Mia Darien, published author of the Adelheid Series, is dipping into Historical Romance with the release of Deeper than Skin.
In the deep dark forests of 18th century France resides a mysterious beast. Amidst bloodshed and horror, is love possible?
We’ll let Mia Darien tell us:
What sparked the idea for Deeper than Skin?
It was a two-fold idea. I've always been a geek, and one of my geek hobbies is online writing/role-playing by email or message board. Well, the romance angle of this story was actual inspired by a pair of characters I wrote with someone. The history angle came from a long time fascination with the Beast of Gévaudan after an article I read as a teenager. I'd always wanted to put him in a book, and these two threads just seemed perfect to weave together.
Any reason why you chose this period to write about?
It was all about the Beast. I wanted to write a story with him in it, so that automatically tacked me down to the time and place: Gévaudan, France somewhere between 1764 and 1767.
Who is your favorite character?
Oh, dear. I don't know that I could say! I see Tristan as a quiet type of Alpha male. He tries to play inside the rules of his rank and society, but still do what he feels is right and what his heart tells him to do, and I like that about him. But Constance has a strong inner emotional journey in this story, a very hard road to walk for a woman of her position in that time, and that made me very fond of her.
Seriously, how romantic is it when your friends are being torn up alive by a beast?
Well, in the book, there is a deep divide (as there was historically) between the classes and historical accounts show it was primarily peasants who were being attacked, those who went out to tend animals particularly, while my main characters are in the upper echelons. So, I can't quite say their friends were being torn up alive. But the entire province was afraid. It was three years of bloodshed, but isn't it often in the times when people most fear for their lives that love happens? A person wants to live while they're alive.
Where does the title come from?
Just to remember that beauty is not as simple as what someone looks like. That someone can be beautiful on the outside, but scarred on the inside. Or scarred on the outside and beautiful within.
So true. Do you believe the beast was real? What do you think happened to it?
I got the idea and the information from historical accounts. For those who haven't heard of it and studied its history, I don't want to give away too much from the book because I write the events at the end of those three years in the story. (I do discuss a little about the facts and fiction of my story in an Author's Note after the end of the book.) I can say that there were and are many theories about what the Beast was. Many thought it must be a wolf, since there were a lot of wolves in that area, but that it didn't quite look like a wolf, so some theories thought maybe it was an escaped animal (like a lion or hyena) from a traveling circus/zoo. The Beast did not behave like the "average" wild animal. It tended to avoid men, going for isolated women and children, and showed an aversion to livestock, particularly the largest of them, cows. So there was much to speculate about.
Okay, wow… remind me not to walk in the woods at night. So… tell us a bit about yourself. How did you get started as a writer?
I'm not entirely sure how I got started as a writer. I remember writing a few silly little things in elementary school, but it was after I started reading Piers Anthony when I was eleven, moving quickly into Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan and Anne McCaffrey, that by the time I was fourteen, I was trying to write fantasy novels of my own. They were just awful, of course, but it's where it all started.
Plotter or a pantser?
Oh, plotter all the way. I have tried the pants route and it just never works for me. I have to outline my books before I can start writing!
Any authors influenced you growing up?
Very early on, it was the Big Four -- the four I mention above. However, as I grew up, I just read and read and read, and I feel like every book I read influences me in one way or another. They either show me how I want to do it, or show me what not to do.
What's next? Will it be another historical romance?
Nope, next I'm delving back into my paranormal suspense (with a dash of romance) series, Adelheid. The next in the romance line is actual a zombie story/romance. I will be returning to historical fiction in the future, with a Regency and a trip to London during the reign of Jack the Ripper.
A zombie romance and Jack the Ripper? Good stuff. It was great having Mia on Rachelle’s Window. Be sure to click on the Book Cover and check out “Deeper Than Skin” and while you’re there, take a look at her other books, featuring creatures you wouldn’t want to meet next door.
Mia is holding a Giveaway of three (3) copies of her new book, Deeper than Skin. Enter here by leaving a comment, anything, even just "I wanna book!" with your e-mail. Increase your chances by visiting Mia tomorrow for Excerpt Tuesday with Jen Blood (http://www.bloodwrites.com)
You may also contact Mia at her blog, and check out the Interview she did with my character, Michal, who visited Mia from her mansion in the sky.
BUY LINKS for Deeper Than Skin
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/boo
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B007TZM962
Lulu (Print): http://www.lulu.com/shop/mia-d
Just stopping by to say hi to Mia. Nice interview on both parts. Please don't include me in the drawing as it's really not my kind of book, but I'm getting closer and closer to reading Cameron's Law!
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