Ideas of Shadow

So, in honor of Shadows of Ourselves being out (you can buy it here) I thought I would talk today about how I got the idea and inspiration for the book!

Shadows really exists because of the scene in the alley in the first chapter. I had the image of Hunter protecting this boy from a pair of Charmer Hounds, and it was really the monsters that drew me in - I wanted to know what they were and who had sent them.

 

I'd always wanted to write a main character who could tell when people were lying - because wouldn't that be the best power? But Sky hates it, and as I wrote him I started to understand what kind of toll it would take. And, of course, since I'm a glutton for punishment, I made the magik hurt.

Originally, the book was supposed to be a novella set in Chicago, but after a few false starts where I played around with the character ages and verb-tense, I started my outline from scratch, moving the book to Saint John. I grew up here, and I've always wanted to set a full-scale paranormal novel here. I think the city really lends itself to magic, and my upbringing really factors into my writing and how I view cityscapes when I'm writing. Plus, looking at the city through the eyes of a bunch of powerful, often immortal, beings, was really fun.

 

 

With the changes, I rewrote my outline, and the story kept growing. I knew I wanted Sky and Hunter to be on a race against time - some of my favorite fantasy novels take place over the course of a few days, and I wanted to keep my timeline tight, so Shadows takes place over the course of five.

I think the thing I love about novels that are fast, that are races, when the villain is chasing the heroes around, is that you're jolting through these intense, magikal landscapes in a very fast, but very close-up way.

Sky gets a bit of magik culture shock throughout the novel, traversing places like the bazaar and the Seelie Court, and I wanted to make those settings as colorful and mesmerizing as possible.

I really can't wait to write the second novel, because I think the direction the series takes will surprise a lot of people. The books get bigger and bigger in scope as they go, and I'm going to have so much fun turning over the city to look at the magik beneath the surface...