Saturday, December 22, 2012

#BookChat INTAGLIO by Danika Stone - wildfire relationship set against the backdrop of the modern art scene




Set against the backdrop of the modern art scene, Intaglio: The Snake and the Coins follows Ava Brooks, art student and graffiti artist, as she begins a wildfire relationship with fellow student, sculptor Cole Thomas. Their sudden connection results in a passionate affair which sparks a series of increasingly vivid dreams. In them, Ava finds herself drawn into a memory of another life: one that she and Cole shared. As each dream brings the memory of her past closer, the two of them must unravel the events that once tore them apart, or risk repeating the same mistakes all over again.  (Volume 1 of 2).

From the Author
About a hundred years ago (or so it feels) I was a poor university student sharing a painting studio with my much-more-talented friend: B.  I had a smidgen of artistic talent, a dollop more writerly prowess, and hell of a lot of frustration with the Art world.  I’d paint and I’d rant, and B would smile and nod, honing his craft while I spun out tales to fill the hours.  Somewhere along the way, I suddenly realized that I had a story to tell, and I began to jot it down.

The years of university passed in a blur.  People came in and out of my life, but the urge to write never left me.  Along the way, I had a burning-up-the-page romance of my own.  He was another student: a fantastic artist and the man I’d eventually marry.  Suddenly the story I was imagining pulled into focus: it wouldn’t just be about Art, it would be about love and fate and soulmates too! I hatched out a rough plot and the words began to pour out, chapter after chapter appearing almost by their own, the characters blurring into the artists I knew and loved. 

Everything seemed poised to come together, but then school ramped into high gear.  With graduation came marriage and mortgages, jobs and security, and in the midst of all the busyness of life, I simply got too busy to finish story I was trying to tell.

It wasn’t that I meant to stop… LIFE happened.

Jump forward fifteen years.  My friend B was now a critically acclaimed artist, with gallery representation and a client list the length of my arm.  I was a grad student as well as a freelance artist and writer who taught New Media to make ends meet.  I’d married the man I’d met in art school, and while we had an amazing life, the book I’d once dreamed about still wasn’t written.  What I didn’t know, was that life was about to give me a wakeup call.

I’d always been healthy.  It was somewhat of a badge of honour to come through my yearly checkups with flying colours.  This time, however, the doctor picked up a very faint ‘murmur’ in my heart and sent me for an echocardiogram.  After a battery of tests, I was informed that I had a heart condition.  It was a huge blow to realize that I couldn’t do everything!  The first thing was to reduce stress.  I started cutting back on all the extras I did: those things that ate up my time and took away from the things I really wanted to do.  The diagnosis was a reminder to be a little selfish, to think about what drove me, what got me excited about life, and what made me really, truly happy. 

I started writing again.

Intaglio is the result.  It’s the ‘rest of the story’ that I started (and forgot) so many years before.  It’s a dark romance, wrapped up in a paranormal storyline, reflecting not only my experiences of art school, but the things I learned along the way.  The characters, like B, from my studio days are hidden in it, and the long-ago story I began has evolved into something I’m finally happy with. 

Is it perfect?  No, but life never is.  It does, however, tell a love story in a unique way, gives a snapshot into both the illegal and illegal sides of the Art world, and shares a little of the truth I’ve learned along the way.  In a way, this book is a piece of art, just as much as any painting I struggled to complete, and that makes me happier than anything else.

eader's Reactions
“A fantastic first effort from an author to watch. I enjoyed the book immensely and look forward to her next offering.”  Outlaw Poet, Amazon Reviewer, Top 1000 Reviewer, Amazon

“Intense and emotional… a well written story.”  L.Sims, Top 1000 Reviewer, Amazon

“Danika Stone writes with the same incredible energy with which her characters create… Taut, energetic, and fast-paced.”  M. Parker, Author

I found myself cheering for the characters throughout the course of the books.”  D.R. Loeffler, Editor

“Intaglio is at once a coming of age story and an epic romance… A captivating exploration of what it means to find a soulmate.”  E. Dropkin, Author

Behind the Scenes
While the characters in Intaglio are fictitious, the art they create is based on the work of real artists. Check out the Intaglio: Resources section of www.danikastone.com for links to these artists and their real life artwork!

Biography and Links
Danika Stone is a writer of contemporary fiction with a focus on strong female narratives.  An educator, artist, grad student, and mother of three, her involvement in the Arts and New Media, has spanned a decade and a half.  Danika’s personal experiences and numerous friendships with contemporary artists, are the inspiration behind this story. Her favourite reader and collaborator is her husband of fifteen years, D, who met Danika in a university Art class.

Danika’s series, Intaglio, is available for purchase, both in paperback and Kindle formats from Amazon.   Resources for Intaglio, and previews for her next books, Tathagata and Ctrl Z, can be found on www.danikastone.com  and you can chat with Danika at @danika_stone on twitter.


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