WINNER: Thanks for all the comments everyone! The random winner of the copy of Firelight is Stephanie Samphire. Congratulations! Please send your mailing address to: naliniDOTassistantATgmailDOTcom and we'll pass it on to Kristen.
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I'm delighted to have Kristen Callihan on the blog today. I had a chance to have an early read of her darkly romantic and atmospheric debut, Firelight, and utterly enjoyed it. You can check out an excerpt of the book here. Please welcome Kristen to the blog everyone!
Kristen Callihan on Firelight
Thank you, Nalini for having me here! I’m a huge fangirl, which goes without saying, but even more so, I admire your generosity and kindness to both readers and fellow authors. And, really, how cool is it that I get to hang out with you and your readers? (pssstt, hey readers, I don’t want anyone to get too excited but, on my way in, I happened to find this lovely feather, brilliant blue and silver tipped. I’m just saying… Nalini might not have *made up* her angels… But you didn’t hear that from me.)Ahem…
Lately, I’ve been asked why did I decide to mix historical romance with paranormal. It seems that the two don’t often mix, much like second cousins meeting up once a year for the holidays.
This notion hadn’t occurred to me. I’d been spoon-fed on paranormal through such writers as Anne Rice, Stoker, and Shelley. Stories such as Dracula, Frankenstein and Dorian Gray fired my young imagination and started a life-long love affair with the paranormal. But why Victorian London? For me, Victorian London is as much a character as my hero and heroine. This is a place of narrow, dank alleyways, shrouded in fog. It’s the shrill cry of the constable’s whistle when murder is afoot. Footsteps scuffing over the cobbles in the dark of night. It is also the seductive clasp of a lady’s corset, her bustled skirts swaying in enticingly, all but begging for a man to discover what lies beneath.
And it is a place in which my hero, Lord Benjamin Archer, becomes a mystery unto himself. In the modern age, a fellow with something to hide about his appearance might easily turn to cosmetics, hell, with the internet and good take-out, he might never need leave his house. In our world, a masked man might be looked upon as strange, but we’d chalk it up to yet another bit of weirdness and go on our way. In Victorian London, however, there would be talk. What does he hide? Rumors and speculation will grow. Especially when lofty peers of the realm begin to be murdered, and witness point to one suspect, a masked man.
Sex, murder, mystery and magic, they all fit quite well within Victorian London. How then could I resist?
In Firelight, my heroine, Miranda must navigate the twisting avenues of speculation and fear, and learn to trust her heart. The payoff just might be wining the love of a lifetime. So how about the rest of you? Is there an era or place that sets your imagination on fire? Had you the ability to go back in time, where would you go? What would you do?
Giveaway: Kristen is giving away a copy of Firelight - to enter the draw, just leave a comment on this post (on the main blog rather than the Goodreads feed) with your answer to one of her questions above, before 5pm Thursday 2nd Februrary 2012, New Zealand time.
The fine print: Contest is open internationally. One entry per household. No purchase necessary to enter. Winner will be chosen randomly using random.org and his or her name posted on this blog on Friday February 3rd, 2012. Void where prohibited.
