Guest Post - Firelight - Sophie Jordan

GUEST POST

FIRELIGHT

By:  Sophie Jordan

It is a fabulous day at Reading Vacation because Sophie Jordan is stopping by.  I bet you have heard the buzz about her new book, Firelight.  It is the first book in Sophie’s new paranormal series, Draki.  Here is a little summary from the Firelight web site.

With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even amount the drake – the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms.  But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her drake spirit fades.  The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind.  Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.

Doesn’t that sound fabulous?  Shape-shifting dragons that breathe fire – bring it!  I just had to ask Sophie if scary movies had any influence on her love of the paranormal genre and the writing of this spooky series.  

Scary Movie Love and Firelight

I began watching “scary” movies at an early age.  Probably sooner than most kids because I had two older brothers and the television just seemed to drift naturally to those channels.

There was something very thrilling about horror flicks.  Keep in mind I was never really into the slasher-type films, although I’ve watched my share of those, too.

I’ve always been drawn to what I like to call “scary” movies of substance.  Films that have suspense, subplots and strong characterization to go along with whatever “threat” exists – be it a terrifying ghost, zombie or serial killer.   When a scary movie has threse elements going for it, I’m so hooked.

Favorites include the work of Alfred Hitchcock.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched Rear Window.  It’s total awesomeness!  Gives me chills in the best way every time.  And more modern to date, I’m a big fan of zombie movies; my ultimate favorite being 28 Days Later (hello, it has romance in it!!) and coming in a close second is Dawn of the Dead (umm, Simon Baker hottie-alert!!).

These kind of movies, i.e. scary movies of “substance,’ have had a huge influence on me as a writer.  I’m convinced that media, in general, influences most writers, but “scary” flicks happen to be one of my favorite film genres.  They have a lot to do with my awareness of suspense and tension within a story – an absolute must for any good regardless of genre.

It’s no coincidence that several reviewers have thus far noted that Firelight is a bit of a suspense novel.  I would agree with that.  As a goal, anything I write will have a high level of tension.

But aside for suspense, my love affair with scary films especially pointed me in the direction of writing paranormal fiction.  How often do scary movies involve ghosts, vampires, werewolves, etc?  There’s a reason for that.  Magical or paranormal creatures just make for good stories – period.  They help raise the stakes, thereby increasing the conflict.

The mythical creatures found in my novel Firelight are called draki, and they descend from dragons of lore.  While most of them aren’t “scary,” they tie into the magic and mystery often found in a scary movie.  With so much secrecy and danger surrounding the drake, it was very easy to create a tone of suspense and scenes that, I like to think, border on frightening.

Just like in the movies I watch and the books I read, I enjoy writing stories that can deliver a good shiver or two.  I hope I did that in Firelight, I’ve just the author.  You’ll have to read Firelight and judge for yourself – did I manage to give you any chills?

Thank you for having me here today, Melina!

Happy reading!

Sophie

Thank you for stopping by Sophie!  Now I REALLY can’t wait to read Firelight to see just how many chills I get.