tense story, reading it all at once, then the past tense story, reading it
all at once. So, I am lucky and blessed to be working with her. About the next book, it will not be done in first person, but in third person. We didn't want to repeat that trick from book one. We thought DARK STAR was special like it was and didn't want to repeat it and have that unique style grow old and worn-out. But, readers will still get a good sense of how Everett Lester is feeling in book two, because many of the scenes are done from his point of view, as well as from other characters, including Karen. So book two, FULL TILT (March 06) will let readers get a more personal glimpse at Everett's wife and her feelings, as well as the other characters that rise up to play important roles. |
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| GH: This was a very emotional book,
and to be honest, I had no idea how it would turn out in the end. It had
some humor in it, it had tragedy in it, and in many places, it actually
brought tears to my eyes. Everett Lester is the most believable fiction
character I have read in a long time. Even though he is fictional, he is
real. I could have been him. You could have been him. What if people just
loathed US instead of telling us about Jesus? Where would we be today? Thank
God I had a "Karen" in my life that loved me to the Lord rather than
threatened me to Hell. Is Karen based on someone you know? How about
Everett? |
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| CM: Karen and Everett are not based on
specific real people who I know, per se. But Karen is a combination of
people. She is a little of me and a little of all the people who loved me
enough to help lead me to Christ. She is bold yet compassionate. And her
faith is real. She KNOWS Jesus is alive. She trusts Him as a mighty, moving,
powerful friend. Her love reminds me of the man who played a significant
role in leading me to Christ. This was a man who didn't care about my past,
but who came alongside me, befriended me, took me to lunch, gave me an
official Braves' jacket, taught me that you could be a Christian and still
be hilarious, and showed me by his way of life that being a Christian was a
greater high than anything I'd ever known. He was and is a walking testimony
of abundant life. Everett was not based on anyone I know. He is someone for whom I felt sorry. A millionaire rock idol, drug addict, who people worshipped and loathed. He was thrown into this life of fame. He was tempted by pride, of course, who wouldn't be? Yet, he was so unhappy. To most Christians, except Karen Bayliss, he seemed untouchable. But she had the faith to step out and be real with him, to love him, share Christ with him, get in his face at times, yet...she knew the scriptures. She had a firm grip on the fact that the law came through Moses, but grace and truth through Jesus Christ. |
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| GH: Without giving away the verdict of the trial, are you aware of a case that had the same results as the one in your book? Was this cased based on something you actually know or was it completely made up? | ||
| CM: The trial and verdict in DARK STAR were completely fictional. In fact, each day, as I got closer to the end, I was wondering myself how the verdict was going to come out! I wanted it to be realistic. I think the reason it worked out so well is because, we created these characters and set them in motion. And, in the end, we simply followed their lives and found out what would have happened to people like these. Once you build the characters and set them in motion, you just kind of watch what happens to them! |
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| GH: Now for a simple question. Tell us about your favorite music growing up, then tell us about your current favorite music. | ||
| CM: Favorite music growing up: Michael
Stanley Band, Kiss, Rush, Bowie, Queen, John Cougar, Jackson Browne, James
Taylor. Favorite music now: Twila Paris, Casting Crowns, Joy Williams, Tree63, Third Day, Building429, Steven Curtis Chapman, Randy Travis, Day of Fire, Jars of Clay, Jennifer Knapp, Mike Reese, Russ Lee, Sherri Youngward. Quite a shift, huh? As you can see, I like a variety of music. What I really like these days is music with a great sound and an inspiring message. The lyrics have got to touch me and mean something to me. I love tunes that meet me where I am, spiritually, and lift me up. On my iPod, I still fire up some John Cougar and some of the others once in awhile, because people like him are great story tellers. Certain songs still inspire me, and even inspire my story telling. |
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| GH: How about some of your favorite authors? | ||
| CM: In order to become a better novelist,
I've read many books, Christian and non-Christian. I've learned from the
creativity of many secular novelists, whose names I don't want to mention
here, simply because some of the content in their books would not be
edifying to the people who are going to be reading this interview. For the
positive, thrilling, creative parts of those books, I wish I could mention
the authors. But I don't want to lead anyone to stumble by recommending
books that have some negative content, which I try to skim over. I like a lot of classic novels, Catcher in the Rye (JD Salinger) being one of them. That book really touched me and showed me that I may want to try my hand at writing from a novel in the first-person. A few other fine story-tellers I enjoy are Kent Haruf and Anita Shreve. As far as inspirational fiction goes, I have enjoyed books by Ted Dekker, Frank Peretti, Francine Rivers, Bill Myers, and many others. Since I've started writing fiction, my goal in reading fiction is to become a better writer and story-teller. So, I try to read the work of authors whose voices I think are unique, creative, bold, and suspenseful. |
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| GH: What's next? After Dark Star, I mean. Are there other stories brewing waiting to be told? Will they be music related as well? | ||
| CM: DARK STAR is the first in a three-book series called THE ROCK STAR CHRONICLES. Book two in that series, FULL TILT, will be out in March 06. It will be a continuation of Everett and Karen's life and will deal with Everett's musical career, but also with the topics of methamphetamines and the mob. Book three is tentatively entitled WAR and will be out within a year of FULL TILT. It will be the third, and probably, final episode in the Everett Lester series. | ||
| Thank you, Creston, for the interview. I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed this book. This book doesn't even really fit into a single genre very well as it has action, suspense, thrill, drama, romance. Something for everyone. | ||
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