Hearts of Chaos is latest novel, can you tell us a little about it and the series? The Deadglass Trilogy is set in a gritty alternate Seattle where two warring shapeshifter races secretly fight to control the cracked Gate to the Land of the Dead. The Kivati – who can change into their Totem animals of Raven, Thunderbird, Crow, and Wolf – seek to protect the Gate. The Drekar – immortal Norse dragon shifters who eat souls to survive – seek to destroy it. But when an ancient evil rises, warriors from both sides must step forward to save the world from total annililation.
Hearts of Chaos is the last book in the trilogy, and I would recommend reading the other two books and novella first. The book opens right after Hearts of Shadow ends, with Lucia Crane on the battlefield where Drekar, human, and Kivati forces joined together to defeat the demigod Kingu. Lucia defied her lord and fiancee, Emory Corbette, to lead a small band of Kivati warriors against Kingu, which tipped the balance of the battle. She is determined to find her own way to lead her people as the prophesized Crane, but that puts her at odds with the iron willed Raven Lord. When Tiamat, the Babylonian Goddess of Primordial Chaos, manifests in Seattle, Lucia and Corbette must put aside their differences and wounded hearts to defeat her. Their journey leads them into the Land of the Dead, and through danger, fear, and betrayal.
What is your favorite thing about writing? I love letting my imagination run wild and building fantastical worlds. The world of the Deadglass novels came to me before any of the plots or characters. I was inspired by the ghost stories and mythology of my beloved Seattle, and I enjoyed peppering the trilogy with historical facts twisted to my own use.
Which 2014 books are you looking forward to? Honestly, I have no idea what is coming out in 2014. My second kid just turned one, and any day now he might start sleeping through the night. (Please, baby, please!) I’m still trying to catch up on my TBR pile from the last few years.
Update: I actually thought of some books that I've been excited about in 2014:
I loved Anna Richland's First To Burn (Jan 2014) about an immortal viking warrior who falls in love with an army doctor. Her writing is rich and her characters jump off the page, but best of all: IMMORTAL. VIKINGS. I can't wait for her next book to come out!
I want to read Julie Brannah's contemporary romance series about love and football in Seattle, starting with Blitzing Emily. First of all, I'm a huge Seattle fiction fan. Second of all, GO SEAHAWKS!
What inspired you most while writing Hearts of Chaos? I started brainstorming the Deadglass Trilogy while I was still in graduate school for a Masters of Urban Planning, and I used to bike to school along the Burke-Gilman while listening to the latest Decemberists’ album, the Crane Wife. Needless to say, the folktale of the Crane Wife made it into the books in the form of Lucia, the prophesized Crane of the Kivati. There are different versions of the story, but they are all about trust. A fisherman (or sailmaker) finds an injured crane and takes it home to nurse back to health. He is surprised in the morning to find a woman in his house, not a crane, and they fall in love. She agrees to marry him on the condition that he never look at her while she is weaving. She makes beautiful fishing nets/sails that bring the fisherman lots of moola, but he grows jealous and peeks in on her while she is weaving. He is shocked to find a white crane, not his wife, weaving in her own feathers into the loom. With a sad look, she flies away, never to be seen or heard from again. He is left brokenhearted, wishing he had trusted his wife. Lucia and Corbette’s story is very much about trust. Will Corbette learn to bend to love and find salvation in the hands of his unorthodox wife, or will he end up brokenhearted with only the ruins of his empire left?
Other mythology that inspired me in this particular book was tales of Grandmother Spider (Native American) and Arachne (Greek). Weaving connected both the Crane Wife folktale and the spider folktales, and I tried to use weaving, spinning, and knitting imagery in the book.
The Deadglass books connect common themes in world folklore. Dragon folktales are found all over the world, connecting Babylonian, Native American and Norse mythology. The oldest dragon tales are about Tiamat, the Babylonian Goddess of Primordial Chaos. The other common world folktale theme was the hero’s journey into the world of the dead and back again. In Babylonian mythology, Ishtar, goddess of love, sex, war, who raised the first zombie army, traveled to the Land of the Dead to meet her sister, Ereshkigal, the goddess of death. Ishtar had to travel through seven gates to get to Ereshkigal, and once there, she had to sacrifice her husband in her place in order to get out again. In Native American tales, Raven is the spirit who can fly between worlds. In one tale, he flies out of the spirit realm with a speck of dirt and makes the earth. Another famous Babylonian story I used heavily was the Epic of Gilgamesh. In it, Gilgamesh travels with his friend, the clay man Enkidu, past the Stone Giants and into the land of the dead to get the water of life. Gilgamesh is tempted by Ishtar, who calls down the wrath of the Bull of Heaven (in my story the Behemoth) when Gilgamesh refuses to lie with her.
Since becoming published, what has surprised you most about the industry? I’ve been surprised at how fast it’s changed! I started writing this series in 2008 and sold at the beginning of 2011, right before the news about Amanda Hocking making a million self-publishing broke. I thought about self publishing at that time, but I’m not a big risk taker and it still felt like the bigger risk. My first kid was under 1 at the time, and I’m not sure I would have written the second two books without that New York contract. I had this idea that landing an agent and selling to New York would be “making it” as a writer, and from then on I would be on a set career path. Sadly, I still have no idea what I’m doing.
What do you love most about writing PNR/UF? Magic. As a kid I struggled with the real world not living up to my rich imaginary world, and writing PNR/UF allows me to bring the later to life. Every now and then I’ll start writing a straight contemporary, but the dragons keep sneaking back in. I guess I still wish I lived in a world where dragons and fairies were real.
Did you have any input when it came to designing the covers and has it met your expectations? Not really. In my very first conversation with my editor I was asked if I had ideas for covers, but I was too “ZOMG I sold my book!” to give any real direction. I assumed I’d be asked again, but no. I wasn’t shown the covers until they were printed. I’m happy Kensington chose to put a Seattle skyline on the third book. I had hoped Seattle would play a much larger role in all the covers, as Seattle is such a vivid part of the books.
Update: And I finally saw the cover for the audiobook of Hearts of Chaos and I think it's great! It's my favorite cover of all of them.
If you could cast actors to play Lucia & Emory who would you pick? I don’t follow Hollywood, so this question is always hard for me, but I imagine Johnny Depp (From Hell version) as Emory Corbette. For Lucia Crane – Maybe Mandy Moore with white hair or Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen version)? The Kivati are based on Pacific Northwest Native American myths, so it might be appropriate to cast someone who looks more Native American.
Now that the Deadglass Trilogy has come to an end, what is next? Good question! I’m done with my contract, so the sky is the limit. I haven’t finished anything new, but I’ve started an urban fantasy romance set in an alternate history, electropunk Philadelphia. If you like my world building, I invite you to check my website http://kirabrady.com or follow me on the social webs to keep up to date on any future published works.
Instagram/kirabrady
Twitter/brady
Facebook/kirabrady
GoodReads/kirabrady
____________________________________________________________
Hearts of Chaos
Deadglass #3
By Kira Brady
Out Now!
Out Now!
To save her world, one woman's fierce quest will put her up against an ancient evil—and a desire too dangerous to deny...
She is betrothed to Seattle's most feared shifter clan leader. Still, the Lady Lucia can never be the dainty aristocratic wife Emory Corbette thinks he needs. And as a malevolent, all-consuming monster plots to take hold of their shattered world, Lucia will risk her untapped powers to defeat it—and challenge the Raven King's seductive rule.
No one in Emory's many lifetimes has ever defied him. Lucia's courage and strength are shaking his iron control to its core...and making him hungry for all she can give. But their only hope is a wrenching sacrifice that could unite humans and shifters in victory—or destroy everything Lucia and Emory desire most.
She is betrothed to Seattle's most feared shifter clan leader. Still, the Lady Lucia can never be the dainty aristocratic wife Emory Corbette thinks he needs. And as a malevolent, all-consuming monster plots to take hold of their shattered world, Lucia will risk her untapped powers to defeat it—and challenge the Raven King's seductive rule.
No one in Emory's many lifetimes has ever defied him. Lucia's courage and strength are shaking his iron control to its core...and making him hungry for all she can give. But their only hope is a wrenching sacrifice that could unite humans and shifters in victory—or destroy everything Lucia and Emory desire most.
Purchase Links:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
Nice Interview
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, I love this series!
ReplyDeleteBrilliant conclusion to this great series! I love the way Kira weaves folktales and mythology into new stories. Thanks for doing this interview!
ReplyDelete