Today we get to be one of the stops for Crystal Connor’s The Darkness Pre-Release Virtual Book Tour thanks to Books And…! Crystal has answered a few questions for us, I give my opinion on the first five chapters of the Darkness, and you can read the book synopsis, her author bio, and the tour schedule and see the book trailer! So read on everybody.
Mini Interview
Amanda: When did you start writing?
Crystal: Telling spooky little stories is something I've always done, but I don't think I started writing them until about Jr. High School.
Amanda: Where did your inspiration for The Darkness come from?
Crystal: It was a dream. I woke up and started writing (I keep a notebook and a pen on my nightstand) and after about 10 or 12 pages I thought I was done. But an editor and award winning author took one look at it & told me that The Darkness was not a short story and told me I was just being lazy. I didn't know it at the time but he was right and The Darkness morphed into my 1st full length novel.
Amanda: What authors do you enjoy reading?
Crystal: Stephen King is a staple in my literary diet, and so is Dean Kontz. Another author that is doing really good at monopolizing my reading time is Scott Sigler but I have recently discovered Jonathan Moon's "Mr. Moon's Nightmares", Robert R. Best's "All Kinds of Things Kill", Phill Rossi's "Crescent Moon" and anything I can get my hands on from Jenna M. Pittman.
Amanda: Who is your favorite literary character or the one you have most identified with?
Crystal: My favorite literary character is Shori Matthews, the protaganist of Octavia E. Bulter's "Fledgling"
Amanda: What do you like doing for Halloween?
Crystal: What I usually do is turn off all the lights and go into the back room and sleep. If I try to watch a movie the little kids see the light flickering from the TV and someone knocks on the door every 15 min or right at the best part of the movie.
I won't be giving out candy this year, I'm working Seattle's 2010 ZomBcon this weekend and on Friday night I'll be hanging out at the Wayward Coffee Shop in Seattle to listen to horror reading performed by Michael Montoure and Jenna M. Pitman.
Amanda: Thank you so much Crystal for taking the time to answer my questions!
Mini Review of Chapters 1-5
I was sucked into The Darkness right off the bat. The opening lines are now some of my favorites! (I’ll give you that quote when I review the book lol) I’m a complete science nerd, so I must say I love all the genetics and science research aspects to this that come in on Artemisia’s side. Then you get the magic side of it all with Inanna. Add in the creepy stalker and horror effects and I’m one happy girl and can not wait to read the rest!!
Synopsis
An urban fantasy/science fiction book, The Darkness is told in an urban setting. Artemisia, a scientist who also practices alchemy, is wealthy beyond imagination. As an alchemist Artemisia has created and controls an empire of jewelry firms and factories that monopolizes the industry globally. As a scientist Artemisia is one of the founding members of The Skyward Group, a privately funded, secret science research facility in which experiments erase the boundaries of where man ends and God begins. Artemisia has everything: money, fame, knowledge and power. That is, she has everything except a child.
Inanna, a powerful and dangerous witch, is wealthy beyond imagination. At a very young age Inanna frightened the others in her village and, in the middle of the night, they tried to kill her and her mother. Inanna’s life was spared, but her mother perished. In her grief and rage Inanna killed the people of her village and resolved herself to studying all things occult, vowing never to be hurt again. As a witch, Inanna has everything: money, fame, knowledge and power. That is, everything except a child.
The child, at three months old, saw the world only through the bars of his locked cage. He has nothing; he doesn’t have a mommy, he doesn’t have a daddy and he doesn’t have a name. The scientists working for The Alpha Omega Foundation do not talk to the child; they only study him because the child is dangerous. The child could make things happen just by thinking them into existence—even if it meant making them dead.
When Artemisia is made aware of the experiment being conducted by her archenemy, she sets into motion a chain of events that will change her life and that of the child, forever. The Skyward Group sends a team to retrieve the child. Under The Skywards Group’s guardianship, the child is finally given a name, Adam, and Artemisia finally has a child. For the next three and a half years, Adam flourishes under the experiments of The Skyward Group—until he mysteriously vanishes from the secure facility, causing Artemisia to be plunged into an abyss of turmoil and grief.
One night while Inanna was driving through a wooded area, four-year-old Adam stumbles onto the road and she almost runs him over. Surprised to see a child in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere, Inanna leaps from her car to see if Adam is okay. Because Adam is scared and confused, he tries to kill her. This is his third murder attempt, but unlike his first two victims, Inanna does not die. From that night forward, Adam lives with Inanna as her son, and Inanna finally has a child.
Artemisia believes that Adam had been kidnapped and killed. Fourteen years later, when Artemisia finds out otherwise, it might be too late to salvage the relationship with the child she considered her son. Adam is furious with Artemisia and struggles with feelings of abandonment and rejection, feeling like she just didn’t want him anymore.
Adam begins to stalk Artemisia, killing people she closely interacts with because he doesn’t know that Inanna cast spells of protection and cloaking to ensure he would not be found. Inanna tries to comfort Adam, but he refuses to be pacified because he wants to make Artemisia pay.
When Adam’s fury-driven decision ends in death, Artemisia feels relief, and Inanna promises vengeance.
Author Bio
Washington state native and author Crystal Y. Connor, now living in Seattle, has been writing short stories specializing in the urban fantasy/science fiction/horror genres and poetry since before junior high school. Connor’s short story The Ruins earned a runner-up placement in Seattle’s Crypticon 2010 writing contest. Her short story The Monster will be featured in the anthology Strange Tales Of Horror published by NorGus Press.
Connor belongs to both the Black Science Fiction Society and The Seattle Women’s Writing Groups and is an active member of The Critters Workshop. Connor’s current projects, Artificial Light, the sequel to The Darkness, and … And They All Lived Happily Ever After, is an anthology that will be released in 2011.
For more information about Connor and updates on current projects, please visit: http://wordsmithcrystalconnor.blogspot.com
Book Trailer
Pre-Buzz Virtual Book Tour Schedule
Monday, October 25th
Notorious Spinks Talks
Dren's B-Spot
Tuesday, October 26th
Sol Searching Radio
Loves 2 Read For Fun
Wednesday, October 27th
Not Really Southern Vamp Chick
Paper Cut Reviews
Thursday, October 28th
Character Corner Radio
Love Magazine Radio
Friday, October 29th
Ins and Outs
As a college senior and server at Hanaford Park's hottest nightclub, twenty one year old Ryann Pierce's plan was simple: work hard, make lots of money, and avoid the ass-grabbers at all costs. What she never planned for was Quinn Donegan-- the living, breathing advertisement for sinful behavior that waltzed into her life.
