Paige Kelly is used to weird--in fact, she probably corners the market on weird, considering that her best friend, Dottie, has been dead since the 1950s. But when a fire demon attacks Paige in detention, she has to admit that things have gotten out of her league. Luckily, the cute new boy in school, Logan Bradley, is a practiced demon slayer-and he isn't fazed by Paige's propensity to chat with the dead. Suddenly, Paige is smack in the middle of a centuries-old battle between warlocks and demons, learning to fight with a magic sword so that she can defend herself. And if she makes one wrong move, she'll be pulled into the Dark World, an alternate version of our world that's overrun by demons-and she might never make it home.
This was an incredible read! You can see my review here! I was positively ecstatic when I was asked if I'd like to join the blog tour! Couldn't type fast enough that YES I would!!
So today, I bring you Cara Lynn Shultz, the fabulous author of the new Dark World series, talking about Creating Parallel Universes: Easy or Hard?
The idea for a demonic version of New York City was actually born out of the challenges of writing novels set in my hometown. After all, it's the most famous city on earth, with more easily recognizable landmarks than any other place. There's only so much artistic license I can take when putting my characters in a city whose geography is so well-known.
But when you're writing in a world that you've created, the sky—the creepy, gray Dark World sky, with its pulsing, red sun—is the limit. And it's a lot of fun to have all this freedom: If I decide that I want a character who can incinerate you with her mere touch: Boom! A fire demon is born, and I get to make her deliciously evil. If I decide that a particularly adorable demonslayer wants to teach my heroine all about this world and how to defend herself in it, he gets to do so with an arsenal of fantastic weapons and supplies, like magic swords and healing potions and even eerie maps that move.
Although it's fun, there's nothing really easy about creating an entire world from scratch, even when going off a foundation as rich and storied as New York's. In the demonic version of New York City, everything— from the sidewalk to the top of iconic buildings—needed to be colored in with that demonic pencil. I had to ensure that I maintained the aesthetic of that world, while still having it resemble New York City. What do taxis look like in this world? And if something happens in one world, how will it affect the other?
And, of course, I have to remember just what changes I've made to turn New York City demonic. If I've changed the appearance of something very basic—like the appearance of streetlights—I have to keep that consistent. I have to remember that I've changed what lightning looks like when a storm rolls in.
Let's just say I have a lot of sticky notes.
Thanks for the post Cara!!
Be sure to enter the rafflecopter below for your chance to win a copy of The Dark World! It's a read you will NOT want to miss!
And because for some reason I am technically challenged, I can never get other people's rafflecopter codes to work, so just go to this link and you'll be given the rafflecopter form!
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Be sure to check out the rest of the tour for other fun posts, interviews, reviews!
Monday May 12th - The Irish Banana
Review - Guest Post
Wednesday May 14th - Step Into
Fiction - Character Interview
Thursday May 15th – Harlequin
Paranormal Blog - Guest Post
Friday May 16th - All Things Urban
Fantasy - Guest Post
Monday May 19th - Swoony Boys Podcast -
Character Interview
Wednesday May 21st - A Dream Within A
Dream - Author Interview
Friday May 23rd - a GREAT
read - Guest Post
About Cara Lynn Shultz
Publication: May 27th 2014 by Harlequin Teen
Christina R. in the rafflecopter
ReplyDeleteTotally awesome post!! I love how her version of NY is kinda like the real one, but still is totally unique.
It must be difficult to create a spinoff world like this, because you have to keep it similar but also make it totally new.
She's an awesome author!!
Thank you :)
This one sounds interesting! And that cover..LOVE IT. Parallel worlds are already feat on it's own, but to create one of New York, man, I need to see how she accomplished that.
ReplyDeleteI will definitely be checking this one out! Thank you for sharing it with us =)
This book sounds really fascinating!! The synopsis really piqued my interest :)
ReplyDeleteOhhh sounds cool!
ReplyDeleteThat cover makes me laugh at bit though, with the building coming out of her head :P
Dark World sounds so awesome! I love the idea of an alternate demon world!
ReplyDeleteWow, the cover looks amazing, and the premise of the story sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteAhh... NYC. I totally need to go there. There's Spider-man, the Statue of Liberty and now, Logan. *sigh*
ReplyDelete**Rachelle**
Parallel worlds are so fun in books. I can't wait to read this one.
ReplyDeleteI can only imagine how hard it would be to change a world and keep the little details straight and consistent! However, Cara is brilliant and I can't wait to read this and fall into this world she so careful crafted!
ReplyDelete