Please welcome Debra Mullins to The Qwillery. Debra's most recent novel and first Paranormal Romance is Prodigal Son.
How A Historical Romance Writer Started Writing About Atlantis
I’d like to thank The Qwillery for having me on their site today!
The question on the table is: How did this historical writer start writing about Atlantis?
Over the past fourteen years, I wrote thirteen historical romances, ranging from pirates to Westerns to Regency and Victorian England; however, my most recent book is a contemporary paranormal romance about the survivors of Atlantis. Why the change?
First, you need to know that I love science fiction/fantasy/paranormal from way back. If you checked out my bookshelves, you’d see lots of Marjorie M. Liu, Shana Abé, Mercedes Lackey, Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Star Trek novelizations. If you looked at my DVD/Blue Ray shelves, you’d see all the Star Trek movies (old and new), all the Star Wars movies, the complete TV works of Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse, Firefly), the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (waving to the FoLCs!), The Flash, Roswell, most of the Highlander TV series, all the Back to the Future movies, all the recent Marvel movies, and the list goes on. Let’s face it, that’s a serious habit.
My name is Debra Mullins, and I’m a science fiction/paranormal addict.
I started writing historicals because I love the old pirate and Western movies starring Errol Flynn, Tyrone Power and John Wayne. I had always intended to write both paranormal and historical books, but the opportunity has not presented itself until now.
How hard is it? Historicals and paranormals are similar in that they both involve world building. In a historical, I have to convince you that you’ve been transported back to Regency England or the old west or a pirate ship. In my paranormal, I have to convince you that there may very well be descendants of the psychically gifted citizens of Atlantis living among us. That’s called world building.
Now you would think that paranormal romances taking place in modern times would be easier to write than historical romances—and you’d be wrong. Historicals for me are often a regular romance that happens to be set in a historical period. I know the rules of that period. For example: people did not drive cars in Regency England, they traveled on horses or by horse-drawn carriage. I don’t have to make anything up; I just need to research my facts.
Paranormal romances are completely different. Not only do I have to make up every detail of the paranormal world and know it inside and out with plot points based on that world, but I also have to write a romance taking place against the backdrop of that world. I am, essentially, writing two books that will eventually be woven into one: the paranormal story and the romantic story.
I’ve always loved the legends of Atlantis and the ancient world. The idea that some people survived the destruction of Atlantis and blended in with the normal population seemed like new angle on a favorite legend. Why wouldn’t some people have escaped? Maybe they weren’t even home when Atlantis was destroyed. Maybe they were on vacation in Greece.
Hey, it could happen.
Take it a step further. Maybe those people who escaped from Atlantis had special powers that bred true through the generations. Seems to me, we’d have some modern folks with funky abilities.
Welcome to my Atlantean world.
Prodigal Son
Prodigal Son
Truthseers 1
Tor Books, October 1, 2013
Trade Paperback and eBook,3 68 pages
Bounty hunter Rafe Montana is a Seer, descended from the fabled Atlanteans. He uses his inherited power to “see” criminals across the globe and track them down, and he’s just started on a new case. Danny Cangialosi is accused of disappearing with a stolen car…but for the first time in his life, when Rafe goes looking, he is unable to “see” him. Instead, his search leads him to Danny’s stubborn, meddling, and very cute stepsister, Cara McGaffigan.
Cara is looking for Danny, too, but not to turn him in. He is her brother, after all, and she’s convinced he has a good heart. If she can just find him before the cops do, she’ll figure out a way to get him out of this. But Cara didn’t count on a scorching-hot bounty hunter getting in her way.
Despite instant chemistry, Rafe and Cara know they’re never going to see eye-to-eye when it comes to Danny. What they don’t know is that Danny didn’t just steal a car—he stole a precious stone, a stone right out of the legends of Atlantis. It holds powers they can only dream of…and its owner wants it back.
About Debra
Debra has spoken at various RWA chapter meetings, as well as the national RWA conference, the Liberty States Fiction Writers conference and the Emerald City Writers’ Conference in Seattle. In August 2009, she gave a full day special event for the Orange County chapter of Romance Writers of America with author Charlotte Carter, where she spoke on the topics of character and conflict.
Born and raised in the New York/New Jersey area, Debra now lives in California and has been actively writing for over twenty years. A language nerd, she could speak four languages by the time she graduated high school. At age 16, she went to France on a student exchange program for a summer. By the time she came home to the U.S., she was dreaming in French.
She is currently finishing a paranormal trilogy for Tor/Forge. The first book, PRODIGAL SON, is due out in October 2013. Debra is a member of Novelists Inc., Liberty States Fiction Writers, and several chapters of RWA. You can find her on Twitter using @debramullins and on the web at www.debramullins.com.
The Giveaway
What: One commenter will win a copy of Prodigal Son by Debra Mullins from Tor Books. US/CANADA ONLY
How: Log into and follow the directions in the Rafflecopter below.
Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a US or Canadian mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59 PM US Eastern Time on October 17, 2013. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.
*Giveaway rules and duration are subject to change at any time without prior notice*
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This sounds fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSounds good. It'll be interesting to see how they handle things when they finally get Danny. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSounds great! Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the awesome giveaway. I would love to read this book.
ReplyDeleteSounds interesting
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this one. I love reading about Atlantis! This sounds really good. Thanks for the chance.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy reading new takes on the Atlantis myth.
ReplyDelete