Today we are very excited to share an interview with Author Terry J. Benton-Walker (Blood Justice)!
Meet the Author: Terry J. Benton-Walker
TERRY J. BENTON-WALKER grew up in rural Georgia and now lives in Atlanta with his husband and son, where he writes fiction for adults, young adults, and children. He has an Industrial Engineering degree from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Georgia State. When he’s not writing, he can be found gaming, eating ice cream, or both. Connect with Terry on Twitter at @tjbentonwalker, Instagram at icecreamvicelord, or at tjbentonwalker.com. Blood Debts is his first novel.
About the Book: Blood Justice
The sequel to Terry J Benton-Walker’s smash hit debut, Blood Debts, continues the story of powerful magical families, intergenerational curses, and deadly drama in New Orleans.
Cristina and Clement Trudeau have conjured the impossible: justice.
They took back their family’s stolen throne to lead New Orleans’ magical community into the brighter future they all deserve.
But when Cris and Clem restored their family power, Valentina Savant lost everything. Her beloved grandparents are gone and her sovereignty has been revoked—she will never be Queen. Unless, of course, someone dethrones the Trudeaus again. And lucky for her, she’s not the only one trying to take them down.
Cris and Clem have enemies coming at them from all directions: Hateful anti-magic protesters sabotage their reign at every turn. A ruthless detective with a personal vendetta against magical crime is hot on their tail just as Cris has discovered her thirst for revenge. And a brutal god, hunting from the shadows, is summoned by the very power Clem needs to protect the boy he loves.
Cris’s hunger for vengeance and Clem’s desire for love could prove to be their family’s downfall, all while new murders, shocking disappearances, and impossible alliances are changing the game forever.
Welcome back to New Orleans, where gods walk among us and justice isn’t served, it’s taken.
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~Author Chat~
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
There are so many characters in the Blood Debts series who hold a special place in my heart, but Clem is my favorite—probably because his struggles are closest to mine. At the core of his series emotional arc, Clem is learning that he is worthy of love, and the people he loves are worth fighting for—in his own way and on his own terms.
There haven’t been a lot of Black gay boys who’ve gotten the chance to take centerstage in an epic fantasy series the way Clem has, so his character is one that I take very serious (and that I am very proud of). Growing up, I never got to see myself represented in the fantasy stories that I loved, which I found a way to love in spite of that major shortcoming; but now that I have the opportunity to give kids—who are just like teenage Terry—a mirror in which they can see themselves wielding magic, falling in love, and saving the day but also get the freedom and space be messy and real too.
If I’d had stories like my Blood Debts and Alex Wise series as a kid, the trajectory of my young adult life would’ve been totally different, and it might not have taken me over three decades to learn to love my authentic self. It is imperative that Black and Black Queer kids see themselves represented on the mainstage in speculative fiction, so it doesn’t take another one of us that long to love themselves ever again.
YABC: Which came first, the title or the novel?
The title, Blood Justice, came before the novel. There’s actually a line in Blood Debts where the characters reference “blood justice.”
Fun Fact: I originally wanted to title book two, Royal Regards, but my team suggested Blood Justice while we were wrapping up production on book one, and I loved it and never looked back.
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
I’m proud of this entire story because I really challenged myself with the second entry in this series; however, I’m most proud of the climax scene that takes place at a mysterious cabin in the woods outside New Orleans and spans several fast-paced (and juicy) chapters.
Blood Justice is a complex story with a lot of twisty threads, but if readers follow along closely, particularly to Clem’s portion (and if I’ve done my job correctly), they will feel a consistent mounting dread and tension leading up to the climax, and even though some readers might be able to predict the decisions the characters make in that very intense and unhinged moment, they won’t be able to look away.
YABC: How was writing the sequel different from the first book?
There’s a lot of pressure to write a sequel, something I’m sure any author with a fantasy series will agree with. On top of that, I also challenged myself to level up this story while building upon the solid foundation I crafted in Blood Debts. I wanted to expand the lore a bit and give the reader a deeper view into some of the other really cool aspects of this world, such as the Magical and Spiritual Coalition, who we get to meet this time around, more insight into the other branches of magic: necromancy and spirit work, shadow magic, and light magic, as well as more really interesting details about the magical history of their world.
But most importantly, I also wanted to elevate the emotional stakes of the second book. In Blood Debts, the various focal characters explored their individual (or collective, in some cases) pursuit of justice and how far they’re willing to go to get the justice they’ve been denied. However, at the start of book two, Cris’s and Clem’s family have gotten blood justice and taken back their throne on the Generational Magic Council, but they quickly find that that was only the start of their quickly mounting problems.
For Blood Justice, I wanted to expand book one’s theme of the pursuit of justice to explore what happens when people become frustrated and angry with systems of oppression and the people who prop them up and benefit from the suffering others—to the point of desperation. I had a lot of fun weaving all the separate parts of the lore, mystery, and characters together into this story and am very proud of it. I hope readers enjoy this one!
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
I love every single thing about the cover of Blood Justice. Every detail of the cover art relates to the story, which was a note I gave to the designer (Lesley Worrell) and artist (Tomasz Majewski) early on that they executed brilliantly. However, my favorite part of the cover would have to be the Blood Moon, which has to do with Cris’s and Clem’s birth and has major story world implications.
YABC: What new release book are you looking most forward to in 2024?
I’m really looking forward to Cursed Boys and Broken Hearts by Adam Sass! It’s a contemporary romance inspired by Beauty and the Beast, and it comes out on July 16, which coincidentally is the same day that The White Guy Dies First releases, so Adam and I have been joking that we’re trying to create a “Barbenheimer” situation with these two books next summer haha.
Cursed Boys and Broken Hearts is a companion novel to Adam Sass’s The 99 Boyfriends of Micah Summers, which came out from Penguin Teen last fall. You don’t have to have read 99 Boyfriends to pick up Cursed Boys, which is something I really love about companion stories.
If you have any sort of nostalgia about growing up in a large, close-knit (or seemingly close) family that broke apart over the years, this book will transport you right back to that time in your life riding alongside Grant in a tale that’s equal parts endearing and enthralling—seriously, Adam had me stressed about the fate of Vero Roseto and the Rose Festival and if Grant and Ben (the winery gardener and also Grant’s childhood ex) were ever gonna get together!
If you love romance, you def don’t want to miss Cursed Boys and Broken Hearts, and even if you don’t love romance stories, you’ll still like this book! And also pick up a copy of The White Guy Dies First—they come out on the same day. (:
YABC: What’s a book you’ve recently read and loved?
I am currently finishing up Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon, which is a phenomenal young adult dark fantasy, which just released last Tuesday. It’s about a kid who finds out they’re a reincarnated god from another world and has to stop the Goddess of Death (and others in the pantheon) from killing them. It’s immaculate, and I haven’t been able to put it down.
I’m a huge fan of H.E.’s work—they’re a contributor in The White Guy Dies First and wrote a subversive cannibals story that will likely haunt me for the rest of my life, and I also had the privilege (and honor) of reading their upcoming post-apocalyptic middle-grade novel, Flicker, which comes out in 2024.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
Right now, I’m working on the final book in the Alex Wise trilogy, which is bittersweet, because I can’t believe I’m completing my first published trilogy, but I’m really going to miss my apocalypse babies. I’m also working on a couple adult projects, a high fantasy and a psychological horror, but I can’t say too much more about those books just yet. But stay tuned!
YABC: Which was the most difficult or emotional scene to narrate?
The most difficult emotional scene to narrate takes place at the end of Chapter 42, which is the end of Part IV (Blood Justice is split into five parts). I can’t reveal too much, because spoilers, but every time I have to interact with those two pages, I cry. I cried when I first drafted it, and I cried whenever I had to edit it. So enjoy haha.
YABC: Which character gave you the most trouble when writing your latest book?
Detective Jeida Sommers. It’s going to be interesting seeing readers react to her. I was very conflicted with her character, and still kinda am. She comes on the scene to help the authorities stop magical crime in New Orleans, and of course, she has several run-ins with the Dupart-Trudeau family. When I first developed Sommers’ character, she took on a completely different role in the story than where we end up, so I’m quite intrigued to see where she tells me she wants to go in future installments—and if she makes it to the end of the series (which, by the way, six people from book one don’t make it to see THE END of book two).
YABC: What is the main message or lesson you would like your reader to remember from this book?
Anger has held many different roles in my life. In my childhood, I monitored for it in authorities so I could govern my emotions appropriately to avoid invoking their rage. In adulthood, I’ve had to swallow my own anger despite the bitter aftertaste when the world often made (and still makes) me feel powerless.
Black kids are taught to fear being perceived as “angry” so as not to validate the racist assumption that our skin color makes us inherently more aggressive. However, as I’ve experienced more of life and gained the wisdom and courage to unlearn toxic belief systems around anger, both in myself and others, I realized that I no longer need to hide my anger. Because anger can be good. It’s a natural emotion that can help us navigate our world—a place that often enrages us, especially when we’re not allowed to live in peace and equality simply because of our race or sexuality.
I was very angry when I wrote Blood Justice. And for the first time in a long while, I unchained my raw fury and let it soar. The teens in this story are also very angry—at systems of oppression and the people who prop them up to benefit from the suffering of others. And when they refuse to accept powerlessness, they’ll leave readers wondering once more, when it comes to the pursuit of justice that began in Blood Debts, is there a such thing as too far?
YABC: What would you say is your superpower?
My superpower is empathy. Before I could love myself, I had to work on showing empathy to myself. I’d always done it for other people, ever since I was a kid, but along my journey, the world talked me out of giving that same grace and love to myself.
But now I’ve learned how to love other people and myself, which involved putting up appropriate boundaries and reserving some of that power (empathy) for my own sustenance.
That empathy allows me to create nuanced, multi-layered characters that immediately snatch readers into whatever story I want to tell. And empathy also drives me to give purpose to every single story I craft with passion, which is akin to preparing a hot meal for someone you care about deeply.
As long as I’m allowed, I intend to use my superpower to tell unforgettable stories that positively impact the lives of the people who read and love them.
YABC: What advice do you have for new writers?
Don’t give up on yourself. It took me 8 years and 7 manuscripts before I signed with my agent, but I refused to quit because I knew that I wanted to be a published author more than anything. I’m also an Industrial Engineer, and one of the concepts I learned through that career was “continual improvement.” No process or product is perfect; everything can always be improved. The same principle applies to publishing. No author, no matter where they are in their career, is above learning and growing their craft. That’s why between every manuscript I queried, I took time away from writing to study craft. Even now, I make sure to set aside time between projects to learn something new about writing.
The only way you won’t make it into publishing is if you quit. Keep working and keep learning. You deserve to not give up on yourself, and your future readers deserve to hear your voice.
Title: BLOOD JUSTICE
Author: Terry J. Benton-Walker
Release Date: April 23, 2024
Publisher: Tor Teen
Genre: YA Fantasy
Age Range: 12 and up
