and, Falling Fly, by Skyler White
by sue on Mar.21, 2010, under Book Chat
‘and Falling, Fly’ by Skyler White, Berkley, March 2, 2010
Setting: A secret, steampunk-inflected hell beneath Cashel, Ireland
Subgenre: Dark Fantasy
Hero: Dominic O’Shaughnessy, neuroscientist
Heroine: Olivia, fallen angel and vampire
One sentence summary:
and Falling, Fly – a dark fable of desire between a fallen angel-turned-vampire and a self-medicating neuroscientist – pits science against mythology in a secret, underground Irish hell.
Scene you like most and would never cut:
The scene in chapter eight, when Dominic and Olivia finally see each other for who they actually are, although it negates their fundamental understanding of themselves and their world. For him, believing in something as outrageous as vampires crumbles the basic underpinning of the scientific outlook which has made life comprehensible. For her, accepting that she might be simply a woman in pain shatters her gorgeous world of damnation and mythology.
Thing your heroine would never be caught dead doing/saying:
“Oh, how cute!”
What celebrity is your hero like:
Dominic is a bit like the Sawyer character from Lost - if he had been raised by loving parents and given an exciting and challenging education. He looked a little more like Max Martini from The Unit in my head while I was writing the story, though.
What celebrity is your heroine like:
Olivia is a female James Bond. She is equally good at what she does, and she drinks, thinks and (ahem) socializes with the same sense of entitlement and ease.
What is your heroine’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should she be doing:
Olivia thinks she could be in advertising, from what she can tell by the way such creatures dress.
What is your hero’s occupation, or if unemployed, what should he be doing:
Dominic is doing post-doctoral work at MIT in neuroscience, with an emphasis in psychopharmacology and memory.
What you think readers will like best about this book:
I hope readers will like talking about it. and Falling, Fly, I hope, gives readers ideas to explore, and it would be highly gratifying to me to find people enjoy playing with those ideas.
The person that readers want you to write about but you haven’t yet:
Well, this is my debut novel, so it’s all uncharted territory; but I’ll guess it will be Alyx, the dazed rock star, and his confused dealings with vampires, that people will want to see revisited in the future.
What’s next:
In Dreams Begin, my second book for Berkley, is coming out in December 2010. It’s a dark, time-travel, horror/romance between the turn-of-the century Irish poet, WB Yeats; a newly-wed contemporary graphic artist; and the political revolutionary and occulist, Maud Gonne. It’s been an intense project for me because it required a tremendous amount of research, including travel to Ireland, England and France; because Yeats is such an icon and very prolific; and because it includes a deeply personal thread as well. You can read more about it here: http://www.skylerwhite.com/in-dreams-begin
I’m also working with a dear friend on a graphic novel about the mythic character Persephone. Molly and I have collaborated before. She designed the book trailer for and Falling, Fly.
A couple of years ago, we co-created a series of art prints of practical, grounded guardian angels. We found we couldn’t relate to standard angel archetypes – The Angel of Wisdom or the Angel of Peace. Ours are compromised angels, modified angels – The Angel of Irreverent Wisdom or the Angel of Lively Peace. Each is an image accompanied by a prayer or invocation; I did the writing, and she created the artwork. It was a fun process, inspired by the virtues we were trying to encourage in ourselves, or by those we admired in our friends and family.
Olivia, as the fallen angel of desire, actually came out of that process as well, but I don’t think we’ve seen even a fraction of the pantheon, so I’m curious, readers, who would be your earth-bound angel be, and what could she do?
I’m planning to give away an angel print, signed by Molly and me, to three commenters. The winner may choose the print they’d like from Molly’s Selenography Etsy Shop.
If you’d like to learn more about and Falling, Fly, please visit my website at: http://www.SkylerWhite.com
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Lucky Winners! | trueromance
March 28th, 2010 on 10:01 pm[...] - Skyler White’s Winners - Cories; Michelle S; Laurie [...]
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About Sue & Borders True Romance Blog
Sue G - Borders True Romance Host - Borders Romance Buyer, reads romance. For her JOB. No, really. You can email Sue at sgrimshaw at bordersgroupinc dot com.
Borders True Romance Blog is a community, developed for you, the romance reader, to find out more about the books you love; the authors who write them & where to buy them :) Borders.com
Previously published as Wishes No Matter How Fast You Run. . .The newborn baby boy is beautiful, perfect, and hers for the asking. All Kate Summers has to do is agree to one condition--she must disappear from Boston and never breathe a word about the adoption to anyone. Or How Far You Go. . .Fifteen years later, Kate has built a good life for herself and her son, Jon, in Hopewell, Oregon. Still, she is haunted by the fear that he will somehow be taken away. Then Daegan O'Rourke arrives in town and strikes up a friendship with her and Jon. But Daegan has his own past to hide--one with shocking ties to hers. A Killer Will Always Find You. . .Someone is watching Kate, watching her son, and is willing to go to any lengths to claim him. And the one man Kate is tempted to trust has dangerous secrets that could change her world forever. Soon the past Kate thought she could outrun will explode, unearthing a legacy of lies and treachery, and a fury powerful enough to kill. . .
Friend Feed
May 20th, 2010 on 1:13 pm
Say, you got a nice blog.Really looking forward to read more. Will read on…
March 27th, 2010 on 5:20 pm
Hi Skyler!^O^
My angel would be a Mocking Angel, who makes fun of me all the time.
I can’t wait to read and Falling Fly! I hope it can be published in Italy too. And I love the angel prints! Thank you for this giveaway, Skyler! I’ve seen the cover of your other book. It’s awesome!
Best wishes!
Giada M
March 23rd, 2010 on 10:08 am
Hi Skyler!!! The new book sounds great, and i love the new vamp spin. My angel would be ‘Self-doubt’. She would probably be a therapist that sits around and asks, “are you sure? is that how you really feel?
March 22nd, 2010 on 5:00 am
This is the first time that I’ve heard about fallen angels. Olivia sounds rather SPUNKY!
I like the inspirational angels that you and your artist friend have created! BEAUTIFULLY DONE!!
March 22nd, 2010 on 12:47 am
Omgosh your book sounds great, awesome! i totally buying this book when i go to borders on my next day off
my angel would probably be a angel of love
March 21st, 2010 on 10:01 pm
My fallen angel of dreams, has the power to show you what you want most and how to go after it.
Thanks for the interview and sharing your beautiful art print.
March 21st, 2010 on 8:35 pm
This sounds awesome.I can’t get enough of paranormal reads lately! Also I like the trailer as well
March 21st, 2010 on 7:38 pm
Hi Skyler,
“and Falling, Fly” looks great. I look forward to reading Olivia and Dominic’s story!
March 21st, 2010 on 7:07 pm
I think that’s an interesting question! It does seem to be a common trope right now. I wonder if it has something to do with a sense of fallen ideals? That’d be my guess, if I had to make one. I wonder how the trend is playing over-seas, or whether it’s a American interest.
March 21st, 2010 on 4:20 pm
By the way, kudos on your cool take on vampires. As much as I enjoy vampire stories, there has been so many that I’m getting them confused. Yours definitely stands out. Thank you!
It does seem that fallen angels/Nephilim may be the next hot thing. What do you think?
March 21st, 2010 on 3:08 pm
Um, that’s “bring it up at the next cocktail party”.
March 21st, 2010 on 3:07 pm
Wow, what a debut novel (and not just because my alma mater is mentioned)! I’ll be looking for it the next time I’m at the bookstore.
My angel would be the Angel of Trivial Knowledge for those of us who like to learn esoteric and useless trivia for the fun of it (and to possibly enliven a lull in conversation or, to paraphrase a former professor, to bring it at the next cocktail party).
March 21st, 2010 on 2:16 pm
My compromised creature would be the Angel of Energetic Reading. Fun post–Thanks.
March 21st, 2010 on 8:36 am
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March 21st, 2010 on 5:37 am
Great page you have got here. Will keep coming reading these articles you write.
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