Christine Feehan's Blog - Posts Tagged "spider-game"
Release Day and How It Feels
Spider Game released today. It's part of my Ghostwalker series which are very near and dear to me. I love writing this series and matching my alpha males to kick butt heroines. I love the science behind it all and all the research I do for these.
I have made so many trips to New Orleans and into the bayou for this series. So when you read the description of the bayou you can believe it's really like that. The sights, smells, flora and fauna. It's so intriguing to me.
I know I'm suppose to post things about the book and promote it, but you can get all that on Facebook and Twitter. I would really like my GoodReads blog to be different. It's more in line with what you find in my online community, for those who have joined up there.
I will tell you that no matter how many books I write, no matter how long I've been writing professionally, release day is special for me. It's part excitement, part nervousness, part curiosity. You work hard to bring those characters to life. And to make the places feel real to readers. And you hope the emotional journey as well as the adventure will thrill readers when they read it just like it did for me when I wrote it.
It never gets old, that feeling when a reader writes and says something in the book really touched them in some way. Or that the book helped them get through a rough time by allowing them to escape for a time. I do read my email. I do read comments left on social media. For that moment, I am connected to someone who shared a story, my story. And we shared an experience through those characters.
It's an exciting day for me and I sit here wondering how readers are feeling as they read the book. Spider Game
I have made so many trips to New Orleans and into the bayou for this series. So when you read the description of the bayou you can believe it's really like that. The sights, smells, flora and fauna. It's so intriguing to me.
I know I'm suppose to post things about the book and promote it, but you can get all that on Facebook and Twitter. I would really like my GoodReads blog to be different. It's more in line with what you find in my online community, for those who have joined up there.
I will tell you that no matter how many books I write, no matter how long I've been writing professionally, release day is special for me. It's part excitement, part nervousness, part curiosity. You work hard to bring those characters to life. And to make the places feel real to readers. And you hope the emotional journey as well as the adventure will thrill readers when they read it just like it did for me when I wrote it.
It never gets old, that feeling when a reader writes and says something in the book really touched them in some way. Or that the book helped them get through a rough time by allowing them to escape for a time. I do read my email. I do read comments left on social media. For that moment, I am connected to someone who shared a story, my story. And we shared an experience through those characters.
It's an exciting day for me and I sit here wondering how readers are feeling as they read the book. Spider Game
The Beauty of Difference: Autism Awareness
The Centers for Disease Control describes ASDs as: “a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges. Autism now affects 1 in 68 children and 1 in 42 boys. So, it’s likely that you know someone with some form of autism.
April is Autism Awareness month and it’s an opportunity to help people become aware of autism, the people who have autism and where we fit into this special world of those who have autism.
I have three characters that I’ve written who are on the autism spectrum. Rikki, from Water Bound who is high functioning autistic, Trap from Spider Game who has Asperger’s, and Tyson from Dangerous Tides who also has Asperger’s. I’m often asked about these characters and thought that Autism Awareness month was a great time to share more about them and about why I wrote these characters.
I started researching about autism way before I wrote Water Bound, Dangerous Tides or Spider Game. I have a granddaughter who was diagnosed with autism and I have other family members with Asperger’s. Autism isn’t easy to understand, but I knew how much I love my family and how special they are, so I wanted to know as much as possible about their condition so that I could be part of their world, and so they could be comfortable and happy around me.
I learned that not every autistic person is the same. There are traits that are in common, but like any other person, there are things that are different. For my family members who were older, I sat down with them, and I asked them what it was like to have Asperger’s. I wanted to know what they felt, how they saw, heard and felt things. I wanted to know how they felt about the challenges they faced. I wanted to know what I could do to help them feel more at ease, happy, included, safe, and of course loved.
I researched a great deal more when my little granddaughter was diagnosed. I learned so much, but some of the more interesting things I found were –
1. Weighted blankets. We used them for my granddaughter and they worked like a miracle for her! We all tried the blankets ourselves and it was interesting how each of us reacted to them. Some felt comforted by them and some detested the feeling.
2. There are lines of clothing for people with autism!
3. Lighting can make a difference. Florescent lights hum and flicker and this can be very aggravating or frustrating for someone with autism whose senses are heightened. I included this information in Water Bound and received letters from teachers who tried changing their lighting from florescent lights and found it made a big difference for their students, even the ones without autism!
There’s so much to learn about autism, but the one thing I did know is that each of these beautiful people are different and they bring with them something special. They may share their wonderment, their brilliance, their special way of seeing something or feeling something.
I wanted to write a romance where the main heroine was a high functioning autistic woman who’d had a difficult start to life, but who found friends who loved and appreciated her and who found love, romance and a happy ever after. I wanted to imagine all these wonderful things to be available and possible. I wanted to write a hero who understood her needs, saw her strength and accepted her unconditionally.
And though Lev was a trained operative, strong and dangerous, it was Rikki’s courage, strength and perseverance that saved him. Lev was broken and needed structure. Rikki gave that to him and healed him on so many levels.
To this day, Water Bound is the book I get most letters about. Readers are touched by her strength. People who are autistic, or those who love someone with autism, they write to me with stories that encourage and touch my heart. I wrote that book hoping to touch others with Rikki’s story, but with all the letters I’ve received it is really me who has been blessed.
People with autism don’t come with labels. Perhaps you’ll realize right away that you’ve met someone with autism, but perhaps it’s not obvious and you don’t know what the signs of autism are enough to realize you’re dealing with someone who is autistic. This was the case with my character Trap from Spider Game. I purposefully didn’t say that he had Asperger’s. I have him many of the traits and put him in situations where those traits could be seen and I was happy to receive letters from readers who totally understood what was up with this character.
I find that people either love or hate Spider Game and love or hate Trap, the same goes for Tyson in Dangerous Tides. With Trap there isn’t much of a gray area with this book or character. The character had PTSD, Asperger’s and a very difficult life. He had a hard time communicating and developing close personal relationships. He expressed himself through sex with the woman who accepted him as he was and understood him. There’s was not an easy relationship, but they learned how to communicate with each other and eventually, how to love one another in a way that worked for them. It wasn’t a traditional relationship and some readers loved that and some had a hard time with it. And that’s okay. A book works for you or it doesn’t. You like a character or you don’t. But I wanted to write Trap’s story, the good, bad and ugly of it, and show that there’s always a way to find love. There’s someone out there that is a “fit” who will accept who and how you are.
Tyson could be distant and sometimes forget everything and everyone around him as he worked. But, what people saw as a fault or failing in him was actually his gift because he was saving lives with his research, his determination.
Autism is a part of my life. The people in my life who have autism have taught me so many things. They’ve taught me patience. They’ve taught me to see life in a different way. They’ve taught me that we all have something special about us. They’ve taught me that different is beautiful. Having them in my life has made me a better person and my life a little brighter.
April is Autism Awareness month and it’s an opportunity to help people become aware of autism, the people who have autism and where we fit into this special world of those who have autism.
I have three characters that I’ve written who are on the autism spectrum. Rikki, from Water Bound who is high functioning autistic, Trap from Spider Game who has Asperger’s, and Tyson from Dangerous Tides who also has Asperger’s. I’m often asked about these characters and thought that Autism Awareness month was a great time to share more about them and about why I wrote these characters.
I started researching about autism way before I wrote Water Bound, Dangerous Tides or Spider Game. I have a granddaughter who was diagnosed with autism and I have other family members with Asperger’s. Autism isn’t easy to understand, but I knew how much I love my family and how special they are, so I wanted to know as much as possible about their condition so that I could be part of their world, and so they could be comfortable and happy around me.
I learned that not every autistic person is the same. There are traits that are in common, but like any other person, there are things that are different. For my family members who were older, I sat down with them, and I asked them what it was like to have Asperger’s. I wanted to know what they felt, how they saw, heard and felt things. I wanted to know how they felt about the challenges they faced. I wanted to know what I could do to help them feel more at ease, happy, included, safe, and of course loved.
I researched a great deal more when my little granddaughter was diagnosed. I learned so much, but some of the more interesting things I found were –
1. Weighted blankets. We used them for my granddaughter and they worked like a miracle for her! We all tried the blankets ourselves and it was interesting how each of us reacted to them. Some felt comforted by them and some detested the feeling.
2. There are lines of clothing for people with autism!
3. Lighting can make a difference. Florescent lights hum and flicker and this can be very aggravating or frustrating for someone with autism whose senses are heightened. I included this information in Water Bound and received letters from teachers who tried changing their lighting from florescent lights and found it made a big difference for their students, even the ones without autism!
There’s so much to learn about autism, but the one thing I did know is that each of these beautiful people are different and they bring with them something special. They may share their wonderment, their brilliance, their special way of seeing something or feeling something.
I wanted to write a romance where the main heroine was a high functioning autistic woman who’d had a difficult start to life, but who found friends who loved and appreciated her and who found love, romance and a happy ever after. I wanted to imagine all these wonderful things to be available and possible. I wanted to write a hero who understood her needs, saw her strength and accepted her unconditionally.
And though Lev was a trained operative, strong and dangerous, it was Rikki’s courage, strength and perseverance that saved him. Lev was broken and needed structure. Rikki gave that to him and healed him on so many levels.
To this day, Water Bound is the book I get most letters about. Readers are touched by her strength. People who are autistic, or those who love someone with autism, they write to me with stories that encourage and touch my heart. I wrote that book hoping to touch others with Rikki’s story, but with all the letters I’ve received it is really me who has been blessed.
People with autism don’t come with labels. Perhaps you’ll realize right away that you’ve met someone with autism, but perhaps it’s not obvious and you don’t know what the signs of autism are enough to realize you’re dealing with someone who is autistic. This was the case with my character Trap from Spider Game. I purposefully didn’t say that he had Asperger’s. I have him many of the traits and put him in situations where those traits could be seen and I was happy to receive letters from readers who totally understood what was up with this character.
I find that people either love or hate Spider Game and love or hate Trap, the same goes for Tyson in Dangerous Tides. With Trap there isn’t much of a gray area with this book or character. The character had PTSD, Asperger’s and a very difficult life. He had a hard time communicating and developing close personal relationships. He expressed himself through sex with the woman who accepted him as he was and understood him. There’s was not an easy relationship, but they learned how to communicate with each other and eventually, how to love one another in a way that worked for them. It wasn’t a traditional relationship and some readers loved that and some had a hard time with it. And that’s okay. A book works for you or it doesn’t. You like a character or you don’t. But I wanted to write Trap’s story, the good, bad and ugly of it, and show that there’s always a way to find love. There’s someone out there that is a “fit” who will accept who and how you are.
Tyson could be distant and sometimes forget everything and everyone around him as he worked. But, what people saw as a fault or failing in him was actually his gift because he was saving lives with his research, his determination.
Autism is a part of my life. The people in my life who have autism have taught me so many things. They’ve taught me patience. They’ve taught me to see life in a different way. They’ve taught me that we all have something special about us. They’ve taught me that different is beautiful. Having them in my life has made me a better person and my life a little brighter.
