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Tag Archives: gollum
Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Book Spotlight, Deadmarsh Fey, Excerpts, Fun Stuff, Missives, News, Updates
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fantasy hive, The Fellowship of the Ring, the finder of the lucky devil, the first fear, the forbidden city, the game bird, the great hearts, the great restoration, the greatest showman, the hidden face, the hidden ones, the innocents, the ivy cottage, the king of elfland's daughter, the knight's order, the last whisperer, The Lord of the Rings, the lost sentinel, the manhunters song, The Marriage of Figaro, the most wonderful time of the year, the power of music, the red hourglass, the rose crown, the sangrook saga, the seeds of dissolution, the song of the siren, the stars were right, the tainted crown, the tempest guild, the thousand scars, The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier, the turn of the screw, the very beginning, the white people and other weird stories, theophany, these vampires don't sparkle, thorny, thousand scar, threatening, threats of sky and sea, three decades, three tons, three tons of him, thrilled, Thriller, throat, through a glass darkly, thunder the shadows are stirring, tibu, tidings, tiger lilly, time machine, timothy c doyle, tiny tim, Tolkien, tollers, Tollers and Jack, tom-tom, tome tender, topics, toppled, total fantasy, Toulouse Lautrec, Tour Eiffel, tradition, tragedy, trahaearn, train, trainwreck, traumatic, travel, travers, tricksy, trilogy, triumph, triumphant, true, true bliss, true love, truest sense, truly belong, truth, truth or darkness, tsked, Turn of the Screw, TV, Twilight, Twitter, two tons, TY Arthur, type, typing, typist, Tyrian purple, UK, una voce poco fa, uncle silas, undead, under everest, under ordshaw, underbelly, unfolded, uninspiring, unique, universal, universal studios, universes, unstoppable, untangled, unusual, up for grabs, updates, urban fantasy, uriah heep, USA, valet, vampire fiction, Vampire Hunter, vampire mythology, vampire mythos, vampires, vampiresses, vampiric, vampiric equality, vampiric transformation, vampirism, vamps, vampyre, varney, varney the vampire, varney the vampyre, Vasily 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author, young love, Young Protagonists, young writer, your home, ziroonderel
This selection of quotes will appear in a very personal interview on Friday, featured at Jean the Book Nerd's great site, but as that interview is quite extensive, I thought it would be a good idea to share them with you today in a separate post. I hope you enjoy this little glimpse into Deadmarsh Fey.
~Melika
"This beast, like the greater evil we faced later on, went by many names. When he invaded Everl'aria, the Moarteans christened him Groaza. Others called him The Devourer of the World. And to those on Sviddheim, he was The Bottomless, for his savagery had no end."
"I've seen its other side. I know what lives here, what's been slumbering for so long."
A hollow pit opened up where Roger's heart was supposed to be. "How would you know that?"
"I woke it up."
He blinked in surprise and was even more startled when the dragon mimicked the action, but did so sideways. A clear membrane coated its eye, then drew back to reveal hues infinitely more searing than before—so vibrant it was painful for Roger to look into them. Orange pulsating like a lava flow, yellow glistening brighter than a city made of gold, green flashing like St. Elmo's fire. All these colors danced not a foot in front of Roger's face, flickering within that gigantic orb…
"Why should I not know what he's really called?"
"Tell a man your name and he will have power over you forever," Carver muttered.
"I don't know how else to explain this, but I could feel her age, almost as if the weight of her years were pressing against me like a great mountain of corpses that would collapse onto me if I so much as looked at her the wrong way."
Gryffyn looked as though he were about to have some sort of fit. "It's far too dark in here for you to be taking this so calmly. Anything could be creeping up on us at this very moment, and we'd be none the wiser till it had us by the throat! We can't see a foot in front of our faces, not one foot! Why are you not afraid?"
"Because I am the monster lurking in the shadows," Incendiu snarled.
"They were all children, yes, as were the fiends who allowed themselves to be Hosted."
"But that happened in a wilder age, a less enlightened time," Roger argued.
"Do not make the mistake of thinking present society is so highly advanced that they have forgotten their baser instincts, Roger Knightley. Evil is evil no matter the century, or the world."
"There are more things in Heaven and earth…" Uncle Gryffyn muttered.
"Now ain't the time to be quotin' old Bill Shakes, guv," Bellows shot in.
"You're not allowed in church!"
The Jagged One squinted at him. "Sez who?"
"Says God!"
Carver tsked. "I thought you Christians welcomed everyone."
"We make exceptions for demons like you."
"Will you not bid me welcome, Brother?" the beast mocked. The dragon's voice paralyzed Roger where he stood. Hearing it sapped his strength, stole his will, made him feel as though his mind had been crushed between slabs of stone. There was chaos in it, and destruction—a voice crafted of darkness and the death of worlds."
Flesh and bone and hearts unknown, lead to the rath and your fate will be shown…
Deadmarsh. The name struck terror into the hearts of all who heard it. But to Roger Knightley, neither Deadmarsh the house, nor Deadmarsh the family, had ever been anything to fear. Nearly each summer of his young life had been spent in that manor on the moors, having wild adventures with his cousin, Lockie, the Deadmarsh heir. This year should have been no different, but when Roger arrives, he finds everything, and everyone, changed. The grounds are unkempt, the servants long gone. Kip, the family cat, has inexplicably grown and glares at Roger as if he is trying to read the boy's mind. Roger's eldest cousin, Travers, always treated as a servant, now dresses like a duchess and wears round her neck a strange moonstone given to her by someone known as Master Coffyn, who has taken over the teaching of Lockie at a school in Wales called Nethermarrow.
And soon after he crosses the threshold of Deadmarsh, Roger discovers that Coffyn has overtaken Lockie. The boy is deceitful, riddled with fear, and has returned bearing tales of creatures called Jagged Ones that claim to be of the Fey and can somehow conceal themselves while standing in the full light of the moon. What they want with Lockie, Roger cannot fathom, until the horror within his cousin lashes out, and it becomes savagely clear that these Jagged Ones and the Dark Wreaker they serve are not only after Lockie and Travers, but Roger, too.
Joining forces with an ally whose true nature remains hidden, Roger seeks to unravel the tapestry of lies woven round his family's connection to the death-haunted world of Everl'aria—and the Dark Wreaker who calls it home. The deeper Roger delves into the past, the more he begins to suspect that the tales of dark deeds done in the forest behind Deadmarsh, deeds in which village children made sacrifice to an otherworldly beast and were never seen or heard from again, are true. And if there is truth in these outlandish stories, what of the rumor that it was not an earthquake which rocked the moors surrounding Deadmarsh sixteen years ago, but a winged nightmare attempting to break free of its underground prison? Enlisting the aid of a monster equipped with enough inborn firepower to blast his enemies into oblivion might be as suicidal as Roger's friends insist, yet the boy knows he needs all the help he can get if there is to be any hope of defeating not only the Dark Wreaker and his servants, but an unholy trinity known as the Bear, the Wolf, and the Curse That Walks The Earth.
And then there is the foe named Blood Wood, who might be the deadliest of them all.
Racing against time, Roger must find a way to end the battle being waged across worlds before the night of Lockie's eleventh birthday—two days hence. If he fails, blood will drown the earth. And Roger and his entire family will fulfill the prophecy of fey's older, more lethal meaning…
Fated to die.
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Latest Author Interview!
Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Author Spotlight, Deadmarsh Fey, Fun Stuff, Missives, News, Updates
100, 13, 15, 18, 1888, 1890s, 1894, 1975, 19th century, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2014, 2018, 2019, 24601, 30th anniversary, 40, 700, 8, a book addict's bookshelves, a fragment of life, a host of ills, a keeper's tale, a lot, a warden's purpose, a wizard should know better, a wizard's forge, a woodley, a. m. justice, a. m. rycroft, a. z. anthony, aaron c. cross, aaron hodge, aaron-michael hall, ache, adam watson, adaptations, added bonus, aderyn, aderyn wood, aesop, afresh, Agatha Christie, age, aidan r walsh, Air Jaws, aldrea alien, alexa grave, alexander grant, alice in wonderland, alice sabo, all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us, alliance, allies, alveric, amaze, amazed, amazing, Amazon, Amazon UK, amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, amreading, amy mcnulty, ancient evils, and I enjoyed answering these questions so much. Many, andrea domanski, anduril, andy peloquin, angel, anglo-saxon, anne rice, annihilation, Anniversary, anorffen, answer the call, antestheria, applause, aragorn, architect, ariadne's thread, arianrhod, arthur, arthur machen, arwen, as Laura phrased it, ashley capes, assumption, asunder, august, Augustin Boroi, aunt betsy, australia, australian, australian shark chorus, authentic, author, Authors, autonomy, autumn, awestruck, back from the dead, baggins, bait, barber of seville, base motives, battlecry, beach, bear, beautiful, beginning, bellows, belong, beloved, below, bent, beowulf, best friend, best wishes, betrayal, better angels, beyond, beyond the forest, bide, big, big boys, bird and baby, birth certificate, birthday, bite, black, black cats, black winged beast, blade and rose, blank wall, blazing, blind, blog, Blog Tour, blogger, bloggers, bloglovin, blogs, blood, blood and ashes, blood suckers, blood wood, blood-soaked, bloodshed, bloom, blue prometheus, blue water, blue water white death, boarding school, boat, book, book addict, book feature, book of mormon, books, Books In My Belfry, booksinmybelfry.com, boom, boris kos, born vampire, boxer, brainstorming, bram stoker, brandon, bravo, brian o'sullivan, bride, brilliant, British, broke, brother, brothers, brothers and sisters, brothers grimm, bruce, bubbly, business, bust, c. d. gallant-king, c. l. schneider, C. S. Lewis, cable tv, cage, calling, canon, carnifex, caroling, carpet diem, carte blanche, Carver, cat, catharine glen, catholic, cats, caverns, cede, celebration, celts, chance, chaos, character classes, characters, Charles Dickens, charpentier, chesterton, childhood, children, children of light, children of vampires, chilled, chivalry, chocolate, chocolate chip, choppy, chris fallowes, chris fallows, chris weston, christened, christina ochs, Christmas, christmas carols, christmas in august, christmas in july, christopher percy, chucked, chumming, church, cianien bloodstone, City of Lights, City of Lights by melika lux, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, classic, classical, clicking, clues, cnn, coalition, Coffyn, comedic fantasy, Comedy, comic, comic book, composed, conceal, concentration, conquest, conservation, constant source of inspiration, Constantinos, constructive criticism, contemporary fantasy, contest, conventional wisdom, conversation, cooked, 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white, great white shark, Greece, greenery, Gretchen am Spinnrade, grey beard, grey wolves, Greydanus, groaza, guardians, guides, guillermo del toro, Guinness, gustav mahler, guy fieri, gwendolyn pendraig, h p lovecraft, h. g. wells, hallmark, hallmark channel, halloween, hamilton, hammer, hand-write, hannah sullivan, hansel and gretel, harsh, hasty, hate, haunted, haunting of hill house, havelock, hazard, he who fights, heart, heartbeat, heaven, hell comes to hogtown, help, henry corbin, henry fuseli, henry james, here be dragons, here there be dragons, hermit, hermitlife, hero, hero forged, heroes, heroism, high barrens, high fantasy, high school, higher self, higher selves, highland, hinterland, historical fiction, historical romance, hobbit, hobbit size, hobbiton, hollow, home, home is behind, hope, hopes, hopes and dreams, horrifying, horror, horror herald, hosting, hot, Hotmail, house, huge, hugh jackman, hugo vickers, hugo weaving, human beings, Humor, Hunger Games, hungers of 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R. R. Tolkien, j. r. rasmussen, j. zachary pike, ja andrews, jack, Jack the Ripper, jacob sannox, jagged, jagged ones, JAWS, jawsome, jawsomeness, jc kang, jean valjean, jeffrey l kohanek, jeffrey russell, jennifer ellison, jeramy goble, jess watkins, jesse teller, jingle bells, jingle sharks, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, john william waterhouse, jon, jordan c robinson, joseph sheridan le fanu, josh erikson, jot, joy, JRR Tolkien, Jurassic Park, just keep swimming, justin lee anderson, k bird lincoln, k l ling, k m alexander, kascher's quartet, katniss, kayleigh nicol, keith mcardle, kevin wright, kind, Kindle, kindle giveaway, king arthur, kingshold, Kip, Kipling, kirsten m corby, Knightley, knowing thine enemy, knut hamsun, kurintor nyusi, l. l. mcneil, la la land, La Perle de Paris, la petite coquette, lad, landed, languages, laptop, latest, laura, laura m hughes, leave, lee conley, legend, legendarium, legends, legends of elera voices, Leonora, Leonora Bianchetti, lepers, leroy nichols, les miserables, lesser, lethal, letter, liath luacra, library, lie, lieder eines fahrenden gesellen, lies, life, light, light dawning, likeminded, lin manuel miranda, lineup, link, Links, lips, lirazel, list, little dream, lives, Lockie, loggerheads, logistical, London, longing, longing for home, longings, lord byron, lord dunsany, lord of the rings, lords of asylum, lorri moulton, LOTR, Louisa May Alcott, Louvre, Love, love in one act, love of reading, Luc, luck, lunch, lux, Lux Aeterna, lynn's books, lyrics, m. s. olney, mabinogion, mabus, machen, mad skillz, maddie, Madelaine Bradburry, madness, magic, magic's betrayal, magnificent, mahler, main character, majestic, malazan, malevolence, manipulation, Manon Larue, manor, many thanks to the fabulous (and sharktastic!) Laura M. Hughes for giving me this opportunity. I hope you will all enjoy reading about, marble, marianne ratcliffe, marilyn peake, marilyn vix, marine biologist, mark lawrence, marked, mashup, master, master coffyn, masterclass, matt heppe, matt larkin, matthew thompson, maul, Maurice Charpentier, maxim, meagan hurst, meager, meanings, meant to be, media, meg cowley, megan mackie, melancholy, melika, Melika Dannese Lux, Melika Lux, melokai, mental angels, merlin, method, michael baker, michael r baker, michael sliter, middle-earth, mike morris, miles and flora, mind, mind behind the mind, mind palace, miranda, miranda honfleur, mirror writing, mirroring, moartea, modern times, monikers, monocle, moon, moonlight roses and murder, moonstone, moria, moroda, moss, most wonderful time of the year, mother, Movies, mr. micawber, mr. murdstone, mug, Music, musical, my calling, my dream, my life, my love, myth, mythology, myths, names, narnia, nature, nature of evil, nazri noor, nebulous, ned marcus, net galley, netflix, netgalley, never looked back, new, new interview, new release, New York, new zealand, news, nia rae, nicholas kotar, nicholas malebranche, night, nightmare, ninny, no sparkling, norse, norse mythology, north york moors, northleach, norway, Nosferatu, notebook, notes, novel, novelist, novels, now, now face-to-fey, oblivion, obsessed, ocean, odds, of darkness, off his nut, offshore, oil slick, old salt, older, ominous, on borrowed luck, on location, one i love, opaque, opera, orange, orconomics, original, orion, orlok, other worlds, otherness, otherworld, out of nowhere, overwhelming, Oxford, pages, pale, palming the ace, pan, panic, Paperback, paranoia, paranoid, Paranormal, parc monceau, parents, Paris, Parisian, path, patrick leclerc, pdf, Penny Dreadful, penny dreadfuls, pepe the prawn, peppy, perfect day, performance, perilous, perilous realms, perspective, perspicacious, peter jackson, peter quint, petrik leo, pews, phil parker, phil williams, philosopher, phoenix, phoenix descending, phrased, 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shadow magic, sham, shaq, shaquille o'neal, shark, shark attack, shark bite, shark chorus, shark elevator pitch, Shark Week, sharkbait oo-ha-HA!, sharking, sharkland, sharkland forever, Sharks, sharktastic, sheltering, shield of kings, shifts, shire, shirley jackson, siblings, silence, silver-tongued devil, singer, singing, sir frank dicksee, sister, sisters, site, sixteen, skill, skillz, skye, sneaky, snippet, snuffbox, snug, social media, solace lost, soldier, song, songs of insurrection, songs of the wayfarer, sonya m black, soprano, sorcerer's isle, sorcerous rivalry, Sorina Boroi, soul, soul render, soul-restoring, souls, South Africa, space time continuum, special meaning, specials, spfbo, spfbo2018, spill, spinning silk, spiritual, spoiler, Spooky, spring, spring-heeled jack, square holes, squirrel, standchen, startle, states, status quo, steal of a deal, steampunk, Stefan, Stefan Belododia, Stefan Ratliff, stephen spielberg, stephenie meyer, steve thomas, steven erikson, steven mckinnon, steven spielberg, storm wielder, story, story arcs, story reading, storytelling, storyweaving, stratosphere, struggle, stumbling block, stunning, sub-genres, success, summer, sunday, supernatural, supernatural thriller, superstition, surf, surfer, surfer dude, susan hill, Suspense, suzanne rogerson, swathing, sweeney todd, sweet, swimmers, swimming, sydney, Sylvi, symphony of the wind, t j muir, T-Rex, t. cook, t. l. branson, Tags#AmWriting, Taken, taking care of, talk, talking animals, talking cat, talking cats, tall tales, TAPS, techniques, teeth, ten, terrifying, terror, that's what I'm tolkien about, the apples of idunn, the bastard from fairyland, the crown of stones, the crushed peak, the darkness within, the dead sagas, the end begins, the exercise of vital powers, the expanse, the fantasy hive, The Fellowship of the Ring, the finder of the lucky devil, the first fear, the forbidden city, the game bird, the great hearts, the great restoration, the greatest showman, the 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It's been a while since I last posted any updates, but today, I am happy to share with you a new and very in-depth (possibly my most in-depth one to date) interview. Many thanks to author Sonya M. Black for providing me with such insightful questions. I hope you enjoy reading not only my thoughts on writing and other subjects, but also learning more about a few special books that have impacted my life in very different ways. Maybe you'll be inspired to invite them into your lives and let them work their magic on you, as well.
A dragon lands in front of your Main Character, what would they do?
It just so happens that my main character in Deadmarsh Fey, Roger Knightley, is obsessed with dragons, and has been since he was practically out of the womb, cutting his teeth on his mother's fanciful stories about them, blazing through the Mabinogion by the time he was six, and venturing onward to further fill his head with even more fantastic legends, his favorite being the one about Merlin and Vortigern and the fortress that had been toppled again and again by the red and white dragons battling in a pool beneath its foundations.
Given all of that, if a flesh and blood dragon landed in front of him, Roger wouldn't scream or scarper away in fright, but would rather shriek in delight and run forward to hug one of the dragon's foreclaws, then try to convince the beast to fly him back to Wraxhall, Roger's boarding school, to equalize the playing field, as it were, by teaching his headmaster a lesson—turning Master Crisp into Master Ash…literally. But once Roger came to his senses, he would do all in his power to enlist the dragon as an ally against the Dark Wreaker of Everl'aria, and the curse this fell being has laid upon Roger's family. You'll have to read Deadmarsh Fey to find out if any of this really does happen in the book, or if I'm just letting my imagination rocket upward like a dragon soaring through the night sky, its black wings blotting out the light of the moon.
What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
It's not the main focus of my upcoming trip to England, but when I'm there, we'll be spending a day in Oxford, walking in the footsteps of two authors who have had a significant impact not only on my writing, but upon my life, as well—J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. I expect to be awed the entire time I'm there, and quite emotional, too. Oh, and a visit to the Eagle and Child is also on the agenda! 6,900 pictures of the snug where the Inklings used to meet will be taken, so as not to miss a single angle, of course. I can't wait!
What is the first book that made you cry?
I'm sure other books got to me before this one did, but the first book I can remember which made me cry was The Turn of the Screw—and that was because it horrified me, my tears bursting forth at the very end when Miles screams, "Peter Quint, you devil!" I didn't appreciate the ambiguity and brilliance of that line till many years later, so as a child of eight, my reaction was sheer terror. And yet I loved that little novel! I even owned a Classic comic book type edition of it that I read so often the spine broke. It's my favorite "ghost" story of all time, and a masterful psychological study that I do not think any film adaptation has done justice to yet, although The Innocents comes close to capturing the unsettling "otherness" of Miles and Flora, and the paranoia (or does she have just cause to fear?) of the Governess.
But the first book that truly touched something deep within my heart and made me not only cry, but bawl, was David Copperfield, which I read at the age of twelve. It didn't matter that one hundred and forty years separated me from David's world. I identified with him, was outraged by every injustice he suffered—especially the betrayal of those he'd considered close friends—rejoiced with him when he succeeded, and felt like I was living his life alongside him as I devoured the pages of that book. Till this day, I find myself smiling when I remember Aunt Betsy screeching, "Donkeeees!" or how Mr. Micawber was always sure something would turn up. But don't get me started on Uriah Heep. I have no fond memories of him!
Looking back, I see how the cruelty David endured at the hands of Mr. Murdstone stayed with me and inspired some of Master Coffyn's qualities in Deadmarsh Fey, especially his penchant for harsh and often violent discipline against children. And now that I think of it, that fey quality of Miles and Flora so hauntingly delineated in The Turn of the Screw found its way into Deadmarsh, too, coloring certain aspects of Lockie's character, so even though both books made me cry for very different reasons, they both impacted my writing in their own unique ways.
Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?
No, never. I've always wanted to be known as the author of my novels, not because I have a thirst for fame—I prefer the focus to be on my stories, not me—but because I worked hard on them. The funny thing is, though, that many readers have thought Melika Dannese Lux is a pseudonym, but I can assure you that's exactly the name printed on my birth certificate.
Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I think what readers want is originality. We can all be inspired by the fantasy greats, of course, and I freely admit that Tolkien and Lewis are my literary "fathers," but to be derivative to the point of copying them is not something I've ever wanted to do. I'm a little fanatical when it comes to being original, so much so that when I created the name of my main villain and Otherworld in Deadmarsh Fey, I typed both into Google and Amazon to make certain they hadn't been used before! I understand that, according to conventional wisdom, you should compare your works to those of other fantasy authors to hook readers, or even get an agent. But that's the problem with conventional wisdom—it's conventional, stultifying, and only interested in preserving the status quo, leaving no room for the unexpected, and very dismissive of that which it does not understand or cannot fit into a neatly designed mold. Why can't a fantasy book stand on its own without having to be compared to anything that's come before? Isn't that what people really want, to read something unlike anything they've ever read? To get lost in a world they can discover and explore for themselves, make their home in, without being encumbered by any preconceived notions? That would be a wondrous thing, I think, and much more gratifying than reading yet another Game of Thrones clone.
How do you balance making demands on the reader with taking care of the reader?
The philosopher Nicholas Malebranche once said, "Attentiveness is the natural prayer of the soul." Laziness of mind is bad enough, but having an unengaged soul makes attentiveness, and really anything else, impossible. This is why I don't believe asking my readers to fully invest themselves—mind, heart, and soul—into Deadmarsh Fey is being unduly demanding, since I invested my entire being into writing this book. As the author, I see myself as the facilitator, and it is my job, through my storyweaving, to remind my readers that it is incumbent upon them to take care of themselves. I won't spoon feed you, neither will I string you along, but you should know at the outset that I will not be your Virgil, guiding you through the darkling night. I want my readers to discover things for themselves in this world I have offered to them, a world in which they can lose themselves entirely—a world it is my greatest hope they will make their own. And to achieve this, attentiveness—concentration—is a must, not because Deadmarsh Fey is some labyrinth you need Ariadne's Thread to find your way out of, but because giving not only my book, but any book, a cursory reading shows not only a lack of respect for the author, but for the reader's own self, as well. How can you be moved, touched, inspired, if your only objective is to race through a book to finish it as fast as you can? What chance is there for you to experience wonder if you don't let the story absorb you, if you cut yourself off from allowing the tale to strike a chord in your soul and make your spirit take flight? The opportunity to connect with something beyond you has been neglected, the moment for discovery, expanding your imagination, and knowing yourself deeper, lost when your overriding ambition is how many pages you can read in a day to reach a quota for the year, or some other such arbitrary marker that robs you of the chance to be seized by wonder. It makes the act of reading no act at all, but a passive disengagement that seems completely pointless—and dreadfully hollow.
With every book I have written, but never more so than with Deadmarsh Fey, my goal has been that my readers become active participants in the experience. If this happens, I believe they will feel as if they are sharing in the recreation of the novel and will be able to capture the essence, the atmosphere, in which the work was first written. By becoming a part of the story, they are truly making it into something new and theirs, which is what I want most of all. I want them to lose themselves in a tale that seems fantastical at first, but the deeper they read, the more engaged they become, they realize that the truths in this book mirror the truths in their own lives, that these characters are not so unlike them, and that they, the readers, will miss these kindred souls after the final page is turned. When total immersion occurs, my readers will see Roger and the other characters not as I do, no longer as I've described them, but through their own eyes, the images I've created meeting the images my words have birthed in their minds, catching fire, and taking flight, burning like a phoenix across their imaginations and hopefully inspiring them to create unexplored worlds of their own, or at least to never be the same after reading this book because it has touched them in some deep and meaningful way and possibly revealed to them their true "home." That is my wish for everyone who reads Deadmarsh Fey—that they will be open to receiving what the book has in mind for them, and be changed for the better once their journey with my characters comes to an end.
Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?
When you invent something out of nothing, you are, in a sense, sharing in the act of creation. I'm not trying to be blasphemous or presumptuous by saying that, but I truly feel, and have done so for many years, that writing is as close as I come to touching the divine, to brushing up against the world that shimmers just beyond our own. My beloved says that all true art is a spiritual practice, and I agree with him wholeheartedly, as I do with his christening my work dream-sagas, for that is where my original inspiration for Dwellers of Darkness, Children of Light came from—in the chaos of a dream that quite frankly was almost a nightmare, a vision of two young girls, sisters, cowering at the end of a corridor in a small cottage on an fog-encircled island, flattening themselves against the wall and scarcely breathing for fear any sound would alert the gargantuan demonic bear snuffling down the hallway, growing ever nearer, to their presence—the bear that was hungering for their blood.
In many ways, I also view writing as a prayer, a reaching up toward my higher self, my angel, if you will, the self I am meant to be but have been separated from here in my exile upon this earth. It's a constant striving to make sense out of the thoughts in my head, the inspirations, the "why" of life, and to weave them into a tapestry of light and shadow, of good and evil and the grey areas in between where heroes may doubt their valor but choose to fight on nonetheless, often against seemingly insurmountable odds, because they are dedicated to saving that which they hold dear, their world, the people they love and are willing to lay down their lives to defend. That call to fight for something greater than yourself is also very spiritual at its core, and was a vital thread I wove into the fabric of Deadmarsh Fey in ways I had never done with any other book I had written before. In this novel, in this Otherworld, I feel as though I truly am writing what I dream, both literally and in a deeper sense. I have now found my "home," at least where writing is concerned, the place where I have finally been able to fulfill the maxim that changed my life many years ago: "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us." Sixteen years old, was I, when Gandalf's wisdom pierced my heart and set me on this trajectory. The journey has been hard, frustrating, and often incredibly lonely, but it has brought me joy, too, never more so than now, and I would not trade the experience for anything in the world, nor, if given the chance to go back and choose differently, would I diverge from this path that was presented to me. I believe in my soul that despite all the obstacles, it was the path I was destined to take…and how things were always meant to be.
I also think that there is something intensely, almost ecstatically, spiritual about being seized by a story, which happened to me when writing Deadmarsh Fey. From a certain point onward, I was no longer in control of this book. My characters quickly and not too subtly disabused me of the notion that I knew what was best, and since I really had no choice in the matter, I let them take over, and Deadmarsh Fey became a much better tale because I got out of my own way. And that is something I would encourage every writer to do, whether you believe our craft is a spiritual practice or not…let your ego go. It is your worst enemy, will shut you down, choke your creativity. You must diminish for inspiration to increase, and only when you do this will your story have the potential to take wing, blaze across the heavens, and transform into something unique and rapturous. Something you and you alone were born to write.
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
Yes, I do read them. No author likes to receive bad reviews, and at one time, they had a powerfully negative effect on me, but as I've gotten older, and grown as a writer, they don't influence me anymore. I know the value of my work, and nobody's negative opinion is going to make me doubt it or love it any less, especially people who abandon my book after only reading a fraction of it. Additionally, if somebody is just spewing vitriol, I don't take it to heart. And if they completely miss the point of the book, I don't internalize that, either.
I do appreciate good reviews, of course, especially when the reader invests him- or herself into the world I have created—living through my characters, even becoming them for the short while they are in their company—and therefore is able to truly comprehend what I am trying to say instead of simply glossing over details that were not included as filler, words that weren't written to pad the pages, just to get things over with for whatever reason, as I mentioned above. It's a very rewarding feeling when a reader "gets" my work, as happened recently with the wonderful Dianne Bylo at Tome Tender. Her review has become my favorite, and the best, of any of my books thus far, not only because it was erudite and well-written, but also because it revealed that Dianne had let herself be seized by Deadmarsh Fey and thereby connected with it in a profound way, which is what I hope the experience will be for everyone who reads this book.
Do you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
I do, but when it came to Deadmarsh Fey, everything that I hid within its pages was built up and eventually revealed in a rather shocking manner a few chapters from the end of the novel. Even at the eleventh hour—and by that I mean some of the very last scenes of the book—I was still unraveling secrets I had woven throughout the story from the beginning. Nearly all of them found resolution in Deadmarsh Fey, though I did leave a few open ended enough to be explored further in the three successive novels in Dwellers of Darkness, Children of Light. Each one of these secrets, every arc that was created in Deadmarsh Fey to be spooled out into the other books, however, did have a suitable ending when its furtherance of the plot in this tale had served its purpose. This was a conscious choice, because I despise loose ends, and even though I think that in some cases it is fine to be ambiguous—as with The Turn of the Screw—I believe that ambiguity for its own sake, or as an attempt to be "edgy," ruins the integrity of a story.
In the sequel to Deadmarsh Fey, which I'm working on now, there is a sort of inside joke for most of the novel, but it is revealed at precisely the moment when it counts most and is quite earthshattering. And yet…when readers get to that point, I have a sense they will most likely feel that if they'd just thought about it a bit more, they would have been able to solve this riddle fairly early on. I'm hoping the reaction will include a fist to the forehead and a dramatic exclamation of, "Good gad! How could I have been so blind?!" I'm incredibly eager to interweave this plot point throughout the novel—palming the ace where I can, scattering false clues, then finally lowering the boom and blowing the lid off this secret when the time is right. I confess to taking a little enjoyment in being tricksy like this when crafting my books. All right, it's more than a little. It's a LOT! But it makes things tremendously exciting for me, and I hope this excitement will transfer to everyone who reads my novels, this one especially.
What is your favorite childhood book?
The Ivy Cottage by E. J. Taylor. Even though it was very short, and I first read it at the age of four, I still remember the feeling of warmth with which this book enveloped me—as cozy as a sheltering blanket, as soothing as a mug of hot chocolate enjoyed by a roaring fire. The illustrations were entrancing, and I was completely captivated by the idea of living in a cottage in the woods, or one just on the borders of it. After all these years, this is still my dream.
Getting to know you!
Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Author Spotlight, Fun Stuff, Missives, Updates
Agatha Christie, As Time Goes By, British, Bronte, campion, celine dion, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, child, City of Lights, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, corcitura, CS Lewis, danny kaye, David Copperfield, detective, eagle and child, England, epic music, Errol Flynn, fall, fantasy, Fellowship of the Ring, female writers, Gandalf, Gladiator, gollum, Goodreads, grace kelly, Greer Garson, gregory peck, halloween, hobbit, hobby, horror, Humphrey Bogart, inklings, inspector alleyn, inspector lewis, james cagney, JAWS, jeeves, JRR Tolkien, Judi Dench, king and i, Kip, laptop, last of the mohicans, Lauren Bacall, Lewis, Lifehouse, London, lord of the rings, maureen o'hara, melika, Melika Dannese Lux, Michael Buble, Midsomer Murders, Miss Marple, Myrna Loy, Mystery, netflix, Oxford, Paris, penguin, personality, phantasmal, promentory, rabbit room, riddles in the dark, Robin Hood, russell crowe, Sarah Rayne, sea, shanties, Shark Week, shows, singer, soprano, soundtracks, Tolkien, Turn of the Screw, tyrone power, UK, unique, USA, Violin, violinist, vivien leigh, WH Smith, writer, young author, Zaniness
Be honest…the title of this post has now got that song from the King and I spinning through your head, right? 😉 Anyway, I was scrolling through my old blog posts today, and came upon an interview I did a few years ago. I had so much fun answering these questions, and decided to dust it off and update it with more current info, so it would be ready to see the light of day once again.
I hope you enjoy getting a little peek into my world–and all it's attendant zaniness, er, um, uniqueness! 😉
1. Favorite song/singer?
My favorite song is usually whatever I'm listening to while writing. Sometimes, a scene calls for absolute silence, while at others, it's nice to have something pumping in the background to get the ideas flowing. For City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier, I listened to Lifehouse's Hanging by A Moment. This song was a tremendous inspiration for me and became Ilyse and Ian's anthem. For Corcitura, I listened mainly to Promentory from the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack when I was writing dramatic/conflict or chase scenes (the constant beat really helped focus my thoughts) and then Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis when I wrote a death scene for one of the vampires in the book. Given the sanguinary nature of the lyrics, I thought it was appropriate. 😉
For the novel I am nearly finished writing (One chapter to go, HUZZAH!), it's epic music all the time. This final chapter is battle-heavy, and music such as this puts me in a suitably warmongering mood. 😉
Celine Dion has been my favorite singer since I was eight years old. I was lucky enough to see her in concert at Caesar's Palace in 2005. Some singers sound terrible live, but Celine sounded amazing, even better than she does on her CDs. She was also really interactive and did quite a bit of dancing and kept up an incredible energy and excitement level throughout the whole show. It was a tremendous experience, and one that I'll never forget! I also have recently become a fan of Michael Bublé, with my favorite of his songs being Feeling Good. It's so James Bondish and awesome and just AHH!
2. Favorite season?
Definitely fall. Just the feel of it. You can almost sense that it's time to break out The Turn of the Screw for a millionth reread. Or is that just me? I love the crispness in the air, the glorious burnt orange and golden hued leaves, the carte blanche you have to read all the horror/Halloweeney books you want and classify them as "seasonal reading" without making everyone wonder if you've been bitten by a vampire and developed rather bloodthirsty reading tastes. Plus, fall also means I get to bake these delicious chocolate chip pumpkin spice cookies that have become a tradition with me over the last ten years.
3. Worst vacation?
I haven't had one yet, thankfully, although when I visited Paris in 2004, my hotel room was the size of a shoebox. There was also only ONE iron in the entire hotel, as I discovered when the concierge knocked on my door the second day I was there and asked for it back! But that's beside the point. The important thing was, I was in Paris, and apart from the smallness of the hotel, the location was fantastic! I spent most of my time seeing the sights and wandering around the Rue de Rivoli, making daily stops at W. H. Smith English Booksellers. They were running a 2 for £5 and 3 for £10 sale, so I stocked up on all the UK Penguin editions of the Jeeves novels that weren't available back home. I would go back to Paris (And London, too!) just to shop there.
4. Guilty pleasure?
British detective & mystery shows. I can't get enough of them! Midsomer Murders was the show that launched me on this trajectory seven years ago, and I haven't looked back since, moving on to Miss Marple (with Joan Hickson), Campion, Inspector Alleyn, Rosemary & Thyme, and Inspector Lewis, which is a real favorite. As if visiting the haunts of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien weren't incentive enough to go to Oxford, there is now the added chance that I might bump into Robbie Lewis and Jamie Hathaway while they are on a case. 😉 I also recently discovered Father Brown, and am hooked!
5. Favorite book and/or author?
David Copperfield. I read this book close to twenty years ago and can still quote passages and remember scenes vividly. All the suffering and hardships this young 19th century Englishman endured and all the mistakes he made in love and in life transcended the ages and became so relevant to me, a preteen living in the United States in the 20th century. That is truly a testament to the genius of Charles Dickens. It is also what I think makes a book a classic—its timelessness.
My favorite author is Agatha Christie. I've devoured almost all of her novels, and do not know what I'm going to do when I have no more of them to read. Another author whose books are automatic buys is Sarah Rayne. Nobody does psychological horror/suspense quite like her. She's amazing!
6. One item you cannot live without?
As a writer, this would definitely be…my laptop!!! I cannot even imagine writing a book, let alone a 700 page novel like Corcitura, in longhand. My admiration for Charlotte Bronte and Dickens especially (who was not known for his brevity) has skyrocketed ever since I became a writer. How did they do it?!
7. Hobby?
I'm a classically trained violinist, pianist, and soprano and have been performing since I was three. I wouldn't call this a hobby, but for something completely frivolous and unbookish, I can probably recite the entire script of Jaws, complete with dialects and sound effects, and enhanced by the singing of various sea shanties. I can also do a pretty mean Gollum impersonation, precious.
8. Favorite movie/actor/actress?
Jaws. No question. I started watching Shark Week the year it premiered and became fascinated with Jaws around the age of five when I went to Pic 'n Save and saw the movie poster. I didn't see the movie in full until I was 15, but I can't remember a moment when I wasn't aware of Jaws. It's been a part of my life for ages.
My other favorite movie is The Fellowship of the Ring. I love the whole trilogy, but The Fellowship (and Gandalf) had a direct bearing on my decision to become a writer, so it will always hold a very special place in my heart.
Favorite actor…hmm…how about we do a modern one and one from the past? Russell Crowe for modern (I love him in every movie I've seen him in, but am a huge fan of his historical epics Gladiator, Robin Hood, and Master & Commander), and Danny Kaye, who has provided me with countless hours of laughter since I was a kid. There are also many classic actors I'm a fan of, including Humphrey Bogart, Tyrone Power, James Cagney, Errol Flynn, and Gregory Peck.
Favorite actress…Judi Dench. Love her! Her movies are great, but I'm a huge fan of her BBC sitcom As Time Goes By. I can watch that show over and over again, and have. I own the complete series (plus the reunion specials) on DVD. It's such a great show—like visiting with old friends.
I'm also a fan of several classic actresses, such as Greer Garson, Vivien Leigh, Lauren Bacall, Maureen O'Hara, Myrna Loy, & Grace Kelly, just to name a few.
9. Favorite food?
Anything that has cheese in it. I think I'm part mouse.
10. Who would you like to meet? (dead or alive?)
Can't I invite them all over for a ghostly dinner party and count them as one? No? Ok, then, let me think. I'll keep it in the authorial realm and settle on C. S. Lewis. Jack! The Chronicles of Narnia have been a constant source of inspiration across all areas of my life for many years. I've read and reread my copies of the books to ragged shreds. One of my favorite of Jack's quotes is "A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest." I would love to hear him talking about his thought process when creating such magnificent stories that are relevant to both young people and adults, since that is something that I strive to do in my own writing. I would also love to have a deep conversation with him about faith, God, and, of course…The Inklings! Ideally, this chat would take place between us in the "Rabbit Room" at The Eagle and Child. Then Jack could give me a tour of Oxford, where we might just run into Professor Tolkien—and I would make Tollers read the "Riddles in the Dark" scene from the Hobbit in Gollum's voice. As you can see, I'm determined to meet at least one other person from my phantasmal dinner party. 😉
Melika's Top 10 & Corcitura Giveaway at I Read Indie!
Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Author Spotlight, Corcitura Feature, Excerpts, Fun Stuff, Giveaway Announcement, News
1888, 1894, 2005, 2013, Agatha Christie, As Time Goes By, barbed tongue, bbc, bbc detective and mystery shows, bbc sitcom, best friends, bird and baby, bleeding love, Books In My Belfry, C. S. Lewis, caesar's palace, campion, celine dion, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte, children of light, chocolate chip pumpkin spice cookies, City of Lights, classic, classic actors, classic actresses, classically trained, classics, computer, corcitura, danny kaye, David Copperfield, dwellers of darkness, eagle and child, Eastern Europe, England, epic music, Eric Bradburry, faith, fall, fantasy, fave season, fave singer, female vampires, Fin de siècle, Friendship, Gandalf, gandalf the grey, ghostly dinner party, Gladiator, God, gollum, Goodreads, grace kelly, Grand Tour, Greece, Greer Garson, gregory peck, guilty pleasure, halloween, Hanging by a moment, historical fiction, hobbit, Humphrey Bogart, hybrid vampires, I Read Indie, Ian McCarthy, Ilyse Charpentier, Indie Authors, inspector alleyn, inspector lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, jack, jack lewis, james cagney, jamie hathaway, jarlsberg cheese, JAWS, jeeves, joan hickson, Judi Dench, last of the mohicans, Lauren Bacall, Leona Lewis, Leonora Bianchetti, Lifehouse, London, long-hand, Lux Aeterna, macabre, Madelaine Bradburry, Madelaine Dennison, Master and Commander, maureen o'hara, Melika Dannese Lux, Midsomer Murders, Miss Marple, netflix, ngaio marsh, Oxford, Paris, pianist, Pic 'n Save, Prague, promentory, Robin Hood, Romania, Rosemary & Thyme, rue de rivoli, russell crowe, sea shanties, Shark Week, Sharks, singers, soprano, Stefan Ratliff, streaming, The Hobbit, the inklings, the legend of sleepy hollow, The Lord of the Rings, the turn of the screw, tollers, tommy & tuppence, Two Steps from Hell, tyrone power, uendelig, UK penguin, vampires, Venice, violinist, vivien leigh, Vladec Salei, Vrykolakas, w. h. smith english booksellers, werewolf transformation, werewolves, writing, young author, Zigmund Fertig
It's time for some fun on this Monday morning! Today, my Top 10 is being featured on the fabulous blog, I Read Indie. Many thanks to the equally fabulous Mandy for letting me hop on over to her site and share a little bit about myself and Corcitura! It was great fun! 😀
As a bonus, I am also giving away two Kindle copies of Corcitura to US residents! Follow the link to enter in the next six days for your chance to win:
http://twimom101bookblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/a-fabulous-top-10-with-melika-dannese.html
And while you're there, check out a rather sanguinary excerpt from Corcitura.
Melika
Top 10 Reposted!
1. Fav song/singer?
For the dystopian/fantasy novel I began last year (and am still working on), I wrote the entire prologue while listening to Lux Aeterna (the version with LOTR-esque percussion and vocals). My gosh, that song is great background music when you're writing about gargantuan beasts attacking in all their terrible grandeur! So fitting. For the other two chapters that I've written so far, I listened to the Gladiator soundtrack and other epic music compilations I discovered on YouTube.
Currently, for Uendelig (the first book in Dwellers of Darkness, Children of Light, an eight part series of loosely connected novellas in which young adults battle against creatures and fantastical beings from the otherworld that have crossed the void and ended up in our own), I haven't been listening to anything while writing the opening chapters, but when I get to the draugr scene toward the end of the book, I know I'll be digging into my stockpile of epic music to find something worthy for battle. 😉
Celine Dion has been my favorite singer since I was eight years old. I was lucky enough to see her in concert at Caesar's Palace in 2005. Some singers sound terrible live, but Celine sounded amazing, even better than she does on her CDs. She was also really interactive and did quite a bit of dancing and kept up an incredible energy and excitement level throughout the whole show. It was a tremendous experience, and one that I'll never forget!
2. Fav season?
Definitely fall. Just the feel of it. You can almost sense that it's time to break out The Turn of the Screw for a millionth reread. Or is that just me? 😉 I love the crispness in the air, the glorious burnt orange and golden hued leaves, the carte blanche you have to read all the scary/classic Halloweeney books (think The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, etc.) you want and classify them as "seasonal reading" without making all your Goodreads friends wonder if you've been bitten by a vampire and somehow developed strangely macabre reading tastes. 😉 Plus, fall also means I get to bake these delicious chocolate chip pumpkin spice cookies that have become a tradition with me over the last few years.
I haven't had one yet, thank goodness, although when I visited Paris in 2004, my hotel room was the size of a shoebox. There was also only ONE iron in the entire hotel, as we discovered when the concierge knocked on our door the second day we were there and asked for it back! But that's beside the point. The important thing was, I was in Paris, and apart from the smallness of the hotel, the location was fantastic! I spent most of my time seeing the sights and wandering around the Rue de Rivoli, making daily stops at W. H. Smith English Booksellers. They were running a £2 for £5 and £3 for £10 sale, so I stocked up on all the UK Penguin editions of the Jeeves novels that weren't available back home. I would go back to Paris just to shop there! 😉
British detective & mystery shows. I can't get enough of them! Midsomer Murders was the show that launched me on this trajectory three and a half years ago, and I haven't looked back since, moving on to Miss Marple (with Joan Hickson), Campion, Inspector Alleyn, Rosemary & Thyme, and, my most recent favorite (and probably most favorite of all) Inspector Lewis. As if visiting the haunts of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien weren't incentive enough to go to Oxford, there is now the added chance that I might bump into Robbie Lewis and Jamie Hathaway while they are on a case. 😉 Thanks to Netflix (I love you streaming!), I'm currently time-warping back to the 1920s and enjoying Tommy & Tuppence. Such fun, and Tuppy's hats are amazing!! 😀
5. Fav book and/or author?
David Copperfield. I read this book close to sixteen years ago and can still quote passages and remember scenes vividly. All the suffering and hardships this young 19th century Englishman endured and all the mistakes he made in love and in life transcended the ages and became so relevant to me, a preteen living in the United States in the 20th century. That is truly a testament to the genius of Charles Dickens. It is also what I think makes a book a classic—its timelessness.
My favorite author is Agatha Christie. I've read 40 of her books and plan to spend many happy years reading the rest of them. 😀
As a writer, this would definitely be…my computer!!! I cannot even imagine writing a book, let alone a 700 page novel like Corcitura, in longhand. My admiration for Charlotte Bronte and Dickens especially (who was not known for his brevity) has skyrocketed ever since I became a writer. How did they do it?!
I'm a classically trained violinist, pianist, and soprano and have been performing since I was three. I wouldn't call this a hobby, but for something completely frivolous and unbookish, I can probably recite the entire script of Jaws, complete with dialects and sound effects, and enhanced by the singing of various sea shanties! You wouldn't want to watch the movie with me. I can also do a pretty mean Gollum impersonation, precious.
8. Fav movie/actor/actress?
Jaws. No question. I started watching Shark Week the year it premiered and became fascinated with Jaws around the age of five when I went to Pic 'n Save and saw the movie poster. I didn't see the movie in full until I was 15, but I can't remember a moment when I wasn't aware of Jaws. It's been a part of my life for years.
Favorite actor…hmm…how about we do a modern one and one from the past? Russell Crowe for modern (I love him in every movie I've seen him in, but am a huge fan of his historical epics Gladiator, Robin Hood, and Master & Commander), and Danny Kaye, who has provided me with countless hours of laughter since I was a kid. There are also many classic actors I'm a fan of, including Humphrey Bogart, Tyrone Power, James Cagney, and Gregory Peck.
Favorite actress…Judi Dench. Love her! Her movies are great, but I'm a huge fan of her BBC sitcom As Time Goes By. I can watch that show over and over again, and have. I own the complete series (plus the reunion specials) on DVD, and am actually rewatching the final few seasons for what is probably the millionth time. It's such a great show—like visiting with old friends. 😀
I also love a bevy of classic actresses, too, such as Greer Garson, Vivien Leigh, Lauren Bacall, Maureen O'Hara, and Grace Kelly, just to name a few.
9. Fav food?
Jarlsberg cheese! Give me a handful of Jarlsberg, and I can write for hours.
New Interview and Corcitura Giveaway at Shut Up and Read!
Posted by Melika Dannese Hick in Author Spotlight, Book Spotlight, Corcitura Feature, Fun Stuff, Giveaway Announcement, News
1888, 1894, 2001, 2003, 2013, 80's fantasy, 80's fantasy movies, a toast, Agatha Christie, Alexandre Dumas, ashen, barbed tongue, best friends, bewitching, birthright, black chalices, black winged beast, Books In My Belfry, carrier, Charles Dickens, children of light, City of Lights, city of lights: the trials and triumphs of ilyse charpentier, classics, combo, corcitura, coterie, crying blood, dead, death, demons, devils, dorothy, drainer of life, drink and be free, dwellers of darkness, Eastern Europe, ebooks, edward robert hughes, elizabeth kostova, England, entrancing, Eric Bradburry, euphemism, everyday, feature, female vampires, female werewolves, flesh, France, Friendship, frodo, Gandalf, gandalf the grey, Gilded Age, giveaway, gollum, Goodreads, Grand Tour, Greece, Greydanus, gullet, hardcover, hellish, hidden talents, historical fiction, hybrid vampires, JAWS, jim henson, jim henson's the storyteller, Kindle, legend, Leonora Bianchetti, little boy who cries blood, living death, London, lord of the rings, Madelaine Bradburry, Madelaine Dennison, mcdonald's value meal, Melika Dannese Lux, monsters, morbid, Mystery, myth, neverending story, new adult, New Adult Lit, New York, nightmare, novellas, novels, oh, otherworld, Paperback, Paris, phantasmal, pianist, Pinterest, plague, plague carrier, Prague, precious, Q&A, quicksand, red light, return to oz, Romania, Romanian, Russia, sad cypress, satyr, sea shanties, shattered, shattered skulls, shut up and read, silver-tongued, silver-tongued devil, soprano, sound effects, st catherine of siena, Stefan Ratliff, stories, storweaving, storytelling, stump, tall tales, the historian, the storyteller, translucent, Twitter, uendelig, undead brother, uninitiated, Upyr, vampire, vampire fiction, Vampire Hunter, vampires, vampiric equality, vampiric transformation, vampirised, Venice, Victorian, violinist, Vladec Salei, voices, Vrykolakas, web site, Werewolf, werewolf transformation, werewolves, what's that in the hollw, Wilkie Collins, willow, writing, young age, young author, young female author, Zigmund Fertig
Happy Friday, everyone! Many exciting things are happening today! Head on over to Shut Up and Read for my latest interview, in which you will learn about the characters of Corcitura, discover what 80's fantasy movie caused me to break my ankle as a child, read a brand new excerpt from the novel, and find out the latest news about Uendelig and the other planned works in my eight part novella series, Dwellers of Darkness, Children of Light.
And don't forget to enter within the next six days for your chance to win one of five Kindle (US only) copies of Corcitura! http://shutupandreadgroup.blogspot.com/2013/07/q-with-melika-dannese-lux.html
Read on for the interview and short excerpt! 😀
1. Tell us a little bit about your main characters.
I had always wanted to try my hand at writing a book with multiple narrators. It's fascinating how one character can perceive something and another can think he or she is completely insane and see the same events in a whole new light. When I set out to write Corcitura, I decided the best way to tell the story would be to have a trio of narrators pick up the strands and weave them into a tale that spans the years 1888-1895 and about a half dozen locations in Europe and America. Each narrator is interconnected with the others in ways he or she only begins to understand as the story progresses and the mystery deepens.
The lion's share of the novel is spent with Eric Bradburry, an eighteen-year-old Englishman who embarks on a grand tour of Europe with his best friend, Stefan Ratliff. To Eric, the whole trip is a chance to see the world and possibly have the greatest adventure of his young life. The fact that he and Stefan are striking out on their own for the first time only adds to his rather grand expectations. He and Stefan have been inseparable for years (13, to be exact), and Eric has always trusted Stefan with his life, so when things begin to unravel almost the minute he and Stefan meet up with a coterie of bewitching and otherworldly people in Paris, Eric essentially has to grow up overnight and make several life shattering choices to try and save not only Stefan's, but his own life and soul as well.
Six years later in Gilded Age New York, we meet Madelaine Dennison, our second narrator. Madelaine is a strong woman who fights for what she wants and is not afraid to speak her mind, even to her father (and this was a dicey thing at best in the Victorian age!), regardless of the consequences. She would literally "go to hell and back and cut off the devil's head" to save the ones she loves. Madelaine, as one character calls her, is "a brick" and such a vital part of the second half of Corcitura that I don't know how certain characters would have made it through without her. Can you tell I'm a fan of Miss Dennison? 😉
And then there is Zigmund Fertig. I love all my characters, of course, but Zigmund (the third and final narrator of Corcitura) is my favorite. Don't tell the others. 😉 The shock and horror he endured at a young age at the hands of a Vrykolakas and the resentment and confusion he carried with him for thirty-odd years endeared him to me most, especially because everything he thought he knew about his parents and what he was a part of in Greece turned out to be a far cry from what really happened. I absolutely LOVED writing his narrative and exploring those feelings/emotions/demons he struggles to overcome, and whether or not he could ever overcome them at all. This conflict was vitally important to the outcome of the stories of all the other characters because their fates were so intertwined with the choices he might make. So Zigmund Fertig will always hold a very special place in my heart.
But, of course, you want to know about the vampires, right? Along with the Upyr and the Vrykolakas who create the Corcitura, there are several female vampiric characters, but I don't want to ruin the surprise by revealing their identities to you prematurely. If you love seeing female vampire protagonists having a major role in the outcome of a story, then you will love the two in this book. Let's hear it for the girls! They have enough history and chutzpah to fill volumes more, which is my intended plan. Oh, and, by the way, they also happen to be werewolves, and if that duality doesn't intrigue you, I don't know what will!
Finally, there is Greydanus, who has a huge role to play towards the end of the novel. Keep an eye out for him because if I tell you his lineage now, the whole plot will be blown to smithereens. Suffice it to say, the last half of the book hinges on the secret birthright of the little boy who cries blood.
2. How long have you been writing, and when did you first consider yourself an author?
I've been writing books since I was fourteen, but I first considered myself an author when I completed a novel at the age of 18. The fact that I had actually finished something that was publishable solidified my decision to pursue this career path.
3. How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?
The fact that my mother started reading to me when I was in the womb and my father told me wild, not-exactly-verifiable tall tales while I was still in the cradle, really engendered in me an early love for reading. I was also brought up on Classics and some really fantastic literature, which was the first step in causing the writing seeds to germinate from a young age.
Following on from this early fascination with storytelling, a big part of my childhood was spent watching and marveling over fantasy movies and TV shows (Willow, The Neverending Story, Jim Henson's The Storyteller, and Return to Oz, to name a few). I was a sponge for these films and shows and couldn't get enough of all their magic and wonder. And to show you how deep my love for these movies ran, at the age of three, I broke my ankle pretending to be Dorothy as she stepped across the rocks to avoid the quicksand. Yes, I was hooked from a very early age. 😉
When it came time to write my first novel, I naturally set it in the fantasy genre. This was the book I began at fourteen but abandoned for school, life, and other projects. However, in July of last year, I broke the manuscript out of the attic and began totally transforming it into a dystopian epic set in a brutal and lawless world. The entire theme and outcome of the story have changed drastically but all the exciting bits (mythical beasts, hidden identities, battles, political intrigue, and some truly horrifying and treacherous villains) are still part of the fabric of the story. With the passage of years, however, everything within the story seems to have more meaning and gravitas to me now. It is definitely not the same book I would have written as a fourteen-year-old, so I am very happy I put the novel on hold.
You should also know that Gandalf is directly responsible for my decision to become a writer. It was all that wizard's fault! 😉 My mind was made up in the winter of 2001 as I sat in a darkened theater and heard Gandalf the Grey speak the following line to Frodo Baggins:
That was it, and I haven't looked back since. 🙂
In addition to loving fantasy, I was also a big fan of monsters, vampires in particular, so it was only natural that I would start writing about them, too, one day. A project begun in 2003 was finally finished nine years later with the publication of Corcitura, a 700 page novel about vampires that vampirised me! I remember watching an interview with Elizabeth Kostova once and laughing when I heard her say it took her a decade to write The Historian. At the time, I thought that was insane. A decade to write a single book?! Inconceivable! Serves me right for scoffing at her. 😉
In my current projects, what I've noticed is that I'm getting away from historically based novels and going back to my fantasy roots. Not straight or high fantasy, although a few projects down the line, I am planning on beginning work again on a fantasy duology that I've been writing on and off since 2003. One of the books in Dwellers of Darkness, Children of Light, an eight part series of loosely connected novellas I'm writing now (the first, Uendelig, will be released in a month or two), actually serves as a prequel to my fantasy duology, set 60 years before the action of the book.
My last two novels were set in our world's past (City of Lights: The Trials and Triumphs of Ilyse Charpentier being a YA historical romance with a dash of sibling conflict; Corcitura being a combination of many genres, but set within a historical time frame), but even though my upcoming novella series is also set in our world, each story is infused with fantasy and the supernatural, dealing with creatures from the otherworld crossing the void into and wreaking havoc on our own. I love dropping the phantasmal into everyday life and seeing how my characters react—some with horror, some with laughter, others with extreme annoyance, as is the case in one novella with a character who finds it highly inconvenient that his brother is now undead. It's great fun! 😀
4. What is a Corcitura and where did the idea come from to turn it into a book?
I'm so glad you asked! 😉 Corcitura is the Romanian word for hybrid. It has no vampiric connotations whatsoever, but before I tell you why I chose this as the name for my new creature, how about a little backstory?
A year before I even got the idea for the Corcitura, I had seen a painting that sent my mind reeling with all the possible implications behind it. The painting was "Oh, what's that in the hollow?" by Edward Robert Hughes.
I took one look at that painting and screamed "VAMPIRE!" There's something so morbidly entrancing and enigmatic about that painting. Is he dead? The sheen of his nearly translucent eyes certainly seems to suggest it. But what if he's just resting until the moon rises? I only recently found out that he is dead! But back then, I was still in the dark, and so I did what all good storytellers do: I totally ignored the inconvenient facts behind the painting and ran roughshod with my inspiration. Those translucent eyes were never far from my mind and inspired me so much that they found life in the book's eponymous creature.
So, why vampires, after all? Out of all the monsters of myth, vampires had always been my favorites. I had always been fascinated by how they could be suave and alluring on the outside (or when the sun wasn't up), but with the flick of a barbed tongue, turn into slavering, fang-toothed, bloodsucking beasts. The juxtaposition fascinated me, since in original folklore almost all vampires are essentially plagues. Some just know how to mask their true nature better than others.
I knew if I was going to write about vampires, they'd better be different and intriguing, and since I have always been crazy for folklore from different parts of the world, this idea gave me an excuse to explore vampire mythology. It's fascinating reading, freaky, but fascinating. Up until this point, I had the rudiments of a novel, but my vampire was content to stay in the background, kicking through my mind until he finally distinguished himself enough to get the story going. Until then, I had nicknamed him "Our Combo," since he was going to be a hybrid—created after being bitten by two vampires of differing species. Realizing that I couldn't continue with such a McDonald's Value Meal sounding name, I took the next step in finding out what the word "hybrid" in Romanian was (since Stefan's family has a long and torturous history deep in the soil of that country). I have Romanian ancestors, so digging deeper into the country's myths and legends was an added bonus. When I discovered that corcitura meant hybrid, I thought about it, and since I didn't like any of the names I'd made up in the interim, it eventually stuck.
Yet the real impetus behind the idea of having the victim be a hybrid came down to one thing: sunlight. Yes, that's how the whole "combo" idea started—finding a way to make sure my vampire would be able to frolic around during daylight hours without being charred to ashes by the sun's rays. For three months, I went back and forth on how a vampire could achieve this, during which time I whittled down my choices for favorite vampire candidates. Once I started seeing how different the strengths and weaknesses were, and understanding how much more indestructible the combined blood of two vampires would be (plus the human blood of the original victim), I knew I was on the right path, and settled on the Vrykolakas (from Greece) and the Upyr (from Russia) for the creators of my new vampiric species.
5. What is the best advice you have been given?
One thing I always keep in mind is a quote from St. Catherine of Siena: "Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire." That quote, and the message behind it, has really helped me to not be swayed by unscrupulous people or other flash in the pan fads and associations in this ever changing and chaotic industry. In the same spirit, the best advice that I've been given has come from my parents, loved ones, and other authors whom I admire: be true to yourself and never compromise your principles in your quest to get ahead. In other words, stay grounded!
6. Do you have any hidden talents?
I'm a classically trained violinist, pianist, and soprano and have been performing since I was three. For something completely frivolous, I can probably recite the entire script of Jaws, complete with dialects and sound effects, and enhanced by the singing of various sea shanties! You wouldn't want to watch the movie with me. I can also do a pretty mean Gollum impersonation, precious.
7. Hard/paperbacks or eBooks?
Both! I publish digitally and in paperback format, and for a while there I never thought I would be comfortable reading on the Kindle. However, I have recently become a huge devotee and seem to be reading more books than ever on a digital device! It's so convenient and almost like discovering some lost cave of wonders with all the free Classics available on there. I think I've just about completed my entire Alexandre Dumas, Wilkie Collins, and Charles Dickens collections thanks to the Kindle. Not only has it saved me thousands of dollars, but my library shelves are thanking me for not weighing them down more than they already are!
While I am excited about Kindle and seem to discover new books every day, I still love the actual feel of a book in my hands and will never totally stop reading or buying physical books. I have too many of them in my library, plus, I also have a colossal collection of bookmarks that would stage a revolt if I ever abandoned them. 😉
8. What book are you reading now?
Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie. I can always count on her to really get my mind puzzling over all those red herrings. Her books are so much fun! 😀
I love to chat with readers and other writers. Please feel free to connect with me on any or all of the following sites:
My web site: https://booksinmybelfry.com/ There are five more excerpts from Corcitura, plus a selection of quotes from each of the three main narrators, available on my web site. I also have a whole host of fun things relating to the book and my other novel and upcoming projects/releases posted there, so be sure to check them out if you're curious! 😀
My Twitter: https://twitter.com/BooksInMyBelfry
My Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/950456.Melika_Dannese_Lux
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Short Excerpt
Taken from Corcitura, Chapter 8, A Tavern in Venice
"A toast to you, my brother," he said, lifting his glass. "May your eyes be opened on this night, and may you see as you have never seen before. Knowledge is a very powerful thing. Drink and be free."
Red light shot through the glass, red light reflected from the candle guttering in its holder above my head. My eyes darted up toward the ceiling. First impressions are tricky things, and mine had been wrong—horribly wrong. There were no angels in these panels. What had I been thinking before? Demons cavorted in a pit of rocks and shattered skulls. Fire licked their hellish bodies as they danced through one torture scene after another. In the center panel, a huge, black-winged beast devoured something that was still kicking as it was being forced down the devil's gullet.
How could it still be kicking? Or, more importantly, how could I see it kicking?
The figures in the panel were moving.
Their movements were slow, tortured, dreamlike, but real—undeniably real. I watched, entranced, unable to turn away, as one poor soul after another was raked across hot coals or had its ashen flesh stripped by one of the devil's overseers.
I put my hand to my mouth, but still my eyes remained riveted to the ceiling. The other panels did nothing to cure my nausea. Eleven horned beasts—looking like crosses between satyrs and devils—formed a circle around a giant creature, half dragon, half man, that held a severed head aloft in its clawed hands. Blood dripped from the stump, falling into the waiting mouths of some of the beasts, as the others caught the liquid in black chalices.
The fresco was blatantly hellish, but its living replica was even worse.
I had lied to myself from the very beginning, deceived myself into believing that I was being fanciful and overly imaginative. Surely such monstrosities only existed in nightmares? Yet I had lived through a nightmare these past months, and that was no dream at all.
I was still fighting against the awful truth, not wanting to give in, searching my mind for a logical explanation—but there was none. And the most horrible realization of all was that I had known, somewhere deep inside, ever since the day I first set eyes on that silver-tongued devil in Paris.
Plague carrier.
Living death.
Drainer of life.
The phrasing did not matter. No euphemism could strike fear into the hearts of men the way that single word could.
Vampire.
And for me, the uninitiated, that single word meant death.