IMMORTALS: THE AWAKENING
Love Spell
July 31 2007
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Writerspace: Please tell us about your new release, IMMORTALS: THE AWAKENING.
Joy: IMMORTALS: THE AWAKENING is the third book in Dorchester Publishing's hot new urban paranormal series Immortals. Book 1, IMMORTALS: THE CALLING by Jennifer Ashley, and Book 2, IMMORTALS: THE DARKENING by Robin T. Popp, were released in May and June. The series revolves around a sisterhood of witches known as the Coven of Light, who are desperate to stop demons and death magic from taking over the world. Their best weapons are four Immortal warrior brothers, born at the dawn of time and charged with the magical protection of the fledgling human race. Sometime in the Middle Ages, the brothers dropped out of sight for various reasons. Now their magical battle skills are desperately needed.
IMMORTALS: THE AWAKENING will be available on July 31 and features a Celtic magic theme. Coven of Light witch Christine Lachlan tracks down the Immortal Kalen in a remote Scottish castle, but encounters some difficulty in convincing the reclusive warrior to join the battle to save mankind. A betrayal in Kalen's past has made him wary of trusting humans, and the greed and dishonor he sees in modern human culture makes him wonder if the human race is even worth saving any more. Christine's rival for Kalen's affections is a beautiful and vengeful leannan-sidhe—a magical muse who exchanges incredible sex for the souls of her victims. Readers will also encounter an assortment of mythological Celtic peoples: Selkie, Halflings, brownies, merfolk…and Mac. Mac looks and acts like a cheeky Scottish human male, age 16…but appearances can be deceiving! Just who or what is Mac? You'll have to read THE AWAKENING to find out!
Writerspace: I understand this is book 3 in a 4 book series. Could you tell us something about the series as a whole? Who came up with the idea behind the series? How do they all connect together. And I like how the covers of all four books join to make one design.
Joy: The Immortals series is the brain child of Jennifer Ashley, who's written Books 1 & 4. I was approached by my editor with an offer to do the third book. Jennifer envisioned Book 3 having a Celtic theme, and since I write Celtic paranormals, my editor thought I would be a good fit for the series. My previous Celtic books had been historicals, but a contemporary Celtic paranormal sounded like huge fun! I immediately said yes. Robin Popp agreed to do Book 2, which Jennifer intended to be a vampire book.
Robin and I received a synopsis of the first book in the series, The Calling, and a couple paragraphs about the settings and general themes (Celtic, Vampire) of books 2 & 3. In each of the Immortals books, the heroine is a human witch, and the hero an Immortal warrior. It's the task of each witch heroine to engage her hero in the fight to save the world from death magic. Within that overall setup, Robin and I did our own thing.
Writerspace: What was it like to be a part of this series in terms of working with other authors? Did you have to interact with them a lot in order to make your story work? Do you enjoy working on connected books?
Joy: Jenn immediately set up a Yahoo loop where we could discuss worldbuilding, characters, and continuity elements. The project was a lot of fun, since our creative energies clicked right away. We posted initial synopses and made sure elements of our plots didn't contradict what the other authors were doing. After that, we didn't critique each others' writing too closely, but conferred constantly on elements and timelines that needed to be consistent. Toward the end, we read each others' close-to-final drafts and teased out any details that needed to be revised for continuity among the books.
Writerspace: What sort of research did you have to do for this novel and how long did it take you?
Joy: I did investigation into Celtic myths, magical creatures and characters, ancient runes, Etruscan history and religion, and modern witchcraft. I also was lucky enough to visit Scotland while I was writing The Awakening, so the settings in my book and elements of modern Scotland are taken from my trip. (note: To see pictures of places in the UK that appear in The Awakening and my other books, see my website) I did a couple weeks of intense research upfront as I developed my initial synopsis, and researched as needed while I was writing the book.
Writerspace: Is there a certain place in your home where you find yourself most inspired to write or can you write anywhere, anytime?
Joy: You know how a lot of houses have a formal living room that no one ever uses? Not in my house—that's where I write, sitting on the couch with my laptop computer on my lap, and my feet up on the coffee table. Sometimes my dog curls up next to me on the couch, and lets me know when it's time for a break and a walk. I usually write in the morning, but when a deadline is near, I write all through the day.
Writerspace: What's your favorite / most memorable scene in IMMORTALS: THE AWAKENING? Why?
Joy: My hero, Kalen, is 3000 years old, and of the opinion that mankind has not done anything honorable or worthwhile since, oh, about AD 1900 or so. He especially hates the idea of women wearing pants instead of dresses, and thinks Christine's jeans and bulky sweater are horrendous. One of my favorite scenes takes place in Kalen's remote, modern technology-free castle on the north coast of Scotland. He tosses Christine's jeans in the fire. Oh, well-- by that time, they were ripped beyond repair, anyway…
Writerspace: Of all the books you've written till date, which is your favorite? Why?
Joy: Usually the one I'm working on. After all, that one has the most potential!
Writerspace: I've heard it said almost every author at some point or another suffers from writer's block. Have you ever had that problem? If so, how do you deal with it?
Joy: With tight deadlines, I can't afford to believe in writer's block! But sometimes a particular scene isn't coming together. Usually what I do then is insert a couple of asterisks and write a couple sentences about exactly what is bothering me about it. Then I skip to the next scene, or take a break that includes walking the dog, riding my bike, or doing some research. Sooner or later, I see a path through the fog and everything works out.
Writerspace: Could you briefly tell your fans of a typical day in your life, outlining your writing schedule?
Joy: Usually I get up early, read the newspaper (comics first!), eat breakfast and get the kids off to school. Then I try to clear time each morning to write. Email, promo and other less creative tasks like shopping and housework (a bare minimum of that!) are done in the afternoon. Then the kids are out of school and there are activities to drive them to, homework to do, dinner, etc. I like to read in the evenings, but if my deadline is close, I edit pages and write in the evenings, too. I do work part time away from the house at a non-writing job. On those days, everything is that much more hectic and I usually drop some of my writing tasks.
Writerspace: What are you working on at present and what can fans look forward to from you in the next twenty-four months?
Joy: DEEP MAGIC, the second book in my Druids of Avalon series, will be released in January 2008. My work in progress is the third Druids of Avalon book, SILVER SILENCE, scheduled for August 2008. I'm very excited about the Druids series, which is historical paranormal and has a Celtic/Arthurian theme. The first installment in the Druids of Avalon series, THE GRAIL KING, was very well received, and won the Romantic Time Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Historical Fantasy of 2006.
Writerspace: How may fans get in touch with you?
Joy: You can email me through my website. While you're there, enter my monthly contest, sign up for my newsletter, read excerpts, character interviews and "Secrets Behind the Stories." There's always something new!
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