It's a Teen Shiver Book Birthday!!

This week our very own Ellie James releases FRAGILE DARKNESS, the third book in her exciting , debut YA series, The Midnight Dragonfly Books. Today she’s answering a few questions about her books, writing, and a couple of really off the wall topics!

For the ones who do not know about the Midnight Dragonfly series.. What is the series about?

The Midnight Dragonfly books are a series of romantic YA thrillers following the visions of teenage psychic Trinity Monsour in New Orleans. Glimpses. That’s all she sees. Shadowy premonitions flickering through her dreams. Some are terrifying: a girl screaming, a knife lifting, a body in the grass. But others--the dark, tortured eyes and the shattering kiss, the promise of forever--whisper to her soul. They come without warning. They come without detail. But they always mean the same thing: The clock is ticking, and only Trinity can stop it.

Fragile Darkness is the third book in the series. Does someone need to read the other two books first? Can you tell us a little about Fragile?

Sure! Fragile Darkness is the third book, and I’m sure there’s going to be a lot more emotional payoff for the reader who’s gotten to know the characters through the first two books (Shattered Dreams and Broken Illusions), but the story is designed to stand on its own.  Trinity, the heroine, has seen precognitive visions her entire life. But now, in the wake of some really bad stuff at the end of book 2, her visions have gone dark.  She can still sense things though, and the danger she picks up swirling around a new friend sends her deep into the New Orleans party scene, where nothing is as it seems, surprises wait at every turn, and the last guy she wants to see is the one she needs the most: the enigmatic Dylan Fourcade, part stranger, part friend, part so much more.

It's the so much more that confuses her.

But whether she wants him there or not, he's by her side, shadowing her every step of the way, until the darkness gives way to a deadly showdown.

How did you get the idea for the novel?

It was one of those bizarre, unplanned things. A few years ago I wasn’t getting much sleep and woke up one morning from one of the most incredibly detailed, vivid dreams I’d ever had. I’d more than just seen a group of teen sneak into an old abandoned mansion—I’d been with them.  I’d gazed into the darkness, and smelled the decay. I’d felt the fear, and the crazy blast of excitement at the prospect of a game of truth or dare.  My heart was still racing when I woke up. The images lingered. I kept thinking about what I’d seen, and from the questions came: What happened next? What if one of the teens was a psychic? What if she saw something…something bad? What if she had a premonition? What if what she saw actually happened?  What if no one believed her, or at least, no one but the last guy she should let herself begin to fall for?

As I answered those questions, the Midnight Dragonfly books were born!

So did you have everything planned out from the beginning, or did you end up winging the story as you went along?

Both!  I start with a fairly detailed outline of major plot points, this is what my editor signs off on. But the second I begin writing, the characters take over and strange things start happening. It’s the strange things that I’ve come to love, because they’re authentic and unexpected, and they keep my fingers flying along the keyboard, and hopefully the reader flying through the pages! With the Midnight Dragonfly books, a HUGE change manifested itself that completely caught me by surprise. It was totally one of those turn left instead of right scenarios, and it changed everything J  I was more than a little stunned when my editor said, go for it…but I’m really glad she did!

Thinking back to when you first started the series, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?

That’s a fantastic question. Every book offers new challenges and opportunities, but if I have to boil it down to THE most important lesson, I’d have to say it’s to not protect your characters. Sometimes it’s tempting to push them to the edge, then rush in and save them at the last moment. But I’ve come to learn the most compelling stories come from letting them fall. Sometimes literally. Sometimes figuratively. Characters need to make mistakes. Characters need to get hurt—physically, emotionally, mentally, and any other way you can imagine. This is not only how they grow, but it also gives the opportunity to reveal new shades and sides to supporting characters, as well. I always tell myself, my characters are not my children. In fact, they’re not mine at all. They are themselves, and they need to live fully.

Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favorite part of the process? What’s your least favorite?

I’m going to have to go with two favorites here: given my stories always feature some type of girl meets boy in a dangerous situation scenario, my favorite part of writing is always that moment when the world slows a little and two special people meet for the first time. I’m not an insta-love girl. It’s not that I don’t believe in it, but from a writing perspective, I want to see and experience two people fall for each other. If it happens instantly, you lose that. I’m all for instant attraction and even the cliché of all clichés, an immediate connection. I believe those are real. We’ve all felt that. We’ve all lived that moment where we see someone for the first time, and some place inside of us just clicks. It gets a little hard to breathe. Your heart quickens, and adrenaline races. That is real, and that’s the moment I most love to write.

My other favorite moment comes from my editor: the cover reveal. For me, it’s incredibly exciting to see the artwork for the first time. Everything becomes more real J

The least favorite would have to be the moment I realize I can’t tinker with the story any longer. No matter how many times I read/revise my work, I can always find things to change. Sometimes it’s simple word choices. Sometimes it’s a better way to describe something or taking someone’s thoughts and turning it into dialog. Sometimes it’s wanting to explore what would happen if the character had turned left instead of right. But there comes a point when you’re flat out of time and you have to let go, even if you do wake up one morning (after already signing off on galleys) with the most amazing idea, as I did numerous times with Shattered Dreams ;)

If you weren’t a writer, what job would you love to try out?

That ones easy: a photographer. I love taking pictures. I experimenting with angles and lighting, with framing a shot just so (Ask my family…I drive them nuts!) For the Midnight Dragonfly books, I spent quite a bit of time tromping through cemeteries, the French Quarter, and several abandoned places which I really shouldn’t name, taking pictures in the name of research!

If you could have dinner with one of your characters who would it be?

Ohhhh, it would have to be Julian Delacroix. Julian is introduced in the second book, Broken Illusions. Not only is he the master of all things metaphysical, but he runs a French Quarter New Age shop and  has long dark hair which he wears pulled into a pony tail—and he knows stuff. Really cool stuff, like where dreams come from and what they mean, and how to access them later…  And despite the fact that he dresses exclusively in black, there’s a small room above his shop that’s all white… 

I’d love me some one-on-one time with Julian!

And finally, what else would you like us to know?

Contests! I'm running lots of fun contests, including giving away t-shirts and a drawing for a reproduction of the dragonfly necklace on the cover of the books.

 Stop by my Facebook page for all the fun details :)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Midnight-Dragonfly-Books-by-Ellie-James/154988421236309

Now, let's go Off Topic!

All time favorite….

Book          OUTLANDER by Diana Gabaldon

Author      Anne Stuart

Song          Don’t Drink the Water by Dave Matthews

TV show   LOST           

Movie        LAST OF THE MOHICANS

Fictional Character    Jamie Frasier

Food           Guacamole and chips

City            New Orleans

What the most dangerous thing you’ve ever done? Jumped off a cliff

What is the scariest thing that’s ever happened to you?  The emergency c-section birth of my son…it was like starring in my own personal episode of ER :(

What’s one thing you’ll never do?     Sky dive

What’s one food you’ll never eat?     Chicken gizzard…whatever that is

What’s your guilty pleasure?     Grande Latte with one raw sugar

What’s your favorite saying?      You’ll miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

What’s your astrological sign?      Aries

Do you believe in love at first sight?     Yes.

Do you believe in the unexplained?     Yes

Do YOU have a secret?     Doesn’t everyone?

Hugs or kisses?     Hugs

Fruits or vegetables?     Vegetables

Cats or dogs?     Cats

Tigers or bears?     Tigers

Fish or birds?     Birds           

Abraham Lincoln or George Washington?     Lincoln

Einstein or Stephen Hawking?     Hawking

I've always loved Coming Attractions...

As a kid, I would sit in the theater and wait, as excited about the sneak peeks at new movies as I was about the show I was there to see. Sometimes the previews were for movies I knew about, but other times what I saw was a complete surprise, and the combination of images, music, and teaser left me over-the-top excited for what was coming next. (For the record, this addiction to sneak peeks also applies to TV shows: Lost wasn’t over until the previews aired!)

What would it be like, I sometimes wonder, to get Coming Attractions for more than just fiction? What if we got them for life? What if, the second we met some really awesome guy, we got a quick peek into the future and knew if we were on the edge of a thrilling romance, or an absolute horror show?  Seems like a pretty awesome idea to me.

But life doesn’t play like that, at least not for most of us. But throughout history, there are those who do get sneak peeks into the Future. From the Oracle of Delphi to Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce to Jean Dixon or James Van Prague, Alison Dubois (of Medium fame), their stories have always fascinated me. In days gone by they were called seers or prophets. These days they tend to get the label of psychic—or fraud.

What would it be like, I’ve often wondered. What would it be like to know something really bad was going to happen—a plane crash or a house burn, a teacher die? What if the disjointed scenes played through your mind like Coming Attractions, sometimes for friends, sometimes for strangers?  What if you could walk into a falling down building, and see the past? What would it be like to be labeled a fraud?  What would you do?

What could you do?

It’s from all these questions, from the lure of the Unexplained and the thrilling possibility of the Unknown, that the Midnight Dragonfly series was born. As soon as the character of sixteen-year-old psychic, Trinity Monsour, came to me, quite literally in a dream, I knew I had to write her story. I couldn’t stop thinking about what it would be like to know things you weren’t supposed to know—that no one, at least at first, believed. That’s a pretty huge burden, especially for a high school student trying to settle into a new city and a new life, figure out why the truth about her birthright has been kept from her, and whether she’s really falling in love with the totally wrong guy. But that’s exactly the situation Trinity finds herself in.

From precognition to dream interpretation, telepathy, empathic ability, and communicating with the dead, hypnosis, mind control, and even Ouija boards, the Midnight Dragonfly series explores the frontiers of the human mind, and the ties that bind us all.

Glimpses. That’s all they are. Shadowy premonitions flickering through the farthest reaches of sleep. Some are terrifying: a knife lifting, a girl screaming, a body in the grass. But others— the dark, tortured eyes and the shattering kiss, the promise of forever— whisper to her soul.

They come without warning. They come without detail. But they always mean the same thing; the clock is ticking—and only Trinity can stop it.

Live the Mystery

Haunted Destiny, Griffin Teen, a free short available via all online booksellers

Shattered Dreams, Griffin Teen, on sale now via all online booksellers

Broken Illusions, Griffin Teen, on sale now via all online booksellers

Fragile Darkness, Griffin Teen, available for Pre-Order

Pre-order your copy of Fragile Darkness now and receive a signed bookplate and bookmark! Simply email me (ellie@elliejames.net) a copy of the transaction and mailing instructions, and I'll drop a bookplate and bookmark in the mail!

Visit my Facebook page for more fun contests! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Midnight-Dragonfly-Books-by-Ellie-James/154988421236309

Paraskevidekatriaphobia

Say what?

Paraskevidekatriaphobia. If you thought twice about leaving the house this morning, if you changed your plans and decided not to go to the salon or get that manicure, not to go out with that hot guy you’ve been fantasizing about for weeks, then that’s what you suffer from: paraskevidekatriaphobia.  It’s one of two official names for the fear of Friday the 13^th (Paraskevi and dekatreis being the Greek words for Friday and thirteen, attached to good ole phobia meaning fear), the other being friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the Norse goddess after whom Friday is named and triskaidekaphobia for fear of the number thirteen).

Who knew?

Well, my Master of Useless Information husband did (never play Trivial Pursuit against him!), but for me, discovering this took pulling together a Friday the 13^th-oriented blog for the UK release of Shattered Dreams! Actually, my research led me to all sorts of fascinating tidbits, such as the discovery that nothing especially horrible ever happened on Friday the 13^th. It seems all our trepidation stems from a simple arithmetic equation:

Bad Friday + Unlucky 13 = Terrible Friday the 13^th

Yes, historically speaking Friday is an unlucky day (beginning with Eve and the Apple one fateful afternoon) and 13 is an unlucky number (how many were gathered for the Last Supper….which just happened to be on a Friday?)

So there you have it. The truth about Friday the 13^th.

But while doing my research, I ran across a whole bunch of other superstitions, some I was familiar with (rabbits foot brings good luck, an apple a day keeps the doctor away), some that were totally new to me (clothes worn inside out bring good luck). I had so much fun with them, I thought I’d share a more comprehensive list here!

▪                Friday the thirteenth is an unlucky day

▪                A rabbit's foot brings good luck

▪                An apple a day keeps the doctor away

▪                To find a four-leaf clover is to find good luck

▪                If you walk under a ladder, you will have bad luck

▪                If a black cat crosses your path you will have bad luck

▪                To break a mirror will bring you seven years bad luck

▪                To open an umbrella in the house is to bring bad luck

▪                To find a horseshoe brings good luck

▪                Step on a crack, break your mother's back

▪                You can break a bad luck spell by turning seven times in a clockwise circle

▪                Garlic protects from evil spirits and vampires

▪                Our fate is written in the stars

▪                At the end of a rainbow is a pot of gold

▪                Clothes worn inside out will bring good luck

▪                Wearing your birthstone will bring you good luck

▪                If you blow out all of the candles on your birthday cake with the first breath you will get whatever you wish for

▪                To have a wish come true using a wishbone, two people make a wish, then take hold of each end of the bone and pull it until it separates. The person with the longer end gets his or her wish

▪                An itchy palm means money will come your way

▪                A beginner will always have good luck: beginner's luck

▪                A cat has nine lives

▪                Eating fish makes you smart

▪                Toads cause warts

▪                A cricket in the house brings good luck

▪                Crossing your fingers helps to avoid bad luck and helps a wish come true

▪                It is bad luck to sing at the table

▪                It is bad luck to sleep on a table

▪                After receiving a container of food, the container should never be returned empty

▪                A lock of hair from a baby's first haircut should be kept for good luck

▪                A bird that comes in your window brings bad luck

▪                To refuse a kiss under mistletoe causes bad luck

▪                Goldfish in the pond bring good luck

▪                Goldfish in the house bring bad luck

▪                For good luck, wear new clothes on Easter

▪                An acorn at the window can keep lightning out of the house

▪                If the bottom of your feet itch, you will make a trip

▪                When a dog howls, death is near

▪                It is bad luck to chase someone with a broom

▪                A sailor wearing an earring cannot drown

▪                To find a penny heads up, brings good luck

▪                A drowned woman floats face up, a drowned man floats face down

▪                A person cannot drown before going under three times

▪                To drop a fork means a woman will visit

▪                To drop a knife means a man will visit

▪                To drop a spoon means a child will visit

▪                To drop a dishcloth means bad luck is coming

▪                If you shiver, someone is casting a shadow on your grave

▪                To make a happy marriage, the bride must wear: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue

▪                The wedding veil protects the bride from the evil eye

▪                Washing a car will bring rain

▪                You must get out of bed on the same side you got in on or you will have bad luck

▪                Evil spirits cannot harm you when you are standing in a circle

▪                A cat will try to take the breath from a baby

▪                Warm hands, cold heart

▪                Cold hands, warm heart

▪                It is unlucky to rock an empty rocking chair

▪                To kill an albatross is to cause bad luck to the ship and all upon it

▪                Wearing an opal when it is not your birthstone is bad luck

▪                Smell dandelions, wet the bed

▪                To give someone a purse or wallet without money in it will bring that person bad luck

 What about you? Do you have a superstition?

Extreme Research!

His bound wrists would prevent him from using his arms to swim, but with his hands holding onto the wood, at least he could keep himself afloat while he kicked. Fifty yards. He could do that.

He grabbed the branch, ran to the dock, and dove into the dark, brutal current.

            Hmmm.  Would that work? Is it possible to make your way across a swollen river wearing handcuffs? It sure seemed possible, especially for the resourceful, tough-as-nails Sandro, but I couldn’t let myself run with the scene, not until I knew. So I did what any dedicated writer would do: I brought rope to my husband and asked him to tie my wrists together. Yeah, I got a look at that, but he (quite happily I might add) obliged, and off I went to the backyard. My husband quietly followed. I found a 2x4 to play the role of the stick, then jumped into the deep end of the pool, fully clothed (couldn’t wear a swimsuit, since poor Sandro didn’t have that luxury.)  Then I swam. Kind of.  Holding the wood beneath my chest, I kept my head above water and kicked my way to safety, and voila! Presto! I had my answer: If I could do it, surely my fantasy guy Sandro could. Dilemma solved.

            Research. Sometimes there are no shortcuts.

The Internet is a writer’s best friend. While the thought of research can send you straight back to school and that term paper you didn’t want to write, the reality is getting the facts straight is critical. (Just be careful you don’t end up on the FBI watch list. That’s happened!) We all love making stuff up, but you can’t say a heroine can free herself from being duct-taped to a chair just because you want her to. You need to know if that’s possible. That’s the challenge bestselling author Virginia Kantra faced when she decided to duct-tape herself to her office chair to make sure she really could free herself. Um…she couldn’t. And it wasn’t even noon yet, DH was at work, the kids at school, the phone across the room. So there she sat, in her office, bound to her chair as minutes dragged into hours. Finally her teenage son came home, followed her voice to her office, and walked in on something he’d never imagined walking in on! I would have loved to have seen the look on his face!  Fortunately, being a writer’s son, he immediately deduced that he hadn’t walked in on a home invasion, but rather, his mom doing what all good writers do. Research.

But sometimes research means leaving the house. How else do you find out if it’s possible to escape while handcuffed to a police cruiser?  When romance author Diana Duncan found herself in line at Starbucks behind a uniformed cop, she immediately seized the opportunity to solve a key plot problem. Thrilled, Diana struck up a dialog with the cop and soon found herself out in the parking lot being handcuffed to his car, while her horrified teenage daughter looked on.

For my current YA series, the Midnight Dragonfly books, there’s not one New Orleans locale that I haven’t explored myself, including a late night sprint from Bourbon Street to the levee, to see how fast you could feasibly get from one place to the other. I’ve sat with the psychics and had my palm read, and I’ve climbed the fences and hidden behind trees and…um….sorta gone somewhere no one was supposed to go.  I can’t say where, but the second I learned about This Certain Place, abandoned since Hurricane Katrina, I knew it was perfect for a crucial dramatic sequence. And despite the abundance of YouTube videos about This Certain Place, I knew I had to make a visit myself. I needed to see the swamp encroaching upon the parking lot and the chain link fence (to make sure it could be climbed), the abandoned buildings and…well, I can’t say what else I needed to see, except whether it was true that certain objects were still there after over five years of abandonment. I needed to breathe the air and smell the decay. I needed to see the graffiti and feel the despair.

And I did.

And it was amazing.

I was scared to death, but that’s okay. Knowing that, how frightening it was to be there, how many places there were to hide, the realization that there were probably others there, hiding—watching—only enabled me to add that much more authenticity to the scenes.

And that’s what it’s all about. Authenticity.

I do have to add that not all research involves risking your life (or breaking the law). When I first started writing Shattered Dreams, I researched the most popular brands of jeans among teenage girls, and found myself in a Buckle store to see for myself. The next thing you know, I’ve been fitted for my own awesome pair of Big Stars!! 

Research definitely has its perks, the more extreme the better.

What's the craziest thing you've done?!?

The Power of Music

A few weeks ago, I turned in revisions for the third book in my Midnight Dragonfly series, and went for a walk. It was a beautiful spring day, with a vivid blue sky and puffy white clouds, a cool breeze mingling with the warm rays of the sun. I had my headphones on with Dave Matthews blasting (Don’t Drink the Water), and with each step I took, the heaviness lifted from inside me a little more, until I actually stopped and texted my husband: OMG, no one soothes my soul like Dave Matthews, except, of course, you.

I’ve thought about that brisk walk a lot since then, how some alone time with a favorite album literally rebooted me. That’s why music is called The International Language. Music transcends language. Music speaks to our souls and fires through our blood. Music heals. With nothing more than a few notes, a melody can transport us to another place, another time. One song, and I’m back in high school, back in the arms of my first love. Another song, and I’m in the gym at a basketball game. Another, and I’m nursing my first broken heart all over again. Yet another, and I’m dancing at my wedding. Rocking my newborn daughter. Saying goodbye to a beloved grandparent. Music is that powerful.

When my son was born ten weeks premature, I stumbled across information about music therapy, a technique utilizing music to create a desired physiological effect in the patient. In my son’s case, we had to wait a few weeks so as not to over-stimulate him, but eventually set up a CD player next to his isolette with a fabulous collection of African lullabies. The soft, melodic strains soothed him when he was fussy, and helped to level out his heart rate when he brady’d (sudden drop in heart rate).  Long after we brought him home, those lullabies were our go-to miracle.

Maybe that’s why music has become such an important element of my writing regime, because of its ability to evoke emotional and physical responses. I’ve talked to many writers who prefer quiet while they work, but for me, music transports me deeper into my story world. Music makes me feel what my characters feel, whether it be love or fear or excitement. Quite literally, music fuels me, allowing me to bleed that emotion right back onto the paper. (My debut YA, Shattered Dreams, was written entirely to Arcade Fire!)

In the book I just turned in, Fragile Darkness, chilling visions draw my teenage psychic, Trinity, into the underground New Orleans party scene. Now, this isn’t a scene I’m intimately familiar with, but the second I began listening to Dubstep, the words flowed. My husband cracked up to find me trance-like listening to Magical World by Bass Nectar and Cracks by Freestylers…but it worked!!  In fact, Magical World went on to become the music for my first book trailer.

When it came time to ramp up the emotion, suddenly I had the theme song to the Dead Island trailer on repeat:

Talk about music that makes you want to cry! Watch the trailer, then close your eyes and simply listen to the music. I dare you not to get a lump in your throat!

Then, during revisions, I stumbled across Gary Jules’s version of Mad World, and not only did I instantly realize I’d found the perfect song for my next trailer, but the haunting combination of lyrics, rhythm, and voice infused with the exact emotional tenor I’d been looking for.

So the next time you find yourself stuck--in life or your writing--give music a try. Close your eyes, let the rhythms flow through you, and see what happens next.

You might be surprised.

A couple of recommendations:

Action & Adventure: the soundtrack from Gladiator 

Danger/Suspense: a few awesome suggestions from YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC_BShb5UrA,

Creepy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecsrMCpviG8&feature=related

General Epic-y: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hqGIGq5PmQ&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T15ZMU8f230

And of course, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T15ZMU8f230

Emotion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cqgWvFmtz0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0KHS-AD14w&feature=related

Romance/Love: Beyonce’s Halo and Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers

Sleep/Relaxation: Krishna  Das, Celtic, and Nature Sounds