Morning everyone!
Lucienne Diver was asked to write a story set in the Rogue Mage world for the two anthologies set there. Here are a few questions she was asked about the project and the experience. At the bottom are buy and preorder links. ‘Cause you want to revisit the world of Thorn St. Croix, right???
- Lucienne, Your story is in the upcoming TRIBULATIONS (available for preorder now; see below). What was it like to play in the Rogue Mage world?
At first it was incredibly intimidating. Faith is such an amazing writer, and the world she’s created is so rich and textured that it was a challenge to jump in and feel that I was doing it justice. But because the world is so well-realized, it really lives and breathes, and once I got a handle on the approach I wanted to take, it was a lot of fun. Who doesn’t want to write a kylen? Or the woman with a dangerous secret she’s afraid he’s come to expose? Who doesn’t want to fight the good fight in a post-apocalyptic world?
- Was it hard to develop your character within the confines of the Rogue Mage world?
Not at all. Aoife (pronounced ee-fa), my heroine, is an itinerant storyteller and something a little more. She’ll carry packages and messages for the right price. Not smuggling per se, but not necessarily things that are approved by the Administration of the ArchSeraphs. She’s such a product of her upbringing. Aoife grew up in an Enclave where her parents were in service, so she’s got a healthy disdain for neomages who treated her and her family as though they were lesser because they were only human. As soon as she was of age, she left to make her own way in the world, but with some specialized knowledge, like bataireacht, the Irish stick-fighting taught to her by her father, which is very handy in the dangerous Post-Ap world Faith has created. Put Aoife in the same mule train with a second or third generation kylen (the product of a union between a seraph and a mage or human) and you have instant tension. Add to that the mysterious parcel she carries and dangers stalking their caravan, bring things to a head, and Aoife discovers where she really stands in the grand scheme of things.
- Tell us about your character. What species, etc.
I jumped the gun on this question above, but the short version: Aoife describes herself as “standard-issue human” and is proud of it.
- When your story was finished, how did you feel about your character and story?
I really love Aoife. I know we’re not supposed to put too much of ourselves into our characters, but I identify with her in so many ways, from the skepticism and continuing evaluation of beliefs to not being a joiner. I love that I was able to use my time in Ireland and the nature of the place and people themselves to inform her development, and I’m very pleased with the way she turned out. I hope my story will resonate with others the way it resonates with me.
- Lucienne, tell us about your other projects.
My latest novel, Faultlines, is a young adult thriller dealing with some serious issues that are close to my heart. In short, six months ago, Vanessa’s best friend Lisa changed, pushing everyone away, Vanessa included. Now she’s committed suicide. As Vanessa struggles to come to terms with Lisa’s death and to reconstruct the last months of her life, someone begins taking revenge against those he or she perceives drove Lisa to suicide. Everyone thinks it’s Vanessa, the former best friend and some begin their retaliation. As vengeance, counterattacks and clues mount, it becomes a race to the truth…and hopefully not to the death.
In addition to Faultlines, I’ve written the Latter-Day Olympians urban fantasy series featuring a heroine who can, quite literally, stop men in their tracks, and the Vamped young adult series featuring a heroine who goes from chic to eek when she becomes one of the undead (think Clueless meets Buffy). My short stories and essays that have appeared in the Strip-Mauled and Fangs for the Mammaries anthologies edited by Esther Friesner (Baen Books), in Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories (HarperTeen) and the anthology Kicking It edited by Faith Hunter and Kalayna Price (Roc Books).
TRIALS at Amazon
TRIALS at B&N
TRIBULATIONS for preorder at Amazon