I'll be honest. I haven't clacked away at a keyboard since finishing Catalyst. I'm dead alive, my face making all the right poses for confidence and calm. This year has been a fierce battle for my very soul. Today marks the gentle end of a chapter, with a kiss on my lips and tears in his eyes. 

​Will he still see my light in the dark?

NEWARK, OH - November Ellison knows vampires – and true fans of the genre agree. So much so, in fact, that Mrs. Ellison has been nominated for the Global eBook awards, while she recently won an award in the Global Reader Views Reviewers Choice Literary Awards.
A digital marketing specialist and corporate executive by day, Mrs. Ellison dedicates her spare time to making her unique contributions in the vampire genre. Her two books published to date, Beacon and Catalyst, which make for, respectively, the first and second volume of the author’s Jo Benally series, have recently seen an unprecedented growth in popularity, with numerous copies of both their paperback and Kindle editions being sold within a short time frame.
Pastor Jo Benally, the eponymous heroine of the series, goes through a stunning self-revelatory journey throughout Beacon. Mrs. Ellison’s debut novel explores Jo Benally’s struggle with leading a double life: on the one hand, she dedicates herself to rehabilitating troubled churches, but on the other hand, she battles her feelings of loneliness, as she forgoes contact with others in order to conceal her sordid past. It’s when she meets Cain, a man who claims to be both history’s oldest murderer, as well as a vampire, that Jo learns that she possesses a unique power – that of being a beacon, a vessel that enables vampires to feed off of humans.
September 2016 saw the publication of Catalyst, the follow-up to Beacon, wherein Jo, along with the family of a young girl from her congregation, decide to move to Virginia, so as to protect the girl from her dangerous ability to see vampires. However, Jo’s presence appears to cause more harm than good. As her Beacon powers are becoming increasingly stronger, Jo becomes a vampire magnet, and they soon start swarm around her and the family. To make matters worse, the secret agency RAND, for which Jo worked before seeking God, brutally re-enters in Jo’s life, looking to use her knowledge on vampirism as a tool for its gain. It is when matters come to a head that Jo realizes that she can use her powers for good, and readers will be kept at the end of their seat, turning page after page to find out whether she will make it, or whether evil will ultimately prevail.
Mrs. Ellison has hinted that she is working on the third installment of the Jo Benally series, to satisfy the readers’ curiosity on the evolution of their favorite Pastor’s character.
Beacon and Catalyst are available for purchase on Amazon.com


Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3304797#ixzz4m3nD0Rfu

Background: I commissioned several international artists to draw characters from BEACON and CATALYST based upon a few paragraphs of text. I chose a diverse array of styles for this assignment. From comic book to abstract, children’s fairy tale, and hyper-realistic, I wanted each of them to be able to express themselves in their signature styles. 

Jake: Across from her sat Jake, also tall and brunette, although he carried himself with an almost military bearing, chest puffed out. He had a deep, booming voice but seemed hesitant to use it. He also had bright blue eyes, a classic Greek face with nice cheekbones and a well-defined chin, some stubble on his cheeks and reddish eyes that told her he didn’t sleep enough. He had what Jo would call a lumberjack physique. He had both feet planted on the floor firmly and was leaning forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped in front of him as though he were ready to get on with it all already. He's a police officer.

Artists (left to right): Gonmuki, Anca, and Mudokonabe

Background: I commissioned several international artists to draw characters from BEACON and CATALYST based upon a few paragraphs of text. I chose a diverse array of styles for this assignment. From comic book to abstract, children’s fairy tale, and hyper-realistic, I wanted each of them to be able to express themselves in their signature styles. 

JAEL: “It’s not time yet,” said the woman, calmly. “We will wait for your meal to arrive. We have a lot to discuss, Beacon.” Jo opened her mouth to ask questions but realized that she was probably going to have to wait. The woman was still calmly sitting there, her legs crossed at the knee, wearing a black pencil skirt and tall, red platform peep-toe pumps. Her dark blonde, almost brown hair was straight and long, falling just to the top of her ample cleavage where it peeked out of her blouse. She had on a white lab coat that read GWU Hospital. Her nails were painted in a French manicure, and her cobalt blue eyes peered at Jo with a very clinical but compassionate expression."

Jael is beautiful, head-strong, and the oldest of the vampires.

Artists (left to right): Anca, Gonmuki, and Mudokonabe

Background: I commissioned several international artists to draw characters from BEACON and CATALYST based upon a few paragraphs of text. I chose a diverse array of styles for this assignment. From comic book to abstract, children’s fairy tale, and hyper-realistic, I wanted each of them to be able to express themselves in their signature styles. 

A young man sat huddled in the corner. He was small, lean, young, bearded and had a bandana wrapped around his head, two large ear plugs in his ears. His eyes were too wide, his pupils red, his body too twitchy. She seemed to hear him emitting a faint humming. He reminded her of a skater kid.

In BEACON, he is the vampire with no name. In CATALYST, you get to know him as Gideon. He is silly, innocent, and the youngest of all the vampires. He was turned only one year ago and has yet to understand his existence.

Artist: Naveed Anjum

Background: I commissioned several international artists to draw characters from BEACON and CATALYST based upon a few paragraphs of text. I chose a diverse array of styles for this assignment. From comic book to abstract, children’s fairy tale, and hyper-realistic, I wanted each of them to be able to express themselves in their signature styles. 

“You know he’s not in there, right?” said a voice she knew very well, scaring the hell out of her. She yelped in fright, spinning to look behind her. Katie’s Jeep Cherokee was parked right next to her Lexus. Katie herself, with her big brown eyes and pixie haircut, stood by the hood. Jo had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t even heard another car crunching up the path in approach. Katie’s dark auburn hair shone in the pale light of an overcast afternoon, every hair looking perfect even in the slight breeze. Jo found herself thinking Katie looked amazing today. She opened her mouth to say so until Katie moved. Jo’s face must have softened up Katie somewhat because she walked up and hugged Jo. Jo started crying again. The two women held each other for a while, Katie patting Jo softly on the back. Katie was a little taller than Jo. Jo’s head fit nicely on Katie’s shoulder.

Katie is Jo's friend and ally in Newark, Ohio. She is a funny, warm, silly person that the reader instantly falls in love with.

Artist Ben Kinkead has captured Katie's openness and strength in his profile-pic style interpretation.

Anca's portrait shows her fun and quirky nature in her work.

Gonmuki shows her strength and Mudokonabe captures her curious spirit.

Next week: Gideon

Background: I commissioned several international artists to draw characters from BEACON and CATALYST based upon a few paragraphs of text. I chose a diverse array of styles for this assignment. From comic book to abstract, children’s fairy tale, and hyper-realistic, I wanted each of them to be able to express themselves in their signature styles. 

She was perched on a slender branch with a careless grace, both legs dangling freely in the air. Her hands held the branch on either side of her, and her posture was slightly hunched. She was thin and tall, looking like a model except for her long gray hair. Her face was unlined and young, full pouty lips and eyes that wanted to laugh at everything they saw. Everything about this woman’s body language seemed casual, but her alert and watchful big brown eyes gave her away. She stood up, brushing the leaves off her loose, wide black pants. Her oversized shirt read “Grateful Dead” with the skull logo. Luna smokes, because it amuses her. She's already dead, so she knows it won't kill her.

Introduced in CATALYST, Luna is a vampire that is as practical as she is aloof. She draws Jo in immediately, and they develop a kind of standoff friendship. 

Artist: Diana Nemesu

​Next week: Katie

Background: I commissioned several international artists to draw characters from BEACON and CATALYST based upon a few paragraphs of text. I chose a diverse array of styles for this assignment. From comic book to abstract, children’s fairy tale, and hyper-realistic, I wanted each of them to be able to express themselves in their signature styles. 

He was tall and stocky, about 6’ 2” with short, cropped brown hair. He wasn’t thin or fat; he had an average body type that looked normal and healthy for his height. He had bright blue eyes behind square black glasses and a long, rectangular face. He was also very solid and unyielding when you walked right into him. That was about as much detail as she could take in before he started speaking.

Artists (in order):

Diana Nemesu has the children's water color depiction. 

Gonmuki has the comic book design.

Mudokonabe shows him in the rugged line art style with the green vest. 

Finally, Anca has the close-up view.

Ethan is Jo's friend and apprentice in the church. There's not a whole lot more I can say about him without giving away spoilers. :) 

​Next week: Luna

Background: I commissioned several international artists to draw characters from BEACON and CATALYST based upon a few paragraphs of text. I chose a diverse array of styles for this assignment. From comic book to abstract, children’s fairy tale, and hyper-realistic, I wanted each of them to be able to express themselves in their signature styles. 

Lee strode out of the cover of the forest and into the moonlight. His short blonde crew cut seemed to glow in the night, his ice blue eyes sharp and alert. He wore a white button-down dress shirt, dark pants, and shiny loafers that glimmered as he walked. He was tall, muscular, and looked like the figure of Adonis incarnate. 

Introduced in CATALYST, Lee is a vampire that embodies pure evil. He lacks Cain's moral code and kills simply for the sheer joy of it. Turned in World War II, Lee always dresses formally. If you see him in the night, you will not live until the morning.

Artists: Ben Kinkead (comic book) and Naveed Anjum (abstract)

Next week: Ethan