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About Shadow Eyes
by Dusty Crabtree
Publisher: Musa Publishing
Release Date: February 3, 2012
Synopsis:
Iris Kohl lives in a world populated by murky shadows that surround, harass, and entice unsuspecting individuals toward evil. But she is the only one who can see them. She’s had this ability to see the shadows, as well as brilliantly glowing light figures, ever since an obscure, tragic incident on her fourteenth birthday three years earlier.
Although she’s learned to cope, the view of her world begins to shift upon the arrival of three mysterious characters. First, a handsome new teacher whose presence scares away shadows; second, a new friend with an awe-inspiring aura; and third, a mysterious and alluring new student whom Iris has a hard time resisting despite already having a boyfriend. As the shadows invade and terrorize her own life and family, she must ultimately revisit the most horrific event of her life in order to learn her true identity and become the hero she was meant to be.
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The Inspiration behind Shadow Eyes
Thank you for hosting me, ladies! I’m honored to be here and to share with you
my unique inspiration for my YA urban fantasy, Shadow Eyes!
(Everyone, don’t
forget to enter the rafflecopter below for a chance to win a print copy of Shadow Eyes, your full name in the
sequel, and a KINDLE FIRE!)
Obviously, stories don’t just magically materialize
out of thin air, and, poof, you have a story.
It would be nice if it happened that way, but generally writers have sources
of inspiration that then morph – several times – into an actual idea for a
story. Some things that inspire us may be so small we don’t even realize it,
but others are fairly elaborate – like the basis of inspiration for my novel.
The idea for Shadow
Eyes actually first came to me as a screenplay for a Christian horror movie. I know.
That’s not really a genre. But it
should be. Anyway, the movie would have
been about a cast of intertwined characters going about their lives and making
mistakes with dark, creepy shadows (demons) hovering around them, whispering to
them, and influencing them to do evil things.
Only the audience would see the shadows.
The characters would be completely oblivious. The ultimate dramatic irony! (Sorry, I’m an English teacher.) I could see it all in my head, and it was
awesome! But I had no idea how to write
a screenplay.
A few years after I’d had that idea, my friend
suggested I should write a novel like the paranormal angel books we’d been
reading and loving. I’d always loved the
concept of angels and demons in stories and immediately thought back to that
screenplay idea. After a lot of thought
on how to make the story work for a novel, I decided on a 17-year-old narrator,
Iris, who had a special ability to see the shadows, as well as light figures
(angels), but nobody else could.
The more the story developed in my mind, the crazier
I was about it. All the mysterious
characters, the twists and turns, the big mystery about what happened to Iris
when she was 14 that first gave her the ability, her making mistakes and
discovering who these characters were and, more importantly, who she was – all
of it just fell into place on an outline out of my crazy, overly-creative,
overly-stimulated mind. Shadow Eyes, my pride and joy, my baby,
is the result.
Giveaway Time!!EPIC GIVEAWAY TIME. Make sure you all go enter to win a print copy of Shadow Eyes, your full name in the sequel, and a KINDLE FIRE.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Happy reading,
Jen xx
Posts
Ooh, thanks for sharing this, Jen! I always love hearing about how authors get the ideas for their novels and this sounds great! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for having me Jen, and thanks for stopping by! Inspiration is always an interesting, unique thing. :)
ReplyDeleteOh wow, the protagonist seems to have so many cute boys surrounding her (and a teacher! jealous!)! xD It seems that inspirations really come from the most unexpected things. :) Love the guest post, and it has been quite long time since I read a YA Urban Fantasy book. I think I might read this book sometimes, just because I want to meet that hot er handsome teacher. :P
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, lovelies! :)
I really love how much thought went into the concept for this book, it's nice to know when authors do put a lot of time into setting up the world for their characters!
ReplyDeleteI swear I thought I commented back on this! Well, better late than never. :) Thanks again for having me Jen!
ReplyDelete