Lee Hayes - The Messiah

1. Can you give me a brief summary about your new book "The Messiah"? The Messiah is a crazy, off-da-fucking hook story and a very different kind of book for me. The premise is pretty simple: Imagine meeting the man of your dreams: he’s tall, dark, extremely handsome, successful and he is completely in love with you; in fact, he is everything you hoped you’d find in a lover.

Now, what happens if you begin to suspect that this man of your dreams is a notorious serial killer?

The novel is the story of Gabriel Kaine, a disgraced journalist who gained notoriety months ago covering a series of ritualistic killings by The Messiah. After the messiah disappeared months ago, Gabriel finds his career in a funk, much like the rest of his life, until his meets his dream man, Dr. Garrett Lord.

2. Why did you call it "The Messiah"? It is called The Messiah because the psycho killer in the story really thinks he is The Messiah. He preys only on gays and lesbians in a twisted attempt to save their souls right before he kills them in twisted and Biblically-inspired fashion.

3. Zane is a huge supporter of you obviously, she is presenting your work. How did you guys meet? Well, a few years back when I self-published my first novel, Passion Marks, I did a lot of Internet Marketing. Anytime I found a group who was reading anything about anything I would email information about Passion Marks, including an excerpt from the first chapter. If you’ve read the book, then you know it opens with a brutal beating and rape of the character Kevin Davis by his controlling lover, James Lancaster. Then one day, I posted the chapter on a list serve designed for black women readers/writers and I got an email from the person who thought the chapter was really good and wanted to know what I wanted to do with the knowledge. We emailed each other several times and I finally looked up the name on the profile and it said, “ZANE” and I emailed her back asking if she was the ZANE. Of course, it was her and she told me she had just formed a company with Simon & Schuster out of New York. I finally asked her if I could send her the whole book and if she could give me some feedback. I sent it to her and couple of weeks later she emailed me saying she “looooooooooved the book” and that I should call her. So, I did and the rest is literary history…LOL.

4. How has the success of your books changed your life? Well, I’m still pretty much the same person, only a few more people know who I am or have read my books. The coolest thing is getting emails from people or having conversations with people who have been “saved” by reading Passion Marks or decided not to cheat on their lover because they read A Deeper Blue: Passion Marks II, my second novel. Being in a position to inspire people to live their dreams and to take back control over their lives is a very, very cool thing.

I want you to ask me this same question in a year. I have big things planned. And, the books are just the beginning.

5. Do you plan on making movies out of any of your titles? Has anyone approached you thus far? HELL YES! I would love to see Passion Marks on the big screen. I mean, can you imagine how powerful and provocative the story would be when—not if—it comes to life the big screen. Passion Marks is gripping and seeing images of domestic abuse and violence between two black gay men would shock and awe.

I have a couple of things in the works, a couple of good contacts, folks reviewing The Messiah for a possible movie, as well as strong interest in Passion Marks. I’m actually writing the screenplay to Passion Marks right now and will be done by the end of August. So, although nothing is definite now, I know that it shall come to pass! I have spoken my dreams into existence…

6. Does music influence your writing? Wow….this question completely caught me off guard, but the answer to it is yes. If you notice, I make many, many musical references to songs and artists in my novels. I have mentioned everyone from Stephanie Mills, to Jill Scott, to India Arie to Jennifer Holliday and Jennifer Hudson. Music is a driving force and I use the songs that I am feeling at the time in some form in my books. Music is power, it is passion, it is a life beat and there is no way I could write if I wasn’t influenced my music.

7. What is your next project? Passion Marks – the movie!!!!! And, I have a hot, steamy, sexy anthology of erotic short stories coming out in March 2008. I selected some of the best gay writers to participate in the book and I can’t wait until it burns up the shelves. There will be a lot of touching and feeling going on!