Kristen Callihan, Author of Dark London Series

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We are talking today with Kristen Callihan, the author of Firelight, which is Book #1 in the Dark London series. This was an incredible story, a mix of historic and paranormal romance. Every so often we get an unexpected treat when we read a new story and something about the characters and story just stays with you. This is one of those stories, and I must confess that this was one of those stories I had to re-read immediately because I enjoyed it so much.

First off, thank you so much! That means the world to me. 🙂 And thank you for having me here.

I always like to ask, did you always believed you were meant to write, or did you find a love for it later on?

Definitely later on. I’m mildly dyslexic and left-handed. So I had terrible grades in school for things like spelling and handwriting. I didn’t exactly associate writing with something that could be enjoyable. But I was always making up stories. Later, however, when I was in my twenties and had a computer handy, I thought to try writing down one of those stories. It was insta-love. I never looked back. All I can say is, all hail the mighty computer! 🙂

Do you write what you read? What type of books do you read when you aren’t writing?

To be honest, before I wrote Firelight, I hadn’t read a pure romance in about five years. At that time, I was more into novels with strong romantic elements, be they mysteries, paranormals, or historicals. Now, however, I read a lot of romance –it’s my genre, after all, and I love it dearly. I still read outside of the genre, but that’s usually either mysteries or a few YAs.

Tell us a little bit about what you like to do when you are not writing.

Read! Lol. I’ve always been a total reader. The best thing in the world for me to do is snuggle down with a good book. Other than that, I loved to travel, hang out with friends and family, take long walks…hmmm, I’m beginning to sound like a Match.com add. 😉

Firelight is the first book in the Darkest London series. Can you tell us about this story, and where you got the inspiration for the wonderful characters, Archer and Miranda.

Well, there is the plot, which you can read about on the cover copy, but to me, the story is really about two lonely people, who both feel themselves outcasts and unlovable, finding each other. And though everything in their lives tell them they shouldn’t give into their feelings, they do so anyway, because they realize loving and being loved is worth the risk. 🙂

Archer is a tough one to explain inspiration, because he kind of just popped up and started taking over. I can tell you, though, that when I wrote his character, I put myself in his place. How would I feel if everyone feared me? If I were alone for so long? And if I had this one person who seemed to want me anyway?

As for Miranda, she too sprung fairly formed in regards to personality. Every time a plot point was thrust upon her, she did not cower or jump to unfair conclusions. She was actually quite fun in that way. However, when I first started writing Firelight, she didn’t have a name, nor did I know exactly what she looked like (only that she was beautiful.) I did a search of period paintings because I like to ground my characters in that time frame. In my search, I kept coming upon paintings of beautiful redheads, and they were all named Miranda –turns out they were painting of Miranda from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Such as these:

Getty Images – Miranda

Wikipedia – Miranda – The Tempest

Wikipedia – Prospero and Miranda

So I gave my character red-gold hair and the name Miranda as homage to those paintings. I also use a quote from The Tempest in Firelight. The story line for The Tempest, incidentally, fit in nicely with how I viewed Miranda and her father.

Your next story, Moonglow, will feature two of the characters that we meet in Firelight, Lord Ian Ranulf, the Marquis of Northrup, and Miranda’s sister, Daisy. What can we expect from this next story?

More tortured heroes, lol. More of two people who fight for love even though they are afraid to risk it. Those themes interest me. But Ian and Daisy’s situation is very different that Archer and Miranda’s. First off, if you’ve read Firelight, you’ll know what Ian is. He doesn’t hide it. In fact, he fairly likes to flaunt his faults. Daisy does too. But beneath the skin, they are both terribly wounded. These two circle each other like weary cats wolves! 🙂 Watching them yield to each other has been great fun for me.

You’ll also get more terror on the streets of London and high-stakes conflict. Good people will get hurt, some will die, and it’s up to our heroes to save the day once again.

I see that you also have a third book for this series all set up for release next spring (so far away 🙁 ). Can you give us a hint where you will be taking the series at that point?

In Winterblaze, you’ll learn more about this supernatural London, the secret London in which the monsters who go bump in the night are real. And how there are people dedicated to keeping those monsters in check. Bits of this come out in Moonglow, with the introduction to the Society for the Suppression of Supernaturals, SOS for short. But Winterblaze is where we get to see the SOS in action.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions for us. We are looking forward to your next stories and seeing where your series goes from here.

Thank you so much for having me! I enjoyed it. 🙂

Check out our review of Firelight

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About the Author

Kristen Callihan is a child of the 80’s, which means she’s worn neon skirts, black-lace gloves, and combat boots (although never all at once) and can quote John Hughes movies with the best of them. A life long daydreamer, she finally realized that the characters in her head needed a proper home and thus hit the keyboard. She believes that falling in love is one of the headiest experiences a person can have, so naturally she writes romance. Her love of superheroes, action movies, and history led her to write historical paranormals. She lives in the Washington D.C. area and, when not writing, looks after two children, one husband, and a dog — the fish can fend for themselves.

Her current manuscript, FIRELIGHT, a gothic retelling of Beauty and the Beast set along the shadowy lanes of Victorian London, will be published by Grand Central Publishing in February of 2012.

Kristen Callihan is a child of the 80’s, which means she’s worn neon skirts, black-lace gloves, and combat boots (although never all at once) and can quote John Hughes movies with the best of them. A life long daydreamer, she finally realized that the characters in her head needed a proper home and thus hit the keyboard. She believes that falling in love is one of the headiest experiences a person can have, so naturally she writes romance. Her love of superheroes, action movies, and history led her to write historical paranormals. She lives in the Washington D.C. area and, when not writing, looks after two children, one husband, and a dog — the fish can fend for themselves.

Her current manuscript, FIRELIGHT, a gothic retelling of Beauty and the Beast set along the shadowy lanes of Victorian London, will be published by Grand Central Publishing in February of 2012.

Find out more: Kristen Callihan’s Website