Blackthorn on ‘The Author Visits’

Courtesy of the wonderful Veena Kashyap, Blackthorn is currently featuring in a week-long spotlight on ‘The Author Visits’. Thank you SO much for hosting me, Veena. 🙂

It started on Monday with a showcase of all three Blackthorn books so far. An awesome 5 star review of Blood Shadows featured yesterday. Today, I’m being interviewed by Veena. If you’d like to know who or what inspires me to write, what scene I’d pick out as a favourite from one of my books, and what advice I’d give to fellow writers on their path to publication, you’ll find it here. There’s lots more insight too!

Later this week, there will be reviews for Blood Roses and Blood Torn as well as a guest post from me. There’s also a give-away of the first three Blackthorn books, just in case you want to tempt a friend into trying the series. I do hope you’ll be able to stop by.

And, in case you’ve missed it on Facebook, Twitter and the notice board here, THIS FRIDAY we’re revealing Blood Deep‘s release date! I’ve been totally overwhelmed by your response to this news so far – thank you for all the support and excitement that’s been flooding in. Calendars at the ready!! 😀

We’re also celebrating Blood Shadows reaching number 1 again in the Gothic Romance charts on Amazon.com this week – so thank you again for all your support. xxx

Blackthorn: A Dark and Twisted Fairy Tale?

Once upon a time, in a dark, dark wood…hold on…strike that….

Once upon a time, in a dark, dark district, deep in the rotten and impoverished core of a human-ruled locale…

I often get asked what inspired Blackthorn – how the idea first came to me, or which author in the genre made me want to dip into PNR. By now most of my readers who visit this site or have read any of my interviews will know it was one night of getting lost that inspired my first thoughts about the series. And I have confessed that I hadn’t actually read any PNR at that time, not least because it didn’t exist long, long ago, in the distant land of Wales, in the year of 1996.

But…

I had watched The Little Vampire TV series as a child. I did watch The Lost Boys in my late teens. I’ve always held that those two were the inspiration to my urban approach to vampire tales. Then, of course, I read Anne Rice. My fascination with all things mythological stems back years even before all of that though – probably as far back as having read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Amidst all that, I developed a fascination for the Gothic genre.

Yet I cannot deny, though I’ve never gone into any depth about it until now, that fairy tales have most definitely played a part in forging the fabric of what Blackthorn has become. For a long time, I didn’t even realise it. After all, what is the essence of Blood Roses if not Beauty and the Beast? Except this beast really bites – and Beauty has a sting all of her own, of course!

There’s been some fabulous and fun fiction, TV shows and films out these last few years during a wave of fairy tale revival. This time it’s been with new spins on old favourites or, more specifically, intended for an adult audience.

It appears that fairy tales are as enduring as the legends surrounding our most beloved supernatural characters – vampires, werewolves and witches, amongst others. Witches, in particular, are reoccurring “favourites” in both fairy tales and paranormal romance. Unlike so many representations of witches today though, I remember when they were damn scary. I think the film, The Blair Witch Project did an incredible job of bringing the legend right back to how it used to be. I remember it took me months to build up to watch it. I knew, even before it started, it was going to terrify me. I knew I was going to be transported right back to when I was a child, when the witches of fairy tales truly were the thing of nightmares. The serryn-kind of witches that terrify vampires in Blackthorn.

Whether we like it or not, we’re born with an inherent fascination with the macabre. It’s in our basic survival instincts to be aware of the threats out there – we want to learn, we want to understand and we want to be able to protect ourselves. As children, fairy tales feed that part of us. They’re exciting, dangerous, scary, anxiety-provoking and utterly compelling as a result.

Forget Disney’s interpretations, fairy tales, real fairytales, aren’t nice. In fact, they’re downright disturbing – not least when you peel the layers away. It’s probably why they’ve held a captive audience for so many centuries and why they’re still bought today. Dark, violent, cruel, sexist, full of selfishness and greed, kidnappings, blackmail, loneliness, where only the beautiful survive or whereby unless you’ve got feet unnaturally small for your height to the point you wouldn’t be able to stand up, you don’t deserve to find your prince. (I’ve got small feet for my height, by the way, so that’s not a personally-motivated dig. ;-))

Fairy tales don’t shy away from things. There’s childhood abuse, predatory adults, a beast threatening to slaughter a young girl’s father unless she’s delivered to him against her will (of course, she still fell in love with him – the shock, the shame, the slight against woman-kind!!), attempted murder, a brave prince losing his eyes trying to cut through a Blackthorn hedge (allegedly) to save his one true love, children shoving an old woman in an oven to burn her alive after thieving from her house – but only after being willfully abandoned by their parents to starve to death. And, of course, let’s not forget what terrible press stepparents get in these stories. Yes, fairy tales are just magical and highly-appropriate reading material for young and delicate minds.

Only maybe they are. Maybe that’s why they’ve endured like they have. Fairy tales are not there to soft-pedal reality. They are there, in some cases, to push readers to the edge of their fears, to give a sense of right and wrong, to show both light and dark in parallel, to explore the consequences of behaviour but, most of all, fairy tales show that all can be okay in the end.

Very few fairy tales end without some kind of justice, of good overthrowing evil (however debatable and sometimes stereotypical that evil is), of characters changing and developing as happens in all great stories. Most of all, they’re brilliant because they don’t hold back on character flaws. They don’t hold back on the bad stuff. They say sometimes life is bad, that bad things happen, that it can be struggle and that, sometimes, things happen for no reason at all. Anger, fear, hatred, cruelty, prejudice, oppression, injustice – they’re part of the fabric of society. BUT people survive, friendships are formed, families are reunited, characters see the errors of their ways and those that don’t are punished whilst the good go on to live happy lives. Good can triumph over evil. Monsters can be defeated. Love, ultimately, finds a way.

Some of us are still big kids at heart, aren’t we? Isn’t that why we love the escapism that stories give us? To go places we’ll never experience or might be too scared to venture alone? Don’t some of us, as adults, want to revisit the witch’s kitchen, to walk through that dark wood, to feel the wolf snapping at our heels, to believe that heroes and heroines still exist and, most importantly, that there’s always hope? Don’t some of us, basically, still like a little bit of magic in our lives? And not least when things, when reality, gets dark?

Hence Blackthorn – not for the faint-hearted, but then it was never meant to be.

So here’s a very special thank you for all the wonderful messages and emails I’ve received that inspired this post. To the readers who have brought me smiles and to the edge of tears letting me know how valuable the escapism of Blackthorn has been to you. Knowing it’s a little sprinkle of fairy dust in your own lives is the biggest payback of this series ever. You make sharing Blackthorn with you so worthwhile. So, in turn, thank you for sharing your stories with me.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

xxx

P.S. If you’re intrigued by my reference to the “Blackthorn” hedge – there will be a post on that before too long!

A New Era for Blackthorn

Some of you will know that, last month, a few days before my first draft of Blood Deep was due in, my trusty old laptop passed away. My laptop had been my Blackthorn buddy for almost fourteen years and all of the first four Blackthorn books were written on it.

Blackthorn didn’t start on my laptop, of course. When I first started writing the series, I was armed only with a pen and paper and my electric typewriter because, back in 1996, I had no such thing as a computer. Four years later, my laptop became my Blackthorn haven.

The poor thing certainly worked hard all its life, sometimes for ten or twelve hours a day until, eventually, it couldn’t hold more than 8% battery at a time. In the last few months, it had to be permanently plugged in – and when your writing buddy is of the nibbling variety, it can be quite a feat managing Blackthorn and a loose cable!

Tilly – my rescue bunny/A mistreated bunny rehabilitated/When the Blackthorn angst gets too much!

Of all the times to leave me though, my laptop certainly picked the most opportune. Happening around my 40^th birthday, I had the perfect excuse to indulge. So here’s where the rest of the Blackthorn series will be written – on my brand new laptop! It arrived last week but, with my second draft of Blood Deep due in on Monday, yesterday was the first time I got a chance to play with it.

The keys are backlit! Perfect for night-time tapping away!! (A dark PNR author has to consider these things.)

And talking about the rest of the Blackthorn series… the REALLY exciting news is that Bookouture is showing interest in signing more!! We’re currently in conversations about it so please keep your fingers crossed that all goes well. I can’t think of any better publisher to see the series through to the end.

So thank you to everyone who is helping make this happen by rating and reviewing my books, leaving all your comments and messages of support here and all the amazing stuff that happens on Facebook to help spread the word (reaching over 4,000 people last week alone!). Basically, thank you for making it loud and clear that you want more Blackthorn. Not only is my publisher listening, you’re helping tempt new readers into the series every day. I am so VERY grateful for your support.

I’ll have more news on Blood Deep shortly but, for now, for those who are assuming it’s the final book (and contains the end battle), I can’t stress enough that it’s not. It’s all about the final couple – and many more pieces of the Blackthorn puzzle falling into place. Then, as I put it to my publisher, the honeymoon period is over (cue a scary-sounding “mwah-ha-ha”). I’ll have more news for you in a while about what to expect next – as well as that eagerly awaited Blood Deep release date, and so much more!

xxxx

Haunted Mansions, Authors, Comics and Penguins – A Birthday to Remember

I’ve only taken just over a week off and it feels as though I’ve been away from here for way too long. Apologies to everyone who has been in touch over the past week and haven’t heard back from me yet – normal service is resuming very soon!

For those not in the know, it was my 40^th birthday last Wednesday so, after nineteen relentless (though incredibly fun) months since the launch of Blackthorn, I decided to take a break for a short while. Organised by my amazing husband, it’s been a week full of surprises.

It kicked off with a visit to my home country of Wales, where we spent the afternoon in the small market town of Hay-on-Wye. Famous for its second-hand and antiquarian bookshops, it’s also home to the Hay Literature Festival which brings in over 80,000 writers, publishers and book fans every year. A place full of quirky cobbled backstreets, unique arts and crafts and over thirty bookshops, it’s the perfect place to visit if, like me, you have a thing for ceiling-high walls of books and the smell of old paper.

Back in England, we then went on to Shrewsbury to stay in a stunning 18^th Century manor house. Having spent over ten years living in an eighteenth century cottage in rural Devon, you’d think I’d been used to a room fully equipped with angular beams and low ceilings. The first night nearly ended in disaster though when, not only did I come down with a horrendous cold half-way through dinner, a middle-of-the night-sleepy-eyed return from the bathroom had me nearly knocking myself out cold when I walked straight into the bed-post. The thunk was so powerful it even managed to wake Tim (believe me, it’s a feat!).

Managing to survive my clumsiness though, we headed into the town the following day where Tim, to my excitement, told me he’d booked a table at a local comic book store. Oh yes, let me lust after Batmobile replicas and Star Wars figurines over Gucci handbags any day. I walked into the shop, not knowing which direction to run in first, when I glanced to my right only to see a pair of hands clutching an original copy of my first book…

I’ve had plenty of heart-stopping moments in my life, and this was right up there. Because what does an author do in that situation? Do they look the person in the eye and say, “Hi, that’s my book you’re holding”? Or do they walk on by like it didn’t happen? I stood. I gawped. My instinct was to run. I reached back to grab my husband’s hand to try and subtly point out someone in that store at that exact moment had my book. Instead, Tim put his arm around me (I think to stop me falling backwards) as I simultaneously looked up only to hear him say, “I know you’re going to kill me for this, but meet Tracey.”

For those who don’t know, Tracey Rogers is one of the original Blackthorn superfans. I’ve never met her, we’ve only ever spoken via social media, but this lady means the absolute world to me. She has supported (though she refers to it as “stalked”) me ever since the close of New Voices in 2011 – the online writing competition through which I was discovered by my publisher. She is one of Blackthorn’s three original unsung heroes who remained particularly close by after the competition closed. When Blood Roses (which finalled in 2010, Blood Shadows in 2011), was eventually rejected by Nocturne after an agonising 18-month wait, she was one three ladies who gave me the courage not to return Blackthorn to my bottom drawer but try another publisher. The other two were the wonderful Amity Grays (all the way over in Idaho, U.S – we’ll meet one day, Nit!) and CC Mackenzie (pen name).

Sobs and hugs later (whilst apologising for my tears, my cold-induced sniffles and my inability to string a decent sentence together), it was catch-up time – and Ms Tracey Rogers is absolutely as lovely and funny and warm as she is online. Amongst chat and giggles, we were soon excitedly browsing superhero memorabilia when Tracey stumbled on the find of the day. Yep, definitely one for The Vampire Diaries fans!

Tracey and me, right next to the Salvatore brothers – well, kind of.

After an amazing few hours and reluctantly saying goodbye to Tracey, Tim and I moved on to Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare, where we stayed in a Neo-Gothic mansion on the outskirts of the town. Claimed to be the most haunted hotel in Britain, horror-film buffs might like to know it was the setting for Robert Wise’s The Haunting (1963) – and I could immediately see why. Unfortunately there were no ghostly sightings during our stay though. Boo. 🙁

With Tim having organised lunch out the next day, we were ambling down the streets of Stratford with me still chuntering away about having met Tracey when I heard, “Lindsay! Lindsay J. Pryor!” shouted from somewhere ahead. I stared at the woman, wondering how on earth she knew who I was. It took a moment to sink in, not least because she looks so different to her online photo. But her unmistakable Scottish accent and the only one shameless enough to shout out, “Lindsay J. Pryor – best-selling author!” down the street, gave her away. Still reeling with the shock of meeting Tracey, I was then staring at Christine (CC) Mackenzie. This lady is single-handedly responsible for dragging me onto social media, giving me loads of advice in the background to the point I nicknamed her my writerly-mum and, with her utterly unwavering belief in Blackthorn, has been there to bolster me up whenever things have got tough. Needless to say, what started off as a planned couple of hours over dinner turned into a nine-hour chat marathon (a Scottish and Welsh woman face-to-face = warp speed conversation).

And when I thought I couldn’t take any more excitement, the seriously-super-lovely Fiona Chapman also arrived in on the surprise. I started stalking aspiring author Fiona via Twitter a few months ago and, again, finding out we had a huge amount in common, we struck up a friendship very quickly. Fiona tweets, RTs, shares, comments, reviews and everything else in her enduring support for Blackthorn, so meeting her was a dream come true. Thank you, ladies, for making my birthday so special. I’ll never forget it.

Fiona, me and Christine.

Last night, my husband concluded my week of surprises with a black-tie charity fundraiser at the Living Coasts in Torquay, South Devon. If you know anything about me, you’ll know I’m a massive animal lover and a really keen supporter of animal welfare and conservation. With penguins having been my late Dad’s favourite animal (it would have been his birthday too this month), we spent the night at a Penguin Ball to raise money for vital conservation work both at Living Coasts and their related projects abroad. I had a chance to get up close with the Macaroni Penguins (fortunately not endangered) to kick-start a fantastic and totally worthwhile night. As you can tell though, this handsome little chap’s buddy had better things to do with his time than chat to me – like stare at a blank wall.

“Then I caught a fish THIS big…” Okay, it’s an old joke but I write dark not funny…

Tim – thank you SO much for all your hard work and background planning to make this a week to remember. Thank you Christine, Fiona and Tracey for being there to share it with me. Thanks to everyone who sent me lovely birthday messages. And to round it off, Blood Shadows hit No. 1 in Amazon’s US Gothic Romance charts again. Yay!!

Don’t forget, Wednesday sees the close of my giveaway to be in with a chance of winning a signed paperback copy of Blood Torn and/or the first three chapters of Blood Deep (signed by me). Huge thanks to everyone who has already joined in the fun – the cast is looking soooo good!

If you’d still like to enter (via here or Facebook), all you have to do is let me know who you would cast in Blackthorn the movie. I’ll announce the winner/s on Friday!

Back in the Spotlight

Have I got a burning ambition to write a story in another genre? The lovely Minxes of Romance have asked me this question amongst many more over on their blog today. Thank you so much for hosting me again, ladies!

I’ll be back next time with a Blood Deep progress update for you, along with some insight into creating this final ‘meet and greet’ of the series. 🙂

A Year Ago Today…

A year ago today was the official release date of Blood Shadows (though some might remember it sneaking out early) and, with it, the launch of Blackthorn.

Blackthorn never started off as a project where I set out to get it published. It simply started as one idea that I found intriguing enough to write about…and keep writing about…and spend another sixteen years building and developing while I experimented with other genres and other books.

It’s ironic that the one project I thought would never see the light of day was the one that launched my writing career. But some works are a labour of love, where you’re led by the feeling in your gut that the story is best written than never said at all. For me, Blackthorn is very much like that.

The fact it got published and that so many readers have enjoyed it is the bonus I never saw coming. Especially because, when I first resolved to take the leap and try to get Blackthorn out there, I had the option to compromise. I could have easily pulled back on certain aspects or issues, have gone softer, lightened the darkness, let alone had my characters always making the right decisions or taking ‘appropriate’ actions. But life’s not like that. And fantasy though it may be, neither is Blackthorn.

So thank you every one who has accepted that. To everyone who has supported me, shared my posts and Bites, been on here and commented, retweeted me, taken the time to rate my books or write reviews, mentioned my books to friends, made open proclamations of your enjoyment of the series, and for every wonderful email – thank you for an awesome year and for being a part of it with me.

To Bookouture – thank you for your faith in the series and bringing it to readers, and doing so in such an exceptional and exciting way.

And to my long-suffering husband (who has spent almost twenty years stepping over post-it notes and notebooks, standing on blunt pencils, tolerating my excessive drifting off into space and switching on the torch at 3 a.m. to write down dialogue or plot points…), thanks for being there every step of the way.

So, to mark the occasion, here’s a reminder of the book trailer (now over 1,700 views on YouTube!) that launched the series…

Happy birthday, Blood Shadows. 🙂

Lycans, Weres and Wolves, Oh My!

I amused my publisher a little while ago when, during a conversation about Blood Torn, I happened to mention I’m terrified of werewolves.

I’m not sure whether it was something someone in my sub-genre should have admitted to – but I have a habit of blurting out minor confessions when I get over-enthused talking about Blackthorn.

And my fears aren’t limited to werewolves. Vampires also scare me, as does the dark, busy cities, being enclosed, the cruelty humans are capable of against their own and others…basically, Blackthorn scares me. And it’s not just the place itself, but most of what happens in the books. Nonetheless, it’s my unease that ultimately helps me create tension in the stories. I wasn’t joking when I previously admitted to gasping, wincing or even looking away whilst writing some scenes. And when my heroes or heroines decide to take a step off my pre-planned path, it becomes even more stressful.

As an author, you can either play safe or go places you’re not sure you want to go – not unlike as a reader. Personally, I find the latter much more rewarding to survive which is why I ultimately write, read and watch what I do.

As you may know from previous posts, vampires are a particular passion of mine (despite the fear) and I’ve had a lifelong fascination with their mythology. Originally, Blackthorn was going to be vampire-focused. Then along came Jask, my hero of Blood Torn. He was supposed to stay in the background. Needless to say he wasn’t having any of that!

My first ‘encounter’ with a werewolf was watching An American Werewolf in London (1981). A “black comedy”, it said. Did I laugh? No. And I have a fairly dark sense of humour. There were two scenes that were particularly terrifying – on the moors where it all began and then in the tube station. (No more backpacking moor walks for me in the fog! And no tube journeys either! They can go in the ‘activities reject pile’ along with riding an inflatable on the ocean after seeing Jaws…) I was never the same again.

So when you’re left with residual psychological damage after your first encounter with a werewolf, it’s not exactly easy turning one such mythological creature into a hero – or an attractive one at that! Thankfully Jask made the task a lot easier.

Although vampires dominate the district of Blackthorn, lycans (I’ll let you know why I refer to them as that instead of werewolves next time) not only play a core role in the district’s stability, but also what’s to come in the series. Hence why Jask needed a story all of his own.

I’ve already given you some clues in a previous post about what you can expect with Blood Torn (no spoilers, I promise, if you haven’t looked yet), but I haven’t yet shared some of the research I used to help shape my Blackthorn lycans. So, I’ll be back next time to let you know what I discovered along the way, as well as a post soon after about some of the traits you can come to expect with Blackthorn’s most pivotal pack.

Happy Anniversary Blackthorn! It’s not been easy, but we got there…

A year ago yesterday, I signed a three-book deal with Bookouture for my Blackthorn series. That contract is almost at an end, with the first two books published and Blood Torn in the process for publication over the forthcoming weeks. I’m not sure where this year has gone.

I have to be honest, my call never worked out as I’d imagined it would. Bearing in mind I’d resolved at the age of thirteen that I was going to become a professional author one day, I’d certainly had plenty of daydreams about how it might eventually transpire.

There was the ultimate fantasy, of course: One pristine submission targeted at the right editor/publisher at exactly the right time. They’d be in touch the next day, in awe of my talent. I’d be signing a multiple-book deal. We’d be talking of a life-long relationship between publisher and author. Never would I have to face the slush pile again…

Then there was the more realistic dream: Preparing the best submission I could with my limited synopsis and pitch writing talents, trying to convince an editor in some distant publishing house that my book really is worth a read. Several submissions later, no doubt into double (if not triple) figures, I’d finally snag someone’s interest and they’d give me a chance. Better still, I’d sell enough copies that they’d request the second book, maybe even a third.

I most certainly hadn’t expected the stuff of fairy tales – for a publisher to find me instead of the other way around! I’d not long had a rejection for Blood Roses after waiting eighteen months for a definitive answer from a competition I had entered it into. Despite a round-up of support from readers and fellow writers who had read my entry, a part of me had resolved that I’d been right to keep Blackthorn tucked away for so many years. After all, if I couldn’t convince an editor from the publishing house where Blackthorn had finalled in their competition twice, what hope did I have?

Only I’m not very good at giving up, especially when it comes to my writing. Because after three decades of ploughing away, I know that, talent and luck aside, one thing every author needs is grit determination.

I mention this now because a handful of my writer friends entered ‘So You Think You Can Write’ last month – the sister competition to the one I was a finalist in back in 2010 and 2011. Last week, those friends found out they hadn’t got through. And I know that gut-wrenching feeling of disappointment only too well. It was certainly rife eighteen months ago – something I managed to suppress only by focusing my attention on preparing submissions.

I had only just started the process when out of the blue came a request from Bookouture. Ironically, they had discovered me through the competition I had failed to snag publication with. In less than a month, I was offered a three-book deal. A month of contract negotiations followed that – a scary thing when you don’t have an agent! After lots of research and help from the Society of Authors, I ecstatically signed on the dotted line, entrusting my launch as an author as well as the beginnings of Blackthorn with Bookouture. And the series couldn’t have found a better home.

Needless to say I have loved every moment. Fifteen months ago, I’d never have believed that within a year I’d be working with a top-notch editor, or have Henry Steadman designing my first two book covers. I certainly wouldn’t have believed that a Hollywood film executive would compliment me on my world building, or that I’d hit number one in Gothic Romance on Amazon.com, let alone have such fantastic reviews. Even more than that, I wouldn’t have believed it possible I’d receive emails from readers thanking me for writing Blackthorn. Because that’s what matters more than anything else – that readers want to read about Blackthorn and it’s inhabitants.

So, for all my amazing supporters, my contract might be coming to an end, but I can assure you Blackthorn is far from over. Whilst you’re awaiting Blood Torn’s release, my head is already focused on the rest of the series.

This time last year, I had notebooks upon notebooks of world-building, plot lines and character information with year-on-year developments and amendments scribbled all over them. Over the past twelve months, in-between edits and writing Blood Torn, I set myself the task of gradually condensing and updating my notes – primarily to ensure that each book being published contained all the right elements at the right time. It’s been quite a task as some of the original aspects have undergone a natural evolution while the characters have taken hold.

And I’m so glad I started to plan ahead because Bookouture has already asked to see outlines for further Blackthorn books!

AdobePhotoshopExpress_2013_10_25_18:18:59

The rest of Blackthorn – just a few more notebooks to condense!

So now I’m tasked with condensing the rest of the series into a meaningful few paragraphs. It’s like being in an interview, when the introduction begins with: “Tell us something about yourself.” You know exactly what’s happened the last twenty-plus years of your life, but summarising it isn’t quite as easy as you first think. Only I’ve got eight lives, so to speak, to somehow make comprehensive to those who live outside of my head. It’s most definitely the biggest challenge I’ve faced this year, so please keep your fingers crossed that I do it justice. I don’t know about you, but I’d love another year of Blackthorn ahead.

And as for my friends – as well as other writers – still on the road to publication, please know you’re in good company. Make the most of every opportunity, because one risky submission back in 2010 changed things for me in a way I never saw coming. Just as I never saw, back in the Autumn of 1996, that getting lost would lead to Blackthorn being created. Sometimes life truly is stranger than fiction – not that you ever get away with that in a synopsis. 😉

Blackthorn Meets Land’s End

In my last post, I shared my visit to the Minack theatre in Cornwall (South West England) where I indulged in my love for Wuthering Heights.

We only visited our neighbouring county for a couple of days unfortunately, but Cornwall is full of myths, legends and prehistoric sites. Particularly famous are the 4,000 year-old Standing Stones which can be found throughout the county – sometimes alone and sometimes in groups or circles. Not unlike the famous Stonehenge, the true reasons for their construction has been lost over time but have been attributed to both Christian and pagan influences.

Cornwall is most notably renowned for its association with the legendary King Arthur. A while ago, I wrote a post about Tintagel being his acclaimed birthplace – but the legend stretches far beyond that small town.

The night after visiting The Minack, we travelled a few more miles to reach the most westerly point of England. There, surrounded on three sides by sea, is Land’s End.

The famous Land’s End sign post…er, slightly photoshopped for Blackthorn purposes. 😉

One of the most famous features of Land’s End can no longer be seen. In fact, it disappeared some nine centuries ago. Midway between Land’s End and the Isles of Scilly beyond is the rumoured English Atlantis – the mythical lost land of Lyonesse. Mentioned in Arthurian literature as the home of Tristan, it was inexplicably engulfed by the sea.

The only claimed survivor was a man called Trevilian, who rode a white horse before the waves. Even now, sailors claim they can sometimes hear ghostly bells from the church beneath the water.

A mocha – and the lost land of Lyonesse hidden beneath the waves beyond?

It was at Land’s End, over a decade ago, that I bought two silver rings (which you can see hints of in the photos) hand crafted by a real pirate! Well, he flies the flag (as you can see below) and certainly looks like he could be. It was from these, all those years ago, that I first developed the idea of Leila’s protest rings as featured in Blood Roses.

And talking of Blackthorn, if you follow me on Facebook you would have seen that I promised a very exciting opportunity coming soon for one lucky Blackthorn fan. More news of that in my next post! 🙂

Batty flying the flag for British Gothic paranormal romance.

Gothic Romantic

I’ve always been inclined towards the Gothic. I have no idea why and I’m not going to attempt to work it out. The fact is, each of us like what we like – and I most definitely veer to the darker and more tumultuous side of both literature and film when it comes to romance.

Gothic fiction combines the elements of both supernatural horror and romance, with suspense and mystery added to the mix. One premise is of a damsel in distress in an unfamiliar and frightening environment, pursued by a sinister being (usually male or otherworldly). The settings are invariably dark and atmospheric, the buildings often representing the decay of human creations and also sometimes reflect social issues of the time (especially in present-day Suburban Gothic). The stories are primarily based on fear and desire, and contain both physical and psychological terror, often delving into the dark and twisted psyche of the main characters. Of course, the focus and intensity of the above varies but, in essence, these are the fundamental elements associated with the genre.

Amongst my favourite books are, in terms of classic Gothic literature, Wuthering Heights, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dracula (no surprise there!), and Anne’s Rice’s Vampire Chronicles within Modern Gothic.

Wuthering Heights is probably (tough competition here!) my favourite of all time. So when my husband managed to get tickets to the Minack open-air Theatre across the border in Cornwall (South West England) to see the play of the book, I was beside myself with excitement. It might have been our anniversary but, of course, Batty (as you haven’t seen him for a while), Blackthorn’s mascot, had to come along too.

I first read Wuthering Heights when I was seventeen and was instantly enthralled not just by the book, but the author who so bravely wrote such a dark and tortured hero into a romantic role. I wrote a post for The Minxes of Romance a little while ago, where I admitted my encounter with Heathcliff no doubt had an impact on my view of romantic heroes.

For anyone who has read Wuthering Heights, you’ll know Heathcliff’s not exactly the most pleasant of characters, at times even tyrannical and cruel. In fact, he’d probably get quite the slating on contemporary romance reviews for what can be deemed as abhorrent actions throughout most of the book. Although his behaviour can’t be excused, what Emily Bronte achieved was to help the reader to understand him and, more importantly, empathise with his plight.

Add into the mix Catherine Earnshaw, the heroine, who has many non-redeeming features of her own, and what developed was a passionate and subsequently damaging relationship.

For me, the beauty of the book, pushing aside all those judgements of what is appropriate, right and fitting as to how heroes and heroines should behave and interact on the page, is the rawness and power of the romance.

Their love – albeit dark and tumultuous and destructive – was meant to be. What the reader is left knowing, beyond a doubt, is Heathcliff loved Catherine and Catherine loved Heathcliff. A love that survived in the end.

The most captivating moment for me is when Catherine, caught between the safe and fitting option of marrying Edgar Linton or following her heart and marrying Heathcliff, pours out her soul to Nelly:

“…he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire… My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will change it, I’m well aware, as winter changes the trees – my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath – a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff – he’s always, always in my mind – not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself – but as my own being…”

Sigh. Now that’s romance – inexplicable, hard to define and intense enough to consume.

Despite a beautiful night switching to blustery, the actors ploughed on and did a fantastic job, the weather only adding to the backdrop of this amazingly powerful story. It was, quite simply, a perfect way to spend my wedding anniversary.

And little did I know then that less than two weeks later, I’d hit number 1 in the Gothic Romance chart on Amazon.com with Blood Shadows. After so many years of admiring this genre and its authors, I guess I don’t even need to explain what a privilege that was.

I’ll be back in a couple of days to show you the other special place we visited before we headed home – and yes, Batty came too. 🙂

next posts 1 2 3 4 5 previous posts

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email for automatic updates!

Email Address
Recent Posts
Archives
Archives

Navigate / search

Fantasy Author