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

First Love

By Jordan Dane

Bleeding Heart Artwork - Danijel-One at Deviant Art (Love Deviant Art.)

I’d like you to meet Abbey Chandler from ON A DARK WING. By getting to know my character, perhaps you’ll get a glimpse of me. I’m her shadow. Authors often share bits and pieces of their life’s experiences with the character they create. One of the big personal inspirations I shared with Abbey in her book was my first love.


Hal was the name of my first major crush. Tall and lanky, he was shy and had a quirky smile and tousled dark wavy hair. Totally cute. He played drums in my brother’s garage band and drove a yellow VW bug. The boy banged on drums, but his sweet quiet nature drew me to him. Like my character Abbey did with one perfect guy, I watched Hal from a distance and was too shy to talk to him much. Yeah, he hung out at my house for band practices, but I was too young to do more than ogle him. He stole my heart in a big way and took a piece of it when he left. I have never forgotten him.


More on Hal later.


In my upcoming book with Harlequin Teen—ON A DARK WING—Abbey falls totally in love with Nate Holden. Who wouldn’t? He’s a great guy. Nate is hot with an amazing body, smart, and popular. He dates likeable real girls, not cardboard cutouts, and volunteers as a mountain rescue guy in Alaska, sacrificing his life to save others.


Here is Nate in Abbey’s words:


“At that moment, I had two really good reasons to forget how much my life sucked and Taco Thursday paled in comparison to the reason standing next to me. Nate Holden stood talking to his buddy, Josh Poole. His deep voice tingled in my ear and made my belly twist into a major knot, the kind of thing that felt terrible and amazing at the same time.


Even with his back to me, every side of Nate Holden was excellent. I loved how his dark hair curled at his collar and he always smelled good, but with a full frontal, his hypnotic blue eyes made me forget to breathe. Whenever he talked, his lips could mesmerize me for hours. Being next to him felt like getting sucker punched—and liking it. He’d always be out of my league, an unreachable boy from an alternative universe who came to me in my sleep and tortured me. Sweet torture.


Nate Holden had been a constant reminder of how messed up I was. He was the complete opposite of me, someone I had no business even wanting. We had absolutely nothing in common. Brownie points for him. But that didn’t stop me from practically stalking him. Deduct said brownie points. I played scenarios in my head, where he needed me as much as I wanted him. How sick was that? That would never happen. My fantasies were the only way I’d ever get close to someone like him.”


~Abbey Chandler – ON A DARK WING


But of course with every book there is conflict. ON A DARK WING (Harlequin Teen - Dec 27, 2011) is a coming of age story for a girl who is lucky to be alive after she survives a car accident five years earlier where her mother was killed. She crossed paths with Death once and lived past her expiration date, yet she can’t move on with her life because she carries the burden of guilt over her part in the accident. That tragedy marks her. Tanner Lange looks out for her from a distance, the only way he thinks she’ll accept him—as her best friend. Being a boy in a wheelchair, he doesn’t feel he has much to offer her except his unflinching loyalty, the same loyalty she had always shown him after he was paralyzed. Tanner sees the major crush Abbey has on the perfect boy—a great guy who doesn’t even know she exists—Nate Holden. But Death has a reason for finding Abbey again. When she crosses paths with Death again, she’ll learn what love and loyalty truly are.


To share more about me and an inspiration behind this book, I finally need to talk about Hal, my first crush who had his own link with Death. Hal was killed by a drunk driver while he drove his little yellow VW. I can still see his cute face in my mind. I clipped out his death notice from the newspaper and for years I kept it in a special secret box of “his” things. I never told anyone how I felt about it. That was too personal. I never got to see Hal grow into a man. He’ll forever be that cute boy with a crooked grin, tooling around in his yellow bug. A first crush is special because it’s the first. It’s intense and none that come after will be quite the same, even if you find THE ONE.


But not every first crush story turned out sad like mine, so I’d like to hear from you. I want DEETS, people! You don’t have to share full names, but I’d love to hear about your first crush. Was it someone you knew or a famous celebrity? How did you stalk him or her? What things did they do that you still think about? Spill it!

ON A DARK WING Virtual Book Tour Sign up at YA Bound until October 31, 2011.

ON A DARK WING Virtual Tour – Calling all Bloggers

By Jordan Dane





As part of my cover reveal announcement for ON A DARK WING, I want to let everyone know on TeenShiver that the lovely Trisha Wolfe (talented author and avid YA blogger at YA Bound) will be hosting my virtual tour exclusively, along with the support of Harlequin Teen. Stop by YA Bound on Tuesday Oct 4th to see how you and your blog can be FEATURED on our tour.


Please show TeenShiver love to the Angel of Death. Post him, share him and tweet sweet nothings in his ear.


He’s listening.

From the first moment I saw him on my mountain, he mesmerized and controlled me. Now the danger of being with him oozed from every pore of my body, yet I had to come. Nothing could have stopped me from seeing him.

“You asked who I am,” he said. “Look into my eyes, Abbey. You tell me.”

~Abbey Chandler (staring into the eyes of Death) – ON A DARK WING (Harlequin Teen, Jan 2012)

On a Dark Wing – Cover Tease

By Jordan Dane

On Monday October 3rd, I’m revealing the cover for ON A DARK WING on TeenShiver, my second YA with the awesome Harlequin Teen (Jan, 2012). This will be an exclusive for TeenShiver, ‘cuz I love you guys. So I wanted to hint of things that will be on the cover, important images that will capture the essence of the story of a young girl who stares into the eyes of Death—twice.

The choices I had made that day, all of them led to that one moment when the school bus drove off and fate took over. I would learn a lesson I wasn’t prepared for and Death would be my willing teacher.    ~Abbey Chandler

Five years ago in Alaska, Abbey Chandler faced Death on the worst day of her life—the day her mother died. Now with gaping holes in her memory caused by the horrific car accident where she lost her mom, she struggles to remember what happened, but she can’t get past her guilt for the role she played in the crash when she missed her school bus. But Death never forgets her. For reasons of his own, he seeks her out years later with an agenda she never sees coming.

As an author, I had to imagine what it would be like for a young girl to stare into the beautiful and mesmerizing eyes of Death. What would she see? Would she even recognize the captivating boy for what he is? How would Death keep her from being afraid or would he even care if she’s scared?

I see Death as a keeper of souls, yet with the frightening power of an immortal charged with a lonely duty—being the last one to turn out the lights on humanity. By the end of the book, I ached for him and the solitude he must endure forever. His sense of duty and purpose felt like a burden that no one soul should have to bear and I wondered if he'd ever been given a choice. Below is Abbey’s first encounter with Death, before she realizes what really happened to her mother.

Excerpt – Abbey’s First Encounter with Death

Momma. Please…help me.

I searched for my mother, but couldn’t move my head. I didn’t even sense her next to me. I felt alone, cocooned in pain and deepening shadows. How long I lay there shivering, I didn’t know, but eventually I sensed something that, to this day, I have never forgotten.

A strong presence filled the SUV.

Soothing heat replaced the numbing cold that had settled in my bones. It made me want to close my eyes and sleep, but a strange urgency wouldn’t let that happen. I strained to stay awake and searched the shadows, waiting for a glimpse of something…anything to explain the eerie feeling.

After an intense light stabbed my eyes and sent a shock of pain down my spine, I saw movement. Something eclipsed the truck’s headlights. It drifted toward me, inching closer until it hovered over my body. The brilliant glimmer swept over me and through me. Even though I could see through it, the light took shape and substance. The ghostly flicker turned into a body with arms and hands…and finally a face.

A boy’s face.

I was only ten, but he looked older, like a high school boy. He had the most intense eyes that I’d ever seen. Beautiful. They were deep blue and reminded me of the frigid depths of the ocean. His eyes were the only real color on his face, but that wasn’t the most incredible thing about him. White tufts undulated and billowed within the boundaries of his filmy body, beautiful and peaceful. He conjured memories of a perfect summer day with me lying on my back on a grassy hilltop, picturing animal shapes in drifting white clouds.

When I shifted my gaze back to his eyes, I saw a long tunnel with a glimmering light at the end of it, a light eclipsed by the vague shapes of bodies undulating on a watery surface. Those wavering images calmed me. At that moment, I felt a part of them, as if I belonged. He comforted me in a way no one ever had.

The boy fascinated me. I must have had the same impact on him. He stared at me with such concentration that it looked as if he were memorizing my face. Who are you? I wanted to ask, but I couldn’t make my lips work.

When he reached out his hand, a strong impulse made me take it.

In my research of this book, I found several references to Death not traveling alone. Inky black ravens are his harbingers and signal his coming with their eerie presence. They are a chilling glimpse of things to come. Abbey is stalked by these shadowy creatures until she realizes why they seek her out.

Excerpt – His Ravens

Below my bedroom window, a tree moved in the night breeze. It wasn’t until I looked closer that I saw them. The tree was filled with ravens and crows. Hundreds of them. When their iridescent black wings flapped, they caught the moonlight in their feathers and it made the whole tree look as if it would lift from the ground and drift into the night sky. The birds had gathered for a purpose that I didn’t understand, but for some strange reason, I knew one thing.

They had come because of me.

ON A DARK WING (Harlequin Teen, Jan 2012) is a coming of age story for a girl who is lucky to be alive, but she can’t move on with her life carrying a burden of guilt over the death of her mother. The tragedy marks her. It defines her. Tanner Lange looks out for her from a distance, the only way he thinks she’ll accept him—as her best friend. Being a boy in a wheelchair, he doesn’t feel he has much to offer her except his unflinching loyalty, the same loyalty she had always shown him after he was paralyzed. Tanner sees the major crush Abbey has on the perfect boy—a great guy who doesn’t even know she exists—Nate Holden. When Death finds a unique way to face Abbey again, she will learn what love and loyalty truly are.

The cover will be posted on Monday, Oct 3^rd. I hope you’ll stop by and let me know what you think. Please show Death some love by cross posting him. Believe me, he’ll be watching.

For the question of the day – if you faced Death like Abbey, what would you say to him? Or what would you hope he’d say to you?