I’m a 23-year-old New Orleans native. In the city, I’m known for my art. I’ve been exhibited in galleries and museums. People commission me for portraits and other illustrations, but most people commission me for my choices in alternative mediums. I create paintings out of coffee and wine. Clients tell me what their favorite coffee is, and I paint their portrait out of what they drink. I use traditional mediums as well. My entire house always smells like coffee and paint. I try to have a variety of skills to please my patrons, because I never know what someone would want next. I’m always willing to learn and try new things, so I won’t become idle or stagnant. Every day, I draw and write something to refine my skills and rendering hand. I hate being idle.
Tell us about your book.
The Sanguinarian Id is a culmination of my love, fear, and fascination of art, WWI, WWII, medical malpractice, monsters, and action. It follows the main protagonist Hael, a dhampir, as she hunts through ruins and battle grounds of WWII, in order to find the madman responsible for her state of being. As she weaves her way through slums, barricades, and Europe’s underground, she encounters hordes of Nazis, vampires, and other hellish creatures, alongside a body trail left by her target, Mendelson. As a half-vampire of unknown origins, she battles soldier after soldier, as she finds others that share her plight. This book is the first in The Sanguinarian Id series. There are plenty of historical references, blood, action, debauchery, monsters, and violence. Unlike other books with vampires, I incorporate different species of vampires from around the world, such as the Alp, Nosferatu, Umpier, and the Gaki. There will be more vampire breeds as the series continues. As stated in my book, it’s a ‘contortion of malpractice, monsters, and madness’. It’s an illustrated novel. Illustrated works like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland attracted me as a kid, so I wanted to make an illustrated book for adults. Alongside writing the book, I created all of the interior artwork and cover artwork myself.
What inspired you to write The Sanguinarian Id?
People ask kids in school, “What’s your favorite movie?” Most children always replied with either Nickelodeon or Disney films. I loved Disney as well, but, at 9-years-old, I’d experienced a great deal of childhood trauma via suffering with severe Chronic Plaque Psoriasis, bullying due to my skin condition, being experimented on with different medications for Psoriasis treatment, and abuse, so my favorite movies were Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. Psychology, WWI, WWII, medicine, malpractice, malfeasance, deviants, and the occult fascinated me. For me, the more macabre and dark it was, the more alluring it was, because the pain in those films was real to me. I was never satisfied with G or PG-13 rated films. Alongside this, my aunt studied to be a Registered Nurse. As she studied, she showed me her medicinal and anatomy books. I’d draw the dissections and bare muscles. This made watching horror movies, like Hannibal, more interesting, since I could name the organs that spilled out. In my first semester of high school, I wrote the first drafts of The Sanguinarian Id. By that time, I fueled all my drawings with all the anger and hurt I had from my childhood. I was neck deep in anatomical drawings, slasher films, comic book, graphic art, WWII, and medical book references. Barnes & Noble and Borders were my favorite places to go to get more reading materials. As I asked my mom for more and more books, I thought, ‘I draw every day. I can write. I’ve been through shit. Why isn’t my work in here?’ I wanted to make a character that had the power to get revenge, like I wanted to as a kid. I wanted to manifest all the bullies and abusers as the monsters they were, so I could gouge them out as I pleased. For once in my life, through art and writing, I was able to satiate my pain and have a flicker of control. After that, every day in high school, I hand wrote the beginnings of The Sanguinarian Id. During this time, my teacher was David Pierson. Before teaching English, David was a writer and editor. When I showed him my art and my handwritten manuscript, he told me how to type a proper manuscript, and he let me come to his classroom at lunch every day to have me read my work to him. If it wasn’t for David teaching me how to write and format, I would’ve never had the foundation to get my work published.
How much time per week do you spend writing / editing your work?
In a week, I’d say maybe 15 to 25 hours. Outside of having a full-time job and lists of art commissions, I try to write and illustrate for my book every night as much as I can. The pacing changes from week to week.
What are you working on at the moment?
At the moment, I’m working on editing and illustrating The Sanguinarian Id II, creating the graphic novel rendition of The Sanguinarian Id, and formatting new templates for the novel’s website.
Title: The Sanguinarian Id
Author: L.M. Labat
Artist: L.M. Labat
Genre: Horror, Historical Fiction, Paranormal, Occult, Gothic Horror
Publisher: Night to Dawn Magazine & Books
She’s been beaten, stabbed, poisoned, and shot, but Hael refuses to die. In her pursuit for vengeance and her origin, the Dhampir Hael hunts down the madman responsible for her fateful transformation. As this half-vampire juggernauts her way through a world at war, Hael battles hordes of Nazi soldiers as she struggles to maintain her sanity. However, while Hael gathers knowledge on how to trap and kill her target, her adversary’s network is expanding at an exponential rate, as his sick obsession with Hael grows deeper. Will she have her revenge? Will she find her origin? Or, will she crumble beneath her own insidious bloodlust?
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Born in 1993, L. M. Labat stems from New Orleans, Louisiana. From the struggles of a broken family and surviving life-threatening events, Labat found refuge within the arts while delving into the fields of medicine, psychology, and the occult. While combining illustration and literature, L. M. Labat was able to cope with endless nightmares as well as hone in on artistic techniques. From confronting the past to facing new shadows, this author gladly invites audiences into the horror of The Sanguinarian Id.
Links
The Sanguinarian Id Website
Website Creator: L. M. Labat
https://thesanguinarianid.com/
Night to Dawn Magazine & Books Website:
Night to Dawn Magazine & Books Webiste
The Sanguinarian Id on Amazon
The Sanguinarian Id on B&N