Rae Hachton's Blog, page 14

Raven in the Grave

Raven in the Grave Teaser Tour

I am having to change my original plans, due to unexpected changes in my schedule, and another book that is due to my editor soon, so I’m sorry guys, I really am. But the Tour has been shortened and changed, which is why this page exists, for all of those unfamiliar with the Pretty in Black series. 

Anyone who wants to check out the previous tour for Pretty in Black and Black Satin may do so here: Pretty in Black and Black Satin.

There is no need to repeat myself on this new tour & I just don’t have the time.

Good News: Raven in the Grave is releasing sooner. I’ve been going back and forth between October 30 and December 31. I’ve decided to go with October 30, but December 31 is the book’s real birthday—well, Marcus Marble’s birthday. So even though the trailer says 12.31.12 it is now 10.30.12

Official Blurb for Raven in the Grave

Nevermore Will Never Be The Same

Marcus is back, and he’s ready to fight.

Forced to Kill, His Thirst takes Over. He wants Ellie, and he wants the Throne. He Won’t stop until he can…

Rule The Darkness

Schedule Banner

Cemetery Romance

Cemetery Romance

Why is The Secret Garden called The Secret Garden?

Why is Lovers Cemetery called Lovers Cemetery?

Why do Ellie and Marcus spend a lot of time in Cemeteries?

The inspiration for the Pretty in Black series started in a cemetery. More so, Ellie and Marcus have history there that is continuous. In the series, in every book, something new is unveiled & it relates back to the Grave. In book one, it opens up with Eleanor in a cemetery, contemplating suicide & near the end of the book, we realize Marcus has resurrected from the grave. This is the beginning of it all.

I cannot reveal the shocking discoveries but there are more things that are revealed throughout the series, that shed light on the mysteries surrounding the life of Marcus & Ellie. Raven in the Grave provides a few shockers, that neither Ellie or Marcus knew about, right before the BIG finale, in the conclusion of the series, Evermore. 

Dark Fairy-tale: Glass Coffin

Dark Fairytale: Glass Coffin Scene from Raven in the Grave

The woman spoke. “I am Lady Gretta.”

“I don’t care who you are.” My voice rose with anger.

She shook a bony finger at me. “Now, now, now. Don’t you want to know where your Lover is?”

“Where is she?!”

“She’s been given a cold kiss, my dearest. Awaken her—only her Prince Charming can do. You must exchange your life for hers, if Prince Charming beith you. Come kiss her now, if you want her to live. Or else, her blood and bones, to us, you give.” The woman breathed onto the withering rose, turning it red. Then she ate the rose. Red tainted her lips. I watched as her eyes grew brighter, her hair changed from fluffy white to perfect bouncy blonde. Her pale white skin, turned smooth and tan. She was becoming younger, healthier.

“Go on. Step through the mirror, Romeo,” Grottos’s voice, deep and dark, commanded from behind me.

I turned to glare at Grottos. “I am going to kill you.” I saw his facial features…his sunken skin slowly began to fill out, covering his bones, making him appear younger, too. Lady Gretta and Grottos were connected by the Rose she had eaten. It was somehow making them younger.

I looked back into the mirror. The Lady had disappeared, and a glass coffin was now in sight. Looking closer, I noticed Ellie was inside. Her skin was pale, her lips ruby red. Her hair the color of fire, in perfect curls.

“Ellie,” I choked up.

“Morrigan has awakened. The Vampire Goddess thought she could cross me. Now, either you give me Ellie—her bones and her blood—or you sacrifice yourself for the greater good of all of us.”

I spun around, and flew across the room, inches from his face. I jerked him up. “I am going to rip you, limb by limb!”

“No you won’t,” he grinned.

“I will…”

I heard a shattering crack behind me. I spun around to see the mirror breaking.

“If I break that mirror, she will be trapped behind that glass forever.”

I let him go. He dropped back into his chair.

“I’m not done with you,” I warned him. I spun from the madman, marching across the floor to the mirror that held my beloved captive. I stopped, looking at Ellie in the sleeping glass coffin. I pressed my hand to the glass and it shot through to the otherside. Realizing this, I stepped through the mirror, entering another world, a different place. Snow covered everything. Gravestones rose out of the ground. The trees stripped of all their leaves, now just dangling twigs. The snow was so thick it was hard to walk through. I made my way over to Ellie in the sleeping coffin. I knelt down beside her, running my hand across the top. I glanced around the area, to see if anyone was watching. The mirror which I’d stepped through had now disappeared. Grottos nor Gretta were watching. At least I didn’t think.

I lifted the lid of the glass coffin and touched her skin. She was still warm. I placed my fingertips at the base of her throat. Her pulse was almost indiscernible, but there was a slight thump, thump. “Ellie,” I whispered. Her eyelids lightly fluttered at the sound of my voice. “It’s going to be okay. I’m here to free you. Don’t worry.” I kissed her forehead, running my fingers through her hair. Her fingers clasped around the red rose she held.

I wasn’t sure how to free her. Exchange her life for yours. If I kissed her lips, would I die? What would happen? I trembled, trying to decide what to do. But after minutes of deliberation, I knew I had to awaken her. I couldn’t let her sleep like this in the coffin forever. I placed my lips atop hers, giving her a deep kiss to awaken her. My veins tingled. I shivered. If this is what it took to save her, I would gladly give my life for hers.

 

Life from Death

 

The Boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best Shadowy and Vague.

Who shall say where One ends, and where the Other begins?

—Edgar Allan Poe

 

Evermores as Vampires

Evermores as Vampires

Here’s an interesting fact: I do not like vampires—I detest their reputation, and how they’ve been portrayed. Nothing I’ve read, or watched, has ever resonated within me the Truth as I know it about Vampires.

I’ve always thought there should be more, something different about them, always felt like something huge was missing. I’ve always envisioned them differently, which is what inspired me to finally write about vampires in the Pretty in Black series.

I knew they would need a new name though, because “vampire” just wouldn’t really work, since the creature I envisioned was different, even though the two have some similarities.

So, Looking to Poe, I took the name evermore for my creature, that could shift into a raven-bird.

Nevermore became home of the evermores. Nevermore is located in an entirely different realm that Earth.

In high school, I had a daydream about a gorgeous “vampire” who would show up outside my classroom window. I’d leave class to go be with him. He’d take me to the cemetery where there he’d play the violin for me. But…he could go out in the sun, his skin was warm to the touch, and he had no need to drink my blood. So he wasn’t a vampire-vampire.

This daydream occurred most often in creative writing class, and I wrote about it several times. I’d saved the old journals, & one day, I stumbled across that entry it resulted in this scene from Pretty in Black: The Secret Garden 

Death isn’t so bad—

“Death isn’t so bad—

It’s the only thing that keeps me alive

I vowed an eternity

spent staring into your eyes

To tempt fate, who forbids,

I say, ‘No, she won’t close her lids.’

Death isn’t so bad—

For I’d die again and again and again

Plus once more

If I could touch your lips with mine

Or be wedded to you, with time

I’d die again, I’d die.”

                —Marcus to Ellie, Pretty in Black

The Secret Garden

Secret Garden

Marcus was a seriously dark soul. I’d never met anyone like him. He was someone I could picture being in my life forever. And that didn’t scare me.

I sat in Calculus trying to drown away the teacher’s lecture with thoughts of what my future would be and where I’d be a few years from now. And it was strange because every time I thought about my life in terms of days, weeks, months, and even years from now, I kept seeing Marcus. I sighed. I’m a silly seventeen year old girl infatuated with a guy I barely know. Or…I may be…in love.

I shuddered at the thought. But I did think of Marcus. A lot.

He made me incredibly happy. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t see reality past the existence of his lips on mine, but I didn’t need to. Experiences taught me that life was short and sometimes you die young. And if fate were to decide that today be the last day of my life, then I didn’t want it to be ordinary or forgettable. I didn’t want my last day of life to be spent taking Calculus notes and computing numbers. I wanted it to be spent exploring Marcus’s mind. And his body.

Only if I could.

Were we even dating? Was he my boyfriend? I didn’t even have the answers to the most basic questions like, did he even go to school? But I didn’t need them. The mystery was electric.

I focused my gaze out the window. The breeze made the grass dance. A few people I knew here at school walked down the sidewalk toward the front office.

I turned my attention back to the Calc lecture, but a second later, a violin melody melted onto the airwaves and crept beyond the windows where I sat and into the classroom. I searched outside for the source of this sound, but I noticed that no one seemed to hear the sound. No one but me. The teacher kept talking and the students kept listening, scribbling notes. The sound painted a perfect portrait of a dark romantic paradise. Why could no one else hear this?

I looked outside again and that’s when I noticed movement from behind a tree and my pulse raced with anticipation. Around the tree, Marcus turned, until he faced me with a bright smile on his face. He played the violin effortlessly. My skin tingled. He stopped playing and tilted his violin against the base of the tree. Hands in pockets, he leaned against the tree, and gazed at me. I smiled. He never failed to mesmerize me.

“Miss Piper, pay attention!”

“It’s only math,” I said, a little too audibly. Madison looked out the window, saw Marcus, then glowered at me with a glint of jealousy in her eyes.

“Well, after all, this is only your grade. This is only your future,” The Calc teacher said.

I sighed. “Mrs. Taylor, with all respect, I’m not going to major in engineering or quantum physics. I may not go to college at all. I think having romantic affairs, belly dancing in Barcelona, and reading the greatest literary works of all time will suffice my life after high school. I only need a D to pass this class. I’m sure I’ll scrounge by somehow.” Her face fell. I gathered my belongings and crammed them into my bag.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Madison cooed.

“ ‘bout what?”

She motioned toward the window, at Marcus. “You’re seriously with him?”

I stood from my seat.

“Sit down right now, Miss Piper.”

I ignored the Calc teacher and told Madison, “Maybe I am. He’s certainly no Declan.” I smiled and disappeared out the door and hurried down the steps and across the school lawn. I’m sure Madison, the Calc teacher, and the rest of the student body on the south wing of the school witnessed me toss my arms around his neck and passionately kiss him. When our lips parted, he said, “This way, please, Miss.”

He held his violin by one hand and wrapped his other around me as he led me to the school parking lot.

I got a ton of stares. It wasn’t until we got to the end of the school lawn and to the parking lot that I realized they weren’t staring at me, but at the White 1958 Mercedes Benz convertible sitting there, shiny, fresh off the market appearance with red leather interior. I almost passed out.

“Where did you get this?! You rob it from the past or something?”

He tried to hide his smile, but I saw the glimmer in his eye. He placed his violin in the small compartment in the back and opened the passenger door for me.

“Hop in.”

He hurried around to the other side and he didn’t open the door. He just jumped in.

I picked his black leather journal up off the seat. It was wrapped shut. I held it in my lap. He turned the ignition and it sparked to life, brand new. A smile crept across his face. With caution, he pulled out of the parking lot. When he cleared the school zone, he raised my hand to his lips and kissed it. He exited down a road with wooded areas on either side. The wind blew through my hair. The convertible top transitioned into place, enclosing us in a dark cavity. Everything around us was green, and then, a blur of what might’ve been green. Marcus picked up speed.

“Didn’t know a car like this could go this fast.”

“Don’t underestimate Quinn.”

“Quinn?”

“My car. It’s sort-of been customized for my taste.” He flipped a button and blue flashing lights came on in the interior, followed by a dark symphony of orchestra-like sound. Music I’d never heard. But music that definitely intrigued me.

He let up off the accelerator and the car glided downward on a slope at incredible velocity. Adrenaline rush.

When we came to the end of the hill, he turned down another but smaller road—a hidden passageway. He parked the car and killed the engine. He opened the door and got out, came around the passenger’s side and opened my door to let me out.

“Welcome to the secret garden, My Lady.”

An extremely old cemetery lay neglected before me, but it was tranquil. The gate was frail and rusted, and the ivy vines that twisted around it also stretched out and wrapped themselves around the stone wall. Marcus reached into the backseat to retrieve his violin. In an esoteric way, the violin case slightly resembled a coffin.

He carried his violin and walked with me into the cemetery. The headstones were weathered and unreadable, and flowers, or what may have been flowers, dead. A cool wind blew through the trees. He rested his violin against a stone and before I knew it, he swept me off my feet and tossed me over his shoulder.

I squealed. “Marcus Marble, put me down now!” He just laughed and twirled me around and carried me over to the stone wall and sat me atop.

“Be right back.”

I glanced around the cemetery and could’ve sworn I saw or felt someone watching me. Someone other than Marcus. But Marcus returned before I had time to analyze it any further and he noticed my expression had shifted.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m cold,” I lied. He quickly removed his coat and tossed it up to me. It was extremely warm and the scent was intoxicating—like sleeping on a bed of flowers on the first night of Spring.

I felt safe with Marcus, but there was also an intensity about it—an excitement from being near him, and often times it would even linger when he wasn’t around, and make me want to be with him more. The feeling was becoming more and more addicting and I wasn’t sure I could live without it.

Marcus raised his violin into position, looked up into my eyes and then…a bewitching tune melded onto the airwaves and spread over me like the afternoon sunset that flared through the trees and sank into the graves of the dead, never to be seen again.

Even with his coat on, I felt chills. The tune he played was sad at first. And then it flirted with a tune that sounded like love. Those two frequencies made a bittersweet melody that burst into a cry of pain, a wailing of war. Finally, the heartache subsided and silently imploded onto a string of notes that were unsettling. The sound that ended the melody was a sound that was unsure of itself. It was equivalent to reading a book and coming across a page that abruptly stopped in the middle of a paragraph and did not continue on. This sound was definitely not the ending of his tune. It wasn’t happy nor sad. It was just unwritten.

I realized tears trickled from my eyes. I quickly wiped them away. The sun faded and night began to descend. The sky was a deep navy blue. Marcus sat his violin aside and dropped to one knee, as though he were about to propose. His eyes flickered with seriousness. He took my hand into his. “Ellie, would you frolic in the land of forever with me?”

“What’s the land of forever?”

There was a long pause and then he said, “We’re sitting in it.”

“But we’re always here together.” Just then I saw how his jaw muscles tightened and I realized that’s not exactly what he’d meant.

“Marcus, is your life really that bad?” He dropped my hand, stood up, and looked away from me.

He submerged his hands into his pockets. “Let’s forget I even said that, please.” He hid his face.

I stood up on the stone wall. “Marcus, look at me. I wish you’d tell me something rather than nothing at all.”

He slightly turned to face me, his eyes ablaze with emotion. “I can’t stand being away from you, Ellie.”

“Then don’t.”

“It’s not that easy.” He looked away from me again.

“It can be. I’m right here.” I looked down at him, hoping he could see how much I longed to be with him.

He turned back around to face me, his eyes saddened. “I should get you back.”

I paused a moment before saying, “I’d rather be with you.”

When he didn’t respond, I added, “It’d be nice to lay atop your car and watch the stars.”

“Not tonight,” he said, and it felt like I’d been given a death sentence. That’s how much my heart sank. As he drove me back, the ride was silent. The entire time, I wished I knew his thoughts or for him to know mine. I wanted so much to spend one entire night with him. To lay in his arms in a warm bed and feel him next to me. I wanted to entwine my body with his.

He wanted that, too. But we knew that one night wouldn’t be enough. We’d want it forever. And ever. And ever.

A deeper part of me was concerned for him. Did he hang out in graveyards because he longed for death as I once had?

Surely this wasn’t the case. I took a side glance at him through my peripheral. He glanced back, his eyes sparkling. He had too much life in him to just die. That wasn’t something I needed to worry about.

But I did want to come to a mutual understanding of one thing, even if I never figured out the rest. Were we even dating? Were we boyfriend and girlfriend? I had to know.

“What are we?”

He looked at me with passion in his eyes. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m in love.” His face was serious, but his eyes smiled.

My breath caught.

I wasn’t sure how I’d ever be able to go to sleep now. I wasn’t even sure how to respond, and I was afraid my silence might dishearten him. After a moment, he noticed I was struggling for a response. I wanted to tell him I loved him, too, but it was lodged in my throat and wouldn’t come out in words. He smirked. “You’re not required to say anything, you know. But, if you feel the same, then just take my hand.” He turned his right palm up, and placed it near my left one. One heart beat. Two heart beats. Three heart beats.

His eyes stayed focused on the road ahead. My eyes were on his hand. When he went to move his hand away, I stopped him by taking it into mine and entwining my fingers with his.

Electric volts shot through my veins. That was the loudest silence I’d ever heard and it wasn’t silent at all. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could replicate how I felt that night. And I can’t even describe.

I felt my heart unbreak.

How Did Pretty in Black begin?

Cemetery Inspiration + “My Time’s Up”

The Pretty in Black series may have really began when I was in tenth grade, as a result from a daydream that was on repeat.

But the one moment I won’t forget, is this one.

I was in the Cemetery one night in late March 2011 because I went “ghost hunting” with some friends. I will never forget what happened that night, because it was so real. My attention was immediately pulled toward a guy & a girl who were laying atop two of the graves. I wanted to know two things: Why were they here in the cemetery so late at night, and why did their embrace seem so tragic?

I sat out to find the answer. That image, seeing those two lovers there that night, inspired Pretty in Black. I began writing the story the very next day.

The Answer to my Question: The reason those two lovers were in that cemetery, was because: One was suicidal and the other had just resurrected from the grave. The problem? They were in love, and it wasn’t easy for them.

That launched another question for me. Why wasn’t it easy for them to be together. Why was she suicidal, why had he resurrected.

At first I wasn’t sure why, I had no idea, but then something magical happened. The Raveonettes released their album Raven in the Grave. On that album was this song called “My Time’s Up.” This song inspired everything that would follow. This song became Marcus’s & Ellie’s song.