THE ONLY ONE
Kensington
May 2003
Buy Now

DARK SYMPHONY
Berkley
March 2003
Buy Now

LORD OF THE LAIR
Kensington
September 2002
Buy Now

DARK GUARDIAN
Kensington
May 2002
Buy Now

DARK LEGEND
Kensington
January 2000
Buy Now

FANTASY
Jove
April 2002
Buy Now

Writerspace: Could you please tell readers a little bit about your Carparthians and your latest book, DARK SYMPHONY?

Christine Feehan: Carpathians are a species of people living among humans. They have many gifts and many drawbacks. The struggle in a world where their species is slowly becoming extinct through lack of women and children. Their people are searching for answers to their problems just as we do. DARK SYMPHONY is a book about two strong people who have had life hit them in the face. They have insecurities, strange families and still find the courage and hope to continue. It’s a love story, plain and simply a love story. As most of my books, it has action, romance and a bit of suspense.

Writerspace: In some ways DARK SYMPHONY is a deviation from the plotline you've been following. What made you decide to give Byron his own story now?

Christine Feehan: I don’t have a choice, nor do I set out to deliberately change a storyline. My characters dictate to me exactly how they act, what they think and how they respond. Byron didn’t feel less lethal to me as a Carpathian, in fact he showed some merciless and ruthless traits which sometimes shocked me given his nature. He was far more cautious and thoughtful than the hunters. I put it down to his artistic nature and also to his past history. He lost a lot by acting without thinking things through and I think he learned from that and didn’t want to repeat past mistakes.

Writerspace: I loved Antonietta. Why did you decide to return to the Scarletti family, whose ancestors were featured in THE SCARLETTI CURSE? What attracted you to Antonietta's character? She was so unique - I mean, how many blind heroines do you read about? And yet, she was still a strong character who would do any feminist proud. *g*

Christine Feehan: When I wrote the Scarletti Curse, Antonietta began to whisper to me. I recognized her as a lifemate almost immediately. She was an interesting woman. She had her own world where she was comfortable and she could be strong and live her life the way she wanted to live it. She loved her family and they relied on her. Byron had a family he loved, but both knew their families weren’t the norm! lol When they came together it was interesting to see what happened.

Writerspace: In DARK SYMPHONY you introduce another Carpathian-like line, the Jaguars. Are you going to return to this is future books, and are there more different lines out there?

Christine Feehan: I have been working toward this theme for some time as an explanation why some human women have tremendous psychic abilities. Of course there are other reasons why they would, but descendants, even far removed, from a shapeshifter species makes sense. As vampire legends abound in our world, so do legends of jaguars, leopards, and werewolves. It wouldn’t make sense they wouldn’t be part of the Carpathian world on some level.

Writerspace: Part of the reason that this book seemed like a departure from the plotline of the other books was the absence of the vampire hunters. Why did you neglect them in this book, and what have they been up to in their absence?

Christine Feehan: This book was Byron’s story. It’s that simple. He surprised me by being who and what he was. The Carpathians had a society of people, they weren’t mainly vampire hunters because they didn’t have that many males turning vampire in the beginning. That came later with the decline in numbers of women and children. Byron was a different type of Carpathian and he had learned some very difficult lessons. He regretted the loss of his friendship with Jacques and knew it was because he moved too quickly without real thought. It made him much more cautious in the things he chose to do. Not less lethal, but certainly more cautious.

Writerspace: Okay, I have to admit that I loved Josef. It was so nice to see a Carpathian being a teenager. And the conversation about Savannah and Gregori was just priceless. *g* But to return to Josef, (and I have to admit it's nice to see that Carpathians aren't born dark brooding men) what inspired you to include him? Will we be seeing more of him in future books?

Christine Feehan: Byron inspired Josef. He was struggling to win Antonietta and understand families and tolerance and along comes his family. Carpathian society is not that far removed from outs and Josef certainly pointed that out. He was a wonderful boy, embracing the world and trying out everything to learn about himself. He had talents and limitations and he pushed into areas maybe he wasn’t quite ready for. All of us can relate to that. But more than anything, Josef pointed the differences too. Carpathians are NOT human and they age differently and have animal traits. We’ve grown familiar with them and insist on judging by human standards. Josef was still a boy and still needed watching over at his age.

Writerspace: Can you tease us a bit about what's going to happen next in the Carpathian Saga?

Christine Feehan: I will say the jaguars return in a very hot book set in South America and the Carpathian healers come together to save one of their own. A mortal enemy is rising and somewhere a female vampire hunter is seeking prey!

Writerspace: What should readers look for next by Christine Feehan?

Christine Feehan: I have six books coming out this year. Dark Symphony, March of course, The Only One, an anthology out in May. I have a Dark book titled Dark Descent in the anthology and it certainly contains more history of the Carpathian people. In July I have Lover Beware, also an anthology. This book is the first of my magical sisters book, something I do know a bit about having several sisters! I’m really looking forward to my September release, titled Shadow Game. It’s my psychic thriller and the teaser is in the back of DARK SYMPHONY. Unfortunately it was misprinted as GhostWalker. The correct title is Shadow Game. In November Dark Melody will be released, that is Dayan’s book and again it is more of a love story. In December, I am so pleased to be able to have another Christmas book, The Twilight Before Christmas, the second of the magical sister’s book and quite a thriller. So I have a long line up this year!