We had previously interviewed author Eva Rojano about her novel “The Black Butterfly, The theatrical performance” that was prone to be published this year. The book has been published and we would like to interview Eva again, in regards to it.
1. You commented in our last interview, that “The Black Butterfly” was about to be published, can you please tell us, when did your book go live and what were the complications you encountered?
Thank you again guys for having me with you for a second time! The book was published as a kindle e-book on January 24, 2020. I had planned to launch it at the start of this year. And about the complications, I faced, mostly I had to figure out things regarding kindle Amazon myself since not many people were helpful on that front. Also, I decided almost at the last minute to break the story into three parts.
2. Can you please tell us, what “The Theatrical Performance” Part 1, is about?
Well, it is a romantic tale that is plagued with action, intrigue. The main premise of my story is that life is made of second or third chances. Anna Sirena Jones is a 40-year-old former high-class escort that owns a night-strip club in Los Angeles, “The Black Butterfly”, Matt Lamoreaux is an interesting man that visits that place one day, a twice-divorced 55-year-old auditor that works for a marketing customer relations company. They have an interesting encounter that night and the story unfolds from that point on.
3. You had previously mentioned, the real-life personalities that inspired a few of the characters of the story?
Oh yes, I have spoken about that subject quite a few times in various interviews! (Laughs) In the original ‘sexy’ tale that I gave to screenwriter Ed Neumeier in 2018, “The Barbados Fantasy” the main characters, had no names, as they were supposed to be us, in an alternative universe, kind like a ‘roleplay fantasy’ story. Not so long ago I revised old files and I realized it was a Halloween gift for him, I even laughed when I saw I had attached photos and a song that went with it.
As the story progressed, though, such characters became Matt and Anna and although they still have some reminiscence of our personas, I believe they have evolved and have developed personalities of their own. Just a slight resemblance with us remains. (That I wouldn’t like to disappear of course).
4. What about the Sergeant Collins character, that is based upon actress Nancy Allen?
Ah, that’s another interesting story. You see for many years I have strived -hard and I mean hard- to keep the character of Anne Lewis (RoboCop’s longtime partner) relevant in the fan world. A couple of years ago the news of an upcoming RoboCop film hit the media: “RoboCop Returns” and me and my friends have been pushing for Nancy (Lewis) to be reinstalled in the franchise.
I had sketched a few illustrations depicting “Anne Lewis from the future” as a possibility for the film. MGM has not given a response to us yet, so that was discouraging. Then…an idea came to mind. I needed cops to fight the bad guys in The Black Butterfly, so I created a cop lady that is based upon officer Lewis and nowadays Nancy Allen: Sergeant Liz Collins, who is in charge of the Hollywood police precinct in the novel.
5. And what about the other characters in your concept story? Are they based on real-life people too?
Well, funnily enough since the start I envisioned Matt as a divorced man that had a grown daughter because I had further plans for that character…I looked back and as Ed himself has a grown daughter, I dared to add some elements of real-life Shain Neumeier (Who is also a public figure) into Darlene Lamoreaux.
The rest of the characters, such as detective David Panosian, (One of my favorite ones) are products of my ‘imagination’ only, although, for the villains, I have taken some inspiration in real-life people that have been harmful to me in one way or another…then after a while I grow fond of them too (Laughs) and I decide that my ‘invented’ villains, in the end, are more interesting and clever characters than the real-life negative people I might slightly have based them upon.
6. Is there going to be a paperback version of “The Theatrical Performance?”
Currently working on that. Not so long ago I had spoken to a friend of mine from local TV, that suggested a paperback edition that would contain more unveiled concept art of the characters, more illustrations than what the e-book currently contains.
This idea would take me a while to complete though, as at the moment I am quite exhausted to draw.
7. Do you have a scheduled time to release the next two books that complete the story?
Tricky question, as at the moment all I can say is that the story is complete in my head and I am in the last stages of writing the ending for it, I’d dare to tell, that so far the second book is complete and the third one is still in the making.
8. What is your main target ‘audience’ for The Black Butterfly?
Mature audiences. It is an adult story not suitable for minors. I like to develop stories that could be considered as “R” rated, since I grew up being heavily influenced by the real action, heroic, SCI-FI violent films that used to be rated R and not PG-13 like most superheroes movies are now. I grew up watching Paul Verhoeven’s films! (Laughs) I am a ‘product’ of the pop culture from the 80’s and 90’s and my novel in some way is a tribute to all those stories that I grew up watching in films.
9. Do you think your novel will appeal to male or female audiences?
That’s the thing. When a writer develops a story, I firmly believe we need to become gender-neutral and just act as the narrators of our stories. Truth be told I am not a big fan of romance tales that are being told from the female perspective for example.
Ed Neumeier had said to me that I was capable of inhabiting Anne Lewis when writing her for my fanfiction novel, and as flattering as that comment is, I’ve been trying to prove to my readers, that I can write male characters too, from a narrators’ point of view and I believe I have accomplished that with RoboCop Enhanced Reality, as my more faithful followers conform a small group of male and female robofans that are from different nationalities. (That is also very flattering). Let’s see what readers think now of the way, I narrate the Black Butterfly without turning myself into Anna Sirena and telling the story from her perspective. No. I like the duality. I tell things from Matt’s point of view as well.
10. Are you planning to continue writing fanfiction stories for the RoboCop fan groups?
Of course. RoboCop Enhanced Reality is far from over, I just needed to suspend the series temporarily, as it was mentally painful trying to write both Enhanced and The Black Butterfly at the same time. I just couldn’t do it, so I left Robo and Lewis to rest, at least for a while.
11. Where can people read RoboCop Enhanced Reality?
The website is open (And free for people to visit) Since my story is unofficial and I don’t hold the MGM rights, therefore, is incorrect that me (Or any other RoboCop fan) might try to make a profit out of registered characters that do not belong to us.
https://enhanced-reality.wixsite.com/robocoplewis
12. How can people purchase your e-book?
The book I’ve been told is already available for purchase at the Amazon kindle store in any currency and it has started to sell. For people that have Kindle unlimited, the book is free.
13. Will “The Barbados Fantasy” ever be published as well?
That’s something I hadn’t thought about, until very recently when my quick-witted attorney mentioned that even that short story should be registered at some point. As much as I’d laugh if ever published, I guess it would mostly depend on the readers requesting it. If they’re really interested in The Black Butterfly and they are curious to know where the story came from, I would have absolutely no problems with including it for example in one of the two remaining books of the series. Only time will tell.
14. Finally, some words of advice for other aspiring authors that are willing to self-publish their work?
I’d say, do not expect for the right time to broadcast your talent, we live in a wonderful era of technical communications in which, getting a name for ourselves is not as difficult as it was in past years.
We mistakenly tend to think that there would come a right moment, the perfect time in which we would be ready for our big breakthrough, but guess what? The right moment never comes…so no matter what the circumstances that surround you at this moment are, you should go for it, and let the world see what you’re capable of. Do not despair and get discouraged by people trying to hinder your path, real talent, passion will always prevail over negativity or destructiveness. Create your own magic and then share it with the world!
Thank you for your time, Eva!