Link: http://www.amazon.com/Spellbound-2011-Jenny-Twist/dp/1612352308/ref=la_B005YPAA4W
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Thirsts-2-ebook/dp/B008FJOJOQ
When did you find out that you wanted to
be a writer?
I think it started when I was around 10
or 11. I had been reading novels on my
own for a few years, falling in love with a diversity of authors and
genres: L. M. Montgomery, Stephen King,
Robin McKinley, Gordon Korman, Laura Ingalls Wilder, to name a few. I enjoyed writing short stories as
assignments in school, trying to scare or gross out my friends. After reading Korman, who had gotten his
first YA fiction published as a teenager, I determined that I could do the
same: write and publish my own book by
the time I was 13. It didn’t happen, but
I kept trying. Doing a mandatory career self-study
when I was 12 (an hour of reading questions and filling in those little bubbles
with a No. 2 pencil) also helped to affirm that this would be one of my
life-goals. More than 20 years after
that first deadline, I’m finally, actually, happily, there!
Where did you find the inspiration for Wind and Shadow?
It was sometime between moving back up
to northeastern Ontario, and the birth of our second child. Coming back to one of the regions I loved as
a child, living relatively close to my favourite towns, Haileybury and Cobalt,
reminded me of an incident back then when an old abandoned mine under Cobalt
had collapsed and left a massive hole in the street, right downtown. It prompted a thorough investigation and
survey of all the abandoned mines threading underneath the town and around it,
and for the brief interval between the collapse and the fix, it was a tourist
attraction as the world’s largest pothole!
So, twenty-odd years after that event, I kept thinking: what if there was more to it than that? What if the collapse wasn’t (just) due to
water seepage in an old mine? What if
there was some kind of creature down there, like a vampire? If so, how did it get down there? What is the history? Who was affected by it? I began writing notes on the idea after my
daughter was born, slowly building the story.
It’s taken me over five years, but I’m happy that that original idea has
turned into a trilogy, with the first book coming out in April of next year.
Can you tell us more about your book?
Wind and Shadow follows the novella, “Mist and Midnight”, which was
published as part of the Midnight Thirsts
anthology in 2011 by Melange Books. It
takes place today, in the 20‘teens, in the fictional town of Talbot,
Ontario. (Talbot is based on Cobalt,
Ontario.) I view the novella as a
prequel, partly because it developed during a period of writers’ block I was
having with W&S: M&M reveals how artist and witch
Charlotte Fanning traps the vampire in his prison of the abandoned mine, but in
W&S, he escapes and trouble
quickly ensues for the new protagonist, Rayvin Woods (also a witch). Charlotte will return with her husband, Pike
Mahonen (the hot co-star of M&M) in Book Two of the Talbot Trilogy: Blood
and Fire.
I also need to tell you that part of my
impetus for writing this trilogy is as a reaction to Twilight. I’m a big fan of
the Twilight Saga, both books and films, but at the same time, I can pick it
apart and talk about problems I see in it.
So as Wind and Shadow
developed, I began to see it as my answer to Stephenie Meyers. A kind of argument, if you will.
Did you have to do some research for
your book? Like on legends or myths about vampires?
I’m very well-read as it is, and I
remember a great deal of what I read, so I drew on my background knowledge of
both vampirism (past and present mythologies).
I used my experience of living in the region, and my experience as a
practicing witch and Wiccan -- I wanted the world in my books to be as
authentic as possible. Pagan readers
will likely recognize some of the ritual elements I include, and some of the
spells I did have to research (not having had direct experience with banishing
vampires myself).
Why did you choose to write a Paranormal
Romance story?
Fascination, of course! Ghosts, witches, vampires, aliens, Bigfoot,
Wendigo, Jersey Devil, Loch Ness -- all of it attracts and intrigues me. I really think there are more things in this
world that we do not know about than those we do, and I think there is a
connection between fictional exploration and factual discovery: someone has to dream up or be inspired by the
fantastic before scientists uncover the truth in their studies.
I’m also a big fan of romance. I enjoy a scorching bodice-ripper, I love
reading well-considered details, and following the evolution of a relationship
between two people. I read some articles
and attended some lectures on the place of romance novels in Western society,
when I was in university, and that experience led me to see them in an entirely
different light. I enjoy romances of
most genres, from the light (no sex) to erotic.
Where did you find the inspiration for
the name of your main character: Rayvin?
It has to do a little with being
Pagan. I’m a practicing witch, and
Wiccan, so I like names that have earthy connotations. There’s a lovely lady in Sudbury whose name
is Raven, and she happens also to be Wiccan.
But I wanted the name to be as unique as the character, so I looked at
spelling changes. Rayvin just seemed to
fit. I liked it because it contrasts
with her physical appearance: she is petite and has long, luxuriously curling
red hair (image transplanted from one of my cousins, who still has beautiful
red hair I envy and covet). In contrast,
Charlotte, the protagonist from “Mist and Midnight”, has long dark hair. When the two heroines finally meet in Blood and Fire, I think their initial
impressions will be that they have each other’s names -- that Charlotte should
be named after the colour of her hair, and Rayvin should have a name that makes
one think of petite and delicate (Charlotte is tall and curvy). These women are opposites in many ways, but
they are also connected by many things, and I think their working relationship
is going to be stormy.
If you were a villain from Disney, which
one it would be and why?
Ursula, the sea-witch. She’s awesome. She’s sexy.
She’s not bone-thin stick insect, she’s got curves out the yang and
she’s proud of them. She knows how to
move. I love and envy her eight extra
arms -- I could certainly use them, some days -- and her knowledge. She’s evil, but gloriously so. Fantastic singing voice.
If you could be any character from your
book, which one it would be and why (female, male, animal!)
I would be Samantha, Rayvin’s cat. She’s Rayvin’s instinct, for the most
part. She knows who to trust, and where
to go for help. Plus, her life is much
less complicated than Rayvin and her hero’s (Grant Michaels), and I would like
fewer complications in my life sometimes.
Did you choose the book cover, or did
you have some options for the design?
The book cover is still in the
works. I have the form, I’ve just
started looking at it and considering how it should be. I’m not sure what I favour yet, in terms of
images, but I am open to suggestions!
Which actor would you choose to play the
role of your hero should Wind and Shadow
ever be turned into a movie?
I’d love to see Ksenia Solo, from
Showcase’s series “Lost Girl”, as Rayvin, though she’d likely have to plump up
a little like Renee Zellweger did for “Bridget Jones’s Diary” -- Rayvin isn’t
as think as Ksenia is for her character Kenzie.
Anna Silk, who plays the lead in “Lost Girl”, would be fantastic as
Rayvin’s bestie and former foster-sister, Andrea Renaud. The hero, Grant Michaels, would be best
played by Victor Webster (Carlos Fonnegra on “Continuum”).
Would you prefer living in a world
without books, but you're able to write whatever you want just for yourself or
living in a world with books, but you can't write?
I would prefer a world with books if I
could not write. Books are escape from
the mundane, communication of the fantastic, sketches of worlds that could
be. I would never want to live in a
world without books.
Quickies:
Cat or Dog
Cat, but I’m allergic so I have to stick
with my beloved Skittles (part Huskie, part Lab, part Shepherd, all suck)
Dark, Brown or White Chocolate
Dark chocolate with caramel, nuts, whipped
cream, mint, strawberries...drooling now!
City or Countryside
City.
I don’t mind visiting the countryside, but having lived briefly outside
of city limits, I prefer being in walking distance to stores, libraries, movie
theatres, etc.
Smoothies or Milk shakes
Milkshakes leave a taste in my mouth, so
I have to go with smoothies. Ten years
ago, I would have said milkshake, though -- especially the green McShake at St.
Patrick’s Day!
Pyjama or Jeans
Jeans are comfy and all-purpose. I live in my jeans, wearing them out until
they aren’t even suitable for rags. I
have difficulty finding pyjamas to fit me (they are incredibly expensive for
women of my height), but jeans, for some reason, are less of a problem.
Witch or Fae
Oooo, witch all the way, baby! I do a mean cackle and I love moonlit rituals
in my backyard...
Highlands or South America
Highlands. My roots are Scottish Highlanders (both sheep
herders and mercenaries) and German mountain people (who left their homes as
mercenaries and settled in Scotland).
I’ve always been pulled to the Celtic world, though I’ve not yet had the
pleasure of visiting my ancestral homes.
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1 comment:
Thanks so much, Tara! It was good, thinking back on how I got started and talking about Wind and Shadow. Book 2 is on a roll!
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