Chicago – Make room Stephen King. There’s a new author in town ushering in our nightmares. She’s Black, female and fearless! Her name is Pheare (pronounced Fear) and she is bringing the pain! With the release of her debut novel, “Str8 Laced,” from Paige 9 Publishing, Pheare Alexander mixes the themes of blood, sex, murder and deception like an 808 base rap track and the pace just keeps on pumping. Destined to be regarded as one of the most creative and prolific horror fiction authors of the day, Pheare is on a mission to change the face of horror forever.
On November 9th, Pheare will release “Str8 Laced” and take horror fiction fans to a new level with her shockingly frightening tale. An intense page turner that makes the worst nightmare seem like a children’s fairytale, “Str8 Laced” cleverly unveils the chilling story of Dr. Jocelyn Reynolds, an acclaimed child psychologist who is abducted and tortured by a female psychopath. Taken to a one room dungeon for eight weeks, the pregnant wife is in a race against time and fights to save herself and her unborn children.
Miraculously escaping her captor, Reynolds tries to live a normal life, but mass killings in her neighborhood, and her best friend’s abduction, cause her to combat her past and unleash her inner demons. Haunted by repressed memories, Reynolds’s life spirals out of control leaving a bloody trail of unthinkable, disturbing events threatening to reveal the astonishing truth about the psychologist’s secret life.
A gripping, highly suspenseful novel, “Str8 Laced” reflects Pheare’s lifelong passion for writing the unusual. “I had a very bad temper growing up,” Pheare reveals. “My mother would make me write my feelings down in a journal and I used books to escape my everyday problems. I was a teenager before I fused the two together and began making stories of my own.”
Citing Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Edgar Allan Poe, Tananarive Due, Brandon Massey, Richard Matheson, and J.K. Rowling as her inspirations, Pheare wanted to give readers something original. “I like to toy with my readers. I love making them feel like they’ve figured the story out and then throwing in a monkey wrench. Any avid reader is hungry for something new and refreshing separate from the same ole’ ‘my baby daddy cheated/I’m a strong black woman/drama-filled’ lives of a lot of African American fiction” admits Pheare.
Although urban literature fare has become more diverse with best-selling authors like Zane, Brandon Massey and Tananarive Due, interest in African American horror stories has yet to catch up to the more popular genres, like ‘urban street lit.’ An unforgettable, menacingly twisted tale guaranteed to keep readers curled in suspense, “Str8 Laced” fills a void in the horror genre and for Pheare, it is just the beginning.
“I’ve met with a lot of people who think African Americans need to stay away from the horror genre…someone even said that people don’t want to read horror unless it comes from a Caucasian male. That said, I hope to change the face of horror. I hate to be told I can’t do something,” says Pheare.
Filled with realistic, vivid characters, Pheare admits that she becomes one with her work. “I love onion characters…you peel back many layers and still never get to the person’s core. When I write, the characters have a mind of their own and they do what they will. Sometimes they take a totally different direction or do something completely different than I intended. I live in every one of my characters. They become a part of me during a project,” reveals Pheare.
With more projects in the works such as “Lot 9” and “The Cather House,” set for release in March 2011, it is clear that Pheare will be menacing readers for many more years to come.
“Str8 Laced” will be available for purchase on November 9, 2010. To learn more about Pheare and to purchase copies of her new novel, pull your covers up tight and go to Amazon.com and http://www.DoYouKnowPheare.com !
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